More proof that the middle of the market is disappearing: J.Crew has a $3,000 jacket for sale, its priciest item to date. Part of the label’s higher-end J.Crew Collection, the tortoise sequin jacket, as it’s called, is an “opulent creation completely covered with shimmering French sequins—each one a unique shade of tortoiseshell, each sewn by hand to silk chiffon using a classic couture technique. Sound like a stretch for a brand that made its name reinterpreting WASP classics? Khakis and button-downs are clearly no longer the steady sellers they once were: The company is also selling fine jewelry, and come fall, will be opening a New York shop entirely devoted to Collection pieces.—Nancy MacDonell

Photo: Courtesy of J.Crew

Chloë Sevigny’s next foray into fashion design will be aimed at her male fans. Yep, when her busy schedule permits (she’s back in L.A. shooting another season of her HBO hit “Big Love” right now), the actress will collaborate with Opening Ceremony on a men’s line. “Not only did I want to do something for the guys in my life, but a lot of my girlfriends prefer to wear men’s stuff,” Sevigny told us, adding that girl versions won’t have different tailoring; they will just come in smaller sizes. “I think what they like about men’s clothes is the fit. So I don’t want to change that. It’ll be a new challenge.” She also revealed that her much lauded one-off collection could have easily given way to a second if she had known that the writers’ strike was going to leave her in New York for four months twiddling her thumbs. “If I had known that I [was going to have] that time off, I probably would have thought about doing another collection. But I’m really looking forward to doing something completely different, too.”—Derek Blasberg

Photo: Bennett Raglin/WireImage

Los Angeles-based jewelry designer Gabriela Artigas has come a long way since her 2003 debut, when she crafted an entire collection from—wait for it—toothbrushes. Her fans now include Björk, Cameron Diaz, and Salma Hayek, and there are waiting lists for her custom-order creations, which are available exclusively at Des Kohan. Artigas’ latest pieces came about thanks to her surprise discovery of a trove of vintage gold-plated bows made by a former accessory manufacturer for Chanel, which she came across while vacationing in Arizona last year. Accordingly, her 30-piece collection this season features bow-bedecked headbands, necklaces, and bracelets, all of which are teamed with chains crafted from oxidized sterling silver, copper, and 14-karat gold.—Linlee Allen

Photo: Linlee Allen

Swedish jeansters ACNE’s eponymous ambition to create novel expressions (their name’s a lofty acronym, not a lowly facial blemish) just got smaller. Mini, in fact, with the launch of their kids’ collection, Acne Miniature. The dainty duds—a begonia-print top for her; a buttoned check shirt and suspenders for him—may look familiar to Acne-wearing adults, as well they should. The 20 tiny pieces were lifted straight from the full-size Fall ‘08 collection and then shrunk. Literally? We’re not entirely sure, but we do know that your and your kid’s hipster quotient will increase exponentially when you sport matching cardigans. Sizes are for ages 2 to 10 years old, and prices range from $49 for T-shirts to $149 for jeans. Acne Miniature will be available in stores at the end of July.—Alison Baenen

Photo: Courtesy of Acne

Why limit artistic collaborations to ready-to-wear? For his Resort collection for Louis Vuitton, art lover Marc Jacobs worked with London-based fashion illustrator Tanya Ling. In addition to producing a painterly stripe print that was worked up into snappy separates, Ling filled the showroom in which the collection was modeled with life-size reproductions of what she calls her “funny little creatures.” Ling, who at one time worked for Christian Lacroix, really seems to be blowing up: On June 26 at the Barbican, the artist will give a live illustration performance inspired by Viktor & Rolf’s Fall collection.

—Laird Borrelli-PerssonPhoto: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Yara Flinn is not afraid of taffeta. “It’s got that bridesmaid connotation,” the Nomia designer acknowledges, “but if you step away from that, you know, it’s shiny and a little hard. You can do really directional things with taffeta.” Taffeta pieces form a large part of Nomia’s small Fall ‘08 collection, and though her seasonless cocktail dresses in the fabric might not look out of place at a wedding, a motorcycle-inspired short-sleeve taffeta jacket sends a decidedly different message. “I’m always trying to
find ways to subvert the femininity of my pieces,” says Flinn, an ex-art student and former staffer at the Fondazione Prada who cut her fashion teeth at United Bamboo. For her next collection, which will be her fifth, she’s looking forward both to adding more separates and to pushing the tomboyishness of her vision. “I’m thinking about indulging my Helmut Lang obsession,” she muses. “He liked shiny, too. But I don’t think he ever used taffeta.”—Maya Singer

class=\”creditphoto\”>Photo: Courtesy of Nomia

Toward the end of Dolce & Gabbana’s dinner at Gold restaurant, celebrating the Spring men’s collection and Michael Roberts’ new photo story for the brand, "The Good Shepherd," Naomi Campbell was holding court to a rapt table of Italian men. The topic: American politics. "What’s with all the traveling Bush has been doing?" the model wondered. "He never even had a passport before."

Call it a twofer. De Beers’ new Amulet collection promises good providence and bountiful bling, which, considering the state of the economy, isn’t a package upon which to turn your nose up. Featuring rings and pendants fashioned to look like tribal masks (which tribe is unclear, but no matter), each piece embodies a different spirit (well, not actually, we think) and assurances of personal betterment. In need of balance and harmony? Skip yoga and slip on the N’gala, or “Spirit of the Night Sky” ring, which is wrought in diamonds and white gold and goes for $4,000. Spirits of other ilk are available as well. Prices range from $700 to $25,000; the collection will be in De Beers stores nationwide next month.—Alison Baenen

Photo: Courtesy of De Beers

There will be more than just inventive clothes to look forward to when Boudicca shows its couture collection in Paris next week. Also on offer will be Zowie Broach and Brian Kirkby’s new art fragrance, Wode. Like the plant for which it’s named, Wode is blue—ancient Britons used the woad plant pigment as a tribal marking. And in an archetypically Boudiccan move, the scent, a spicy animalic that the designers developed with Berlin-based Geza Schoen of Escentric Molecules fame and fragrance consultant Susan Aurora Irvine, is a modern twist on tribal marking: Packaged in a spray-paint can, it goes on like a splash of deep cobalt graffiti before fading to nothing—a concept that ties in neatly with the theme of this collection, which is called Hidden Meanings. Circles within (blue) circles—what could be more Boudicca?—Nancy MacDonell

Photo: Justin Smith

If the debut collection of leather-bow clutch bags from the recently launched 671 label don’t ignite intrigue, then the mystery behind the brand’s rotating design collective should do the job. “Each season, a designer with a personal or professional connection to the Des Kohan store sends in patterns and fabric swatches, and a production team from this end executes the product,” explains a mouthpiece for brand, which incidentally takes its name from the street address of Kohan’s Los Angeles boutique (the only retailer to stock the limited-edition line). Curious yet? The plot thickens: The collection is in fact the brainchild of a European expat currently living in America, and next season’s capsule collection of cocktail dresses, evening dresses, and belts will be masterminded by a knitwear designer currently residing in Rome.—Linlee Allen

Photo: Linlee Allen