Scarlett strikes again

Scarlett Johansson is back for a second season as the poster girl for Louis Vuitton.
Scarlett looking casually glamorous in blood red shoes

Designer Marc Jacobs's fall-winter collection was an ode to her role in "Girl with a Pearl Earring" - think artist's smocks and rich painterly colours. Here is a sneak preview of the advertising campaign...
Scarlett wears a waxed fur coat, one of a series of experimental textures that appeared on the catwalk

Gloss up

A girl can never have enough lip gloss, and my favourite for this summer is this marshmallow pink Juicy Tubes gloss from Lancome, which had been designed by super-cool graphic designer Julie Verhoeven (she did the psychedelic patchwork bags for Louis Vuitton a few years ago and has done illustrations for Cacharel, among others).


The Juicy Tubes lipgloss designed by Julie Verhoeven

Lagerfeld's jet set attitude

Karl Lagerfeld proves to any remaining doubters that he is indeed a crazy diva. The German designer, who is in Los Angeles to present Chanel's cruise collection, explains to Women's Wear Daily in an interview why he doesn't "do" commercial flights.


"If people want me to travel and think I should come, I need a proof of love, and that has to be a little expensive," he said. "You want me on commercial, you don't get me, because then, I think I am so unimportant that I could stay at home. It's not because I want the luxury of it. I want to travel only if they think I am really needed."

Ach, Karl. Heard the one about silence being gold?

Met gala - who wore what

The Met's annual Costume Institute Gala in New York is to fashion what the Oscars are to cinema, so it was with great trepidation that I logged on this morning to review who wore what last night. Sadly, I wasn't blown away by anyone. The theme, legendary couturier Paul Poiret, was rather loosely rendered. However, Jennifer Lopez and Kate Bosworth stood out in 1920s style metallic flapper looks.


Kate Bosworth (left), looking much better for having gained a few pounds, has it all down - dress, hair, make-up and accessories; Jennifer Lopez (right) is simply flawless


It was lovely to see Winona Ryder making a rare appearance, flanked by a super-tan, post-rehab Marc Jacobs; Kate Moss, on the other hand, was looking a little the worse for wear


Liv Tyler's dress would have looked great in a different color, because this seafoam green just doesn't work; Mary-Kate Olsen looks like Cousin It in this shaggy creation that swamps her tiny frame


Scarlett Johansson revisited the scrappy quiff she sported at the last Louis Vuitton show in Paris - it didn't look good then, and it doesn't now; Cate Blanchett manages to look ghoulish with a similarly backcombed quiff and racoon eyes


Julianne Moore's stiff jacket provides an awkward frame for her super-pale breasts; the usually fashion-forward Chloé Sevigny also got it terribly, inexplicably wrong

Isabella Blow dies

Isabella Blow, the eccentric fashion editor credited with discovering talents such as Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy, died suddenly today. Recently appointed fashion editor-at-large for British magazine Tatler, Blow was famous for wearing outrageous outfits, usually topped by an oversized hat.

Isabella Blow in a Philip Treacy hat, photographed by Mario Testino

Hilary Alexander at the Daily Telegraph writes an insightful piece about Blow, in which she describes the artistocrat as brash and fragile at the same time.

"Beautiful, but ultimately doomed, she was possessed of a remarkable sense of style with fiercely-held opinions and a braying laugh that could be heard from one end of the catwalk to the other, two traits which cleaved to the family motto “haud muto factum” – nothing happens by being mute.

But she was also a self-confessed depressive. She had a fragile sense of identity and her insecurities had been excacerbated by the breakdown of her marriage to the art dealer, Detmar Blow. Although the couple had reconciled, she continued to suffer terrible bouts of suicidal depression."

I once saw Blow arrive at a Dior fashion show in a peach chiffon burka - just one example of her extreme sense of style. Minutes later, she reappeared minus the burka. A storm of protest from French editors had forced her to go backstage and change. I'm sure she will be much missed.

Chloé for Chloé?

The Chloé makeover continues afoot. The French house has reportedly hired its namesake actress Chloé Sevigny as the face of a new scent, due out later this year.

Chloé Sevigny in an advertising campaign for Louis Vuitton

The edgy actress is best known for giving Vincent Gallo oral gratification in his film "The Brown Bunny," but that hasn't stopped fashion firms and magazines from queuing up for a piece of her elusive charisma. Women's Wear Daily reports that Sevigny recently shot the advertising campaign for the Chloé scent with leading photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin (who also do all the Vuitton campaigns).

K-day has come

Despite my self-confessed shopping addiction, I am tempted to say that people have too much time on their hands when the launch of Kate Moss's line for Topshop in London attracts a crowd worthy of a World Cup final.

Kate Moss poses in the window of Topshop's flagship in London on Mpnday night as the crowd looks on

I know I am in no position to judge - I get to see Kate Moss and her celebrity acolytes regularly at the fashion shows, whereas for most people, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this fashion icon in the flesh. But remember, this collection will be available year-round, so there is no need to fighting, pushing, shoving or any other unladylike behaviour in the changing rooms. Poise.