STYLIST Nicola Formichetti started the Twitterverse buzzing once again after tweeting “preview” covers of Japanese Vogue Hommes, featuring the ubquitous face of ‘Jo Calderone,” aka Lady Gaga.

The issue, containing the photos of a gender-bending Lady Gaga and the mock interview with the “Sicilian Mechanic,” will be published next month. The original images begun making their rounds on the internet a couple of months ago, prompting speculation that Jo is actually a pompadoured, James Dean-esque Gaga in disguise.

Along with the images, Nicola tweeted a link to an excerpt of the article, where readers got to know more about the Palermo-born, muscle-car loving grease monkey.

During the interview, Jo is asked about his relationship with Lady Gaga, to which he replies: “I met her at a shoot Nick Knight was doing. She’s fuckin’ beautiful, and funny, and interesting. I was a little nervous for Nick to start shooting.”

Will you be picking up a copy on September 10?

Left: E-label's legging. Right: Deréon leggings.

JUST as the fashion world looks past leather biker jackets, studs and rock and roll into 50′s femme fatale glam, images of Beyoncé modelling a new pair of studded leggings from the latest Deréon Fall/Holiday 2010 campaign made its way across the internet. But that didn’t fly past Icelandic fashion brand E-label, who is concerned that one of their designs was ripped off by the house that Bey built.

Compare the pair: to the left are E-label’s “heavy metal” leggings, and to the right is Beyoncé in her version, complete with tattooed spine and all.

“This is naturally huge, and I am still half in shock,” said E-label’s Helba Hallgrimsdottir. “I didn’t twig straightaway that this was her own label, I just thought she was wearing our leggings.”

“It is practically just copy/paste.”

Although we do see a conundrum, we must say there is more than a few differences between the two—the studs on Bey’s pair are larger, and they aren’t placed uniformly like those on the E-label version. Then there is the lack of a gathered waistband.

Hallgrimsdottir theorises that Bey might have purchased their pair from Topshop’s Edit section—which features up-and-coming designers of their choosing—last November. But even if the Grammy-winning singer did rip the design off, there aren’t any laws that will stand up to the claim because the Reykjavik-based designer didn’t copyright her design (oops!).

In other news, just as Beyoncé has to deal with these claims, Madonna faces the music on the use of her “Material Girl” line for Macy’s as well.

According to RadarOnline, the original Materical Girl has been slapped with a lawsuit from clothing manufacturer LA Triumph, who says it has been using the registered named for its juniors line since 1997.

The court documents cite direct competition from Madonna’s line as a threat to the LA Triumph label, sold at Nordstrom, and that the “plaintiff’s Material Girl clothing line retails at the same price point and in the same general retail space as the Defendant’s infringing clothes”.

The lawsuit also hints that they will next target retailer Macy’s for promoting Madonna and Lourdes’ teenage clothing line.

Ouch.

SOME people have all the luck!

In what could look like a bridal spread from the latest issue of Vogue, model Coco Rocha gave the world a preview of her wedding snaps via twitter:

The Canadian native is photographed in a gorgeous, custom, mermaid-style Zac Posen wedding gown, embraced in a passionate kiss with new husband interior decorator James Conlan.

Fellow model and wedding guest Behati Prinsloo tries to describe the exceptional masterpiece: “It was tight over her body all the way to her knees, then it had this extreme mermaid tail at the bottom.”

“The straps were off the shoulder, and the material looked vintage — it’s sort of hard to explain, you have to see it,” she said.

Oh yes, we see it. Jealous? Of course not…

Photo: Hermanna Prinsen.

FOR the Amsterdam Centre for Architecture’s Fashion & Architecture exhibit, fashion designer Mattijs van Bergen and landscape architect Anouk Vogel were asked to collaborate on a crossover piece, leaving both artist confounded by the divergence of their disciplines.

But what it came down to was their common regard for the cycles of life and death—Van Burgen’s involvement with the ever-shortening fashion cycle, and Vogel’s acceptance of his design’s natural life span.

Together, the two talents designed a “living” dress, brought to life each season with changing floral arrangements.

Photo: Hermanna Prinsen.

The garment is comprised of recycled bicycle inner-tubing, fashioned into “vases” that would allow cut flowers to grow and bloom within each vessel during the season. The smocked-like surface, made up of a lattice of these individual vases, therefore forms an empty canvas for a lifetime of shifting looks.

The frock is on display at ARCAM in the Netherlands through to September 11, 2010.

Beautiful, no?

NEW York’s infamous Fashion Week is set to storn all five boroughs this September, with more than 1,000 stores announced to stay open until 11pm on a Friday night for special events and shows.

September 10 will see the second installment of Fashion’s Night Out, which will set the stage with a “public” fashion show, outside of Bryant park, at the Lincoln Center three days before.

“Fashion Week moving to Lincoln Center is really the nexus between the visual arts and the performing arts,” said New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. “The visual arts in clothing and what it looks like; the performing arts in how you wear it, what it does to you, what people think about it, and how it influences your behavior. And what better place to have Fashion Week than in Lincoln Center, which is the performing-arts capital of the world?”

Fashion designer Marc Jacobs, who joined the the fashion masses at New York’s City Hall for the announcement, described his delight that this year’s event will see another 200 stores open their door and recalled last year’s event..

“I was really happy to see people not in front of a computer screen adding to their cart, but actually getting out and interacting with each other,” he said. “It felt like what I think fashion and shopping is all about, which is a social ritual that people enjoy. It’s the exchange between the customers and the salespeople.”

Mayor Bloomberg had only kind words to say about the New York-centric event, but also came armed with a couple of sartorial jokes for the press conference.

“The men and women standing up here are the fashion-world stars,” he began. “If they say that boot-cut pants are back in style, then boot-cut pants are back in style. If they say capes are en vogue, then capes are en vogue.” Bloomberg then surveyed his own outfit. “And if they say a simple navy suit is the epitome of sophistication, then who are we to argue with that?”

Fashion’s Night Out is the brainchild of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and is an organised effort to promote the industry. Tickets for the giant public fashion show start at US$25 and proceeds from the sales will benefit the NYC AIDS fund.

“But if you can’t get a ticket, don’t fret,” added Bloomberg, revealing that broadcaster CBS will air the show live online.

Will you be watching? We will!

JIMMY Choo owner Tamara Mellon is reportedly considering selling the company, worth approximately £500 million, according to the UK’s Telegraph.

The former fashion editor and current CEO of the designer shoe label is “sounding out investment banks” about “strategic options” for the business—with her 20 per cent share, this means Tamara stands to bank a cool A$173 million from the sale.

There are whispers the company’s shareholders may appoint an advisor by the end of the season to work on a strategic review, with the sale of the company up as one of the options.

Tamara established the powerhouse shoe company in 1996 after she met Malaysian-born Jimmy at a cobbler based in east London during her time as accessories editor at American Vogue. The pair formed a partnership and by 1999, they opened their first boutique in New York. Designer Jimmy sold out of the company in 2001.

Today, Jimmy Choo has 100 stores in 32 countries. As well as shoes and handbags, the company now makes small leather goods, sunglasses and eyewear under the brand.

Let’s hope this doesn’t mean “goodbye, lover” for the rest of us…

Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.

AT least Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler are honest.

Speaking to Grazia about fall trends, they said: “We work on Broadway near Topshop and are so over seeing all those young girls showing so much skin.” Funnily enough, us too.

But even more noteworthy was this comment, from Lazaro: “”I often wonder, sometimes I think the people who buy our clothes live in a parallel universe. Hell, we can’t even afford our clothes.”

Does this mean they might consider a budget-friendly line in the near future? We won’t count on it, but we can still dream…

Margherita with grandmother and head of Missoni Home, Rosita Missoni.

WHEN your family runs a globally successful fashion business and it isn’t ready to hand over the reigns to you because, well, you’re only 27 years old, what do you do? Start a news accessories division with them!

Already well-known her Missoni-heavy looks and incredible personal style, Margherita is now sticking to what her family knows best and designing bags in brightly-coloured fabrics as the Creative Director of Misson’s first accessories range.

“I always felt it was a shame that we didn’t develop the accessories considering that for most fashion brands it is the biggest side of their business,” said Margherita to The Telegraph. “The accessories range was an obvious place for me to start. I also thought, since it wasn’t the main collection, if I f**k up, it’s not going to be disastrous.”

The Margherita-designed "Euge" patchwork shoulder bag.

Her mother, Angela, is the creative director of the main collections, and her grandmother, at 80, remains in charge of the home collection and the Missoni hotels, so you’d think she wouldn’t be so worried about screwing up. In fact, Margherita already designed the sunglasses for this year’s spring/summer collections so she can’t be doing anything terribly wrong.

But the former theatre student reveals that it it precisely this fashionable family that keeps her so grounded.

“Fashion is a real passion in my family,” she said. “I never even realised it was something glamourous until much later. For me, it was my family’s job.”

“I grew up in the countryside with the factory here, my house 200 metres away, my grandma’s house 50 metres away, in a kind of old-style Italian society where everyone works for the family business, everyone lives nearby and the people you spend your time with are your family.”

Her new accessories line is available now and you can see more of the bags here.