Mischa Barton has launched her handbag collection, exclusively at online retailer Asos.com, which ranges from £20.00-£170.00 and includes 14 pieces. The collection of clutches to carryalls makes much use of a signature charm and buckles—too much in some cases, as if Barton were the fashion-forward granddaughter of Brighton accessories. The softer black pieces, featuring a leather bow, as well as the ivory-hued rope handle 'Lyla' bag are more successful, whereas the tapestried bag (looks like a carpet bag) is doing way, way too much.
· Mischa Barton Handbags [asos.com]
· Sellebrity: LL Cool J for Sears, Sharapova Scores for Tiffany, Chloe for Opening Ceremony Again, Gwyneth Everywhere, and Much More! [Racked]
She might not be in the limelight like she used to, but don't think celeb stylist Rachel Zoe isn't going down with a fight. The Rachel Zoe Project looked a bit dicey, but Fabsugar reports that there is now an actual debut date for the show: "Starting Monday, Sept. 8, at 11 p.m. EST/PDT on Bravo, we will be able to step into the glamorous and crazy world of Zoe. Juggling deadlines, attending fashion shows, and dressing celebrity clients are just some of the things we'll witness." That seems like a rather late-night slot, but apparently come September 15, the show will move to Mondays at 10pm EST/PDT. [Fabsugar]
Fashion trade Women's Wear Daily has launched the new beta version of its site, which will be formally launched on August 4. Subscribers received an email last night introducing the site and hyping all its new and/or improved features as follows: "Immediate access to breaking news 24/7; Up-to-the-minute coverage and video of all major fashion shows and collections; Search, comment on, clip and save articles and images; Daily downloadable PDF of WWD worldwide access; Searchable access to every article and image from the past 12 month's issues; Access to daily newsletters and weekly digests via email; Read it anytime, anywhere." The last item seems to be trying to sell it a little too hard. Couldn't any online and print pub make the same claim?
We just received our "Morning Report," and wish that they still gave us a sentence describing each story, but we do like the improved feature in "print" mode—it's now cleanly laid out with images. In fact, the viewing of images all around is better. We'll have to navigate some more to make a complete assessment. Racked NYC cues us to an article in Portfolio in May, which "speculated that it might be a response to challenges from more nimble sites like Style.com, Fashionweekdaily.com and New York magazine's The Cut."
· WWD [wwd.com]
The Challenge: Using their models as clients, the designers' mission was to create a cocktail dress with environmentally-friendly fabrics. The jaw-dropping twist? The models would hit Mood to buy the fabrics of their choice with $75. Kenley's model said Kenley "had a look of complete disgust" when she heard the news. Cut to a model in Mood asking: "How much is a yard?" This caused additional stress for some designers who ended up with the same rusty-brown satin to work with.
The week, the winning designer would not get immunity, but instead their dress would be sold and manufactured by Bluefly.com. Natalie Portman, known for her green conscience and her vegan Te Casan shoe line, was the guest judge, and, as you'd expect, was kind in her criticism. Ultra-tan Blayne is still making up -licious words—this week it was calling Heidi Klum "Darthlicious," his cute version of Darth Vader because she's "all shiny and put together" on the outside, but on the inside she's "cr-azy!" No, it's not going to stop.
Project Runway, Season 4 winner Christian Siriano has just launched his capsule collection for online retailer Bluefly, as part of his prize. The collection ranges from $96 for a jersey 'Transylvania' top with folded, pleated detailing at the shoulder to $590 for the 'Posh' black puff-sleeve blouse, named after fan Victoria Beckham. It's definitely a toned-down Siriano we're seeing here, as compared to his winning runway show, but the Bluefly video shot to capture a bit of the process is rather telling. Siriano says "It's hard to do something cute and wearable that hasn't been done a million billion times, so that's why I'm still very high fashion. I like to do that, if I'm not going to make $10 billion, whatever, it's just more interesting." So, despite Siriano giving the editorial shoot his "super fierce" stamp of approval, you get the feeling that there are much more interesting challenges the designer hopes to face than a "cute and wearable" collection closer to the masses. Check the video after the jump.
· Christian Siriano for Bluefly [bluefly.com]
The most recent trailer for The Hills Season 4 has been released and it's notably devoid of fashion. It's all about who's dating who, and who's dating whose potential boyfriend. Gawker is not at all pleased about these developments: "...judging from a boy-filled online preview (after the jump), it seems just as dull, soul-crushing, and deliciously fucking awful as ever. Most of this is sentiment is heralded by the increasing presence of one Stephanie Pratt, the crescent moon-faced sister of Mattel experiment gone wrong Spencer. She's stirring it up by dating boys belonging to other girls, lying, and bitching." Well, she's always been bad news, but Pratt's seeming to amp up her antics. But, where's the fashion? Where are the biting remarks from Kelly Cutrone at People's Revolution?
· New Season of The Hills Promises More Terrific Awfulness [Gawker]
Racked NYC tips us to the sneak peek video of Natalie Portman's guest judge appearance on tonight's episode of Project Runway. Of course, the contestants are excited—"I almost peed my pants"—and, of course, the critiques sound rough—"her head is like stuck on spikes."
· Tonight's Project Runway: A Sneak Peek [Racked NYC]
First there was HSN and QVC for all your watch, call and buy needs. Ecommerce has made it virtually unnecessary to leave your home for anything. Now, per the WSJ, TiVo and Amazon have combined the TV/online shopping experience with "Product Purchase," which
"allow[s] consumers to purchase products from Amazon through their television sets using their TiVo remote control. The products are available through Amazon.com on any broadcast or cable network, as well as any interactive advertising feature. The new program...also lets customers search for and buy products associated with shows, movies, actors, and directors. Purchases will be secured with a PIN associated with the user's Amazon.com account."
The new point-and-buy service will debut with products pegged to shows such as Oprah and The Colbert Report. Can you imagine the loot Oprah's favorite things show could bring in if all that merch was put on Amazon? What's the amped up version of product placement? Colbert, we need you to come up with a pithy term, and then we'll buy it!
· TiVo, Amazon Let Customers Buy Products by Remote Control [WSJ]
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First there was HSN and QVC for all your watch, call and buy needs. Ecommerce has made it virtually unnecessary to leave your home for anything. Now, per the 
