• Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière on latex, which he used for his fall 2008 collection: “I’m not saying I’m Stella McCartney or anything but, although it’s not seen that way, latex is, in fact, very noble because it comes from trees. It’s a natural texture… Usually, latex evokes sex and S&M but I didn’t want to say that at all.” [Independent]
• Watches might be the new “It” item. Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino, Versace, and Roberto Cavalli have all introduced pricey new watches in the past two years, and brands like Dior and Chanel are expanding their watch divisions. Dare we say, it’s about time? [WWD]
• Marchesa co-founder Georgina Chapman will guest-design a jewelry collection for Garrard. The Georgina Chapman for Garrard line will launch during September Fashion Week in New York and cost about $10,000 to $15,000. [WWD]
• Preen is designing a capsule cruise collection exclusively for Net-a-Porter.com. The range of six metallic dresses will be available October 22. [British Vogue]
• In case you missed it, Kiev (a city that’s home to both a Chanel and a Louis Vuitton boutique) is currently hosting Ukrainian Fashion Week. Looks so far include “overly complicated picnic and cocktail dresses” and “great” suede cowboy-Cossack boots with rosettes. [FWD]
