Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Titian and “Mona Lisa” herself — coming soon, to a handbag near you, if you happen by the Champs-Élysées, 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, or any of the 150 Louis Vuitton outposts where the brand’s new, flashy Jeff-Koons-has-his-way-with-the-Masters collaboration will be housed beginning April 28.
In a big, splashy, celebrity-laden party at the Louvre on April 11, under the gaze of Mona herself, Vuitton formally presented Koons’ collection of handbags and small leather goods, which had been on full view on the brand’s web site throughout the day. In pictures, at least, the bags look amazing. They’re a lot of fun, a little outrageous and beautiful — if your idea of beauty veers somewhere between bucolic romp and steely eyed Leonardo da Vinci diva, and whose doesn’t? They’re all marked with a little bunny charm indicating, “Koons worked here.” As for the rights to the paintings, just like “Happy Birthday” and “Hamlet,” these masterpieces fall under public domain, including the 500-year-old “most famous painting in the world,” whose legally co-opted image graces everything from refrigerator magnets and T-shirts to endless artists’ homages and satires. Still, the cost of this enterprise to Vuitton is unimaginable — and its anticipated returns,

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Sheer panels and lingerie galore…

SHANGHAI — With 85 shows and presentations over eight days — and a total of almost 1,000 brands participating in showrooms and trade shows around the city — Shanghai Fashion Week has grown to be the epicenter of China’s fashion business.
The continuing evolution of the country’s retail scene to accommodate an explosion of buyer’s shops and multibrand stores is proving a major boost to the business element of the week.
“Now there is some interest and attention from buyers to us here in Shanghai. For the Chinese market, there is a big opportunity, at the showrooms here we see a lot of Chinese buyers coming up,” said Lv Xiaolei, known universally as “Madame Lv,” vice secretary-general of Shanghai Fashion Week.
Fan Yang, the founder of YCO Foundation, a Chinese platform that offers both online and offline showrooms, agrees that industry growth is making this an exciting time for fashion in Shanghai and China, though she cautions that education and consolidation are still important factors to consider in this still-emerging market.
“Shanghai Fashion Week is getting more and more layered and more and more multidimensional; it’s good for the designers and it’s good for the multilabel stores,” she said.
“It’s an exciting time and there are

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Let’s hear it for the…girls?
To rewrite the song lyric, that seems to be fashion brands’ new tune as more and more designers opt for coed shows, most often putting men’s wear in with their women’s collections in February/March and September/October.
The movement toward the strategy is leaving some buyers and editors in what Euromonitor says is the $414.2 billion men’s wear industry feeling a little spurned, since few retailers or publications have the budget to send their teams over to Europe or the U.S. four times a year.
No doubt having one show instead of two allows brands such as Burberry, Gucci and Vetements to cut costs while simultaneously presenting a cohesive message that works for many labels in an increasingly unisex, gender-fluid world. But many other brands have also embraced the coed movement including Etro, Calvin Klein, Bottega Veneta, Kenzo, Paul Smith, Dsquared2, Moschino, Vivienne Westwood and Cédric Charlier, shaking up the system.
Despite the shifts and potential controversy, show organizers are taking it in stride.
“I would not dwell on a rigid separation between men’s and women’s calendars, as the situation is much more fluid than in the past,” said Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian fashion body Camera Nazionale della Moda.

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EASTER CELEBRATION: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined the royal family at an Easter service in Windsor on Sunday.
The duke and duchess joined Princess Anne, Autumn and Peter Phillips, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice at St. George’s Chapel, near Windsor Castle. The service was officiated by the Dean of Windsor.

Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice of York, the Duchess of Cambridge (in Catherine Walker) and Prince William. 
EPA/REX/Shutterstock

Kate Middleton — who curtsied to the Queen as the monarch arrived — wore a bespoke tailored Catherine Walker cream coat with a Peter Pan collar.

The Duchess of Cambridge bows as The Queen Elizabeth II arrives. 
EPA/REX/Shutterstock

The Duchess of Cambridge in Catherine Walker. 
REX/Shutterstock

The designer was a favorite of Princess Diana’s and Kensington Palace currently has an exhibit titled “Diana: Her Fashion Story,” which showcases looks she wore during daytime public engagements as well as for evening occasions.
Housed at the palace’s Pigott Galleries, the show spans six rooms, part of the Queen’s Apartments, which were built for Queen Mary II. The showcase includes 25 pieces that range from the evening gowns she wore in the Eighties to the Catherine Walker suits she donned in the Nineties. Walker has the most looks of all the labels featured in

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