“My idea was to work around the trompe l’oeil concept with the Birkin,” Hermes designer, Jean Paul Gaultier, recently explained to Harper’s Bazaar. “The flap, straps, and clochette seem to have been chiseled in the raw material, the result of unbelievable craftsmanship.” And the price… just under $11,000.

I bet Hermes is wishing Steve Irwin was still around to hunt crocodiles, because the French luxury good company has recently succumb to farming their own crocodiles in order to keep up with demand for their leather bags. Some bags, which push nearly $50,000, take multiple crocodiles to make, and since the waiting list for a Hermes Birkin bag can exceed two years, Hermes would be foolish not to start raising their own purse-bound crocodiles! Hmm…I thought the recession made it somewhat inappropriate to flaunt your wealth? I guess not, because this crocodile farming is perfect proof that customers are still biting! 

Thanks Reuters!

Can I just state the fact that this outfit is worth more then everything in my closet + my car….

LINKAGE: Olsens Anonymous

It’s amazing how long it took before Vicky stole a look for Katie’s playbook.

For a while I thought this friendship was one-sided in a weird, Single White Female sort-of way, in which Katie was trying her best to look like Becks in an attempt to dump the gay alien for the footballer. Of course, now it seems the tables have turned and Victoria is ready to look like Kate. My guess is she wants to trade in those mutant spawns for Suri. Okay, her kids are cute, but come on people, I’d sell a few of my first borns for a Suri anyday.

Now back to the look, yes the boyfriend jeans are suddenly cool again, yes Katie Holmes wore them first, and yes they are friends so these might actually be Katie’s jeans. Only Victoria has added a $15,000 Birkin bag to the mix, her own 8-carat, wrist bending diamond ring, and some cheap ass looking flip flops (prob worth more then my entire wardrobe, but still).

So do we love it, or should she send this look back to Katie and stick to wearing her own collection?

PHOTOS: Just Jared

Controversy bells ring yet again through the pages of Vogue. It is safe to say that there are no more racially stereotypical cover shots subliminally portraying NBA athletes as members of the primate family. This time, however, Vogue India has put critics in uproar over a 16-page spread featuring the indigent and impoverished decorated with designer accessories. From costly Hermes Birkin bags to Fendi bibs and more, critics fear that the poverty of India is exploited and augmented as the models, or should we say “props,” flaunt accessories they cannot even afford to dream about. Despite the claims that fashion is art, no matter how it is portrayed, we as human beings must ask ourselves one very crucial question: Where should the fashion industry draw the line between expression of fashion as art and expression of fashion as unethical, chagrin and downright disrespectful?

Thanks Jezebel!