Tan Mom Tells It Like It Is…or Something, Manish Arora Exits Paco Rabanne and Beyonce’s a Literary Prize-Winner

Edited by Lester Brathwaite

- When you exit through the gift shop of The Met‘s “Impossible Conversations” exhibit, you’ll find surreal (and severely overpriced) souvenirs like a lips pin and a Prada flame shoe ornament. [Met Museum]

- Tan Mom may well be the best thing to come out of New Jersey since…well, my mind’s gone blank on that front. While discretely hiding the box of Franzia in her handbag, Patricia Krentcil lashed out at those who accused her of taking her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning salon, saying that “they’re jealous, they’re fat and they’re ugly.” [Jezebel]

Lookk! CC KUO Wins Fashion Design Grand Prize

Edited by Jessica Lapidos

Hundreds of designers have been campaigning since September for the Lookk 1Hundred Designers Competition. A panel of digital judges including designer Manish Arora, blogger Susie Bubble and our own EIC Samantha Lim whittled the masses down to 100 in November, and now that panel has selected its ultimate winner: CC KUO. 

INDIE NEWSROOM: Roberto Cavalli’s Spring Campaign Crammed with Supers…Barbie Kardashian and her Dream Sham Wedding…Blue Ivy Carter Supposedly Not the Only Baby Born This Weekend

Edited by Lester Brathwaite

- Daphne Groeneveld is stomping with the big girls now. The 17-year-old holds her own with superstar supermodels Naomi Campbell, Kristen McMenamy and Karen Elson – who are collectively 1,245 years old — for Roberto Cavalli‘s spring 2012 campaign, shot by Steven Meisel. [Vogue UK]

LOOKK! Last Chance to Vote for your Favorite New Designer

Edited by Jessica Lapidos

You have just one more day to look at the designers in the LOOKK 1Hundred Designers competition and vote for your favorite. There are 129 designers in the running to gain entry into the hundred that will be voted upon by the panel of judges, including Manish Arora, Susie Bubble and our very own Samantha Lim). The grand prize is worth over 10,000 euros and will help the winner on their way to sartorial success. We told you about the many categories and prizes, now vote! Just click the heart on the item you like, and that designer will get a boost in the ranking. Vote your favorite in the running before the time is up!! If the designer is on the list tomorrow, they will be considered by the judges. Take a look at the top 5 as of this minute. 

LOOKK for the Next Big Designer with Manish Arora, Susie Bubble & Sam Lim

Edited by Jessica Lapidos

We at FashionIndie are ever searching for the fountain of youthful designers, and we’ve just tapped a deep resource. Where is it you ask? Lookk. No really, Lookk. It’s a site where emerging designers can show their lookbook and connect with their customer fan base as they go through the production and retail process. Right now there’s a competition going on called 1Hundred Designers, where the pool gets narrowed down to 100, then are judged by a panel helmed byManish Arora and Susie Bubble. Our very own EIC Samantha Lim is on the digital panel, so you know we’ll be judging all up in here. 

#CzechItOut: Stunning Hand-and-Breath-Made Glass

Edited by Jessica Lapidos

Tucked away in the spa valley that is Karlovy Vary (AKA Carlsbad) in the Czech Republic, bustles a factory of artisans creating the kind of glasses we don’t normally think about. It is the Moser glassblowing factory where they create handmade, one-of-a-kind, gilded, painted, bevelled, engraved and stunning stemware, carafes and more for those with the highest taste.

The Daily Gasp: Paco Rabanne Spring 2012

Edited by Lester Brathwaite

I might have to rescind my previous statement regarding Gareth Pugh being the show of the season as I nearly passed out from hyperventilation thanks to Paco Rabanne‘s spring 2012 collection. 

Peekaboo Paris: See Through Runway

Edited by Jessica Lapidos

New York already cut it out, but now Paris is playing this game too. The game is Peek-a-Boo and the goal is to show enough without showing everything. These are little slits that come in slight shapes, some veiled, some open straight to skin. These open slivers are the sexiest pseudo-exhibitionist cuts to come off of the Paris runway.

10 Optical Looks from Paris Fashion Week

Edited by Jessica Lapidos

With a trick of the eye, les parisiens have presented dazzling and dizzying looks thus far this week. See what designers like Gareth Pugh, Rick Owens, Balenciaga, Mugler and others are doing to make you do a double take. 

Our Top 3 Avant Gardians Abroad

Edited by Jessica Lapidos

To create something new in fashion is strangely a rarity. Think: McQueen, Kawakubo, Margiela… We’ve imported them from abroad, the three that are turning it out right now. It’s the kind of fashion that makes your cutting jaw hit your 7 inch platforms in sartorial lust. Our top 3 Indie Imports are: