"Couture meets Street"... that was the tagline for Busta Rhymes' ill fated 1999 Japanese inspired fashion line- Bushi. The one and only collection featured bright colors and origami like prints on kimonos, leather shirts, jackets and other items the former Leader of the New School rapper used to wear in his videos. The line- meaning warrior in Japanese- soon folded right after the fall debut. Although the hood clearly was not ready then, the rap industry is now synonymous with fashion and flashy individual style, so what about now? Bring it back or nah?

Women's Wear Daily (WWD) is reporting that shoe emporium Steve Madden has acquired fellow shoemaker Brian Atwood's luxury shoe business from The Jones Group.

This move is a good look for New York native Madden, who has operated as a contemporary fashion shoe business since opening in 1990, and will insert his company into the growing luxury shoe market.  This is also good for Atwood- infamous for designing sexy architectural sky scraper heels and who also studied design under the late Gianni Versace- as he is planning on a brand expansion and will eventually branch off into handbags, apparel and a men's collection, which will hopefully be ready to ship in time for Spring 2015.

The Jones Group, who also owns designer, classic and contemporary brands like Stuart Weitzman, Robert Rodriguez, Nine West, Jones New York, Rachel Rachel Roy and Anne Klein among others has been busy unloading underperforming brands and is responsible for the closing of Atwood's Manhattan flagship store (it was the property of the Jones Group) as well as the dismissal of designer Rachel Roy's namesake label.

*Fun fact* Steve Madden served two and half years for fraud and was portrayed in the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street"... read more about that here.

 

When it comes to mixing street style with high fashion, no one does it better than Caribbean songstress Rihanna! She has been a muse to new and established designers alike, from Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel,  to Olivier Rousteing of Balmain, Peter Dundas for Pucci, Alexander Wang and Tom Ford- all of whom paid homage to the style star in various runway shows from this past season.

So is it really any surprise that RiRi is the recipient of this year's 2014 Fashion Icon Award, a high honor from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) awards committee? 

Steven Kolb, the CFDA's chief executive officer, says, "We are proud to present  Rihanna with the CFDA Fashion Icon Award for her impact on the industry as  fashion's most exciting ambassador in recent memory."

 Joining the ranks of fashion risk takers and trendsetters Lady Gaga, Kate Moss, Iman and Nicole Kidman, who held it down this year better than princess Rihanna? Three American Vogue covers, a recent Balmain campaign, a rumored stint as a silent ambassador for Chanel, a guest designer for a River Island collection and a few MAC collabs... RiRi did the damn thing!

 She has been making waves in the fashion and beauty industry for awhile now and deserves to be honored. It's true that she owes most of her sartorial choices to her longtime stylist Mel Ottenberg  and costume designer Adam Selman, who both add to her award winning style by encouraging her to take risks and look for different silhouettes, cuts and textures and to use up and coming designers when most stars play it safe.

Whenever and wherever Rihanna steps out, you know she's gonna kill it! Congratulations, Rihanna! Check out a few of my fave looks worn by her down below...

And they said it would never happen... Kim Kardashian on the cover of American Vogue that is.  Editrix Anna Wintour (the inspiration behind the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada) had a change of heart and gave the okay for Kim and her fiance, controversial Grammy award winning rapper, Kanye West, to appear on the cover for the April issue of the popular fashion magazine.

The change of heart came after lifting a years long ban that allowed Kim K to finally attend the prestigious Wintour curated MET Gala last year, (in that much talked about botanical Givenchy number that got dragged by every person in America and beyond, and that Wintour famously cropped out of the Best Dressed photos- the SHADE lol) and comes on the heels of many private dinners and months of (rumored) begging/pleading by Kanye to have Kim featured on the cover.  It's still pretty unbelievable that the woman who "allegedly" said that Kim K was "the worst thing since socks and sandals" is now promoting her on the cover of Vogue magazine. 


Obviously die hard fashionistas are not pleased, with many on Twitter threatening to boycott the issue. Wintour could care less and explained to detractors,

 "the magazine has a tradition of being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it.''
She added: ''I think we can all agree on the fact that that role is currently being played by Kim and Kanye to a T. (Or perhaps that should be to a K?).... you may have read that Kanye begged me to put his fiancée on Vogue‘s cover. He did nothing of the sort. The gossip might make better reading, but the simple fact of the matter is that it isn’t true.”

Okay Anna girl, it's your world, I just hope the beautiful Lupita has next!

The fashion industry lost another designer too soon... yesterday morning, designer, former model and celebrity stylist, L'Wren Scott was found in her home as a result of an apparent suicide.

Scott started out as a model for the house of Chanel, before branching out and becoming a Hollywood stylist. She established her own fashion house eight years ago with the debut of her collection, "Little Black Dress". She found success in dressing Hollywood stars and continued creating her deceptively simple but beautifully made gowns and dresses for her celeb clientele, often serving food to buyers and journalists for her sit down dinner runway shows.

Scott also happened to be the girlfriend of rockstar Mick Jagger and a personal favorite of actress Nicole Kidman. She will be missed by both the industry and fans of her designs as well.