Object of Desire: Maison Legeron Black Bouquet brooch

The last remaining Parisian haute couture flower maker, Maison Legeron, sells very few items to the public. This handmade velvet & pure silk floral brooch in black is £280/€300/$392 from Couture Lab

Previous objects of desire here

Karl Lagerfeld & Amy Wino

Oh for crying out loud. I am so fed up with Karl Lagerfeld's muse bandwagon. It seems like every other month he announces that some high profile female celebrity is his new muse. WGSN ran this quote today, "She is a style icon. She is a beautiful, gifted artist. And I very much like her hairdo. I took it as an inspiration. Because, in fact, it was also Brigitte Bardot's hairdo in the late Fifties and Sixties. And now Amy has made it her own style. So, when I saw her, I knew it was the right moment. Amy... she is the new Brigitte."

ACK. As I have said before, dear Karl would appoint Princess Fiona as his new muse if he thought it politic.

Pierre Hardy for Gap IS coming to the US

WGSN reports today that Gap WIlL be launching the covetable Pierre Hardy shoe collection in the US, three months after the European collection made its debut in France and in the UK. The collection will be available online and in Gap stores nationwide beginning February 2008. It's not clear yet whether this will be the same collection that was available in Europe, as Hardy has been tapped for a second collection to launch in the Spring in Europe.

Lest you are unfamilar with Pierre Hardy, apart from his blissful eponymous line, he has also designed some of the most iconic shoes for Balenciaga and for Hermes. He's possibly the most exciting, and stealth, shoe designer working today. He's a super intellignt choice for Gap: instead of using a marquee (and somewhat vulgar) name like H&M did with Cavalli, they have gone for a designer whose work speaks for itself, rather than screaming off the pages of gossip rags.

It's interesting that they are launching here, as the European Gaps are run separately from the US ones: they have their own design team, producing vastly superior and more fashion forward pieces than the US team. Back in August the UK PR told me that the US team were visiting London imminently to talk about buying from the European collection. Let's hope that the Pierre Hardy collection is the first step in this direction. (Especially for me: Gap is twice the price in the UK.)

The US collection will range from platforms to flats priced $78-$98, which is a damn sight cheaper than it was in England, where the black platform heels retailed for £70/$140.

I, of course, am feeling smug as my pair of Pierre for Gap arrive today, courtesy of my fabulous ex-managing editor who offered, yes, offered to go buy me a pair and send them to the US after reading on here of my desire for a pair of Mr Hardy's diffusion shoes.

Chanel bicycle: designed for women by men...

This is Chanel's new eight speed bicycle with, um, quilting details, costing a neat £6,200, & available in store from December. But my question is: It's a bicycle designed for women. Why then does it have a cross bar?

Oh for goodness sake....

Vanity Fair has put Victoria Beckham on its best-dressed list. ARE THEY INSANE? She has absolutely no imagination or style, and dresses like a German fashion editor most of the time (that is she obviously points to a complete runway look and then wears it head to toe). And what about the fact that many designers refuse point blank to dress her, for fear of devaluing their brand? ( Obviously Chanel is the notable exception but, as I have noted before, Karl Lagerfeld would dress Princess Fiona if he thought she would get him some media exposure.)

Yet another muse for Karl Lagerfeld....

Rumour has it that the latest addition to the Chanel stable is 17 yr old Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame. This wouldn't be enormously surprising as she has been sporting Chanel at most of her public appearances, and has just signed with Storm.

I'm starting to get just a little bit bored of Karl Legerfeld's increasingly desperate attempts to appear relevant, and it's not as if Chanel is a sinking brand in desperate need of rejuvenation. Honestly the man changes muse more often then New Yorkers change bottled water brands, and it's becoming hard to keep up. Seems like a young woman only has to appear in a moderately successful film or release a catchy pop song and Karl is beating down her door. Kate Moss, Vanessa Paradis, Nicole Kidman, Selma Blair, Anna Mouglalis, Fergie, Rinko Kiuchi, Diane Kruger, even flippin Kimora Lee have all flown the flag for Karl, and it only seems like days since Lindsay Lohan was flavour of the month, although at least Emma has been vocal about her dislike of booze & drugs so hopefully no chance of embarrassing links to Chanel a la Lohan. And whatever happened to Lily Allen?

It all makes me long for the days of the good old workhorse supermodel that is Claudia Schiffer.