With all the kerfuffle over John Galliano -- and the rampant speculation of who might replace him at Christian Dior -- we almost missed the announcement of another personnel change in the French fashion world that landed in our inbox Tuesday. Kim Jones is replacing Paul Helbers as men's studio director at Louis Vuitton.

 Under artistic director Marc Jacobs, Helbers has been at the helm of the LV men's business for the last  five years -- a time period which saw the men's business nearly double, and included runway collections  inspired by African royalty, New York City bike messengers, the Wiener Werkstätte and, most recently, a mix of Amish simplicity and David Lynch creepiness.

Succeeding him in the position, effective Tuesday,  is Jones, who served as creative director of the century-old Alfred Dunhill brand for 2 1/2 years before leaving that post in September 2010.

I always thought Jones had a knack for interpreting and updating Dunhill's DNA -- not just in the clothing but accessories as well -- elegant Art Deco fountain pens, silk map-printed pocket squares and jump-drive keyfobs among them -- and I can't wait to see what he's going to do once he's turned loose in the vast archives of Louis Vuitton.

-- Adam Tschorn

"Witness" meets "Wild at Heart" at Louis Vuitton

 Photos: At top, the finale of the Louis Vuitton menswear AW11 runway show on Jan. 20, the last under men's studio director Paul Helbers. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times. At bottom, Kim Jones, who succeeds Helbers in that position effective Tuesday. Credit: Josh Olins.

Tom Ford threw a cocktail party Thursday night to celebrate the opening of his long-awaited Beverly Hills flagship store at 346 N. Rodeo Drive, and with the Academy Awards just 2 1/2 days away, the gray carpet leading into the store was crammed with a constellation of red carpet star power.

Milla Jovovich, wearing a Tom Ford black-and-white plaid suit and a black shirt unbuttoned to the navel, could be seen air-kissing photographer Terry Richardson in the white marble entry vestibule. Upstairs, Valentino could be seen chatting in one corner of the room; across from him, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson mugged for cellphone self-portraits with Ginnifer Goodwin. Colin Firth conversed with Harvey Weinstein near a rack of dresses, while Bradley Cooper and Eva Longoria chuckled over a flubbed cheek kiss. 

Through it all, the man of the hour, Tom Ford, stood like a groom in a receiving line, hugging and shaking hands with a parade of well-wishers that included some of the folks you'd expect -- Lisa Eisner, Karen Elson, Gina Gershon, Rosario Dawson and Adrien Brody -- and a few you might not, like Catherine O'Hara, Suzanne Somers and Norman Lear.

But the evening's breakout star was the space itself -- a 9,200-square-foot, two-floor temple of luxe, the first of his stores (other U.S. locations include New York City and Las Vegas) designed specifically to offer dedicated space to the new women's collection.

So it should be no surprise that the store feels a lot less masculine -- most of the Macassar ebony wood accents having given way to light grays and silvers -- including a staircase lined in highly polished mirror-finish stainless steel that made a trek up two flights of stairs feel like a disorienting trip past funhouse mirrors (which, unfortunately, didn't include a mirrored surface that could make me look thin.)

The first floor houses the menswear clothing and accessories collection -- which includes horn-handled shaving brushes the size of a toddler's forearm, and curling, ram-horn lighters three times that length -- as well as the perfumery, with the second floor housing women's clothing and accessories, including a handbag wall and separate areas designed to display the eveningwear, daywear, and footwear collections.

In addition to being able to check out the new digs, party-goers were also afforded the first-ever, up-close sneak peek at the new women's collection -- which will be available to the rest of the world today when the store opens to the public (the spring and summer 2011 collection can also be seen online at Ford's website by clicking here).

RELATED:  Tom Ford Gets Personal

 -- Adam Tschorn

Top photo: Photographers shoot the arrival of celebrity guests Thursday in front of the 23-foot-tall facade of the new Tom Ford flagship at 346 N. Rodeo Drove in Beverly Hills. Credit: Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times

Center: Tom Ford and Milla Jovovich on the gray carpet. Credit: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

Bottom: From left, Elizabeth Banks, Colin Firth and Ginnifer Goodwin were among the celebrities in attendance. Credit: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

Our Adam Tschorn spent the better part of the last month attending menswear designers' fall-winter 2011 runway shows in the world's fashion capitals. He saw some trends in Paris, Milan and New York that transcended political borders and look like what you're likely to find in stores later this year.

Get ready for chunky sweaters, bright colors, graphics and more. Get the whole scoop here.

-- Susan Denley 

Photo: From left, a look from the Rag & Bone fall-winter 2011 runway collection shown during New York Fasion Week; the Duckie Brown fall-winter 2011 runway collection shown during New York Fasion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times. 

Lady Gaga is on the cover of March Vogue, and she also is launching Vogue's new Cover Exclusive iPad app. The app, which went on sale at the iPad app store at midnight Wednesday, has the full text of the cover story, exclusive video from the photo shoot by Mario Testino and author Jonathan Van Meter's audio diary. [StyleList]

Anthropologie's BHLDN wedding collection, which launched this week, includes apparel and accessories, of course, but also decor such as cake toppers and glassware. [OhJoy!]

Chalk up another vote of confidence for Los Angeles-based Rodarte. The fashion house of sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy could be the next Alexander McQueen or Galliano, Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour says. [Telegraph]

Like mother, like son. Nick Ashley, son of Laura, is designing a new menswear line, Private White V.C., inspired by British World War I hero Jack White, who was awarded the Victoria Cross at age 20. [Telegraph] 

Old Navy is apparently putting those creepy talking mannequins to rest and kicking off a spring ad campaign Thursday featuring singers and dancers. [WWD] (Subscription required.)  

Bijou Van Ness hat designer Rehn Dudukgian, whom we've written about before, has a new hat collection that FabSugar says would be lovely on princess-to-be Kate Middleton. We agree! [FabSugar]

And speaking of head gear, Spirit Hoods, the Los Angeles maker of furry animal-inspired caps, is making them for kids now, as well as adult trendsters. [Style Section LA] 

--Susan Denley

Photo: Lady Gaga accepting the award for pop vocal album at the Grammys last Sunday. Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images 

A common theme among brands that are showing at the Project trade show in Las Vegas has been classic Americana and the Old West. The look has been extremely popular in menswear for several seasons now (Adam Tschorn also reported on the trend of all things country), especially with the revival and hipsterization of labels like Pendleton and Woolrich Woolen Mills, and it is apparently marching forward into fall, but this time as women’s accessories, unisex knits and denim.

Bright southwestern prints a la Pendleton are extremely popular. L.A-based bag designer Natsuko Hagiwara of the line Me & Arrow is doing a collection of bags and wallets that are made of new and vintage fabrics that have an old wool blanket kind of feel. Most are mixed with worn leather handles and details for an even more authentic Southwestern aesthetic. Pendleton is also hot on the accessories trail with iPad covers in their signature bright, blanket fabrics.

The Old West is coming across the strongest in outerwear. Besides Pendleton’s wide range of jackets -– a light washed denim jacket with a pattern yolk from the men’s fall line was getting  an especially good response from buyers –- Junior and Young Contemporary lines such as the Orange County-based BB Dakota and Jack brands tapped heavily into the old West and Southwest prints for their fall coat selection.

An 80-year-old Canadian company called Granted has heavy, hand-knit wool jackets that incorporate Native American details such as images of dream catchers and eagles knit into the back of the jackets.

And a company called The West is Dead, who are just launching their menswear line for fall 2011, has focused its entire brand on preserving the details and aesthetic of the American Wild West. All the garments are designed and made in Los Angeles, but the company’s two creative directors, Will Cheng and Kaelen McCrane, are based in Salt Lake City and San Diego, respectively. A designer in L.A executes the duo’s vision, after they’re done digging for inspiration in piles of vintage wares. They incorporate interesting details from   authentic industrial work wear into the jeans, barn jackets and cotton knit shirts.

Even the brand’s cold weather gloves are modeled after work wear -- construction worker style gloves. And every single hang tag contains a buffalo head nickel from between 1918 to 1930. Talk about attention to detail. But it seems to make sense since Cheng and McCrane met while teaching fly fishing in northern Montana and soon bonded over their appreciation for classic American work wear. “I think I belong in a time period from 50, no, 100 years ago.” says Cheng.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

Photos: (Top) Denim jacket and iPad cover from Pendleton's Fall 2011 line. (Right) Jackets from Jack's Fall 2011 line. (Left) A bag from Me& Arrow. (Bottom) Chinos, button-down shirts and gloves from The West is Dead.  Credit: Melissa Magsaysay / Los Angeles Times

The women's side of the collection, which was presented in a separate runway show, may have been "chalet chic meets the street," but the Rag & Bone menswear was cool Brittania all the way.

With inspirations that included English gamekeepers, Scottish game hunters and the Duke of Windsor (a perennial touchstone of men's fashion), and a color palette that included hunter green, sky blue and a riot of plaids, the design duo of Marcus Wainwright and David Neville tapped into the British invasion of the fall-winter 2011 menswear collections that we started to see at the European shows in January (Yves Saint Laurent in particular comes to mind).

That meant tartan Lowland blazers, moss green windowpane tweed Highland blazers, kilts (with the occasional sporran) herringbone vests, Oxford button-down shirts and hobnail boots.

There's perhaps no piece of headgear more quintessentially English than the bowler hat, and there were
plenty of felt bowlers on hand (make that head) in a range of colors including blue, red, ivory, rust and beige.

But the inspiration wasn't purely plucked from across the pond, the collection included some touches of classic Americana as well, such as varsity jackets and swirling varsity letter appliques (the swirling letters "R" and "B," awarded, one can assume, for lettering in runway) and trousers and blazers in the blanket-weight wool we've come to associate with the American West in general (and Pendleton in particular).

Oh, did we mention there were also toggle button coats? Given the number of toggle closures and horn-shaped buttons we've seen since the shows started in mid-January, if there was such a thing as toggle futures, an early investor might expect to have buttoned up a tidy profit by the time fall 2011 rolls around.

-- Adam Tschorn in New York

Photos: Looks from the Rag & Bone menswear runway show Friday during New York Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times

Nautica set sail for the Great Lakes for fall-winter 2011 -- specifically the Sleeping Bear Dunes region of Lake Michigan, with a color palette inspired by the blues of the water, the brown hues of the sand dunes and bright pops of safety orange as an homage to the U.S. Coast Guard (that region has had a long history with the Coast Guard, and it is even home to the Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum.

The vivid accent color and naval heritage reminded me of the way Mark McNairy's Woolrich Woolen Mills naval-inspired collection in Milan last month used pops of yellow (inspired by the safety vests on aircraft carriers), another collection that included puffer vests, toggle coats and knit caps.

But, as a larger, more mass-market label, Nautica's fall-winter wares also included jackets, sweatshirts and cargo shorts, some of which drew inspiration from naval dress white uniforms and semaphore flags.

-- Adam Tschorn in New York

Photos: Looks from the Nautica menswear presentation on Feb. 11, 2011, during New York Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times.

The spring-summer fashion week runways are no stranger to California-inspired collections, but this week a couple of the menswear labels mined the Golden State to create cool-weather wardrobes.

One of those was N. Hoolywood, a decade-old Japanese label that made its New York Fashion Week debut with a presentation in September, rolled out a full-scale runway show for its sophomore effort, which was inspired by the late 19th century, early 20th century mountain climbers who scaled Yosemite National Park's Half Dome in outfits that differed little from the street clothes of the era.

That meant  a parade of ruddy-faced, bearded mountaineers wearing a collection of tweed and khaki knee pants, safari jackets  and lots of layered pieces, accessorized with the ice axes, carabiners, ropes and pitons of the mountain-scaling trade.

The color palette was a wash of muted tones -- white, gray, black and khaki -- with a couple of blanket-wool pieces in a mustard-yellow plaid, and, in addition to the aforementioned khaki and tweed, the collection was heavy on the cable-knit pieces -- including one head-to-toe look that included a cable-knit cap and what appeared to be cable-knit long underwear.

We've seen an inordinate amount of corduroy on the men's runways this week and here the ribbed fabric turning up on safari jackets, Tyrolean-inspired hats, and in trousers with patched-in pieces of horizontal-wale corduroy alternating with the traditional vertical-wale corduroy.

It's a typical piece for the menswear label designed by Daisuke Obana -- who clearly knows how to take something familiar, turn it sideways and come up with something novel.

-- Adam Tschorn in New York

Photos: Looks from the N. Hoolywood fall-winter 2011 N. Hoolywood menswear runway collection that showed on Feb. 11, 2011, during New York Fashion Week. Credit: N. Hoolywood.

The Friday showing of Tommy Hilfiger's fall-winter 2011 menswear collection felt like the the fashion week equivalent of Opposite Day.

Fresh off last season's outsized 25th-anniversary bash in the cavernous tents at Lincoln Center, the designer chose to show his menswear in the clubby, intimate dining room of The Lion restaurant in the West Village -- a space roughly the size of a Manhattan apartment.

And, while the designer milled about, chatted with guests and posed for photographs before the show began, he didn't step out to make the traditional designer's appearance after the runway finale.

But Tommy Hilfiger's biggest -- and most significant -- move in the opposite direction was the menswear collection itself. Having plumbed the preppie pantheon for decades, and even kicking it up a notch with his spring-summer 2011 "twisted country club" collection, Hilfiger has toned down the color, trimmed down the silhouette and turned to the indie music scene for inspiration.

That meant burgundy wool, gray cashmere and military green cotton alongside the navy blues and khakis of the Hilfiger DNA, with the occassional punch of claret red (in cashmere and corduroy).

Along with the clubby influences of British boarding schools and Brooklyn clubs, Hilfiger mined the military motif  in a way he hasn't in the past, ("Airforce blue is the new navy," proclaimed the show notes), with lapel pins that resembled military insignia, regimental stripes and a subtle camouflage pattern print that pairs the aforementioned shade of blue and black on single-breasted suit jackets and cable knit sweaters.

Back in November, it was announced that designer Simon Spurr (who is showing his eponymous line during New York Fashion Week) had been tapped to serve as a creative consultant to Tommy Hilfiger menswear, and his influence could be seen here, especially in the sharp-tailored pieces, and the recurring double-stripe motif Spurr favors appearing on wool coats and neckties.

It wasn't completely Opposite Day, though: Like many of the menswear labels shown in Milan and Paris in January, the collection was heavily focused on outerwear pieces, including the nearly ubiquitous toggle button coat (Hilfiger threw in a few chunky knit scarves with toggle button closures for good measure), and blanket wool coats.

At first blush, the fall-winter 2011 menswear collection may seem like an abrupt shift from the traditional Tommy we all know and love, but with the label now officially in its second quarter-century, it's actually more of an evolution.
 
Call it Tommy 2.0

 -- Adam Tschorn in New York

Tommy Hilfiger Fall-Winter 2011 runway collection photo gallery

Photos: Looks from the Tommy Hilfiger Fall-Winter 2011 runway collection. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter for The Times.

What's not to love about a runway look that combines a three-piece burgundy corduroy suit, a unicorn lapel pin, a pair of Christian Louboutin slippers and a genuine maroon felt Moroccan fez?

That was one of the outfits that menswear designer Marlon Gobel sent down a narrow runway in the foyer of the Park Avenue Armory in New York on Thursday.

That the show took place under the watchful gaze of oil paintings of decorated military men from generations past, uniforms bristling with coded rank and insignia was appropriate, given that Gobel had chosen to explore the idea of secret orders -- the Odd Fellows, the Freemasons, the Knights of Pythias and the like.

"Menswear has all this ceremonial stuff behind it," Gobel explained to me after the show. "People wear it and don't know why, so I envisioned this mythical club that worships unicorns."

We didn't get a chance to learn much more about Gobel's mysterious Order of the Unicorn, but based on the show we can tell you that in addition to unicorns, corduroy and Christian Louboutin shoes (with a trademark red sole that is a secret signal all by itself) its members have a penchant for hand-painted velvet blazers that depict storm-tossed ships, forested woodlands and soaring cliffs, crisp rep-stripe ties, and dress shirts in brightly patterned madras, blue-micro-checked and micro-gingham patterns.

Many of the outfits were styled with gold braided belts with side tassels the size of hand bells at the hip, reminiscent of the huge tasseled pull-cords used to pull back heavy velvet theater curtains.

And that's what Gobel was doing with his fall/winter 2011 collection -- trying to pull back the curtains on the customs and rituals behind hundreds of years of menswear. 

Sure, shawl-collar sweaters with intarsia designs of prancing unicorns, black cashmere shrugs and velveteen worn plaid three-piece suits may come off as a little over the top when styled together on a single runway, but most of Gobel's goods would be right at home in a well-rounded, fashion-forward wardrobe.

Or maybe even that next Shriners lodge meeting.

-- Adam Tschorn in New York

Photos: Looks from the Marlon Gobel fall/winter 2011 runway collection shown during New York Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson and Peter Stigter / For The Times

The Duckie Brown menswear collection that hit the runway at Lincoln Center on the opening day of Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week was full of slouchy, roomy, twisted and asymmetrical garments, from the opening look, which paired a pair of gray flannel wrap trousers with a baggy sweater designed with the armholes pitched forward (resulting in a look that was somewhere between hobo clothes and a straightjacket), to the camel-colored cashmere wrap coat and deep V-neck sweater and generously cut eight-pleat trousers that closed the show.

By using a subdued color palette heavy on the shades of gray (smoke gray, charcoal gray) with white, black and one or two pops of cornflower blue, the Duckie duo of Steven Cox and Daniel Silver let the texture of the garments take center stage.

In addition to flannels, herringbones, twills and tweeds, there were shaggy shearling jackets, textured overcoats, corduroy trousers, and a speckly, nubbled fabric that appeared on sweaters and jackets.

There were two memorable pieces that took the notion of texture to opposite extremes. The first was a pearl sweatshirt -- not pearl-colored, mind you, but actual strands of the nacre-covered spheres -- and the second was a funnel-neck peacoat printed with a gray twisted sweater pattern that recalled an M.C. Escher print.

Perhaps it'll be the perfect jacket for the guy who feels like he's really been through the wringer.

-- Adam Tschorn in New York

Duckie Brown Fall/Winter 2011 runway photo gallery

Photos: Looks from the Duckie Brown Fall/Winter 2011 runway collection shown on Feb. 10, 2011, during New York Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter / For The Times.

You don't need to know anything about Greg Lauren's artwork to appreciate -- or wear -- his debut clothing line that hit retail shelves of Barneys New York on Madison Avenue on Monday (as well as Barneys' doors in San Francisco and Beverly Hills and smaller boutiques such as Maxfield in West Hollywood). 

But if you've previously seen his crumpled-paper creations at art exhibits (like the one in West Hollywood last spring), you'll instantly realize that those exquisitely tailored yet wholly unwearable menswear pieces  -- painted paper tuxedos, military jackets, three-piece suits and superhero costumes -- were the blueprints for the collection.

The Superman insignia is there -- in crumpled and weathered graphite gray on a  white T-shirt (yes, legally -- Lauren struck a licensing deal with DC Comics), the tuxedo is there -- as soft and unstructured as a fleece hoodie with silk faille lapels that have been washed into crumpled ribbons. And there's a veritable platoon of military-inspired jackets; cropped women's jackets made from vintage snow camouflage fabric, dusty brown coats crafted from vintage military duffel bags, darker-colored coats made from military tent fabric, and a soft cashmere coat that closes with a regimental row of brass blazer buttons -- straight down the middle of the back along the spine.