It’s not just the designers with the dressed down cool aesthetic like Alexander Wang, or rising stars like Sophie Theallet though; the open embrace of the fashion tech set is a large part of how the fashion week schedule at Milk Studio has risen to take on the tents.

Jennine Jacob’s twice-a-year Evolving Influence conference kicked things off, and a combination of video, blogs and tweets have propelled it forward as the closest thing to an Internet Fashion Week that we’ve seen so far.

Milk Made LIVE is a collaboration between M.A.C. Cosmetics, Milk Studios and The Standard, New York that brings video from Livestream, notes from Tumblr and brief quips from Twitter together in one online place for those who can’t make it to New York or just want to participate by proxy.

In the past four days since it went live, the Tumblr-based site has generated:

• 8,500 notes (reblogs and likes)
• Approximately 900,000 note impressions
• 80,000 page views
• 9,000 unique viewers and 280,000 viewer minutes for Alexander Wang and Altuzarra’s livestreamed shows alone

Tumblr has openly committed to focusing on the fashion content that drives a significant portion of its traffic, and the response to Milk Made seems to confirm the wisdom of that decision.

Of course we’re far past the point where social media as part of Fashion Week is new, but the concerted effort to centralize the responses and interaction for an always on Fashion Week destination feels fresh. More important, for designers who can sometimes struggle with how to make those interactions work at an individual level, it’s a value add that the tents don’t have.

Part of that comes from the approach. For IMG, any publicity – including livestreaming or a social strategy – are completely left to the designer. For brands that operate through a tightly controlled PR machine, that’s actually a huge “pro,” so it’s not something everyone will see as a problem. For medium and smaller labels though, the collective extra effort towards online and social promotion that MAC and Milk offer could easily be an advantage that sees a further shift in the lineup of both locations.

Whether it’s from the front row or in front of a computer screen, we’ll be watching.

Sold only on four Fridays starting with Black Friday, Minaj collaborated with MAC on a bright pink lipstick called Pink Friday that’s completely sold out.

Fans are still lining up for the shade, so it looks like MAC may bring the shade back for a few more Fridays, and a possible international expansion in terms of availability in 2011.

Pink Friday lipstick photo via @MsNaeema's TwitPic

If you can’t wait for the restock, there’s a contest on Nicki Minaj’s website where fans can enter to win a tube. There are 5,000 pages of comments and 3 days left to enter though, so you’ll probably be better off waiting for the next available Friday.

Many have compared Minaj’s aesthetic to that of a hip-hop Lady Gaga, Lil’ Kim’s called style infringement on her colorful hair choices, but regardless of comparisons there are enough people following this Barbie girl’s style to indicate that lipstick is probably just the first step.

We’re not sure if the perfume or the star startup will come first, but it seems like Ms. Minaj is on course to pass Celebrity Brand Building 101 with flying colors (shades of pink, of course).

Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper for the MAC Cosmetics 2010 Viva Glam campaign. Next year, Lady Gaga will return without Lauper.

Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper repped the MAC Cosmetics Viva Glam line this year, and the makeup company knows a good thing when it sees it. According to People StyleWatch, 2010’s campaign was MAC’s most successful to date. While the Gaga/Lauper pairing makes a lot of sense artistically, with the former’s wacky fashion choices getting a story nearly every time she changes her clothes [guilty], it’s clear who was more influential in the commercial success of the project.

Viva Glam is a series of lipsticks and lipglosses that see 100% of sales donated to the MAC AIDS fund, which supports men, women and children living with AIDS. The campaign has been trying to help those living with HIV/AIDS one lipstick at a time since 1994. Today, the MAC AIDS fund supports multiple programs around the world including community grants and harm reduction programs in North America, and grants to affiliates and partners around the world.

While Lauper may not grab as many paparazzi shots as Lady Gaga these days, the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer has been a staunch advocate for LGBT youth through her True Colors foundation, and was particularly vocal for calling attention to the disproportionately high rates of HIV/AIDS among women while working with Viva Glam.

Gaga’s 2011 solo campaign will be styled by Nicola Formichetti, and shot by Showstudio’s Nick Knight.

Back in July when the names for the products in the Rodarte line were released, Jessica Wakeman posted an angry rant on the Frisky saying the designations were inappropriate, which sparked discussion around the Internet. M.A.C. and Rodarte responded with an apology and promise to donate proceeds from the line to victims of violence and poverty in Juarez, Mexico. They also elected to change the names for their makeup products, but now M.A.C. has announced via Facebook page statement that the collection will not ship at all. {The Cut}

Why all the backtracking from such a highly anticipated collaboration?

The collection was inspired by Mexican culture after a trip through Texas taken by Rodarteâ€s two designers. The products were thus named with that inspiration in mind. “Quinceañera” was chosen for the name of a pink blush, while “Ghost Town” was selected as the name for a sheer white lipstick. However, it was the nail polish called “Juarez” that ticked off the Frisky, which blasted the brands for being tasteless. {The Cut} The blog post said:

“Whyâ€s it tasteless? Juarez is an impoverished Mexican factory town notorious for the number of women between the ages of 12 and 22 who have been raped and murdered with little or no response from police. Most of the young women are employees at the border townâ€s factories, called maquiladoras, and disappeared on the way to or from work. Activists have been applying constant pressure on Mexican police, who have shown little response to properly investigating the murders, allegedly because the victims are poor women. The crime channel TruTV even called Juarez a “serial killers†playground”! And itâ€s not like the Juarez murders are some big secret: Jennifer Lopez even starred in a film,“Bordertown,” playing a reporter who writes about the rapes and murders.”  {the Frisky}

The blog post prompted widespread Internet debate over the cosmetic names, in addition to many angry comments from the Friskyâ€s readers. Some were shocked, some were equally outraged by Rodarteâ€s nail polish name, some mocked the author for reading too much into a nail polish name and others alleged the bloggerâ€s research was incorrect. Whether you agree with the post or not, the fact that a blogger caused a cosmetics brand such as M.A.C. to put the brakes on an entire, much talked about collection goes to show just how influential the blogosphere can be.

The statement M.A.C. released Tuesday said the line was canceled “out of respect for the people of Mexico,” and they will still donate the projected profits from the line to legitimate organizations that work to support the women of Juarez. {Elle UK}

What do you think? Is M.A.C. doing the right thing by withholding the collection, or is this a case of overly PC Internet writers finding offense where none actually exists?

As long as any prospective fragrances smell better than those glasses, we're sure it will do fine

“I know nothing of this project,” Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for the firmâ€s Coty Beauty division Steve Mormoris told WWD. “It is a totally false rumor.”

It is easy to see how the rumor spread so easily since Coty leads the celebrity fragrance trend with past and present scents from Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé Knowles, Sarah Jessica Parker, David and Victoria Beckham and Halle Berry in addition to some 10 others. It seems, however, the extent of Gagaâ€s involvement in the beauty biz remains with MAC Cosmetics. She is the spokeswoman for the brandâ€s AIDS Fund and collaborated with MAC to create a signature Viva Glam lipstick. {WWD}

Even though Gaga is not working on a scent yet, weâ€re betting she will be at some point. The Cutâ€s bloggers have been speculating what it will smell like, but we think the more interesting aspect will be the bottle design, which is more likely to be the focus of Gagaâ€s creative weirdness. Maybe the cap will resemble a hair bow, or perhaps the entire thing will look like a hand reaching up in the spirit of the design of the double grand piano she shared with Elton John at this yearâ€s Grammy Awards. Leave a comment and tell us what you think it will look like!

Disney's Beautiful Villains: Ursula (top left), Cruella de Vil (top right), Maleficent (bottom)

MAC announced it took inspiration from four Disney devils for its Venomous Villains collection, and that is just about all they are revealing about the line to debut late this September in all MAC locations. {WWD}

Lipstick, lip gloss, powder and blushes priced between $12 and $29.50 will be featured in this limited edition set, so weâ€re thinking the pink complexion of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland may have inspired blushes to appear alongside products thought of with the more obvious muse, Cruella De Vil (weâ€ll be shocked if sheâ€s not one of MACâ€s evil motivators).

Styleite is predicting Cruella red lipstick, but does anyone remember the scene in The Little Mermaid where Ursuala the malicious octopus applies red lipstick with a clam shell? Weâ€re hoping for a cool, Ursula-inspired clam shell compact with bright red shades. Judging by the power pouts on Disney’s evil leading ladies, some serious rouge shades are probably a safe bet.

And what else might we get? Since the villainous stare seem to come down to those extremely arched eyebrows, we’d love to see brow pencils, wax or other grooming tools make it into the collection alongside smokey mauve shadows to create the kind of gaze that can instill fear in puppies, mermaids and sleeping beauties.

Disney has been popping up all over the fashion scene lately. Disney Couture recently launched a Little Mermaid-inspired jewelry line, and collaborations to promote Spring 2010’s Alice in Wonderland included a ring design partnership with H. Stern and costume jewelry made by Stella McCartney and inspired by Alice. {Stylelist}

In addition, the April issue of Spanish Elle featured Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, John Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana, Donnatella Versace and other fashion elite in cartoon, Disney-inspired form. Donnatella Versace appears in the likeness of Daisy Duck with Karl Lagerfeld channeling Goofy, while Alber Elbaz, also in Disney duck form, admires a red dress created for Minnie Mouse. {The Fashion Spot}

We bet the element of magic and fantasy is what draws fashion and Disney together. Whatever the common denominator, anything that encourages people to have fun with makeup is a winner in our book!

Read the full story {Blogdorf Goodman}