Composite images of Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta Spring/Summer 2012, Rodarte Spring/Summer 2012 via New York Magazine Fashion

According to EDITD, the London-based startup that uses online data to measure and predict fashion trends, Jacobs not only bested other notable designers when it comes to online buzz, but both his main line and Marc by Marc Jacobs secondary line placed in the top 10. The company analyzed 300,000 NYFW tweets and updates with an emphasis on the social media savvy who were actually at the shows.

There are pretty heavy rumors flying that Jacobs is in line for John Galliano’s old job at Dior, and due to days lost during Hurricane Irene meant that the Marc Jacobs closed New York Fashion Week, so the extra bit of publicity and timing could have played a role.

In order, the top 10 most buzzed about shows were

1. Marc Jacobs (nearly 323,000 followers)
2. Alexander Wang (~28,500 followers)
3. Prabal Gurung (~34,000 followers)
4. Michael Kors (~301,000 followers)
5. Jason Wu (~6,500 followers)
6. Rodarte (no official Twitter account)
7. Marc by Marc Jacobs
8. Diane von Furstenberg (~281,000 followers)
9. Rag & Bone (~26,000 followers)
10. Oscar de la Renta (~83,000 followers)

What’s interesting to note is that it seems that the number of followers didn’t always have an impact on a brand’s buzz. While the Marc Jacobs company account leads the other brands’ in raw follower numbers, relatively small accounts like Alexander Wang, Rag & Bone, Jason Wu and even those without a presence (Rodarte) still commanded a healthy amount of online attention.

We’re assuming this simply comes down to who’s tweeting being nearly as important as how many are tweeting.

Beyond the individual shows, it looks like certain trends resonated with those following the fashion action online. Feminine, retro and minimal styles were most buzzed about. When it comes to patterns – which were out in abundance at many shows, floral prints took the top spot; but if you bought into the stripes that dominated Prada and Marc Jacobs prints this summer, hang onto those pieces because stripes weren’t too far behind as the 2nd most buzzed about pattern. In spite of the frequency with which they occurred on fall runways, and how often you might see them popping up on red carpets, dots and spots only came in at number 5.

The entire New York Fashion Week trend brief is available at EDITD.

Pairings

the Kate Moss & Jamie Hince Wedding

We’ll start with some good news. Perennial supermodel Kate Moss married longtime rocker boyfriend Jamie Hince of The Kills in a 1920’s style unstructured John Galliano gown that’s drawn mixed reviews. The groom wore custom Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilatti, as did his best woman Alison Mosshat. Vogue UK reports that Galliano did attend, though he was understandably camera shy. We all remember what happened the last time cameras caught surprise revelations from the former Dior designer, so hopefully there was some non-alcoholic sparkling cider available for him to toast the couple with.

After the wedding, the bride changed into a white 3-piece Stella McCartney pants suit as she and the groom hopped on a helicopter to embark on their honeymoon. McCartney was also in attendance.

The festivities cost a reported £1 million (approximately $1.6 million), and the guest list also included fellow supermodel bestie Naomi Campbell, a bevy of Vogue editors past and present (Anna Wintour, Emanuelle Alt, Carine Roitfeld), newlyweds Lara Stone and David Walliams, Daphne Guiness, Marc Jacobs, Kelly Osbourne and Jude Law.

Sounds like the ultimate bridal fashion show.

the Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock Wedding

Then we get to the only wedding that could force Kate Moss to change her wedding date. A number of the fashionable guests for Moss’ wedding were also invited to the wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock (now, Princess Charlene).

The reported$65 million budget makes the Kate Moss affair seem positively low key, but considering the fact that the Prince and Wittstock actually had two weddings, and invited all 30,000+ of Monaco’s residents to take part in some part of the festivities, maybe it’s relatively reasonable. For the record, two weddings is actually common in France, where a civil ceremony is required before a religious ceremony is recognized.

In spite of rumors that Wittstock was considering becoming a runaway bride *three times* amid new paternity tests for Prince Albert (the groom already has two children out of wedlock, and is reported to have fathered two more while dating Wittstock), the couple made it through the official state marriage, and onto a balcony where they shared an awkward kiss.

They're definitely no William and Kate

For their civil ceremony, the bride wore a light blue Chanel suit, and for their church ceremony a custom made Armani Prive gown. The dress featured a 5-meter train, and was studded with crystals and pearls.

Guests included, um, all of Monaco (see previous note), Prince Albert’s ex-girlfriend Naomi Campbell (who had a wedding filled weekend), Karl Lagerfeld (who designed the blue Chanel suit), Giorgio Armani (who designed the wedding dress), French President Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni, as well as too many princes, princesses, kings and queens of various countries to mention individually. There’s no agreement on whether any of Prince Albert’s children or their mothers were in attendance. The palace says no, rumors say his daughter, Jazmin Grace, and Nicole Coste, mother of his son Alexandre, were somewhere amid the well-wishers.

Congratulations to all the happy couples, and good luck to any who aren’t so happy. No names.

Partings

Now for the partings. Because sometimes wedding diamonds aren’t always forever, for every spectacular celebrity wedding this weekend, we got two spectacular celebrity divorces.

the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver Divorce

The Monaco Royal wedding may take the crown for scandalous and excessive weddings, but leave it to Hollywood royalty to show ’em how it’d done when it comes to scandalous and excessive divorce! Maria Shriver officially decided to terminate her marriage to the Governator, and filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Which was kind, considering she could have cited messing around with the maid.

The couple will split an estimated $400 million, and custody of their minor children. In total, they have 4 children. If you’re trying to do the math, that’s enough for 1.5 royal weddings for each of them, should there be any eligible princes or princesses.

the Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds Divorce

After just 2 years of marriage, the ink is dry on the divorce papers for Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds. The split was reportedly amicable, with neither seeking spousal support. Probably not easy, but at least it was quick.

the Thomas Jane and Patricia Arquette Divorce

“Hung” star Thomas Jane and former “Medium” star Patricia Arquette also made it official, and sealed the deal on a divorce. There’s a joke about seeing this one coming somewhere in there. The couple will share custody of their 8-year-old daughter. Their marriage lasted approximately 3.5 years. In Hollywood marriage years (sort of like dog years), that’s almost 15 years.

the George Lopez and Ann Serrano Divorce

Then there’s late night comedian George Lopez and wife Ann Serrano, who are calling it quits after 17 years of marriage. They share one minor daughter, and thanks to a life saving donation from Serrano, they share the same kidneys as well (obviously, Serrano has one, Lopez has the other). Fortunately, the couple is trying to keep things amicable on both fronts.

Can you imagine how messy things would be if Serrano filed to get custody of her kidney back? Awwwkward.

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Alexander Wang, Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler, and Marc Jacobs

Menswear Designer of the Year: Michael Bastian, Patrik Ervell, and Simon Spurr

Accessory Designer of the Year: Alexander Wang, Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler, and Reed Krakoff

Swarovski Award for Womenswear: Joseph Altuzarra, Ashley Olsen & Mary-Kate Olsen, and Prabal Gurung

Swarovski Award for Menswear: Alexander Wang, Phillip Lim, and Robert Geller

Swarovski Award for Accessory Design: Alejandro Ingelmo, Eddie Borgo, Jason Wu, and Pamela Love

Honorary Awards

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award: Marc Jacobs

CFDA Board of Directors Special Tribute: Arthur Elgort “in honor of his impact on photography and fashion.”

Fashion Icon Award: Lady Gaga “for being a fashion revolutionary impacting style today.”

Media Award, given in honor of Eugenia Sheppard: Hilary Alexander of The Telegraph

Founders Award, given in honor of CFDA founder Eleanor Lambert: Hal Rubenstein of In Style.

International Award: Phoebe Philo for Celine {CFDA}

Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Foursquare Oh My!

Our technology-infused culture has become over-saturated and overwhelming, don’t you think? It’s not easy sifting through the messages, texts, check ins, emails and tweets that bombard us every minute of every day.

A panel of in-the-know celebrities and industry insiders gathered at the Hearst Art & Culture Hub for Social Media Week in New York City yesterday to discuss the techniques to utilizing today’s social technology in the most productive and beneficial ways possible.

The panel was moderated by Laura Brown, Hearst’s Features/Special Projects Director, who explores the role and growing popularity of social styling and social media in today’s digital world. The panel consisted of celebrity Denise Richards, Popeater.com Entertainment Columnist and Blogger Rob Shuter, indie fashion blogger BryanBoy, Lancome CEO Kerry Diamond and Leandra Medine of Man Repeller.

Almost as soon as it began, the discussion turned to the social media queen herself, Kim Kardashian. Celebrities like Kardashian use social media tools to connect with the public, gain exposure and drive their personal business initiatives. When launching her new fragrance Kardashian used her twitter followers as a focus group when she posted the pictures of two possible bottle choices, asking her thousands of followers, “What do you think?”  Whether or not the one voted best is the one chosen, twitter was a crucial tool for Kardashian in maximizing her influence and allowing her to hear what her fans want first-hand.

Denise Richards noted that it’s important to “have a goal and stay true to yourself” when connecting. Although she maintains everything she types is legitimate and sincere, misleading tweets seeming more contrived than genuine are streaming from the twitter feeds of many celebrities. We recently covered the topic of endorsement deals and contracts regularly stipulating stars to use social networking sites for brand and product-related advertisement. Kim Kardashian denies ever being compensated, but how likely is it that her deal for Reebok Easy Tone sneakers had nothing to do with her tweeting pics of her wearing the shoes at the gym saying “I love my Reebok Easy Tones” and including a link to buy them?

You may not know this, but the FCC does require tweets that are being monetarily compensated to include “AD” at the end of the message to clarify intent, as to not mislead the public. We rarely see this appearing on celeb messages even though law requires it.

Independent fashion blogger BryanBoy had a more grassroots approach to broaden exposure and engage an audience. He says that being himself, documenting his day-to-day life and sharing his love for fashion and style is what first made him famous. However sharing his personal dreams and encouraging others to do the same is what has skyrocketed him into the limelight. So much so that Marc Jacobs designed a handbag after him in his 2008/2009 Fall Collection. His success-achieving advice is to put  forth your true self and it will attract desired results. A big topic of the day was the emergence and acceptance of original bloggers like BryanBoy and Tavi, who are essentially “playing fashion editor” through social sites, offering styling tips, fashion advice and even trend forecasting. Social media sites have served as an unmatched platform for amateurs to build a trusted brand for themselves in the industry.

In essence many of the panel members shared personal experiences that hit on many of the same points. Lancome CEO Kerry Diamond shared her work with Pee-Wee Herman and his new “comeback.” What we already know and love about Pee-Wee is his unpredictability and crazy energy right? They launched a Twitter campaign in New York where the 80’s star would hop around popular locales in Manhattan and tweet his whereabouts to fans on twitter, encouraging all to come see him. It was a hit. People showed up all over the city to see Pee-Wee, even the New York Times stopped by to see what it was all about. Introducing Pee-Wee to Twitter was a cautious, well-orchestrated event that engaged his fans and made his return fun and spontaneous. Knowing Pee-Wee Herman as a brand and using the internet to broadcast is what made the launch so successful.

Whether it be from a business or personal perspective, a strong content strategy or product development strategy are key building a real-time measurement of branding success through social media. Joining such networks requires transparency, accessibility, and a strong self-identity.

We were set to pop open the champagne along with the folks at Elle, but, upon further inspection of the evidence presented, weâ€d like to declare only a partial victory – the halfway lap, if you will.

Marc Jacobs made a bang, but fashion still has a way to go before declaring social media victory.

Elle is correct to say that a decent number of designers and brands have made a push into the Facebook market. Marc Jacobs, in fact, recently ran a contest centered around Facebook to promote his new fragrance, Bang. However, if you really think about it, shouldnâ€t every designer, fashion label and retailer have some sort of Facebook presence by now? Businesses in other industries have long since figured out that a Facebook presence is necessary for success into the future.

The magazine also points to the pending launch of PassportStyle, a fashion social network through which designers can interact with their customers, which is set to go live later this week as evidence that fashion has finally risen in technology. The Web site has a great concept, but Elle is right to also point out that it may not necessarily be successful, since it seems no one has bothered to investigate whether shoppers really want to use this kind of site.

Finally, Elle says that the re-launch of Bizzy this Tuesday is an important advance because the site recommends boutiques based on ratings from users. They leave out one important factor: Bizzy recommends all sorts of local businesses from restaurants to parks and a wide variety of stores, not just clothing boutiques, so it doesnâ€t really count as a fashion-specific advance.

Overall, fashion brands and fashion startups have been making some smart social moves lately. We just wish theyâ€d hold the high praise, since most of these “innovations” should have been pushed for long ago – ya know, around the time the rest of the world started using technology for business purposes. Itâ€s certainly not too late for someone to take the lead in bringing fashion into the digital age, but many brands are still struggling with the basics. Letâ€s just get someone on it already.

The original cafe is located in the Brera Distract in Milan directly behind the Marc by Marc Jacobs retail store. Neon lights and futuristic decor set it apart from competitors.

Cafe number two is slated to open on this side of the Atlantic, more specifically in uptown Manhattan.  MJ’s business partner, Robert Duffy confirmed the plan is in the works and hinted at its uptown locale.

It is noted that there are no Marc Jacobs boutiques uptown so it’s possible they may follow not far behind. Considering the success of mega-designers like Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren are partially due to successes outside of fashion, branching out into new markets is a good sign for a designer like Jacobs whose aesthetic and charm make him so versatile in style choice. Even though a home collection is the usual expansion route, we’re looking forward to seeing Jacobs’ design vision expanded – whether it be the coffee shop or the fashion runway. {Racked}

Will the Marc Jacobs name be enough to make you consider a change in your normal coffee provider? If so, what venture do you want to see the growing MJ empire take on next?

Fashion’s Night Out (not to be confused with Victoria, Canada’s fledgling fashion event) is celebrating its second birthday this fall and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg shared the final details of the much-anticipated event.

Last year’s event filled the streets with fashion lovers in nearly every neighborhood where there were events, and this year promises to be even bigger – and hopefully better for retailers who gave mixed reviews on the sales success. September 10th will bring together fashion retailers, celebrities and designers in a celebration of fashion and its importance on our communities and the global economy. Steve Sadove, CEO of Saks Fifth Ave noted at last year’s event, “We started to see a turn in the industry, sales started to stabilize,” he claimed.

If you’re planning to participate, get ready for specialty items offered by many stores who also plan to produce limited-edition merchandise for all FNO shoppers.

The best part of the whole evening is the interactive nature of the event. People shopping out in the streets, sharing, laughing and enjoying the perks of a good cause. Like Marc Jacobs said, “It felt like a block party… it felt like what shopping is all about, the social ritual.” {Stylelist}

We couldn’t agree more. Last year we snagged Carine Roitfeld at the end of Paris’ big night (which is on track for a similar luxury themed evening this year), this year we’ll bring you quick quotes and pictures from as many people as we can catch up with in New York. Let the block party begin!

We love the idea, and think it’s about time we saw a plus size collection from the designer, although we wonder how Marc feels about his partner letting the news slip on twitter. While the explosion of plus-sized models in magazine spreads left more than a few people cynical about if it was tokenism or signs of a real change in fashion, it does seem to mark a shift. Saks Fifth Avenue’s New York flagship quietly announced plans to include sizes up to 20 with fall collections from Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana among others. While it would  nice to see larger sizes included on styles from the main range, something is better than nothing when it comes to more options for 12+ women who are interested in fashion, but don’t find the same variety of options at retail.  Some styles in the traditional 0-10 designer size range may not be flattering if they’re just sized up, so we’ll take the optimistic view that the split from the main line is for the purpose of creating clothes designed specifically to flatter larger sizes. As long as the end result is a sister line that has enough sartorial similarities to the Marc Jacobs aesthetic fans of all sizes have come to admire, we can’t wait to see the result.

In addition to the plus-size line, Robert also tweeted about a debut Marc Jacob’s Men’s show in Milan saying,  “Yea. I guess I broke the news on twitter that we were going to have our first Marc Jacobs Men’s Collection show to be held in Milan.”  The good news keeps on coming, but Duffy admits, “I’m over sharing, but  still unable to resist.”

“Bangs” that are received after midnight or from foreign countries will rack up more points for the user, and each day selected users will win prizes like Marc Jacobs clothing and bottles of the new fragrance. Just a few fortunate ones will eventually win the grand prize – an invite to one of Marc Jacobâ€s upcoming fashion shows. {Hint}

The name of the game is quite suggestive, though not nearly as racy as the Bang ads that cropped up on the Internet this May. Jacobs, who recently split from Brazilian PR Guru Lorenzo Martone, said the name of the new product has many meanings.

“When the word ‘bang†came to me, I liked that it was a sound and also that it felt like something was finished, done, end of story and, you know, kind of complete,” he told Elle.

The “bang” Facebook game is quite the clever marketing idea. With the success of social game makers like Playdom and the premium audience spending time on Facebook, the incorporation of social media, game mechanics and incentives sounds like a winning combination, and one that we hope to see extended beyond fragrance and beauty for more brands. Go Marc!

Vogue UK published a brief quote from Marc Jacobs where he simply said “no I am not getting married,” when asked about plans for nuptials.

Now, we know why via a tweet from ex Lorenzo Martone, where he acknowledges that the similarly buff, bearded duo haven’t been an item for 2 months. {Gawker}

It’s too bad that things didn’t work out, but we’ll always have the image of that shirtless cake topper to look back on fondly.