The brothers Caten of the DSQUARED2 label mix superb craftsmanship, cool practicality and a little theatre (a holdover from their party host days, no doubt) to create one of the most sought after labels of today. The fashion cognoscenti were particularly abuzz about the Men’s Fall 2008 collection. It was all about the tailoring, the ski motif, the camouflage bomber jackets, tartan plaid and the mix of usual suspects — a little swagger and joie de vivre.

How happy are we here at Couture that we carry the line of shoes? Estastic, actually. Our picks for men are: a great, versatile summer sandal ; a wonderful monotonal everyday shoe ; and a shoe for an evening at La Bernadine or the opera . For women, we were torn, so much to choose from, so few words to write it in: good enough for Rihanna on the runway , good enough for us; this artfully, height challenging sandal is worth the climb ; and who doesn’t need a sensible, sexy hot shoe ?

Well. sort of. we are talking about trigger-temper catwalk queen Naomi Campbell here. Today is her birthday and as luck would have it, it coincides with her appearance on tonight’s season finale of Ugly Betty. Playing her supermodel self, she takes up a bat as a member of a softball team opposite the fictional Mode magazine’s team. The softball outfit that she wears in the show will be autographed and auctioned off online on Elle.com to benefit Clothes Off Our Backs organization, an organization that raises funds for children’s charities. You can go to Elle.com to make your bid. The bidding started on May 16th and ends on May 26 at 9:00 a.m. EST. Play ball!

It would seem the Pepper Potts playing Gwyneth Paltrow is the new celebrity face for Tod’s fall 2008 ad campaign. The company had taken a celebrity face break after Sienna Miller two seasons ago, replacing her with an of-the-moment blonde model beauty. The Paltrow faced campaign was shot in Capri, which is said to be a favorite city of Ms. Paltrow, with the campaign making a return to a bygone Italian aristocrat jet-set era. Diego Della Valle, president of Tod’s Group told WWD during an interview on May 20, “It had to be Gwyneth Paltrow. She’s the perfect ambassador for the brand — modern, charming, with a strong sense of family. To me, she’s the contemporary embodiment of Audrey Hepburn.” Enough said, no?

In 1928 Trafton Cole and Eddie Haan designed the first Cole Haan shoe. It was Chicago, the jazz age. Quality was everything — and style, like the sound, was smooth and sophisticated. So goes the intro on the Cole Haan website.

Today, like its early beginnings, creativity, luxury, technology and sophistication still reigns supreme in the company’s approach to design. Cole Haan has grown significantly since its first pair of shoes to include clothing, small leather goods, belts, luxury outerwear, watches and fabulous handbags. The company had been collaborating with Nike with their air technology for shoes and Nike eventually purchased the company outright in the late ‘80s. Of course, here at Couture.Zappos.com we carry a vast array of the Haan products. Our faves: the Air Ricki Sandal (women), the Air Granada Sport Ox (men), the Whitford Shave Kit (men) and the Village Soft East/West Triple Zip Bag (women).

The Los Angeles-based designer Rozae Nichols — known for her fabrics, layering and visual design language derived from her time working in Hong Kong and Paris — is heading to the Ugg Australia Company to design a small capsule collection of outwear. The design match is perfect, as she showed a deft, advant gard hand with shearling in her own Fall 2008 collection. The Ugg collection will consist of 14 pieces ranging in price from approximately $595 for a suede pullover to $2,300 for a full-length shearling coat. The collection has been described as a utilitarian chic point of view, keeping the authentic feel of the brand but bringing a true fashion prospective to a traditional shoe company. There is talk of the brand expanding to accessories. We can only hope, no?

But until then you can check our Zappos.com ‘s large selection of all this Uggs and shop to you drop.

The saying ‘teens, tweens and everything in between,’ has taken on new social meaning. The tween market’s social networking is very popular and expanding rapidly due in part to the social networking site Stardoll Virtual World. Stardoll is a 10 million+ strong, virtual site catering to young girls 7 to 17, where even a paper doll need never know an unfashionable day. The tweens can create dolls of their favorite celebrities, discuss fashion styles, and share the dolls with their cyber friends. Tweens visiting the site can virtually outfit paper dolls in everything from DKNY to Mary-Kate and Ashley clothing, thanks to the recently launched real brand fashion boutiques. But if that were not enough, they can also design their own outfits on the site and pay for them in virtual currency. Imagine, virtual doll couture, who knew?

Ah, the driving shoe. You know, that status symbol leather mocassin-like shoe that slides on — no laces, no buckles — rich leather, nubby bottom. Think of a well-made shoe, soft and flexible, perfect for walking or driving distances like this one by Givenchy. Seriously, they go with jeans and a tee, slacks and blazer, or good old fashioned khakis, polo and a sweater around the shoulders. Connecticut or Malibu anyone?

Ladies, swimsuit weather is upon us, well, at least on the West coast. There are bikinis, tankinis, vintage bikinis a la Bardot, and, of course, the uber sexy cut-out one-piece. However, we here at Couture were wondering, no matter how fabulous the suit, what does one do about the odd tan lines? How does one go from a cut-out to a two piece? Do you love ‘em or hate ‘em? Please tell us what you think. Really.