Rebelling against the rules of luxury, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren realized their unique vision while studying fashion at the Amhem Academy of Art and Design in the Netherlands. They began working together on their dream and in 1993 they launched their careers in Paris, France. Their unique and unorthodox high fashion designs are a surrealistic synthesis of fashion and art, creating exquisite pieces of enchanting beauty.

The Viktor & Rolf footwear collection mirrors the modern, surrealistic designs of their couture and ready-to-wear apparel. Brimming with extraordinary elegance and high-end appeal, Viktor & Rolf shoes were made for those who live for fashion.

Couture.Zappos.com has an exciting new feature on select styles of clothing: runway videos. Brands such as DSQUARED2, Badgley Mischka, CoSTUME NATIONAL and Elie Tahari are some of the first couture brands to embrace this great addition to our product descriptions.

So, the next time you shop for clothing on Couture.Zappos.com, you just might catch a glimpse of the pieces gracing the runways of the hottest fashion shows.

Daniel Silver and Steven Cox started Duckie Brown in the fall of 2001 with the vision of creating well constructed, high quality clothing using fabrics made exclusively for Duckie Brown for men between the ages of 22-80. While a majority of their collections are for men who wish to challenge what is appropriate for men to wear, they are also well known for designing traditional pieces that could be worn by men who are usually afraid to wear colors.

Daniel and Steven have been very busy in the past few years, between being nominated for the CFDA in 2007, and now with the Florsheim by Duckie Brown collaboration. Check out the video below to see how Florsheim by Duckie Brown came to be.

It’s good to see stores are realizing not everyone is blessed with fast metabolisms. Old Navy is the latest retailer to launch a plus size collection. Its fall collection has all the right trends – florals, bright colors and even some evening wear. Old Navy joins several other brands – Liz Claiborne, Dickies, Betsey Johnson – that have plus size collections (OldNavy.com/plus), which goes to show women of all sizes can look and feel fabulous.

Volume is back, and it’s reached new heights with the full skirt . Don’t be afraid, there are tame versions out there, like this GF Ferre skirt. It falls just above the knee, has pleats and looks smashing with a placketed blouse, cardigan and booties.

DSQUARED2 is bouncing everywhere lately – Paris and Milan for fashion weeks, and lately, Hong Kong, to open a new 2,727 square foot, two-level store at Central On-Lan Street. The store has ready-to-wear clothes and accessories, and also fitting rooms with leather-trimmed doors surrounded by tree trunks and birch trees. It can’t be a DSQUARED2 store without a touch of wood, great clothes, amazing accessories and fabulously eclectic decorations.

Rossella Jardini, Creative Director of Moschino, and the Moschino company, in partnership with Hotelphilosophy S.p.A., Mobygest Group, will open the Moschino hotel next year in Milan near the trendy Corso Como area. The hotel space, a former railway station dating back to the year 1840, will feature four floors, 54 rooms and 15 suites, with each room/suite being different from the other, with the overall theme being that of a fairy tale. The hotel will also feature a bar, restaurant, spa, gym and public garden.

Thus far the only information released, is that of one of the rooms that features a chandelier with rose petals, a coverlet below it made up of rose petals, as though the petals from the chandelier had fallen upon the bed, and a modern designed chair in crimson with the interior cushions having semi-origami folds of a flower petal. A more in depth unveiling will happen this weekend at the TTG Incontri, a tourism expo in Rimini, Italy. Couture’s very own merchandisers travel to Italy twice yearly for vendor appointments, perhaps this will be the new favorite place to stay, no?

When the word “chic” is in the city’s name, you know it has to have some fashion sense. And it looks like New York and Paris no longer have a monopoly on haute couture – Chicago’s History Museum has a vintage couture exhibit: “Chic Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum.” It features couture dresses from 1861 to 1996 – Chanel to Lanvin to Versace, as well as Pingat gowns from the Gilded Age. The exhibit will also show fashion-related films such as Unzipped, a documentary chronicling Isaac Mizrahi’s work after his mixed-reviewed 1993 show, and The Fashion Frontier, about the relationship between political statements and clothing.

The best part is it will be at the museum until July 2009. There’s plenty of time to check it out.