Everything Chanel

Retailers are always scrambling to find—and buy—the next big thing, but it’s hard to find a better divining rod than Paris’ Maria Luisa Poumaillou. At her eponymous Parisian stores (and, as of last fall, the Maria Luisa shop in Paris’ revamped Printemps), Poumaillou carries the best and brightest international designers, and has since their Young Turk days. But the editors and designers who gathered last night were celebrating Poumaillou’s own designs for her house collection, begun quietly as a capsule two seasons ago and now launching as a full range.

Ann-Sofie Back has jumped the gun. Though she’s been signed on as creative director at Cheap Monday since 2009, thanks to the plan-ahead cycles of fashion, her first full collections aren’t due until Spring ‘11. That doesn’t mean you have to wait to get Back.