Kanye West debuted his new womenswear collection in Paris over the weekend. It's not a fakey ghost designed celebrity line, apparently, and it's not horrible, but it definitely bears the marks of amateurism. Nonetheless it was attended (naturally) by Azzedine Alaia, Olivier Theyskens, Jeremy Scott, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Anna Wintour. It's kind of all over the place. Critics have noted that "a celebrity tag and a lively audience filled with music-business friends, does not cut it in Paris." (Suzy Menkes) and "A vast quantity of luxury materials can’t blind people to a lack of creative marksmanship." (The Wall Street Journal. Check out photos of it here, and peep West's expository, F-bomb laden speech given at the afterparty:

“Thank you for anybody that didn’t believe, because they motivated us to break our boundaries. We don’t know what the reviews will be, we don’t know what they will say, but I got a chance to go to Italy and feel those fabrics. I begged Louis Vuitton to let me do more shoes after my shoes sold out in two weeks, and they did not. I begged Nike, I begged this company to let me do it. And I took out motherf*cking loans to get the best models, to get the best designers, to get the best venue. I gave you everything that I had."

He continued: "This is my first collection. Please be easy. Please give me a chance to grow. This is not some celebrity sh*t. I don’t f*ck with celebrities. I f*ck with the creatives in this room, the amazing people who spend every day of their life trying to make the world a more beautiful place. The amount of people that tried to get me a celebrity f*cking deal. They said, ‘You need to do boot-cut jeans, or you won’t sell.’ Shut the f*ck up ! Or Hedi Slimane in the motherf*cking Mercer, sitting with me, saying, ‘Stop giving them your ideas, Kanye. Do your own thing.’ Hedi Slimane! To feel so frustrated. And I thank anybody who came to this party, everybody who supported, everybody who believed, because people thought it was a joke, and maybe people still do, but I can only grow from this point.”

Portland Fashion Week is creeping upon us (the first night is a week from tomorrow... guess that means I should do some laundry). PFW has enjoyed its fair share of controversy over the years based on everything from its participation fees to its often-douchey attendees, but it rarely enjoys the level of corruption outlined in Glamour UK's recent piece, "The Truth About Fashion Week," which reels off a list of blind items about designers and models engaging bad behavior ranging from job-interview hand jobs to searching models' handbags for tampons—being "in season" is apparently cause for firing in his house. Read the highlights here, and tune in for the highlights of our own Fashion Week beginning next week on MOD, where I promise to keep an eye out for coke-fueled temper tantrums and backstage blowjobs. One can hope.

As mentioned yesterday, it truly is a monumental accomplishment in the field of douchebaggery to be offered a princely sum by Abercrombie & Fitch in exchange for not wearing their clothing in public. But according to this report, that is exactly what The Situation (and his Jersey Shore cohorts) have managed to achieve:

Abercrombie & Fitch, the clothing company, is offering “substantial payment” to Mike (The Situation) Sorrentino, of the show Jersey Shore, if he will stop wearing A&F attire on the air. “We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. … We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast.”

Their mothers must be so proud.

• Causing significant damage.

However, when the reports came out regarding A&C's plummeting shares, The Situation snapped back, tweeting, “Looks like Abercrombie got themself into a Situation!” As for Paul “DJ Pauly D” Delvecchio, he pointed out the clothing company's sudden change of heart, having earlier come out with t-shirst emblazoned with the Shore catchphrase GTL (gym, tan, and laundry): “Hmmm if They Don’t Want Us To Wear Those Clothes Why Make GTL Shirts #yourPRsux,” he wrote, Tweeting to a picture of an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt with “GTL” stamped on it above the word “Fitch.”

Hmmm, good point Pauly D. Good point.

UPDATE: Oh shit, now the Taiwanese CG recreation people are on it. Okay, that's a bit much. Hit the jump to see it.

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Over the weekend a Facebook page appeared for something called the 2012 Portland Fashion & Style Awards, prompting a whole lotta "WTF?" from my friends and associates in the local industry. Upon inspection of the website, it's revealed to be a Semper Fashion production, which let's just say does not inspire a ton of confidence, nor does the fact that the HQ address is in Vancouver. This is apparently happening in January, and until then, you can, if so inclined, vote on a number of categories listed on the web site, including "best designer," "salon," "event," "lifetime achievement," etc. We'll see how this shakes out, but we're watching you PFSA... we're watching you. Behold the mission statement:

We are Portland. We are Fashion & Style. From the City of Roses, the most sustainable city in the nation, home of fashion giants Nike, Jantzen Swinwear, Pendleton Woolen Mills and 3 Project Runway Winners, comes an event who's time has come, The First Annual Portland Fashion and Style Awards. Recognizing the fashion designers, boutiques, salons, models, photographers, make up artists and stylists of the Portland Metro Area and celebrating an industry which reflects our city's artistic and entrepreneurial spirit. Join us in honoring those who help to make Portland beautiful.

MOD: JK, we're not really watching you. We're just trying to get a better look at your shoes.