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Belgian born and studied designer Christian Wijnants is quietly doing some impressive work. Wijnants has been a professor at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, his alma mater, since 2005 while showing two collections a year. Wijnants' collections are intellectual, but never lose sight of the ultimate goal: to help women look beautiful. As Belgians go, Wijnants is Margiela like in his proclivity to experiment with graphics and colors and silhouettes rather than establishing a recognizable look with his work (a la Yamamoto or Owens).

His Fall 2008 collection lookbook is now online.

Rodan vs Griffith party dress at Rodan vs Griffith ($335)

Obesity and Speed tank dress at Seven ($221.25)

Alexander Wang layered tank dress at Bird ($585)

Nil & Mon follows the grand new tradition of Perks & Mini, with maybe bits of Cassette Playa and Burfitt thrown in. Bold colors, simple shapes, a bit of illustration--it's playful, fresh streetwear from a German who studied at Central St. Martins.

Available at Styleserver

Avalon, a shoot by photographers Philippe and César Yard and stylist Jodie Barnes, looks at fashion as material science and shows how talented designers can make beautiful fashion of unlikely raw materials. It's our favorite spread from the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of 032c and here we present a couple of the photographs.

Clothes-pins, wood

Sacking, felt, paper, cork

(Editors note: Over the next several days, we will be featuring a few choice excerpts from the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of 032c.)

Just a few short years ago, a boutique like Presse opening in the middle of Los Angeles was a fantasy. But with the influx of high-end boutiques settling in The Southland, Presse was right at home when it opened its doors and began offering an ultra high-end, progressive fashion lineup that LA had not really seen before. Now, the next natural step: the boutique is ready to offer its collections to online shoppers. Everything from the Anime inspired collection from the LA metro native Rodarte girls, to the stylish, tailored looks of Israeli-born Yigal Azrouël to the pitch perfect, big city designs of New York fashion darlings Proenza Schouler are now but a click away.

This season German fashion designer Kostas Murkudis collaborated on a fun little side project. Working with a prestigious Italian silk manufacturer known for supplying YSL and Jil Sander, Murkudis sourced a wonderful silk that comes in 142 colors. Murkudis further washed and pressed the silks to give them a very soft, wearable feel. The silks were then turned into modern, bright summer dresses, made in dozens of cheery colors.

The dresses are exclusively available at Project No. 8 (pictured) in New York and Andreas Murkudis in Berlin.

032c looks at 20 years of Martin Margiela via, what else, magazine covers and cut outs.

Spring 1993, Line 11

Fall 1999, Line 10

Spring 2000, Line 1

Fall 2003, Line 10

Spring 2007, Line 0

(Editors note: Over the next several days, we will be featuring a few choice excerpts from the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of 032c.)

Cosmic Wonder oversized T-shirt at Seven ($180)

Paper Tiger color blocked t-shirt dress at Pixie Market ($98)

House of Holland tank at Look ($300)

After seeing every possible permutation of stripes, dots and plaid (oh god the plaid) designers for Spring 2008 have turned to the humble flower print for a splash of color and creativity. But naturally, the designers we're drawn to have taken the print and added their own twist to it. Which is to say, this is not your grandmother's flower print.

Tsumori Chisato ($972.80)

Eley Kishimoto ($130)

Carin Wester ($252)

Karen Walker

All of Stephan Schneider's designs begin with the textiles (which are custom designed each season) and that's where we need to start looking at one of his collections. For Fall 2008, traditional striped and plaid patterns are presented in softened versions, with washed out colors on textured fabrics. Even when pattern isn't there, solid pieces use texture, which, when layered, create their own pattern of sorts.

Schneider's womenswear has always been of the menswear for women variety and this season is no different. Button down shirts, over-sized sweaters and tailored jackets look cozy but put together.

Hengst cami at Anica ($326)