Image via Bryan Boy

We were all sad to see Luella Bartley's eponymous line fold last November but it seems that it wasn't a totally bad experience for the designer after all. “It’s a difficult thing, being a woman, trying to have a successful business, be creative and do the best by your family. I sold it to myself that I could do it all,” she told the Times. “You can, but not the way my business was set up. It was set up for the old me. Maybe I was moving away from that life without realising it.”

With that in mind, Bartley has since been staying full time in the Cornwall cottage that she shares with boyfriend David Sims and their three children. But despite it being 11 months on, the Luella girl hasn't disappeared she said. “My lifestyle changed, but she stayed, which is nice.”

“To anybody urban and creative, it obviously sounds like a drop-out situation,” she said. “Letting go has been the biggest lesson. I used to think that if someone wasn’t successful, it was because they were crap, but now I realise that if people aren’t successful, it’s probably because they aren’t that bothered . . . You think that everyone’s going to forget who you are. But I had a chat with Phoebe [Philo, the creative director of Céline], who I admire so much. She took three years out and made sure her kids were secure. Then, when she was ready, she got the deal she wanted. You’ve just got to know what you want. I know I’ve done the right thing. I don’t mourn anything. I loved what it was, but I’m happy to be out."

While many people headed to Barney's to see Tavi hit the karaoke with Karlie Kloss, even more went to Madwell's Fashion's Night Out offerings last night on the chance of spotting Alexa Chung. Fans of her collection for the brand can strangely thank the closure of Luella she revealed last night. "Once Luella closed down, I'm telling you, I was gutted," she said.  "There was absolutely nothing to wear.  So I just had to start making my own clothes".

Good for Stephen Jones: the milliner has been named to Queen Elizabeth II's 2009 New Year Honors list, which recognises today's most innovative and influential designers and tastemakers. Accordingly Jones, who held a retrospective at London's Victoria & Albert Museum last year, has been named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE. "Around the world, millinery is seen as a uniquely British art and I am proud to be part of that tradition," Jones said.

Amanda Wakeley made the list and earned an OBE for both stocking the fashion industry with elaborate gowns and serving as founding co-chair of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer in the UK. The honour capped off an exceptional year for the designer, who successfully bought back her label from an investor in the midst of financial scandal. Michelle Mone, who founded Glasgow-based lingerie brand MJM International, Ultimo's parent company, earned an OBE of her own.

Read more after the jump

Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton of Sass & Bide

We're pleased to see big labels like Burberry Prorsum and Jonathan Saunders back for another round at London Fashion Week, but we're also happy to see another common thread for the Autumn/Winter 2010-11 schedule: Plenty of Australian brands are sticking with the Brits. Richard Nicoll, Josh Goot and Sass & Bide are all ready for another go at Somerset House. The last label returned to London Fashion Week after previously showing in New York, whereas Goot has been in the capital since 2008, and Australian-born British designer Nicoll has been around since he finished coursework at Central St Martins.

Next season's shows, scheduled for 19 to 24 February, also will include favourites like PPQ, Matthew Williamson, Vivienne Westwood Red Label, Christopher Kane and Todd Lynn. Central St Martins will close the main portion of fashion week, with the final show on 23 February, and labels including Carolyn Massey and Topman will show on 24 February for menswear day. Sienna and Savannah Miller's label, Twenty8Twelve, as well as Duro Olowu, Eley Kishimoto and Peter Jensen will host presentations.

Sadly missing from the lineup? Luella, the label that lost financial backing in November and promptly ceased trading. See the full London Fashion Week show schedule here.

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has recently announced the launch of its new pop-up shop in central London. The UK-based charity is known for its work in empowering individuals who "suffer most from environmental abuses, (such as forced child labour and environmental abuses in cotton production), to find peaceful ways of preventing them."

With this in mind, the charity once again has returned to their temporary home in Kingly Court, off Carnaby Street, but this time are stocking up-to-the-minute sample (pre-season) men's and women's T-shirts and 100 Eley Kishimoto designed eco-friendly shopper bags at £10 each, (which were also seen on the front row at LFW earlier in September), for a limited period only. The t-shirts feature art from a number of designers, including cream-of-the-crop of British designers such as Luella, Giles Deacon, Betty Jackson, Zandra Rhodes, Alice Temperley, Katherine Hamnett, Jenny Packham, Richard Nicoll and Ciel. T-shirts can be bought separately, but savvy shoppers can invest in two t-shirts and get a free EK shopper.

With the likes of Lily Cole, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Ashley Jensen and Nic Hoult, amongst over 50 others, having been spotted sporting the organic Continental cotton t-shirts, it is likely they'll be an instant hit. More to the point, as there is only a limited amount on stock available, the T-shirts will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis so you would be wise to head over to White Gold, 1st Floor Kingly Court, London, W1B as quickly as your 5-inch heels can get you there. And as Christmas is round the corner, it would seem that there is no better time to do your bit for charity, whilst snapping up some presents your friends and family will definitely not want to take back after the festive period.

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Vivienne Westwood weighs in on Luella [Fashionista]

Hillary Clinton appears in Vogue [HuffPo]

Marc Jacobs pits New York against Paris [Telegraph]

Lily Cole is dangerous on ice skates [Daily Mail]

The Kardashians' designs hit bebe [Stylewatch]

Lady Gaga wears a 30-foot dress for tonight's 'Gossip Girl' [The Cut]

The Luella crunch hits Liberty? [Fashionista]

Natalia Vodianova is ready for the holidays [WWD]

Scarlett Johansson vamps up for Dolce & Gabbana [Stylewatch]

Would you exchange frequent-flyer miles for plastic surgery? [Allure]

In sad news, this morning it was announced that Luella Bartley's fashion label Luella, will not continue to trade. According the announcement, Club 21, the global licensee who has been working with Bartely since 2003, decided to pull out from working with the brand. In a statement, VSG Ltd, the subsidiary of Club 21, revealed that they had ‘taken the decision not to invest further in its relationship with Luella Bartley Limited.’

After the success of her Spring/Summer 2010 collection, the news has left many in shock. 'This is a very disappointing situation for everyone involved with the brand,' the designer said. 'I very much appreciate the support that VSQ has given me, but it is upsetting not to be able to protect jobs in this difficult economic climate. We have a number of options open to us, and are considering these over the coming months.'

However, despite the critical success of her recent collection, recent reports have shed light to the fact that the brand's factory unexpectedly closed month as a result of the current economy, which will prevent the brand from meeting their orders for the SS10 collection.

Jean Paul Gaultier SS10; Dolce & Gabbana SS10

Fashion and beauty go hand in hand, so it comes as no surprise that we're eager to know what we'll be wearing on our face next season, let alone our bodies. Besides the usual summer beauty trend- beach hair and tanned limbs- we've got the run down of all the newest looks to emerge from the SS10 runways. The only question is, which one will you be wearing come spring time?

Read more after the jump

Luella went all prim and proper on us for her Spring/Summer 2010 collection, with a selection of cocoon shaped skirt suits, shift dresses and pea coats. Long gone seemed the days of a mash up of florals, frills and everything you could find in a haberdashery cupboard, and in stepped the new Luella girl - straight laced and ladylike, but not forgetting her humour.

See more images after the jump