As one of the most influential designers of our time, Miuccia Prada has seen many of her designs badly reinterpreted and/or knocked-off at budget-friendly stores like Express, Forever21, and H + M.

And like any trend ripped straight from the runway, Prada's fall '07 stampede of ombré handbags and accessories are just now starting to see their influence in more affordable forms a year after they first debuted.

A new trend is taking over the streets of Japan, literally. People are running in huge numbers, particularly young women who live in the cities.

The fad is especially strong in trendy Tokyo, where women's corporate marathon clubs are meeting before and after work to do a few laps around the Imperial Palace. The main goal is to "stay healthy, pretty and sane" with the extra benefit of getting to show off special marathon gear from Danskin and New Balance.

Recently our sister site Stylelist did a beauty evolution slideshow of Gwen Stefani. She had a lot of kooky looks, that Gwen. Blue hair, bindis, and that red, red lipstick. Something about that story stayed on our minds, and we finally figured it out.

Gwen owned every single look, no matter how off the wall or potentially unflattering. True, some worked better than others, but she always seemed comfortable with herself and really excited about her style. And because of that she looked terrific all the time.

We could all benefit by taking a page out of Gwen's book, and just go for it once in a while.

In the past, Gwen Stefani has credited the very hip Harajuku district in Tokyo, Japan as the inspiration behind her clothing line and two solo albums.

Well, the avant-garde street culture has penetrated the singer's new fragrance line aptly named Harajuku Lovers that is set to drop this September.

The line consists of five scents: The first four are named after Gwen's back-up dancers -- Love, Angel, Music, and Baby -- while the fifth scent "G" represents the leader of this frighteningly cool group.

Say what you will about Heather Mills. The gold-digging former model may be trying to take Paul McCartney for all he's worth, but that doesn't mean she's not hot.

At least, that's according to FHM readers. The UK magazine is conducting a poll for it's annual list of the top 100 sexiest women, and Mills -- while she's not topping the charts -- is grabbing about 1,000 votes a day, which puts her at number 95. What's even more shocking, is that ranking puts Mills above popular American pin-ups like Gwen Stefani, Paris Hilton and Kirsten Dunst.
So what's driving men to lust after the embattled 40-year-old? According to FHM's deputy editor Chris Bell, the guys love her style. Specifically, they love her "pin-sharp power suits."

Seems hard to believe, but maybe guys in the UK are just more sophisticated than their US counterparts -- or they have a power suit fetish I can't comprehend. One or the other.

While we are particularly fond of high heel pumps with long, narrow, pointy toe because they tend to make our legs longer, every once in a while we do fall for a pair of heels like the Davin pump. From LAMB, the Davin pump is a black glazed leather upper with beige and white detail at the 4" heel and squared-off toe. We particularly like the gold metal accents.

The Davin pumps are available from Revolve Clothing for $275.

After reading countless stories about Britney, Lindsay and other celebrities behaving badly, you start to wonder: doesn't this start to mess with their careers? It's not like they're only acting up when they're out at the club, these people are consistently a pain in the butt to work with, so how is it that we keep seeing them in movies and magazines?

Well, apparently being difficult can get your blacklisted -- but only by some directors. David LaChappelle, for instance, is a photographer/filmmaker who most-recently shot Christina Aguilera's Dirrty video, the indie documentary hit Rize, and H&M's five-minute Romeo and Juliet commercial for their 'Tis the Season to be Gorgeous denim line. He's a talented guy, and his work is super trendy right now, so seemingly everyone is fighting to work him.

However, he won't shoot with everyone.

In fact, LaChapelle keeps a list of people he won't work with -- a list that includes Christina Aguilera, Madonna and Gwen Stefani.

While Stefani admits the famous photographer can be a challenge to work with, she also claims the blacklist is just a rumor. However, she also admits to throwing a couple tantrums during a photo shoot the two did together for No Doubt, so it wouldn't exactly be surprising if LaChapelle had sworn off working with her. They both sound more than a little high-strung.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is officially here and in full swing! So what better way to kick off the Spring 2008 coverage on Style Dash than with my favorite celebrity fashion line, L.A.M.B.

Tonight, the Tent in Bryant Park was filled with celebrities including; rapper Eve, America's Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker, R&B singer Mya, American Idol Carrie Underwood, and, of course, hubby Gavin Rossdale and son Kingston-- who all had one thing in common, they wanted to see what Gwen had in store for us for Spring '08.

The color palette was predominately black and white (totally No Doubt Hella Good days) with the occasional splash of color. The plain palette was nothing close to boring, with bold graphic prints and a little leopard print (which was also black and white) the show has me mesmerized.

The collection translated many of the hot trends for Fall 2007 including menswear influences, plenty of mod touches, and even the biker babe look was worked in. The end result was oh-so-Gwen. It was the perfect harmony of trends that created that super hot Tom-boy look that we have all grown to love on Gwen Stefani.

Some notable pieces from the show, for me, were the side-button skinny pants which were a nice update to the typical skinny pants we have been seeing all year. Another trend revival that was pretty interesting was the over-sized flower broach. The broaches didn't reek of old episodes of Sex and the City either, as they were hip and fresh. And for those who picked up a pair of plastic Ray Ban sunglasses this summer you can hang onto them for Spring 2008, most of Gwen's models were rocking those in white.

Overall rating: Hella good. I would max out my credit card for this collection.

L.A.M.B is just about the only celebrity fashion line at which, upon sight, I don't angrily shake my fist. The clothes are great and the bags are even better. I have been lusting over the bags in the L.A.M.B collection for about a year now. I just couldn't bring myself to spend $400 or $500 on a bag that wasn't a "real" designer. I tried to let the moment pass, but it kept on coming back and with each moment prices went up. With prices soaring into the $700 zone it was clear that these bags had reached "must-have" territory.

I was about to give up my dream of owning a L.A.M.B. bag (sniffle, sniffle), but then the Nordstrom Anniversary sale came to the rescue. If you aren't familiar with the Nordstrom Anniversary sale format ,let me clue you in. Nordies debuts the fall collections at the end of July and puts them on sale for only a few weeks. After the two weeks the prices go up to regular retail. The sense of urgency is there. There is no waiting for something to go on sale; it starts on sale so you better get it while it's hot.

So when I saw that the newest from the L.A.M.B. collection was on "sale" I didn't know what do to. Do I ignore the moment or embrace the sweet taste of a sale? I walked away from the bag only to sit and still through my 8 hour work day thinking about it. Clock strikes 6:00 and I am on the phone with everyone Nordstrom in Los Angeles only to find they are sold out. Gasp! With one more desperate call to the Nordstrom at The Grove I found my bag (the last one in L.A.). I was able to con the salesgirl into holding it for an hour, which was barely enough time with Friday evening traffic. In the end I made it and success was mine!

I am the proud new owner of a Signature Oxford Rasta print L.A.M.B. bag. I paid $417.50 (gosh it even hurts to type that) after the sale end on Aug.6 the price will soar to $625.

Oh thank you Gwen! If I had a reason to sue that cheap-not-chic retailer, Forever 21, I would in a heartbeat. I hate that store. I went inside once and almost fainted at the smell of cheap synthetic fabric. Once I got my bearings and managed to not pass out, I broke out into hives (true story). Cheap places like that include digging in barrels and fighting off teenagers often gets me all fired up. Nasty.

Perez Hilton has reported that super-mama-singing-mega-star Gwen Stefani is suing the retailer for knocking off her designs. Perez writes...

"In the suit, filed in Los Angeles, Stefani claims that Forever 21 has stolen designs from her Harajku Lovers and L.A.M.B. clothing lines."

I didn't think lambs were very violent creatures but in the fashion industry sometimes you've gotta be tough. Maybe Gwen's maternal instincts are making her protective of her babies ... her clothing lines. I am not sure how this lawsuit is going to pan out because the basis of Forever 21's business is to knock things off. And if its any consolation, the knock offs look just awful -- no one will ever think you are wearing Harajku Lovers or L.A.M.B.

P.S.- the new L.A.M.B fragrance is out of this world, I am going to pick up a bottle at Nordies tomorrow.

If you adore Goddess Gwen the way I adore Goddess Gwen, then you might want to head over to Los Angeles city blog LAist and enter their dance video contest.

No, you don't have to submit a video of yourself dancing. You just have to find a video of anyone else dancing. *phew*

Aside from the strange Gwen Stefani doll in her B-A-N-A-N-A-S outfit, the prize package is awesome. I love that there are four, yes four (!) adorable things from the Harajuku line: a tote bag, the charm bracelet (over which I drool), a long sleeve t-shirt, and the Orange County watch. New CD and DVD included, naturally.

Now go! Go find the best dance video ever!

We here at Styledash know that Christmas sweaters can get pretty old, pretty fast, even for your favorite clotheshorse Friends, so we're putting together some gift lists that go beyond the closet. We've covered those fashionably bookish friends of yours, so now it's time to make your way down your Holiday shopping list to the ones who appreciate stylish song. Here are seven CDs that very appropriately fit into the fashion world, whether it's singers turned designers like L.A.M.B. goddess Gwen Stefani or a compilation of the biggest tunes to hit the runways of Fashion Week 2006. Plus, we've thrown in a bonus because, well, we didn't want to leave a hole in the picture.

Sunday - Ever since I found myself chanting B-A-N-A-N-A-S every time I saw an apple, I have stayed away from Gwen Stefani's music. However, I adore and respect the woman for her utter goddess-without-diva-ness.

Monday - We adore Gwen for her non-diva-ness, but we love Victoria Beckham for the exact opposite reason. D.I.V.A. I was tempted to pull out one of the old Spice Girls albums, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

Tuesday - If ever she dreamt of being a runway model, now's her chance. Just throw the Music from Fashion Week CD onto the player and let her strut her stuff.

The latest singer to get her own scent will be fashion plate/new mom/L.A.M.B. designer Gwen Stefani. Stefani has signed up with Coty to create a new fragrance which will be launched next fall. Coty has worked with a bunch of other singers turned perfumers including Kylie Minogue and Jennifer Lopez. Fashion Week Daily reports that Stefani is positively giddy about the project saying that "it's like me shrunken into a box." The first L.A.M.B. scent should be available next fall. The first scent will be one with a wider appeal but she plans to create other scents. Stefani has designed clothes, watches, and shoes. What's next L.A.M.B. cosmetics?

As Cathy Horyn reports in the New York Times, the MisShapes are absolutely hot right now. So hot, in fact, that they're providing the tunes for the shows and/or afterparties of Calvin Klein, Tory Burch and L.A.M.B. (the inimitable label of Gwen Stefani).

The MisShapes is a trio of DJs: Geordon Nicol, Greg Krelenstein and Leigh Lezark. They've emerged as the musical must-haves of the fashion set, and indeed Ms. Horyn invokes the comparison to Andy Warhol and the Factory. Am I wrong here, or didn't Andy Warhol make the famous remark about having fifteen minutes of fame?

Well, alhough Ms. Horyn's article is titled "Cool, at Least for a Few Minutes," here's hoping the MisShapes will be cool for several hours at a minimum!