Metallics are all the rage this season, and the Jasmine Sloane Leather bag does up the trend in a big way with scale-effect metallic leather in silver, double leather handles in metallic bronze, and an oversized signature Vivienne Westwood orb in bright goldtone. It has a slouchy, pouchy shape that's a little bit casual and a little bit evening sophisticate. All together it strikes me as a mini disco ball with handles and a zipper. Lined in beige gabardine cotton with an interior zip pocket it also features a logo-embossed leather luxury tag/zipper pull. £799

Former Baywatch bombshell Pamela Anderson will star in famed fashion designer Vivienne Westwood's runway show in Paris on Friday, Vogue UK reports.

Anderson, who was photographed for the British designer's sexy new Spring / Summer 2009 ad campaign (right) by Juergen Teller in Miami, has become Westwood's new muse.

At the recent New York Fashion Week, Anderson appeared on the runway in a gold swimsuit for avant-garde label Richie Rich.

Westwood, who's credited with bringing punk and New Wave fashions into the mainstream, formed an early alliance with Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols. She often incorporates the Union Jack into her designs.

The elaborate Vivienne Westwood wedding dress Sarah Jessica Parker sported in the "Sex and the City" movie didn't bring Carrie Bradshaw any luck but that hasn't stopped women from wanting it. Now, for two days only Gabriella Risatti, owner of Gabriella New York bridal salon in the Meatpacking District of New York City is making reproductions of the dress for $15,000 tomorrow and Thursday only. Risatti tells the NY Post that they will be taking measurements for those two days but only making 30 dresses.

On the eve of their big auction with Christie's -- essentially the widest range of 20th Century avant-garde fashion amassed privately and sold at auction -- Katy Rodriguez and Mark Haddawy sat down with me to talk about the collection they gathered piece by piece over the 12 years they've owned their vintage boutique Resurrection.

With such rare pieces as Paco Rabanne's aluminum-paneled dress and Zandra Rhodes's dramatic yellow maxi coat on offer, the fashion world will likely be watching today's bidding as closely as Mark and Katy.

What prompted you to present your collection in this way?
We could have sold off pieces one by one in our stores, but this was a great opportunity to present the clothes as a collection with a point of view. It's not a complete survey of fashion history, but there's a common thread among these designers, which is generally pushing the boundaries of traditional fashion.

Are there pieces that will be difficult to let go or that you're particularly interested to watch?
Rodriguez: I'm very interested in the Paco Rabanne, especially because those are pieces we've had for a long time but have never offered in the store. The artist pieces like the Alan Jones sweater and the Lichtenstein shirt -- you never see those sorts of clothes for sale. I'll also be interested in what happens to the gold leather mask [from Vivienne Westwood's '70s Sex collection], if it will be too edgy for the museums. And there's a Marc Jacobs sweater, which he designed right after college. There are certain pieces that are easier to guess about, pieces that have sold in the past, but some of the early Westwood or the Paco Rabanne is unprecedented.
Haddawy: For any collector, it's important not to see this auction as an ending, but a beginning. This auction for me is really more about tracking these pieces, not unlike a scientist who watches a certain species of animal; it's about these pieces finding the right home. I'm hopeful that will be in museums in some cases, so people will be able to understand the clothes in the context of an exhibit, and will be able to see in them what we saw.



Are you concerned about the economy's influence?
Haddawy: It's a crazy time now, but as we analyze other auctions, inspired material is still selling well, and certain people will continue to be excited about certain things. If I wasn't selling myself, I'd be scrambling to buy from this collection. I've probably seen a couple million pieces of clothing over the 12 years we've been doing this, so I know how rare these are, like the jacket Paco Rabanne designed for Bridget Bardot. These designers were so innovative, not only in how they made clothes but in some cases saying, I'm not even going to use fabric. Of course prices Thursday will reflect the market climate on that day, but in this auction, if you bid competitively, you could walk away with five incredible lots for under $100,000. What other world can you do that in?
Rodriguez: I'm nervous -- it's all been very surreal. At the end of the summer when we were choosing dates, we kept asking ourselves, Is this the right time? But the clothes are so rare, I think they'll do well.
Haddawy: It's a tremendous value for what it is, and you have to trust people to find the material great, which I think they will. Is it a good investment? I don't know. But that's the wrong reason to collect anything. You buy it because you love it -- you collect out of passion.

The pair will be watching the London-based auction together here in Los Angeles, which with the time difference means a 6 a.m. start time on the West Coast. The Norma Kamali New York Times dress, above, is estimated to reach prices of up to $2,300. Place bids online through Christie's LIVE service.

Luxe British lingerie brand Agent Provocateur, known for its sexy ad campaigns featuring Kate Moss (right), is expanding rapidly following its $120 million acquisition by a private equity firm last year.

The label, designed by Vivienne Westwood's son Joe Corre, already has 40 boutiques worldwide including eight in the U.S., with new locations planned for Boston and Chicago this fall, in addition to others around the globe.

"I just opened a boutique in Bahrain [in July], as well as Geneva and Puerto Barres in Spain," Corre tells WWD. "There also are more openings [planned] in Madrid, St. Petersburg and Germany." The brand, which was founded in 1996, plans to unveil its latest round of racy adverts next month.

I wonder if how you feel about Vivienne Westwood's diamond safety pin jewelry depends on your feelings on punk in general. Westwood, who was the doyenne of fashion's fringe in the 1970s now has her own diamond line that includes hearts, orbs,arrows and safety pins done in white gold and diamonds. Are these tomorrow's classics or do they just represent a mainstreaming and aging of what was once rebellious and young? The necklace shown here sells for $1,540.

For fashion designer Vivienne Westwood no sedate silver Bentley will do. Bentley has announced that for Milan Fashion Week, they have teamed up with the goddess of punk to show off a screaming yellow 1992 Bentley Continental convertible in front of the Palazzo Reale toe celebrate a retrospective of her decades of avant-garde fashion. Westwood will also the keys to a Bentley Continental Flying Spur for use in Milan and a ride in the Bentley Continental GTC.

Vivienne Westwood may be known for her funky fashion sense, but this bag looks positively sedate. From her Spring/Summer 2007 Pirate Collection, the gold tote features a classic shape with a retro color scheme. There is something about the gold cotton fabric that brings to mind drapes, but the orange leather trim does funk it up a bit. With just touch of silver on the hardware and the trademark orb, the bag is lined in a logo print and has two interior pockets. $589.57.