Welcome to the OC, DKNY!

The OC may have died a while ago, but its influence lives on. Rachel Bilson, who played Summer Roberts in the cult TV show, has been hired to design a collection for DKNY Jeans. "Fans of the OC really like DKNY Jeans, and I know they make great stuff, so I thought it could be good", she said in an interview. The collection, called Edie Rose for DKNY Jeans (after Edie, Bilson\'s grandmother, and Rose, a close family friend), will hit stores next September with Bilson starring in the ad campaign. Although there are no plans to sell the line in the UK, no doubt eBay will be buzzing with European demand.
With stores currently in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and London\'s Brompton Road, DKNY Jeans is opening a new flagship store on Bond Street on 1 April. Originally launched in 1990 as part of Donna Karan\'s diffusion ready-to-wear line (she no longer owns DKNY, which stands for Donna Karan New York), the space is inspired by New York\'s art gallery, with a monochrome palette interspersed with pops of the brand\'s signature colour - taxicab yellow.  -Danielle Radojcin

See Rachel Bilson\'s fashion face-off with Kate Bosworth on handbag.com 

Picture: Rachel Bilson

Is Amy heading for the US?

Will Amy Winehouse finally be granted that US visa? A report in The Daily Mirror said that the singer, who performed for the Grammys via satellite link-up, has been offered a million dollars to perform at the Metropolitan Museum\'s Costume Institute gala in New York on 5 May. The event, second only to the Oscars in terms of star wattage, is one of the most prestigious in the fashion calendar. According to the report, gala host Giorgio Armani asked co-hosts Julia Roberts and George Clooney to sign Amy on. Although Amy\'s rep declined to comment, a spokesperson for the Met was reported as saying, "It\'s incorrect that she was offered payment. It\'s a benefit, so no one is being paid."  -Danielle Radojcin

Find out why Amy Winehouse is a style icon on handbag.com 

See picture\'s from last year\'s Metropolitan Museum Costume Insitute gala on handbag.com

Have a fashionable Easter

Why not make it a fashionable Easter? Thorntons has commissioned fashion designer Henry Holland to embellish a collection of bespoke Easter eggs, auctioned this week on eBay in aid of Barnardo\'s. Combining his motto, ‘Passio factionis\', or ‘passion for fashion\', Holland has replicated his family coat of arms with icing in his favourite colours of purple, pink, yellow, green and turquoise, as seen in his tartan-themed autumn/winter 2008 collection. One egg features best pal Agyness Deyn, alongside Holland\'s own head, which he jokingly said he gave a "discreet nose job" to. In a statement, the designer said, "For my tartan collection I experimented with many different materials, so there was no reason why I couldn\'t apply my designs to chocolate!" Other creatives who took part in Thorntons\' Easter egg project are David Beckham\'s tattooist Louis Molloy, and graffiti artist Sholto Brown.  -Danielle Radojcin

See pictures from House of Holland\'s autumn/winter 2008 fashion show 

Picture: Thorntons Easter egg designed by Henry Holland 

Calvin Klein gets curvy

It\'s nice to know the fashion world is starting to sit up and take note of the fact we\'re not all skinny minnies. Curvy Latina actress Eva Mendes, star of Hitch and We Own The Night, has been hired as the face (and body) of Calvin Klein Underwear. Taking over from model Natalia Vodianova, Mendes will star in a worldwide advertising campaign beginning next autumn. She will also launch Seductive Comfort, the latest introduction of Calvin Klein foundations for women, and star as the face of the brand\'s new fragrance, the name of which has not yet been revealed. "We are trying to get across that these new products are for fuller busted, shapelier kinds of women and when we looked at the talent, Eva was right," a Calvin Klein spokesperson was reported as saying. Asked about Mendes\' two recent visits to rehab last February, at the Utah-based Cirque Clinic where Lindsay Lohan and Kirsten Dunst have also been patients, the spokesperson said that it hadn\'t had any impact on their decision to hire the actress. Mendes follows in a long line of celebrities to have posed for the brand, including Kate Bosworth, Mark Wahlberg, and Kate Moss.   -Danielle Radojcin

Read about why Eva Mendes is one of the faces to watch in 2008 on handbag.com 

 Picture: Eva Mendes
 

Luella\'s just the Tonic

Luella Bartley, whose autumn/winter 2008 fashion show attracted the likes of Alexa Chung, Lily Allen and Jaime Winstone, has collaborated with Tonic, a company that works towards social change in the areas of environment, education, social welfare and poverty, on a campaign called Every T Counts. The four limited-edition v-neck tees, which come with different exclusive Luella-designed motifs (our favourite is the punky robin with fluorescent pink chest and yellow feet), are available to buy from 1 April on the Tonic website, tonicgen.com/luella, with up to 40% of the revenue from sales going toward Tonic\'s causes.  -Danielle Radojcin

See pictures from Luella\'s Autumn/Winter 2008 fashion show on handbag.com 

Picture: Luella for Tonic t-shirt

Banana Republic opens

This week sees the opening of the first Banana Republic store in the UK, on Regent Street in London. A spokesperson for the American retailer, part of the Gap group and seen as its slightly older, smarter sister, said that "With its affinity for fashion and luxury products, London has the potential to be a strong market." Much has been made, pre-opening, that a highstreet shop is finally selling to people who have corporate jobs (as opposed to its more youth-orientated neighbours). Selling both women\'s and men\'s apparel, accessories and jewellery, the look is classic chic, with prices along the lines of a shop such as Jigsaw or Reiss. The shop\'s USP is, perhaps, that it has trained personal stylists on hand to offer advice to struggling shoppers; could this be the start of a whole era for the high street?  -Danielle Radojcin

Read last week\'s Fashion News on handbag.com