Literally and figuratively, Canadian supermodel Jessica Stam has earned her wings and is happily flying high on her success. In this fickle industry, she remains one of this decade’s few high fashion models who borders on household name status and can claim to consistently excel in the competitive editorial, runway, and campaign realms. For Stam, the sky is the limit on what she can achieve - and, believe it or not, that is where she is headed!

Here are just a few of Stam’s latest achievements:

• While many of our favorite millenial models - “new veteran” Sasha Pivovarova comes to mind - struggled to book their usual impressive haul of shows on the Milan and Paris runways, Stam walked in 37 top shows, including Armani, Dior, Prada, Miu Miu, and of course, her American sportswear stand-bys DKNY and Miss Sixty.
• Speaking of wings again, Stam continues to radiate her kittenish charm as a Victoria’s Secret Angel. She stars in their latest catalogue, and will turn heads in their annual spectacular on December 3rd. How many fashion models enjoy both couture and commercial status? Not many.
• On the campaign front, Stam is again the cover girl of Dior Beauty while starring alongside Lily Donaldson and Caroline Trentini for Dolce & Gabbana’s moody Fall ads. She has also landed an covetable spot in Giorgio Armani’s Fall 2008 ad parade, along with Sean Opry and Du Juan. See Stam once again serve as the star of the latest Mert Alas & Marcus eerie, hyperrealist fantasy.
• To see just how good it is to be Stam, you can get an exclusive glimpse into her not-so-humble dwellings, as her stately Manhattan apartment appears in this month’s Elle Decor. A bit more rococo and, well, saccharine than we could have expected from the devil-may-care Stammer, but we are still highly jealous.
• When we said Stam “literally” is flying high, we weren’t kidding! The supermodel is planning on getting her pilot’s license.“Being above everything gives you a natural high,” she told WWD.

We know Stam is on top of her game, but who are her rivals?

Stay tuned for our next addition of the Movers & Shakers of The Modeling Universe, as we tally up who else dominated the four fashion capital’s runways. Within days, we shall bring you the final verdict on who flourished and who floundered on the Spring 2009 catwalks!

Late last year Van Cleef & Arpels sued Heidi Klum over their strikingly similar clover shaped jewellery collections – Klum with her collection which sold on QVC and Van Cleef & Arpels vintage Alhambra jewellery line.

The law suit was dismissed this weekend by a federal judge after newly filed court documents stated that the two jewellery houses had “settled the controversy between them without any admission of liability.”

No word on what the resolution was, but we do know that Van Cleef’s were seeking more than $25,000 in damages and that due to the dismissal without prejudice, no further suit can be brought before court again.

Do you think Klum’s clover designs were inspired by “a cathedral in Milan” as she said in 2007?

As we emerge from the month-long coma induced by the Spring 2009 collections, it is time to once again focus on fashion developments unrelated to underwhelming offerings from Parisian powerhouses, rumours of Nuclear Wintour’s editorial demise, or daily catwalk drama (all bothersomely recurrent themes in the past fortnight of fashion headlines). Instead, here are some recent, unseemly style stories that have caught our attention:

- Rochas is set to make a surprising return to stores next March! Procter & Gamble has suddenly figured out a way to revive the beloved luxury stalwart, which has been inactive since 2006, when P&G unceremoniously closed the doors of the fabled label, then enjoying a new, creative renaissance under Belgian wunderkind Olivier Theyskens. While the original impetus behind the closing of Rochas remains unclear (production was a costly endeavor, but Theyskens’ output was reliably embraced by critics and munificent demicouture clients), P&G has apparently re-evaluated the situation and had a change of heart. High-end Italian manufacturer Gibo Co. SpA has been licensed to produce a ready-to-wear apparel line, reportedly as early as March 2009. But with Theyskens now in his halcyon days at Nina Ricci, who will Gibo appoint to helm the line? And is this well-intended corporate gesture too little, too late?

More news after the jump!
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The Australian Summer 2008/09 see’s Catherine McNeil take over from Victoria’s Secret Angel, Miranda Kerr as the face of swimwear brand, Seafolly.

The 33 year-old brand unveiled the stunning campaign shot on the shores of the Great Barrier Reef at Voyages Lizard Island while the brand followed in their tradition of using Australian models who are making a name for themselves overseas.

“Catherine McNeil is the most significant face in Seafolly’s 33-year history,” says Anthony Halas, CEO of Seafolly Australia. “She is one of the world’s most successful and recognised models and will drive the awareness of our brand to a wider audience.”

While the rest of the fashion world is gossiping about whether McNeil is a L-word, she what we love is that she follows the likes of Kristy Hinze, Cheyenne Tozzi, Deanna Miller and Miranda Kerr.

Check out more photos below.

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She reportedly retired from runway modeling last year, but all it took was a call from Nicholas Ghesquiere to persuade Natalia Vodianova back on to the runway for Balenciaga’s spring 2009 show.

While modeling isn’t the first thing on her mind these days, the Russian beauty is keeping her feet wet with fashion projects, like collaborating on a lingerie collection.

She told WWD that she is “also going to be collaborating for a line of lingerie with a French brand, and I hope that it will be a success.”

Question remains, which the French brand? We’d love to think it’s La Perla, Chanel, Catherine Malandrino, Balenciaga or Chantelle… but we’re happy to be surprised.

With years of experience modelling lingerie for Calvin Klein, we can’t wait to see what Natalia has to offer. As long as it doesn’t look Calvin Klein inspired.

With models sporting high quiffs, the Giambattista Valli spring 2009 fashion show at Paris Fashion Week was one for the pretty dress purists. Sexy figure numbers were sent down that would have looked stunning on perennial Valli fan, Victoria Beckham, but it was the fifties style dresses that caught my eye. Compleye with teacup circle skirts with pretty petticoats peeking through at time, they had me reminiscing about a childhood past time where I would spin and spin and spin in my fullest dresses.

But it was the final five dresses that had the fashion world talking, the floaty ethereal numbers were inspired by clouds, floating gracefully and peacefully in the sky. No doubt some stylish women will have eyed them off as potential wedding dresses.

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What separates Paris from the other Fashion Weeks? Well, in addition to the City of Lights’ rich sartorial legacy and the fact that the industry’s most iconic, directional, and envelope-pushing luxury houses present there, for Spring 2009, it is also the most likely location to catch a glimpse of the lighter, wittier side of fashion (and unlike in London, the humor is intentional). Notable cases in point include legendary left-of-center designers who have achieved two of Paris’s greatest legacies: this week, Maison Martin Margiela and Sonia Rykiel presented twistedly joyous commemorative collections; both were heavy on tongue-in-cheek and ironic connotations. Now who says fashion people take themselves too seriously?

At Maison Martin Margiela’s weird and wonderful 20th anniversary celebration, a bizarre parade of classically unidentifiable misfits donned garments reflective of the Belgian iconoclast’s most influential designs over the years. In addition to cameos from MMM’s jarringly prophetic legacy pieces (Remember the iconic white lab coat, the AIDS t-shirt, the paper-shredded frocks, and the peaked shoulder blazers of a few seasons ago? All present and accounted for), there were many ensembles whose main purpose was to tickle the funny bone. Wigs - one of Margielas favorite props - not only appeared on models’ heads (often faceforward, mind you), they appeared as epaulettes on jackets before evolving into entire garments of their own. Other offkey, comedic highlights included representations of a human “jewelry box”, spotlighted “legs” and “lips” on otherwise obscured figures, and silliest of all, the gigantic “cake” finale.

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The rest of the week will be dedicated to Paris, but below we spotlight three especially memorable collections from Spring 2009 Milan Fashion Week. Also feel free to tell us YOUR thoughts on Spring 2009 so far. Intrigued? Disappointed? Indifferent? We want to know!

JIL SANDER: Strongest Collection

Raf Simons delivered a discreetly captivative collection that smartly reinvented Jil Sander’s Teutonic hard/soft dynamic. Finding seasonal boundaries irrelevant, Simons focused on tailored cohesion, while nobly exploring the conceptual and functional value of that fickle decorative standard, fringe. He proved that it can be dynamic: spectacular, diagnonally draped columns unexpectedly gave new possibilities to shifts and full-length eveningwear. Worn over pantherine bodysuits, Simons used fringe to create elegant textural drama; as the sole, swingy “fabric” of cutaway shifts, it served as this season’s Lace, raising both eyebrows and the bar on the mindful exposability of textiles. Even fringe delegated as a standard trimming showcased an exciting experiment in color contrast, length, and illusion.

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Vivienne Westwood is one impressive Dame, at 67 she has a very successful fashion house, just released a music album, and now could see her life on the big screen with another talented British woman acting out her life in an upcoming biopic.

If rumors are true, Kate Winslet is in line to play Westwood from the 1970s to the present day - some of Westwood’s most influential years in fashion.

This juicy bit of gossip reportedly came from the mouth of Carlo D’Amario, Westwood’s Managing Director, at her Gold Label fashion show last night in Paris with Universal Pictures set to produce the film.

Now, can you just imagine Winslet as Westwood telling us in the 1980s to “Take your mother’s old brassiere and wear it undisguised over your school jumper and have a muddy face” then later flash the people at Buckingham Palace?

Saucy.

Though it was only a year ago when Kristen Dunst was rumored to play Westwood, so will this biopic ever happen?