Helmut Lang - Austria’s premier fashion designer, chief architect of 90s minimalism, and now cyber installation artist - has paired with Absolut Vodka to bring a new, “groundbreaking” dimension-defying aesthetic experience to everyone - well, those of us over 21, anyway.

Until December 31st, you can head to Absolut’s site to check out Lang’s cool, cryptic cyber “exhibit”, In An Absolut World’s “Alles Gleich Schwer”. How best to describe this internet art gallery? Think of the experience as an online “pop-up” art installation meets virtual brainteaser. A perfectly noble way to fill time, provided you are of legal age (or can type a fake birth date to access the site).

Pretentious? A little. Fun? More than you think.

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Though it was originally predicted to only achieve cult status in the Fall 2008 hierarchy of beauty products, YSL’s Gloss Pur Black Lip Gloss has exceeded all commercial expectations to become a bonafide smash.

Given its popularity, limited edition appeal, attractive portability, and surprising versatility, we also think that the haute black lip lacquer may be the perfect stocking stuffer for edgy style mavens this holiday season.

Even those less inclined to channel Elvira, Siouxsie, or the slick vampiric fem-bots Elbar Albez sent down the runways last February can enjoy the empowering drama Pur Black instantly grants your lips.

The secret to inky nuance? It’s all in the technique.

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Like it or not, e-commerce is quickly replacing brick-and-mortar shops, and this holiday season, even the long-hidden gems of the fashion industry can’t afford to eschew the virtual shopping game. Right and left, formerly hard-to-track-down labels and boutiques are finally wising up and opening cyber shops, and we love it! Here our five of our favorite new online shopping destinations.

FOR HER:

Farfetch.com
Perfect for: Global-minded indie shoppers in search of the Next Big Thing

Have you ever wished you could sweep the back alley boutiques of London, Paris, Copenhagen, Milan, and beyond? Now, thanks to the conceptual pioneers behind Farfetch.com, you can — right from the comfort of your own boudoir. Cult boutiques like London’s Feathers and Paris’s Maria Luisa are just two of the standout cyber shopping destinations. Aside from boasting a dynamic blend of the best of the European luxury labels — Ann Demeulemeester, Lanvin, Balenciaga, McQueen, all present and accounted for — Farfetch also retails hard-to-locate cult and regional lines like Bernhard Willhelm, April77, Emma Cook, Eley Kishimoto, La Petite S*****, and more.

Lindestore.com
Perfect For: Tracking down those collections that seem to only exist on the runway or in European editorials

Where can you actually purchase Rodarte, Wunderkind, Thomas Wylde, and other brilliant, yet largely intangible designers? At Bologna’s L’inde Des Palais, one of Europe’s leading fine retailers. In a welcome brainstorming coup, the owners recently launched Lindestore.com, and the e-commerce site has quickly caught on as an international luxury customer favorite. Personally, we just love visiting Rodarte’s section to vicariously experience the painfully remote enticement of their cobwebby cardigans and dresses. At $3,000, they give new irony to the term “shabby chic”.

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Less than a day after Madonna’s first ads for the Louis Vuitton Spring 2009 campaign stormed the fashion newswire, so follow the promo images for Sofia Coppola’s upcoming capsule accessories collection for the French luxury house — just in time for us to fall in lust for the weekend. Tonight, her premiere LV handbags and shoes mini-line will be fêted in true style at Tokyo’s Château Restaurant, Joël Robuchon.

After Sofia and Francis Ford Coppola collaborated with LV for the Core Values campaign, rumors brewed of a Sofia-helmed design project. Once confirmed to be true, the news was well publicized — yet specifics remained shadowy, until very recently. Who says that no one in fashion can keep a secret?

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Of all the campaign developments to emerge lately, no celebrity endorsement has been more debated — or anticipated — than Madonna for Louis Vuitton. Only weeks after news of her new spokesmodel status broke, the first shots of the campaign have arrived, and they look every bit as fierce as we had hoped.

Madge is a compelling addition to the LV ad legacy. In the new Steven Meisel shots, she stars as a feline and lithe luxe provocateur, posed haughtily in a smoky cinematic Parisian bar setting. While effortlessly characterizing Spring 2009’s overarching primitivism, she still is distinctively Madonna — the pop priestess gifted with unmistakable, preternatural confidence. She is a center attraction, a muse, and an aesthetic interpreter all in one. Plus, her lethal looking tribal accessories are fetching.

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In the past year, veteran Glamazon era supermodels recaptured their crowns from the Sasha’s, Coco’s, and Lily’s of our era, dominating many of the most enviable fashion and beauty campaigns. Along with Linda, Naomi, and Cindy, Claudia Schiffer has been on the comeback trail, reasserting her commercial rebirth with a heady contract with her old ally Chanel. Now, Claudia ascertains her resurgent status as the star of Yves Saint Laurent‘s upcoming Spring 2009 campaign.

As Stefano Pilati’s latest muse, 38-year-old Schiffer follows in the footsteps of many quirkier, younger icons - Kate Moss, Karen Elson - as well as like fellow glamazons Gisele Bündchen and, most recently, fellow sultry veteran, Naomi Campbell.

Where Naomi’s YSL campaign was slick, glamorous, and just a little mysterious - thematically coherent with Pilati’s moody Fall 2008 collection - Claudia’s ads, so far, look bright, crisp, and dare we say it, chipper. But, with Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin lensing the entire project, we expect nothing less than excellence and the early previews look promising. Looking graceful and mighty against a dramatic Hollywood Hills backdrop, Claudia radiates a screen siren’s magnetism. As far as iconic blonde bombshells go, she holds her own.
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Alberta Ferretti is the latest high fashion heavy hitter to join the fabulous cyber dimension of Stardoll.com — an online game, virtual playhouse, and every distractible fashionista’s new favorite procrastination tool all in one.

The Stardoll experience jars memories of playing with Mall Madness and paper dolls, but thanks to the inclusion of brands like DKNY, Vivienne Tam, and the fictional, vintage-crazed Bisou shop plus superstar pals Coco Chanel, Twiggy and Agyness, it is so much better. But without question, Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti’s Stardoll suite is the game’s classiest — and of course, most expensive — shopping destination. In the Philosophy boutique, you can you scope out, try on, and “buy” select pieces from the label’s Fall 2008 collection. Before you dress your avatar in the Goth Lolita-tinged finery, take note of the ensembles conveniently “modeled” by virtual showroom rep Zelda Williams (yes, Robin’s teenaged daughter).

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Victoria Beckham’s debut 10-piece dress collection hit the racks of Selfridges this week with this movie serving as a timely reminder of her fashion credentials and reportedly cheeky sense of humour.

The video see’s various models taking inspiration from Posh’s own ads for Marc Jacobs last season by hiding themselves all over a large mansion – behind drawers, in carrier bags, hanging behind doors, turning themselves into lamp shades and transforming themselves into an elephant.

Victoria only makes a brief appearance, only to disappear again at a blink of an eye.

Watch the video above and let us know what you think.

She kissed a girl and she liked it. And apparently, so did we (the charts don’t lie, do they?). Now 2008’s favorite recreational lesbian, Katy Perry - cherry chapstick and all - can be yours, in miniaturized form. Or at least, she could have been yours, if two months ago, you were one of the prescient 500 to snag the singer’s doll doppelganger from Integrity Toys.

Missed your chance? Never fear. Thanks to eBay, Katy can still be yours - for a hefty price.

Originally retailing for a paltry $45, on the resale market Katy’s fantastic plastic form commands bids upwards of $100; those prices are likely to only skyrocket this holiday season. Why all the fuss over a one two-hit wonder?

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