The Proenza boys go for a naughty-pinup-girl-at-the-lodge vibe for their Spring 2012 print ad campaign.

Additional versions on the next page.

It was revealed earlier today that Proenza Schouler is in search of real estate for its first store, with a Madison Avenue location in Manhattan, as one the label is zeroing in on. Kind of makes sense that the designers behind the label, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, would choose an uptown over downtown location for their first store. Proenza Schouler has always had that ladies who lunch gone naughty feel to it, not unlike their muse-ish pal, Chloe Sevigny, who traded her classy Connecticut possibilities for a much more tangled path but is still able to navigate the poshiest of events and people with ease. All of which leap to mind upon viewing Proenza’s Pre-Autumn 2012 collection. If last season the label went a bit further below 14th Street (heck even ventured into Williamsburg!) than it normally does with its ode to Navajo, with Pre-Autumn it returns home with a collection worthy of inspiring  roots.

More on the next page.

Proenza Schouler  win our hearts once more with an Autumn collection filled with clever offerings capable of creating an overall interesting look with just one piece. The jacquard skirt above with leather piping,an asymmetrical hemline and a print that even  an “all black everything” devotee like yours truly can fiend for. Takes the lead, it’s available at ssense.

Here are Proenza Schouler designers Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough accepting CFDA’s grand prize, the Womenswear Designer of the Year Award, presented last night in New York’s Lincoln Center.  Alexander Wang and Marc Jacob’s were also nominated. Wang came away with Accessory Designer of the Year and Jacob’s received an honory award. More images from the event to come.

Given the popularity of the PS1 bag by Proenza Schouler, the brand’s launch of PS1 wallets is kind of a big deal. The medium-sized PS1 tote bag is around $1,500, and the PS wallet is priced at $165 so it’s a decent alternative if you can’t afford the actual bag (and don’t want the Target knock-off version!). There’s also a larger “Continental” wallet, priced at $585, which, meh, that seems to high for something that will mostly stay hidden–though you could always carry it as a clutch.

A black and a white version on the next page, though there are many more colors at Proenza Schouler.

CFDA announced its 2011 fashion award nominees and honoree recipients yesterday. The Womenswear Designer Award is the most coveted and this year the competition is super tight! There’s industry standard bearer Marc Jacobs (who won the award last year), crowd favorite Proenza Schouler (who we think “won” NY Fashion Week) and the king of Downtown New York, Alexander Wang, who was nominated for two additional awards, Accessory Designer Award and Swarovski Award for Menswear. Does Wang get it this year? You have to consider him the favorite if only because Jacobs has won it three times and the Proenza Schouler boys won it in 2007, and as such it might have the feel of a snub if he’s denied again.  

See more nominees and recipients on the next page, including Lady Gaga who was awarded a well-deserved Fashion Icon Award.

Famed street photographer Tommy Ton shares images of Proenza Schouler Autumn 2011 from the studio and backstage prior to the label’s NY Fashion Week Autumn 2011 runway show.

If Tom Ford has the fashion internets the most annoyed than Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the design duo behind Proenza Schouler, has them the most charmed. Between winning (no, it’s not the playoffs, but yeah it sort of is) New York Fashion Week with their computerized Navaho collection and then gushing about how important the internets are–no less to a room full of bloggers, who for that moment didn’t have to suffer from their usual inferiority complex, they’re totally in that everyone-loves phase right now.

And Chloe Sevigny’s chat with them in Interview magazine doesn’t make them any less lovable.  Here’s an excerpt detailing how Hernandez lost their dog in his building when it accidentally got into the elevator by itself and wandered into an event taking place on another floor.

Hernandez: Well, I get to the lobby and there are hundreds of people. There’s a line down to Broome Street. I asked some guy, “Have you seen a dog?” He’s like, “Oh, yeah. Someone left a dog in the elevator. I don’t know where he went. He’s somewhere in the building.” I have no idea it’s Harmony [Korine]’s or Rita [Ackermann]’s opening. So I go to the Swiss Institute and it’s packed with hundreds of people. My dog weighs five pounds! I’m freaking out.
Sevigny: Someone stepped on him.
Hernandez: More like, someone stole him. One of these fucking hipsters stole my dog.
Sevigny: Does he have a collar on?
Hernandez: Nothing. No!
Sevigny: Well, that’s an irresponsible owner.
Hernandez: I’m at this party. I start bumping into Harmony and Terry [Richardson] and all these people. I’m thrown into this party environment and I’m just looking for my dog. I’m really scared. All of a sudden you call me. I thought you were at the party and you had seen me or something. I thought, Oh, Chloë must be here. I picked up, and you said, “Did you lose your dog?”

And the adorable cuteness doesn’t end there. There’s more about their design process, competition and how Helmut Lang is the inspiration for their generation. As a bonus we all learn how to pronounce Sevigny. Of course hopefully they enjoy it while it lasts because this is fashion, after all, and every dog has his day. More images via Interview from the Spring collection on the next page.

Proenza Schouler is offering a collection of “Bright,” unisex rope bracelets. Opening Ceremony put these up yesterday, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Meanwhile the Proenza Schouler runway show is tomorrow and this may be very New York City-ish centric, but there’s this bit of a tug of a war as to who is lately grabbing more of the Downtown girls’ fickle heart–the Proenza Schouler or Alexander Wang (insert which would you rather poll here–PS-1 or Rocco).

And not that her opinion impacts this particular debate but NY Times critic Cathy Horyn is clearly not feeling Alex Wang still. After slamming his Spring collection flat out (it wasn’t his time, Cathy), this time around she said more or less his show had only a few okay pieces and that it didn’t matter anyway because he makes it up as he goes along because what you see on the runway is not what you see at retail. Like, whatever, Alex! But then she very criptically made a comment about designer Daryl K, and how her clothes are great, but somehow she doesn’t have the same success as Alex & co. (could it be she had kids and was semi-retired and dealing with the near death of her label for a hot minute??) Anyway, more of those “Bright” bracelets on the next page.

Susie Bubble takes a closer look at the Proenza Schouler’s Spring/Summer 2011 runway offerings. Her coverage includes a visit to the showroom and great shots of the accessories, which are highlighted here. Check out more bags, shoes and a funny wristlet-finger thingy on the next page.