● Rugby (West Village) - Your 'Crombies just met their match. ● Michael Kors (Midtown West) - Michael Kors retails Michael Kors, MICHAEL Michael Kors, and KORS Michael Kors, all while keeping his ego firmly in check. ● Helmut Lang (Upper West Side) - Helmut may have left the building, but simple, classic looks are always in fashion.

In 2005, Austrian fashion designer Helmut Lang famously left his namesake label to become a full-fledged fine artist. While the minimalist fashion pioneer is sorely missed by the industry, Lang's doing whatever it takes to shed – and shred – the cult-like status attached to his designs. For his latest exhibit, the artist destroyed 6,000 garments from his fashion archives to create a series of pipe-like sculptures. Though one would assume this is just his dramatic way of cutting ties with his past, Lang is quick to clarify.

Bold geometric prints and color-blocking are definitely big upcoming trends for 2011. Seen already this past spring season on runways for Carolina Herrera, Betsey Johnson, and Lela Rose, you can expect to see many other designers on the abstract train. Reminiscent of the '60s and '70s, it’s a natural transition, given the glitzy studio 54 vibe that is already going on. Michael Kors (pictured, left), Diane von Furstenberg (pictured, right), Moschino Cheap & Chic, and Helmut Lang are notable designers with heavy color/abstract influence for pre-fall 2011.

One of my go-to blogs for style insight is Knight Cat, created by college student Cat Khan. What was first a personal site she created simply to keep track of inspirational images, is now a reference tool for millions of fashion devotees across the globe. Based on the core focus of celebrating fashion imagery, her site is mostly all pictures with little to no commentary. But not just any pictures—the girl has a sharp eye for emerging talent and on-the-verge trends. And as her list of followers grows, the industry is starting to take note. Now Shopbop has tapped Khan to select her favorite merchandise in their online boutique. In true Knight Cat fashion, her picks include smart basics, edgy updates of classic pieces, lots of leather, and must-have accessories.

The very same week that an ad campaign shot by Todd Selby (the photog behind the perfectly-lit home invaders image series housed on the blog, The Selby) for Converse has dropped, a completely different kind of marketing stint over at Helmut Lang HQ has hit the blogosphere by way of Mark "The Cobrasnake" Hunter's party photo porthole. The differences, though subtle, are huge when it comes to the distinct ways with which brands are approaching advertising via bloggers. Selby's campaign for Converse's Jack Pucell's for the most part looks like your average shoe campaign: the toe of the iconic sneakers double as the mouths of good-looking twenty-somethings whose not-so-aesthetically-appealing fictional abodes provide each image's backdrop. Yes, there are hints of the Selby here, but for the most party the ad feels like just that.

Austrian artist Helmut Lang believes the artistic experience should be absolute. It's no small coincidence, then, that he's partnered with Absolut vodka to create In an Absolut World, a "radical new medium to view and experience art." And these days, when anything is "radical" and "new," you know it's gotta be online. Because the Internet has rendered everything else conservative and dated. So it's with that creed in mind that Lang brings us an online virtual gallery, to view his "Alles Gleich Schwer" exhibit. Once there, you can zoom in and out, rotate, and cradle his tactile pieces. It's actually pretty cool -- but what fun is online shenanigans without downloadables? Lang obviously sees this, which is why he's letting you download and print limited hi-res posters of the exhibition, "with no requirements needed other than an Internet connection." And if you don't have that, then you're probably not even reading this.

While former fashion designer Helmut Lang left his namesake house, and the fashion world entirely, to pursue a career in fine art -- namely with the cheekily titled project, "hl-art" -- nearly three years ago, Lang’s innovative, pared-down fashions have certainly not been forgotten. In fact, Lang’s iconic deconstructivist designs are seeing new light thanks to an exhibit housed in German arts magazine 032C's Konstantin Grcic-designed Museum Store in Berlin.