Fashion Scoops: First Lady … Haute or Not … Big in Japan …

FIRST LADY: It wasn’t the first fashion show for Gucci chief executive officer Robert Polet, but it was for his wife, Caroline. Together, the fashion novices schmoozed with the style set, chatting it up with Mario Testino after the show. Caroline snapped pictures of her husband with her digital camera as he gave television interviews. Still, she seemed a bit flummoxed by the crush of press, declining to say if she had a favorite piece of the collection. “It was very Gucci. It was very, very nice,” she said.

HAUTE OR NOT: Although Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have started to sell one-of-a-kind pieces that can sell for upward of $100,000 out of their Milan flagship, the designers don’t want to be called couturiers. “Couture just reeks of oldness,” Gabbana proclaimed on the sidelines of a press conference Thursday ahead of their Dolce & Gabbana show today. “These dramatic clothes are made just to sell perfume. They’re just not wearable.” Dolce went further, lamenting, “Couture today has become surreal, impossible to wear. What we’re trying to do is understand what the market wants.” The duo has discovered that women will shell out top dollar for one-offs. “They want something quick, yet never before seen,” Gabbana said. On offer behind leopard-and-gold-covered doors in the Milan store are dresses, furs and embroidered jeans starting at $1,200. The designers say they hope to roll out the concept to other flagships.

BIG IN JAPAN: Karl Lagerfeld, as fashion’s ultimate multitasker, wouldn’t dream of taking a trip to Japan for only one purpose. To wit: When he travels to Tokyo in early December for the opening of Chanel’s new Ginza flagship — and to unveil a Coco Tokyo pre-fall collection — he’s packing his cameras, too. That’s because he’s collaborating with Interview magazine for a special Tokyo issue, spotlighting personalities from the worlds of film, fashion and art. Interview’s Ingrid Sischy said her only concern is Lagerfeld’s penchant for shooting in the street. “He’s really popular in Japan,” she said. “I think I’m going to be the traffic cop. I can feel it.”