Models wearing Prabal Gurung's "Regiment" collection at Fashion Week.

As New Yorkers woke up under a blanket of snow Saturday morning, the Transom braved the ice-lined streets of Soho en route to St. John’s Studio, where—inside the unmarked brick building—a battalion of models had assembled in preparation for the launch of Prabal Gurung’s fall 2013 collection, “Regiment.”

Just before the chic soldier-models marched down the runway before the likes of Vogue’s Anna Wintour—properly seated in the front row—the Transom ventured backstage to find out more about the collection’s inspiration.

As makeup artists and hairstylists hustled about, we found Mr. Gurung looking calm, cool and visibly happy in front of a collage of his designs.

Clad in a black sweater, black jeans and black boots (everyone wears black except the models), the designer was busy smiling and pleasantly shaking hands with the growing horde of photographers, editors, publicists and stage managers who wanted a piece of his time.

It’s no surprise he’s in such high demand. Four years since his Fashion Week debut, he counts Michelle Obama and Kate Middleton among his fans. Even so, when a staffer offered Mr. Gurung sips of water between interviews, the humble designer was almost overly gracious. “Thank you,” he told the young man. “Thank you so much.”

So what inspires the man who designs for the world’s leading ladies?

Mr. Gurung told the Transom it was Time magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2012” feature on body armor for female soldiers—combined with the Pentagon’s decision last month to lift the ban on women in combat—that sparked his imagination.

“All these years, women have been wearing men’s uniforms, and now they’re redesigning,” he said. “That led me to think about, ‘Oh my God, I’ve taken it for granted. Women need a separate kind of new uniform.’”

Fear not—the models didn’t walk the runway in camouflage and flak jackets. Instead they sported military-inspired pieces with classic Gurung touches: black woven leather harnesses over military-green peplum jackets and a mink patchwork coat with feathered red fox, all designed to embrace feminine beauty and strength.

“What is empowerment, and what, as a woman, does it mean?” Mr. Gurung pondered before the show. “It’s not necessarily about being aggressive, but about totally embracing your femininity, totally being comfortable with being a woman in a man’s world and ruling it.”

Minutes before the show began, amid the hustle and bustle and dramatic lighting, there was a rare moment backstage when Mr. Gurung was left alone to himself. In the few seconds of silence, he turned slowly around to study the wall behind him, where photographs of his collection were mounted in orderly rows.

Asked what he hopes to conquer next in the world of fashion, Mr. Gurung mused, “I just hope that creatively I’m challenging myself and pushing myself and the business is growing. And I just hope I’m around for a long time. I just love the industry.”

With that, the Transom departed Mr. Gurung’s world, trudging through slush and frozen puddles in a pair of weather-inappropriate high heels. Channeling the designer, we embraced our feminine uniform (in our own small way) and walked, empowered, down the sidewalk to hail a cab.

The Duchess of Cambridge--and wife of Prince William, second-in-line to the throne--has been admitted to the hospital in London with morning sickness, ending a long guessing game over when the couple, who met at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, would produce an heir. The child would leapfrog Prince Harry to become third-in-line to the throne after William and the current heir apparent, Prince Charles (or, as he's soon to be known, Grandpa, or something more formal and twee like Grandpapa).

As for a name, we suggest Avery, Olivia, or Nevaeh for a girl and Caleb, Jayden, and Brayden for a boy.

Media magnate Richard Desmond threatened to shut down the Irish Daily Star, which he co-owns, after the tabloid reprinted the 13 photos of the former Kate Middleton sunbathing in France sans bikini top. The scandalous shots were originally published in the French magazine Closer.

"I'm very angry at the decision to publish these photographs and am taking immediate steps to close down the joint venture,” Mr. Desmond said over the weekend. "The decision to publish these pictures has no justification whatsoever and Northern & Shell condemns it in the strongest possible terms.”

The closure of the Irish tabloid, which is known for printing tasteful features such as "Star Babes", "Celeb Babes" and "Retro Babes," would result in the loss of over 120 jobs.

The British National Union of Journalists reacted with British understatement (which we think translates to outrage), calling the threat to shut down the paper "an over the top reaction which should be reconsidered calmly and with consideration of the full implications for Irish journalism and for editorial diversity.”

For now, angry royalists will have to comfort themselves with the fact that Michael O’Kane, the editor responsible for the decision to publish the scandalous photos, has been suspended.

"Independent Star Limited has suspended editor Michael O'Kane with immediate effect, pending an investigation into the circumstances that led to the Irish Daily Star re-publishing pages from the French magazine Closer, which contained images of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge," it said.

Mr. Desmond also co-owns the royal sympathizing Daily Express, which some speculate may be a driving force behind the desire to stay in the Graces' good graces.

The Duke and Duchess are preparing to sue.

On Saturday, she became the closest thing this waning empire has to a Kate Middleton figure by marrying Nico Thomas Evers-Swindell, the Kiwi actor who played Prince William in the Lifetime original movie "William & Kate: Let Love Rule," and who shows no signs of sharing a balding pattern with the Duke of Cambridge.

Last week Kate Middleton flew solo at a royal engagement for the first time. Ms. Ferguson and her prince recently finished filming a pilot for MTV called "Dumb Girls."

Ms. Middleton met Prince William at St. Andrews University in Scotland. Ms. Ferguson attended Yale.

Kate Middleton, 'Newsweek''s favorite cover girl. (Getty Images)

Today's  cover of Newsweek, with a digitally-aged Lady Di hobnobbing with Kate Middleton, raised our eyebrows--and not merely for the suggestion that, had she lived, Diana would have been "Tweeting from Davos" (wouldn't she have delegated telling her story to a Twitter-age Andrew Morton?). Why, in our unscientific count, it was the fourth time in Tina Brown's fifteen issues as editor in which Kate Middleton has been featured on the cover!

Ms. Middleton was pictured, alone, in the "Kate the Great" pre-wedding cover story; with her new husband in a post-wedding regular issue (the cover story then as this week was written by Tina Brown) and commemorative issue; and now walking with Diana in this week's installment of Ms. Brown's beautiful, dark, regal fantasy. (We're leaving out the international cover in which Ms. Middleton and Prince William were depicted as "Fantasy Britain" vs. a riot-torn "Real Britain"; the American cover that week depicted the Olsen twins, with a much sunnier spin on Kate and Wills in the cover line "Can Kate & Will Save Britain?")

With four covers to her name, Ms. Middleton is more popular at Tina Brown's Newsweek even than crazy weather (three covers), the Clintons (two covers), or stock photography of white people and their problems (two covers). Only three covers thus far in Ms. Brown's tenure do not depict Kate Middleton, a weather pattern, a Clinton, or a stock photo of a white person: those covers depict Gabrielle Giffords, the aforementioned Olsen twins, and Mitt Romney.

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_

And there's nothing like a wedding between a future monarch and his steady to get the ceramic flowing.   

With the blessed event a mere 76 days away (which means these exquisite handicrafts will only appreciate in value!), we've collected the very best swag with which you can demonstrate your anglophilia, your aristocratic leanings, and your appreciation of commemorative merchandise.

Get yours now! Here's how to order Kate and Willie's Finest Royal Keepsakes. >>

The first line of the release is a gem.

Kate Middleton, the commoner set to marry Prince William in Westminster Abbey on April 29 who is having a most uncommon effect upon the world of fashion...

From commoner to common-not! The firm also cited the insane demand for the instantly iconic blue Issa dress Middleton wore to the engagement press conference -- it was sold out online in hours.

The choice of Middleton as the number one validates these seemingly arbitrary computation services, but an anomoly slipped in as well. At number twenty is the phrase "Jersey Shore wear," which should never be awarded buzzword status.

The full list is below.

1.     Kate Middleton – Kate dethrones Lady Gaga as the No. 1 fashion buzzword for the upcoming season, reaching a crescendo on the occasion of her April 29^th wedding to Prince William.

2.     Lady Gaga – Gaga’s global influence continues unabated especially among her ever-growing legions of ‘little monsters’.

3.     Sheer – Translucent, transparent and transcendent again en vogue for the season.

4.     Shirt Dresses – From the Upper East Side to 6th Street in Austin to LaJolla, California shirt dresses are everywhere (and everywhen),

5.     Sustainable Style – Clothing make of recycled fabrics now entering the mainstream. 

6.     Articulated Platforms – Move over Armadillos, platforms are taking on a life of their own, now to be found with every type of embellishments from McQueen inspired butterflys, to florals and feathers. What’s new?  Flatforms.

7.     MoBama – Moving up the list again after a lackluster 2010.

8.     Stripes – Classic black and white stripes with striking mathematically inspired motifs.

9.     Flowers Everywhere – Monet redux:  As if Monet updated his water lily meme to the 21^st      c. catwalk.

10.    Blocked Colors – Bright and bold, color blocks are ever so popular (and fashionable).

11.    Edun – Mrs. Bono’s (Ali Hewson) line of ethical couture gets a boost with the Louis Vuitton for Edun bag. 

12.    White Shirts – Clean and crisp for a classic, say Aubrey Hepburn, look.

13.    Fruit vs. Fruit Salad – Either way fruit is big (as are animals).  Veggies?  Not so much.

14.    Leggins – Flourishing around the globe. Women voting with their feet, er, legs.

15.    Anime – Anime inspired looks with big eyes and pursed lips; definitely not haute but hot, especially among young Asians.  

16.    That ‘70s Look – The Neo-Bohemian, updated from the ‘60s but cleaner and more refined

17.    Embellishments – Embellishments now encompass tassels, pewter, sequins and studs to anything else that works.

18.    Black Swan – Natalie Portman’s adds to the ever-popular ballerina meme.

19.    Yama Girls – Trekking outfits include fleece miniskirts brightly colored leggings and style-conscious boots.

20.    Jersey Shore wear – Unsophisticated, tawdry, outrageous, And definitely not to be seen in polite company. But that’s precisely the point, isn’t it.

Click for Scandal Report: Champagne Mania Makes for A Boozy Golden Globes

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234

But it looks like Kate won't be putting together Christmas catalogs for much longer. The Daily Mail reports that she's quitting the gig to prepare for the April 29 wedding and to settle into the full time job of being the world's prettiest prettiest princess.

She will be missed it looks like!

According to one friend, Kate, who helped organise parties in her former guise, has taken on the role of wedding planner with 'gusto and energy'.

The friend, who was quoted in Hello! magazine, said: 'Catherine is a naturally creative individual and has spent her professional life in the creative industries having worked at Jigsaw, then as a website designer, photographer, marketer and events organiser. Skills she has built up in her working life translate naturally to organising a wedding.

Her hubby, however, will keep his job in the Royal Air Force. Your move, feminism.

Click for Scandal Report: Champagne Mania Makes for A Boozy Golden Globes

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234

But what if you could have seen the rock not just in plain old 2D, but rather explosive-looking monster 3-D? Think about it -- that extra dimension will project the affluence and history of the royal court in way previous antiquated technology simply couldn't. What if this is the way we actually watch the wedding of the century?

Well stop dreaming, kids -- Rupert Murdoch is going to turn this monumental vision of matrimonial bombast into an totally in-your-face extravaganza. Bloomberg is reporting that Rupert Murdoch is bringing weddings to the next dimension.

British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, is negotiating with royal officials to show the wedding on television. The talks, which involve the British Broadcasting Corp., also include shooting the event in 3-D and transmitting it to cinemas, two people familiar with the matter said. Test shots have been taken inside the church and a broadcast rights announcement may come in weeks, one of them said, declining to be identified because the talks are private.

The broadcasting group claims precedent as justification for the 3-D treatment, even if the examples are a bit different from a wedding.

Movie theaters have benefited from the explosion of 3-D screenings -- and their higher ticket prices -- and by showing live events such as the Metropolitan Opera, the soccer World Cup and concerts by the Black Eyed Peas and U2.

Blockbuster films “Avatar,” “Tron: Legacy” and “Toy Story 3” prompted cinemas to outfit screens with digital equipment, which also lets them stream live content.

OK, so the wedding probably won't have virtual reality motorcycle races or epic human-alien environmental robot warfare on distant planets, but if The Great Gatsby can be in 3-D, why not the merger of Wills and his pretty pretty princess? I mean, how else will those kept off the super-tight guest list -- like President Obama, most of the universe, and ourselves -- actually feel like they're in Westminster Abbey?

We've got our glasses at the ready.

nfreeman at observer.com |@nfreeman1234

Click for Scandal Report: And Then The Model At Diddy's Party Burst Into Flames