Kate wore Repetto's loafers, made famous by the King of Pop.

Do you like the shoes?

The unraveling of Christian Lacroix began long before the label filed for bankruptcy in France in May. Lacroix has clashed with the Falic family, which owns the label, for years. The designer told Hamish Bowles that the Falics, “not being from the couture-and-luxury field ... were not prepared for the long-term investment” in his label. “They thought that in two seasons they would get their money back.” As the Wall Street Journal notes today, couture shows are not staged for the purpose of making money off those clothes. The benefit of a couture show is its worldwide marketing power, which helps sell things like sunglasses and handbags to aspirational and wealthy consumers. Those sales are the meat and potatoes of a fashion house. The money brought in from the actual couture collection is just the gravy — and maybe not even the gravy, but the truffle oil in the gravy — on top.

Over a dozen ex-Scoop employees plan to file suit against the chain in federal court in Manhattan today. The former stock and security workers allege Scoop didn’t pay them overtime. They say the store would promote them to “manager” or “assistant manager” for the sole purpose of replacing their hourly wages with fixed weekly salaries. Meanwhile, they worked 50 to 60 hours a week and did not perform any managerial duties. Labor-law experts say such fake promotions are a common way for employers to get out of overtime pay, which is, by law, time and half. The seventeen ex-employees are demanding $500,000 in lost wages. One spoke to Crain’s:

“We were not really store managers,” Mr. Cisse said. “They just gave us the titles so they could abuse us ... I just want people to know that Scoop is a big company, but what they see is not really the truth.”

When they finish their paperwork today, the ex-workers plan to stage a protest in front of the Scoop store in Soho. On the heels of those bankruptcy rumors, this isn’t shaping up to be a very good year for Scoop. And a protest isn’t going to help them sell those $230 freecity sweatshirts. In fact, just thinking about how gauche those are almost makes us want to demonstrate, too.

The scoop at Scoop: unpaid overtime, workers say [Crain's]

After the on-again, off-again bouts of rain, we admit we’ve been a little overzealous about soaking up sun when a rare clear, blue-sky weekend comes along. Unfortunately, long afternoons spent lounging on the roof or in the park have left us with a Monday burn more than once. Beekman 1802’s After-the-Sun soap soothes scorched skin with natural healing ingredients like goat’s milk, green-tea extract, olive oil, lavender, and aloe vera. They’re free of chemicals and artificial fragrances, which can irritate and dry out your already-tender skin. And each box comes packed with ten mini-bars, so it’s easy to throw one in your beach tote or travel bag for sunny weekends away.

$14.95 for ten bars at Green Depot or online.