The local-is-better approach had always ruled out silk pieces from his womenswear collections; silks are more often than not made and printed in the Far East. “I’d wanted to do silk for a long time, and it’s been really frustrating,” he told Style.com. “Almost everyone does silk in Asia, but I feel so dissociated when it’s happening so far away.” But thanks to the discovery of an ink from Fuji—one not intended for fashion purposes, from the same Fuji that manufactures high-end camera equipment—he’s begun hand-printing silk pieces in New York. Mid-November, the first of these new pieces,Wholesale Clothing, a range of printed scarves, hits the floor at Barneys New York; this spring, tops and dresses will follow at the Salvor shop.

To celebrate the new addition, Menuez tapped Charlotte Free, the pink-haired model of the moment, for a lookbook. Free’s been enjoying a banner season, shooting editorials for Love and the upcoming issue of V and campaigns for Topshop and Pamela Love. Menuez explained that he met Free through his daughter, India. “We decided to do it with Charlotte before we had even made half of the prints,” he said. “All of those prints were designed specifically for the shoot with Charlotte in the desert.” The images were shot by Keetja Allard outside of Free’s home in Southern California’s Canyon County, where, as it happens, the sun-faded rocks matched the fade in Free’s hair. “She looked like this bizarre rainbow spirit ghost floating around in the desert,” Menuez remembered. “The whole crew was just staring at her.”

—Matthew Schneier

Photos: Keetja Allard / Courtesy of Salvor Projects

—Matthew Schneier

Photos: Courtesy of Monique Péan

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Saying they had “left an indelible mark on American culture,” President Barack Obama awarded the honorees the 2011 National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal in a glittering ceremony in the White House’s East Room.

“We are told we are divided as a people, then suddenly the arts have the power to bring us together,” said the president, who was joined by first lady Michelle Obama.

“You … bring new possibilities to all of us. That’s a special trait,” Obama said. He drew applause when he said that the arts and humanities would remain a priority while he was president.

Pacino, the 71-year-old star of such movies as “The Godfather” and “Dog Day Afternoon,” was awarded the National Medal of Arts,wholesale Abercrombie bags, with Obama citing his “signature intensity as an actor.”

Tillis, whose hits include “Coca-Cola Cowboy” and “Good Woman Blues,” won the arts award for his contributions to country music. Tillis, 79, overcame a stutter to record more than 60 albums and has written more than 1,000 songs.

The other arts honorees were:

– painter and printmaker Will Barnet

– author and former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove

– art curator and philanthropist Emily Rauh Pulitzer

– sculptor Martin Puryear

– military morale-boosting non-profit United Service Organizations

– pianist and teacher Andre Watts

The winners of the National Humanities Medal were:

– Princeton University philosophy professor Kwame Anthony Appiah

– Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Ashbery

– historian Robert Darnton, an expert on 18th century France

– Andrew Delbanco, a professor of American literature at Columbia University

— National History Day, a program aimed at increasing U.S. students’ interest in history

— pianist and author Charles Rosen

— Teofilo Ruiz, a University of California Los Angeles history professor specializing in medieval Spain

— Stanford University literature professor Ramon Saldívar

— Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, who has focused on the causes of poverty and famine.

(Reporting By Ian Simpson; Editing by Greg McCune)

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Daphne Guinness wears Natacha Marro’s heel-less Mary Janes to the Dorchester Fashion Prize semi-finalists announcement in July; interested parties can purchase a glittering red version in ultra-limited edition at www.20ltd.com for about $758.

Recent offerings from Noritaka Tatehana,Cheap Ed hardy scarves, whose boots Lady Gaga wears in September’s Vanity Fair.

Photos: Don Ashby & Olivier Claisse (Marc Jacobs, Nina Ricci); Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images (Antonio Berardi/Victoria Beckham); Dave M. Benett / Getty Images (Natacha Morro/Daphne Guinness); Courtesy of Noritaka Tatehana (Noritaka Tatehana)

BOTTOM LINE: The bank’s profit after taxes fell 15 percent last year to 3 billion pounds ($4.8 billion) from 3.56 billion pounds the year before even though income rose 2.6 percent to 33 billion pounds.

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The affable celebrity was Oscar as in the Academy Awards statuette who rode in first class alongside film academy president Tom Sherak before making the rounds through the commercial flight to pose for photos.

Sherak surprised passengers just before they boarded the flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. He arrived with an Oscar in hand and announced that the famous golden guy would be flying with them.

Passengers used cellphones and pocket cameras to snap photos with Oscar as airline workers held a show-related trivia contest, awarding hoodies and hats from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“This is the closest I’m ever going to be to having one, so I’m enjoying it,” Rockford Yapp,Discount Fendi shoes, of Chicago, said as he held the coveted trophy. The 52-year-old also won an Oscar sweatshirt because he was sitting in the 84th seat on the plane. The 84th annual Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre and broadcast on ABC.

“My kids are going to be so excited!” Heather Boyd, of Chicago, said as she reviewed her shots on her cellphone. “The pictures are going on Facebook as soon as I get on the ground.”

Several passengers uploaded the photos to Facebook immediately upon landing.

“We’re staying in Studio City and I was just hoping to see someone from `American Idol,’” said a thrilled Joan Castell of Woodstock, Ill., who was heading west with her husband, Scott, for a vacation.

“I think United should do something entertaining like this on all their flights,” he said.

A flight attendant called the occasion a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” as she invited passengers to enjoy “the flight of the Oscars.”

Sherak said this is the first time Oscar has flown commercially out in the open. The statuettes, which have been made at Chicago’s R.S. Owens foundry for more than 70 years, are typically shipped to Los Angeles with little fanfare.

So why have Oscar mix it up with passengers?

“Just for fun,” Sherak said.

The pilot even allowed Oscar into the cockpit of the 757 before takeoff, calling the statuette his most prestigious “non-human” passenger yet.

“It’s a special treat. We want everyone to enjoy the flight and enjoy the show,” said Capt. Mel Mason Jr.

Nearly everyone on board held Oscar, and the 13 1/2-inch tall statuette surprised them with his heft. Made of a proprietary metal called brittanium and coated in 24-karat gold, Oscar weighs 8 1/2-pounds.

Sherak personally escorted 42 of the trophies back to academy headquarters in Beverly Hills, Calif., but only two rode in the cabin.

Oscar’s celebration continued at Los Angeles International Airport. Gold and silver balloons and oversized Oscar posters decorated the arrival gate. As passengers left the plane, each was given an Oscar of their own a tiny, chocolate version.

“United Airlines announces the arrival of the 84th Academy Awards Oscars,” a voice said over the loudspeaker as Sherak followed the throng of passengers.

Holding the statuette above his head, Sherak announced, “He’s home!”