Your Morning Fashion and Beauty Report: Chloe Sevigny plans runway show. Oprah wears L'Wren Scott. And Fergie picks up a FiFi.

You might say actress Chloe Sevigny dabbles in fashion design, creating collections for Opening Ceremony sporadically and showing them rather casually -- at a concert, for instance, or over tea. But next month she's scheduled to present an actual runway show. "I've never done this part before and it's a little scary, to be honest," she told style.com. I'm still in the early stages, but I have been looking at spaces, looking at models, and selecting the music and all of that. It's pretty cool to be doing this." [Style.com] 

Newly blond singer Fergie was honored Wednesday at the fragrance industry's annual FiFi awards, picking up the New Celebrity Fragrance of the Year award for her Outspoken scent for Avon. Clad in a lemon yellow dress by BCBG -- and surprised when she was joined onstage by husband Josh Duhamel -- Fergie said it was humbling to have "the biggest fragrance launch in Avon's 125-year history."  [People]  

Former wholesale-manufacturer-turned-designer Eli Levite plans to expand his bohemian-tinged Johnny Was label to the Grove this summer. [Mondette]

Trendy men's underwear line 2(x)ist is getting into swimwear, and will show its first collection at the Swim Show in Miami. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

Our Booth Moore wrote about the effect Oprah Winfrey has had on fashion over the 25-year span of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and we posted a photo gallery of her looks over the years. So what did the divine Oprah wear for the last episode? An elegant custom coral silk L'Wren Scott dress, nude heels and drop earrings. [StyleList]

After an action packed two days in London, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a formal thank-you dinner honoring their hosts at Winfield House, the American ambassador's residence in London. The first lady wore Ralph Lauren. But my favorite image came earlier in the day, when the Obamas co-hosted a barbecue along with British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, Samantha. Michelle Obama, dressed in a brown-and-white patterned sweater and skirt by Tracy Reese, and Samantha Cameron, in a belted Jonathan Saunders dress, served up potato salad and coleslaw to guests while their husbands handled the grill. [WWD] 

Meanwhile, France's first lady, Carla Bruni, hosted a luncheon in Deauville, France, for wives of leaders attending the G-8 summit, wearing a white maternity shift and black coat and confirming that, yes, she is four months pregnant. [People]

Express will try out a new Japanese-designed store prototype next month, with industrial fixtures, a runway down the middle and a denim lab. [WWD] (Subscription required.) 

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Chloe Sevigny. Credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times 

Oprah's fashion effect

Looking back on 25 years of the "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is like looking into a fashion time capsule. The talk show titan has worn it all -- from big hair to big shoulders to big ball gowns. She's gone with makeup and without, hidden her lumps under Spanx, and showed off her curves in skinny jeans. She is America's fashion realist.

Beyond what she's worn herself, Oprah has been influential in bringing fashion into America's living rooms, and putting it in the pantheon of pop culture. Bridging the divide between Seventh Avenue and Main Street, she's invited such designers as J. Crew's Jenna Lyons, Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg and Michael Kors onto her show. Extending their democratic reach may have added fuel to the phenomenon of designers launching inexpensive lines and one-time cheap chic collaborations.

Oprah treated countless members of her audience to makeovers with experts such as Bobbi Brown and Frederic Fekkai. And the styles she featured on her "Oprah's Favorite Things" holiday freebie bonanzas famously sold out within hours (including Ugg boots and cashmere cable knit Ralph Lauren sweaters). Just last week, she visited Ralph Lauren's Telluride Ranch. (Oprah introduced Lauren when he received a special award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2007.)

But Oprah has also reflected the struggles most women have fitting into fashion, both literally and figuratively. We watched her weight go up and down, and sympathized when she was snubbed at the Hermes store in Paris. Her weakness for expensive Christian Louboutin shoes -- or any shoes really -- is well known, and totally relatable. She featured the French designer's shoes on the show, calling them "little pieces of sculpture" and once gifted Jessica Seinfeld 21 pairs.

She never dressed for a man, she dressed for herself. And her love of the finer things reinforced the American ideal that if you work hard enough, no matter what size you are, you too can have the best  fashion has to offer -- even if it's custom-made, which many of her designer gowns were. 

Oprah cleaned out her closets several times, selling castoffs at the Oprah store in Chicago, or on EBay, with proceeds going to charity. But throughout it all, she wasn't ashamed to display her love of clothes and style, even talking fashion with First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. 

What's next for Oprah? Who knows, but a fashion line wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Something tells me it would be successful in every channel.

-- Booth Moore

PHOTOS:

A look at Oprah Winfrey's style over the years

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Critic's notebook: Oprah Winfrey's final daytime finale not entirely self-promotional

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Oprah's revolution will continue to be televised

Photo: Oprah Winfrey acknowledges fans during a star-studded double-taping of "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular, in Chicago. Charles Rex Arbogast / Associated Press.