FLYING COACH: Could Phillip Lim soon be creating apparel pieces for Coach? Word is the designer has had a few conversations with the accessories giant for a possible collaboration with Reed Krakoff, Coach's president and executive creative director. Further details could not be learned, but the focus could be on trenchcoats. The project is said to be in its nascent stages, and product is unlikely to hit Coach stores before spring or even fall 2008. It wouldn't be Coach's first apparel venture. Last year, the New York-based company struck a deal with cashmere label Lutz & Patmos for a capsule line of women's knitwear.

LIZ CUTS SHOWS: Ellen Tracy and Dana Buchman are on review and off the runway. The two bridge collections are among the 16 brands that Liz Claiborne Inc. is trying to sell off, and though the company has said it will be "business as usual" for the brands in the meantime, the move to showroom presentations may indicate otherwise. Although Dana Buchman has not had a runway show in more than 12 months, this year's move represents a divergence for Ellen Tracy, which typically shows during New York Fashion Week. This year, both will have open house presentations in their showrooms, Tracy on Sept. 4 and Buchman on Sept. 5.

HEAT OF THE NIGHT: A crowd swarmed the rooftop of David Yurman's TriBeCa headquarters on Thursday night for the firm's annual summer cocktail party. Rachel Roy, Kelly Killoren Bensimon and Alexis Bryan were just some of the Yurman fans who mingled with up-and-coming soap stars, Leven Rambin from "All My Children" and Leighton Meester of the new show "Gossip Girl." Rambin was clad in a black, high-necked Jay Godfrey dress, accessorized with a half-dozen David Yurman gold bangles, but they couldn't hide the star-shaped tattoo on her wrist. "I got it a few months ago because it's been a great year and I want to remember it," said Rambin. The young actress has been quite the gal around town to promote her drama about the troublesome doings of New York's social set. "It's an exceptional show and so true to life," said Meester. "People who live in that world are going to blush and be very bashful about how true to life it is."