• Fur is necessary for "killing those beasts who would kill us if they could," says the world's creepiest man, Karl Lagerfeld. Then he tackles the real issue: the "zillions of the fat." [Telegraph]

• Were slash and burn discounts just the beginning for flailing retailers? [FT]
• Depressingly, the bad holiday sales mean a lot of bankruptcy. [CNN]
• In the UK alone, financial types are predicting 440 closures in the next months. [,a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/more-than-400-retailers-to-collapse-within-months-1220216.html">Independent]
• At least the reaper's democratic: as Chanel cuts employees, "no luxury brand is safe." [NYT]
• Uniqlo, meanwhile, says the secret to their cashmere mafia's success is ordering from the mills off-season. [The Street]
• Charity Soles4Souls is, for unclear reasons, tying 26,000 shoes together in Nashville. Hey, it got our attention! [NYT]
• Fashion predictions for this year? "Cheap copies." [Guardian]
• As Naomi Campbell can tell you, hair extensions lead to bald patches. [Daily Mail]
• Jodie Kidd on the perils of modeling:"It's easy to get swept up in the whole first-class Ritz lifestyle. And that's not me. I hadn't seen my best friend. I hadn't gone to the pub. I hadn't gone to the movies. Then I started getting panic attacks and I wasn't quite sure why I was anxious, because I was working and earning. But I just wasn't happy. I wasn't grounded. I needed to see my family. I needed to walk around in wellies and muck out a stable. I needed to get back to Jodie. Country Jodie." [Daily Mail]
• The Nuclear Wintour will be speaking (!) in New York this May on "the impact of Vogue." PETA, presumably, will be present. [Fashionista]

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