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A shirtless and soaking wet David Beckham appears on the cover of British Elle. As promised, Beckham is the first man to score a solo cover of the women's magazine — ever. Inside, the soccer star says such insightful things as, "How would I sum myself up? I don't know, I prefer other people to do that. Erm, a little bit shy. I don't know what to say, I hate describing myself." [Elle UK]

It's the burned Birkin bag backlash. Francesca Eastwood — the daughter of Clint — and her boyfriend Tyler Shields — the troll photographer — lit a $100,000 Hermès crocodile skin Birkin on fire for a photo shoot. The profligate and media-happy couple is now receiving death threats and (gasp!) mean @replies on Twitter. Eastwood reportedly told friends that the haters "just don't understand art." [Telegraph]
SIn an interview to preview the magazine she just relaunched as a fashion-minded woman's erotica mag, 25, Anja Rubik confirmed what we already suspected: she wasn't wearing any underwear with that Anthony Vaccarello Met Ball dress. "It was a bodysuit attached, but no one knew," says the model. Of 25, she says, "I love this magazine from the late 60s, early 70s, called Viva, which was a Penthouse publication for women. It was very erotic, very sensual and I was looking through it and thinking, 'What happened to erotica?' because, now, the whole idea of erotic sensuality has disappeared and the approach to sex and nudity is very awkward — either it is really ‘cool' or really trashy. So we decided to bring the idea of erotica in the 70s back to life. I also wanted the magazine to be about very ambitious, very strong women and so I started looking at people in my field — especially the photographers who are so incredible — but I started thinking that there are so few female photographers; so I worked with many female photographers. And the issue is about very strong women, very ambitious; she does what she wants and she is comfortable with her sexuality." One interesting tidbit that Rubik doesn't mention: Anna Wintour got her first job as a fashion editor at Viva, which was owned by Bob Guccione. Wintour doesn't like to talk about that period of her career. [Oyster]
Milla Jovovich has a new single out. The model/actress's debut album, The Divine Comedy, recorded when she was 16, has something of a cult following. [YouTube]
The Cut has a great slideshow of fashion photographs by Essence co-founder, Life photo-essayist, and Shaft director Gordon Parks. [The Cut]
  • Economists are forecasting that U.S. apparel and footwear spending will contract to $344 billion by 2020 (down from $351 billion in 2010) as Millennials replace Baby Boomers as the key cohort. It's not that Millennials are spending less on nonessentials than Boomers are — but they are spending more on tech-y gadgets and the category analysts are calling "leisure and recreation" than they are on clothes. [WWD]
  • Seth Myers will host next week's Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards, and Matthew Crawley himself — in the person of actor Dan Stevens — will present the women's wear award along with Jessica Chastain. [WWD]
  • Now that Versace is profitable again, after encountering difficulties during the Great Recession, the family-owned company is said to be considering bringing in outside investors, or even going public, to fund future growth. The brand is working with Goldman Sachs. [Reuters]
  • Giuliana Rancic says that her fashion line will be extra doubleplusgood because she sees trends before they happen. She sees trends, people. They're all around us. Rancic's line for HSN launches on September 21. [WWD]
  • Meanwhile, Russell Simmons is re-re-re-re-launching his fashion line, Argyleculture, this time with Joseph Abboud. [WWD]
  • Armani is going to hold some sort of discussion about fashion on Twitter (clunky hashtag: #ArmaniTweetTalks) with Susanna Lau, the editor of Vogue China, and the founder of Yoox. Sounds enlightening. [WWD]
  • And now, a moment with Carmen Dell'Orefice, who has been modeling for 66 years. Carmen, what makes a model great?

    "Modeling when I started was a real career, for girls now it isn't. Most young girls starting in the business can't make a real living as a model. It is a stepping stone if they are smart and they know how to save the money. Most people don't know how to, because they're told that they'll be better people if they have a Manolo Blahnik shoe, or an expensive purse. I encourage a lot of young people to save their money and not to buy into the marketing. Don't ever think that 'If I buy this other people will notice me.' You don't want other people to notice you, notice yourself first."

    [Models.com]