Jennifer Lawrence Wore the World's Ugliest Dior Culottes

We’d say that Jennifer Lawrence really earned her keep as a paid face of Dior by submitting to wearing this truly unfortunate asymmetrical culotte/crop-top combo in public yesterday, but Jennifer Lawrence is probably getting paid millions of dollars to be a face of Dior — Robert Pattinson’s Dior contract was worth a rumored $16 million — and they’re just pants, after all. She’s laughing all the way to the bank. [BuzzFeed]

• According to a story in the new issue of America Vogue, Alexander Wang was first asked to consider taking over Balenciaga before Nicolas Ghesquière had parted ways with the house. Wang said no. François-Henri Pinault, the head of Balenciaga’s parent company, Kering, persisted, asking Wang to come to Paris to look at the company’s design archives.

He suggested that before Wang dismiss the offer, he visit the Balenciaga archives that night. Around 11:00 p.m., Wang arrived at the archives in the Thirteenth Arrondissement. Pinault had arranged for the security cameras to be disabled, lest the news leak that there would be a change of designer at the house—let alone that Wang was in line for it.

People in fashion really watch too many spy movies. Anyway, then Ghesquière did leave, Wang took the job, and the rest is (very recent) history. Wang now spends much of his time in Paris, where he is too busy to learn French. He orders room service for every meal. “There isn’t anyone yet whom I feel comfortable with picking up the phone and asking to dinner,” Wang says. [Vogue]

• Famed ’80s designer and abusive husband Claude Montana is having a bit of a fashion comeback this season at Paris couture week. Montana designed three looks for Eric Tibusch’s show, his first foray into design since 2002. [WWD]

• Kira Plastinina, the Russian orange juice heiress who as a 15-year-old opened 16 stores in the U.S., then saw the retail chain go bankrupt within 12 months, is back. Plastinina kept the hot pink fast fashion line going in Europe and developed a higher-end line, Lublu by Kira Plastinina, which she just introduced to the American market with a store in Dallas. Second time’s the charm… [Fashionista]

• There are new C.E.O.’s today at Lanvin and YSL — and they are both women. Michèle Huiban is taking the reigns at the former company, and Francesca Bellettini at the latter. [WWD, WWD]

• Norma Kamali settled the lawsuit brought against her company by a former unpaid intern. The terms of the settlement are confidential. [The Cut]

• Nordstrom thinks adding Pinterest logos — just the big, red “P” — to its in-store merchandise will make people want to buy bags and shoes. Because snergy, disrupt, #important, Idea Economy, bricks-and-clicks, convergence, etc. [WWD]

• The Times has a round-up of high-tech clothing and fabrics that reduce the wearer’s vulnerability to tracking and surveillance. [NYTimes]

• France’s market regulator has fined Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy $10.4 million for violating disclosure laws while the luxury conglomerate stealthily built a 22.3% stake in the family-owned company Hermès. Hermès and LVMH are still suing and counter-suing one another over the share purchases and other regulatory issues in the case have yet to be resolved. [BoF]

• Steven Alan is expanding, launching freestanding homewares stores and an eyewear collection. The business is estimated to take in around $40-$50 million in annual revenue, and Alan says the company grew 30% year-on-year. [WWD]

• Stylelist has a quick primer on the properties of common textiles, in case you’ve ever wondered where polyester comes from. [Stylelist]

• And now, a moment with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. Jean-Charles, what’s up with the fashion industry these days?

“You have a really hard time recognizing who is doing what these days. When I started, designers had recognizable styles. Today is a karaoke time.”