• A handbag will co-star with Christina Ricci in a "Donna Karan-friendly" film directed by Sting's son, Jake Sumner. So that's what we're calling "advertising that aspires to go viral" these days? [WWD]

• Antonio Berardi says he was "seriously misquoted" in comments that cast aspersions on Lady Gaga and her music. The designer had been quoted as calling her music "meaningless" and stating that he had rejected an offer to work with the Lady on a clothing collection. The tone of these comments was considered a little odd, not least because Lady Gaga has worn Berardi's clothing on several occasions, including in her video for "Poker Face." Berardi now says: "Whilst musically I am more of a Black Angels man, I have a huge amount of respect for Lady Gaga and everything she has achieved." And the only reason they aren't doing a clothing line is that their schedules conflict. [Grazia]
• Lisa Loeb is finally getting an eyewear deal! This should please my friend who dressed up as her for Halloween. [Racked]
• Hublot and Depeche Mode are collaborating on a line of 12 watches. [WWD]
• Rihanna rocks some fierce "couture military" looks in these stills from her upcoming video for "Hard." [Nitrolicious]
• Michael Jackson's hat and loafers from a 2001 concert sold for £22,800 at auction yesterday, nearly double the estimated price. [Mirror]
• As rumored, Jeffrey Monteiro will in fact be taking the design reigns at the much-revived, much-abandoned, house of Bill Blass. [NYTimes]
• Puma is officially denying that it is courting Elin Nordegren for an endorsement deal. [AdAge]
• Or perhaps she's hammering out a deal with the Swedish company Tretorn. [WWD]
• Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Daisy Lowe are two of the models featured in Esprit's American relaunch campaign. [Refinery29]
• Fashion Bomb Daily rounded up Arlenis Sosa, Jourdan Dunn, Chanel Iman, and Sessilee Lopez's editorial work for the year, and calls them the new fashion dream team. It's an impressive collection: magazine covers, that bewitching Harlem Renaissance editorial for Harper's Bazaar, and plenty of jumping for Vogue. Let's hope fashion really has decided for good to finally make room for more than one black model at a time. [FashionBombDaily]
• "I teach at three different colleges, and I am amazed how dressed up some of the students are. Girls still come in their hoodies and pajamas, but boys come in their suits," says eternal trend-piece quote-giver Marshal Cohen. Pray tell, what colleges are these that their men flout the walked-on-hem jeans and ballcap rule? [NYTimes]
• Adriana Lima picked up a nice Miami beach house for a song: $9 million. [WSJ]
• eLuxury is relaunching itself next year as a web magazine called Nowness. [Independent]
• Wow. Someone made an Anna Wintour mouse. [The Cut]
• Smythson, the luxury house that employs Samantha Cameron, wife of David Cameron, is now Italian-owned. [ToL]
• New Balance and Louis Vuitton have settled their intellectual property lawsuit out of court; the terms are confidential. In September, New Balance accused the luxury company of making a $590 knockoff of one of its classic sneakers. [WWD]
• Target sells footie pajamas in adult sizes. Could this be the ultimate proof of our cultural arrested development/fetishization of childhood? [FMMH]

• Madonna goes all Italian neorealist for spring's Dolce & Gabbana campaign. You'd almost swear these images were by Vittorio de Sica, not Steven Klein. The advertising shots ran as editorial content "previewed" in Italian Vanity Fair. [Swide]

• If you believe TMZ, Elin Nordegren might get back at Tiger in a way that would really hurt: by signing an endorsement deal with Puma. [TMZ]
• Well, that's a twist: Ungaro's C.E.O. is resigning, while Lindsay Lohan will remain with the house that so controversially benefited from her pasty-designing prowess. [WWD]
• Kimora Lee Simmons is not judging America's Next Top Model, not even as a guest, says her rep. [The Cut]
• Saks informed 116 employees at its cosmetics and fragrance counters that the company is eliminating their jobs as soon as the holidays are over. The move comes just weeks after the employees had voted to unionize. Merry Christmas! [NYPost]
• Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy just won the same $50,000 grant as Sapphire, author of Push. [WWD]
• Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady have yet to settle on a name for their week-old baby. Gisele vetoed the one they had picked out two days before giving birth, and they haven't been together long enough since then to really talk about it, says Brady. His only conditions are that it be "a traditional name" and something he can pronounce. [People]
• Zac Posen's collaboration with Target includes an actual gown that can be worn three ways, a tuxedo, and a red leather jacket. The print-heavy capsule collection will get the widest distribution of any Target designer collab yet. [Racked]
• Draw on your clothes lots as a kid? A dress designed by Berber Soepboer and Michiel Schuurman comes with fabric markers so the owner can add color to the eye-catching black and white print. [Daily Mail]
• Advertisements for Olay Definity eye cream featuring Twiggy were the subject of more than 700 public complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority in the U.K., and yesterday, those complaints were upheld. The government watchdog found the heavily retouched advertisement was "misleading." Proctor & Gamble, which owns the Olay brand, voluntarily withdrew the offending ad and replaced it with one they claim has had no post-production in the eye area. [BBC]
• Biba is being revived. Again. [WWD]
• American Apparel is getting into the nail polish business. "We think this nail polish captures what American Apparel is all about — a Made in the USA, high-quality product in a beautiful range of colors. It's a venture of families in manufacturing, from the factory in which the polish is made to the Nail Lacquer logo created by Dov's uncle, the noted graphic designer Israel Charney," says a spokesperson. The 18 shades are named things like "Factory Grey" and "Hassid" and, naturally, "Downtown LA," and they cost $6 a bottle. Expect memos from Dov about appropriate nail and toenail styles imminently, retail drones. [Blackbook]
• Or you could buy this darling new shade of teal, called "Dickweed." [Refinery29]
• Grace Coddington granted a surprisingly revealing interview to the Times of London — and lets slip that she originally proposed Susan Boyle to play the wicked witch in her recent Hansel and Gretel shoot. Anna Wintour nixed the idea and favored Lady Gaga, whom Coddington describes thusly: "She turned up in a white rubber coat, stark naked underneath. No buttons, nothing — and completely you know, shaved." That's right, we just read about Lady Gaga's pubic hair in the pages of a daily paper! Coddington discusses Wintour (they can't fight "like a married couple," Coddington says, because "my marriages haven't been that successful"), front-row fashion week punditry ("I'm not prepared to crush some poor designer who's just spent six months slaving over a collection. I think it's horrible and they all talk about themselves. Plus, the questions are so stupid"), and the car crash that happened in her early 20s ("I remember bleeding all over a policeman and apologising for the mess. I had this driving mirror sticking in my head. I got to the hospital and they started sewing me up. Then someone said, what do you do and I said I'm a model and they said, hang on a minute. They took out all the stitches and made them more fine. Isn't that terrible? Because as a young girl, wouldn't I want the best anyway?"). Coddington admits to favoring British models — Lily Cole, Karen Elson — and says that models these days become successful so early that she sometimes thinks they have "no personality." Then she alludes to working with Karlie Kloss: "I was working with a very successful one the other day and she told me her parents were coming to take her on a trip to the place she loved best. I thought, where's she going — Africa? It was Disney World. And I thought, ‘Good for you. You're still a child'." (Kloss went to Disney World with her parents for her 17th birthday.) Erin O'Connor chimes in to praise Coddington for her work, and for "getting it past the censors." [ToL]
• Lacoste, via a new partnership, is planning to launch high-end handbags and accessories. [WWD]
• Hermès and Gucci each hosted their own name-brand equestrian competitions in the same week. Can you say, "Attempt to appeal to some kind of presumably authentic brand heritage?" [IHT]

• Handbag model Lily Allen performed live at the farming-themed, hay-strewn Chanel show this morning. [Fashionista]
• Claudia Schiffer has formally announced she will no longer do any runway modeling. She plans to fill her downtime with a trip to Iraq. [Sun]

• Marc Jacobs' and Viacom's flacks have denied the reports that Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone are to appear on a gay version of the Real Housewives for the Logo network. [CityFile]
• Vera Wang, however, says bring on the cameras. "I'm doing a TV show. It's coming. I don't know when, or how, but it's coming," said the designer at the National Arts Awards. Wang, seated at the table of collector Julie Minskoff, said she doesn't buy art because she can't afford it. But if money were no object, "I would buy Tom Sachs, because I like Hello Kitty. And the guy who does all the pills, because I take them all." Should make for some interesting viewing, then. [StyleFile]
• A Puma branded mobile phone: It's happening sometime next spring. [WWD]
• Ever phlegmatic Vogue editor Grace Coddington, on fans now recognizing her in the street: "It's probably a short-lived thing. There will be another fashion movie and another person who comes out from that." [Grazia]
• During the Givenchy show, someone stole Coddington's purse from her chauffeured car while the driver apparently napped. [NYDN]
• Prince turned up at the Yves Saint Laurent show in a gold sequined suit he designed himself. [WWD]
• The only odd thing about this sweet article on the art show Rodarte is curating in Paris: who is this documentary crew that's mentioned in passing, and why have they been following the Mulleavy sisters for four years? [NYTimes]
• Actress Ashley Judd is releasing a perfume, of which she says, "Beloved Red Rose captures the essence of love." Not that she'd be an objective source on that or anything. [People]
• Meanwhile, Tamara Mellon's Jimmy Choo has signed a 12-year fragrance licensing contract. So expect a Jimmy Choo scent soon. [WWD]
• The reason Celine had a lag of 13 months between confirming Phoebe Philo as its new creative director and actually giving her a catwalk show is apparently not because the LVMH overlords' were given pause by anything Philo did — it's simply that 2009 was marked off as "Transition Year" in Marco Gobbetti's calendar, and spring 2010, well, that's a whole ball game. [Reuters]
• French Connection is closing it s21 stores in Japan. The retailer lost $16.8 million in the first six months of this year. [WWD]
• Cher and Bob Mackie are at it again, creating costumes out of rhinestones, nude tricot, and feathers for the star's Caesar's Palace show in Vegas. What else would you expect? [People]
• Juergen Teller is working on a book of nude photographs of Raquel Zimmerman and Charlotte Rampling at the Louvre. [WWD]
• Ellen Tracy is taking its sportswear slightly downmarket. From this spring onwards, its wares will cost $50-$149. The brand has signed an exclusive distributorship deal with Macy's. [Crain's]
• For those who wish they could be Don Draper: A limited run of 250 suits inspired by Mad Men will be sold at Brooks Brothers starting October 19th. [WWD]
• Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent's life and business partner, says he received death threats and was accompanied by bodyguards following his decision to auction two Qing dynasty bronzes from his and Saint Laurent's art collection that China wanted repatriated. [Reuters]
• Chef Marcus Samuelsson, television chef Giada de Laurentiis, and Zac Posen are cooking this weekend for a $325-a-head event at the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival. Samuelsson muses on the similarities between professional cooking and fashion design: "I've been backstage at a fashion show, and it's like a kitchen. It's a very similar energy." Posen, a home cook, says Martha Stewart and Jacques Pépin saved his life. "I was a very depressed middle-school student and I watched [those shows] avidly, and then Martha Stewart changed my life. Her first cookbook [Entertaining] was given to my mom, but I took it." WWD even re-prints Samuelsson's maple-glazed salmon and couscous recipe. [WWD]
• Renzo Rosso, the Diesel founder who owns Maison Martin Margiela, has confirmed that the rarely seen Belgian designer, rumored to have departed his namesake house, has been gone for "a long time." Instead, Margiela is "here but not here. We have a new fresh design team on board." This season's collection, just shown in Paris, was rated a disappointment by the fashion press, who would like to see a successor named. Haider Ackerman and Raf Simons are rumored to be under consideration, but anyone named would have to design the label anonymously. [Vogue UK]
• Roland Mouret: Just another designer broadcasting his show live on the Internet. [WWD]
• Some Very Important Designer forgot his ticket to Viktor & Rolf and nearly had to stand with the hoi polloi! [Fashionista]
• The Clean Clothes Campaign is pressuring Europe's biggest retailers, like Tesco, Aldi, and Carrefour, to institute a common guaranteed minimum wage for garment workers across Asia. Its lofty goal? Assuring that the people who make the clothes we wear are paid $475 a month and get a 48-hour workweek. You can e-mail retailers via the Campaign's website. [WWD]

• Gwyneth Paltrow's clothing line with Zoetees is hitting stores this month. The collection includes tee shirts, studded tank tops, and a grey oversized blazer — fine basics, but there's no indication why the line should start at £100. [Elle UK]

• Earlier this year, Katy Perry, desirous of a fashion line, pre-emptively sued the Australian fashion designer Katie Perry for trademark infringement. Although the suit was later dropped, now that the pop star is in Australia, all mention of Katie Perry and the trademark issue is verboten during media interviews. Which is why when a television presenter asked the singer if there were any Australian artists she admired, Perry's manager actually killed the studio lights. [News.com.au]
• The tender melancholy of Being Donatella: "I would definitely prefer not to be obliged to attend certain events and parties, but I must." [ToL]
• Being longtime fans of documentarian Loïc Prigent — the man who made both the excellent Signé Chanel and Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton — we cannot wait to watch his new series, which follows four designers during the last 36 hours before their respective shows. Sonia Rykiel, Proenza Schouler, Jean Paul Gaultier Couture, and Fendi are featured; Prigent says "They only have 36 hours left; they don't have time to be polite." [W]
• Gaultier was among the guests evacuated from a hotel in Nice recently following a bomb threat. Nobody was injured and no explosives were found. [Yahoo!]
• Rachel Zoe's line for QVC will be shown in the biggest tent at New York Fashion Week. [The Cut]
• Between The Rachel Zoe Project, America's Next Top Model, Project Runway, Models Of The Runway, Project Runway All-Stars, The Fashion Show, and the upcoming Launch My Line, there's more fashion-themed reality television than any human being could ever watch. Is the genre reaching saturation? No, because women think about fashion the way men think about sports, and it would be silly to ask if there is too many sports shows! No, really: "The same way that sports is a passionate category for men, women look at style in the same way," said Style Network president Salaam Coleman Smith. "Women are passionate about transformation, and about ideas for living a fun, fabulous life, to improve themselves, find a new lipstick and figure out a new haircut." [WWD]
• Zoe, for her part, admits she has "a hard time" watching her show. That makes two of us. [WWD]
• Victoria Beckham found a lookbook model for her dress line who looks very much like Victoria Beckham. [Daily Mail]
• Hussein Chalayan's line for Puma looks exciting, intimidating, and totally technophiliac. [WWD]
• Pint-sized and cooler than we'll ever be, child style blogger Tavi WIlliams may have made the first cover of Pop magazine to be produced under new editor Dasha Zhukova. Interestingly, Tavi was just in the second issue of Love, which was founded by ex-Pop editor-in-chief Katie Grand. These are Tavi's first major magazine appearances. [Fashionologie]
• Meanwhile, Tavi was asked by Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte to film the presentation of the label's upcoming Target collaboration. None of the items in that collection will be priced above $80. [Lucky]
  
• Add Antonio Berardi and Stella McCartney for Adidas to the long list of English designers beating a return to London Fashion Week this season. [Telegraph]
• Cintra Wilson — the ordinarily funny writer who penned that amazingly tone-deaf, sizist JC Penney's store review for the New York Times — would like you to know that the controversy over her comments is officially over. At least to her. So don't write her about it! Don't read the comments under her post if you don't want to hear Wilson and an acolyte braying about the "whalesong" of complaint. [CintraWilson]
• House of Dereon now has a day dress collection. Weirdly, it includes an awful looking silk drawstring-waist jumpsuit. [WWD]
• You can watch an online short with Chloé Sevigny all about hip boutique Opening Ceremony's new store in Shibuya, Tokyo. [Dazed&Confused]
• Levi's Ryan McGinley-shot "Go Forth" ad campaign for its 501 jeans also has an online mockumentary component. You can watch these "Stories Of A New America" about good-looking young people doing cool things, you know, totally spontaneously, at Break.com. [MW]
• Kenny Chesney's apparel line will launch at MAGIC, the Las Vegas apparel industry event. [WWD]

• No plain yearbook headshot for this year's CFDA nominees: Jason Wu, Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, et al posed for Craig McDean while wearing their own creations. [WWD]
• Leggings impresario Lindsay Lohan is rumored to be seeking a position as Ungaro's "creative consultant." Designer Esteban Cortazar is allegedly spitting pins. [P6]

• Marc Jacobs, his intended, Lorenzo Martone, and Donna Karan all agree: Nacho Figueras, the Argentine polo champ, is totally hotter than Prince Harry. "Nacho's the sexiest man on earth. Hello," averred Martone. I suggest you look at this picture, and make up your own mind. [The Cut]
• Nicole Farhi, somewhat unsurprisingly, thought she was going to die during a knifepoint robbery outside her home when her two assailants strangled her until she lost consciousness. The trial of the brothers accused of carrying out this and 16 other robberies around London is ongoing. Farhi lost a ring and a Rolex that belonged to her father in the attack. [Telegraph]
• Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller have made a $10 million commitment to the High Line project, which is transforming a former elevated railway line into a landscaped mini-park. [NY Times]
• For its couture show this July, Dior is returning to its first-ever store and the site where Christian Dior launched the famous "New Look" collection in 1947. [British Vogue]
• Thakoon Panichgul has launched his slightly lower-priced line, Thakoon Addition. And by slightly, we mean dresses starting around $600. Sigh. [FWD]
• Meanwhile, Gucci has opened its Shanghai flagship store. [WWD]
• How have I only just discovered Erin O'Connor's blog? The British supermodel reports that on her last trip to New York, she overheard a woman ordering a plastic surgeon to give her lips like Erin's, on the grounds that they are "kinda thin enough to look real." Erin and old friend Karen Elson decided to re-start their netball team, and Maggie Rizer apparently has held on to pictures of the three of them in agency housing at the very start of their careers. Her trip through the Met's "Model as Muse" exhibit made her observe: "'Muse,' I thought out loud, is so passé. Surely models no longer exist to amuse as muses? The models I know are collaborators, brand makers and ball breakers!" [British Vogue]
• Izod home furnishings will soon be a thing which you can buy. For what reason, I don't know. [WWD]
• In a diversification that makes slightly more sense, Puma is getting into swimwear. [WWD]
• Ben Westwood is, at 49, slightly too old for the "enfant terrible" label his gallery would give him. (Is it fair to say that after a certain point, you're just plain terrible?) Vivienne Westwood's eldest son thought long and hard about being the child of a celebrity, and decided the best way to represent this unique set of problematic circumstances through art would be to hire fetish models to pose tied up in ropes with the names of famous parents — Bob Geldof, Paula Yates, Keith Allen — and then clumsily Photoshop images of the real progeny's faces over the models' heads. You see, the kids are literally tied up by their heritage. Groan. His show opened in London last week. [Flavour]
• Uniqlo's May same-store sales grew by a whopping 18.3%, proving that in a troubled economy, everyone likes a little cheap cashmere. [WWD]
• And the Japanese retailer is rumored to be interested in taking over Brooks Brothers' old store location at 666 Fifth Avenue. Brooks Brothers consolidated two Midtown stores, and initially Abercrombie & Fitch was to move into the Fifth Avenue space — but when neighboring Hickey Freeman closed because of parent company Hartmarx's bankruptcy, Abercrombie moved there instead. Uniqlo, Topshop, Zara, Forever21 and Century 21 are among those said to be interested in the prime location. Because even now, Fifth Avenue still means sales volume. [NY Post]
• In bankruptcy court, Hartmarx and Emerisque, the private equity firm that wants to buy the bankrupt men's clothier, renegotiated the proposed takeover bid to give more cash to chief creditor Wells Fargo. If the new plan is approved by the judge today, Hartmarx and its factory could remain in operation. [NY Times]

• The economic situation has encouraged a measure of conservatism in fashion, but this is extreme. Versace's Fall 2009 ads with Gisele Bundchen in a jewel-toned dress under strong directional light look exactly like Versace's Spring 2009 ads with Gisele Bundchen in a jewel-toned dress under strong directional light. [Fashionologie]

• Gisele ain't pregnant, after all. [AP]
• The recession's latest casualty is Belgian designer Veronique Branquinho. After 11 years in business, the Antwerp-based designer is being forced to stop production of her namesake line due to a drop in Fall 2009 orders and a number of canceled orders and non-payments from Spring 2009. Branquinho has a fall-back position: artistic director of the Belgian leather goods brand Delvaux. [WWD]
• British designer Emma Cook is also discontinuing her line for fall. Cook herself did not make the announcement, but a manager at Manhattan boutique Opening Ceremony mentioned the news in an interview. [Paper]
• Puma has apparently listed all but one of its 11 U.K. stores with real estate agents — although the company claims it has yet to finalize decisions about store closures. [FT]
• Donatella Versace, on why the 80s trend is less interesting than techno fabrics: "I knew that trend was coming. I knew exactly when every designer was going to start doing it. And I couldn't, because I was with Gianni doing the '80s, in the '80s. I have so many pieces in the archives that I could put right out on the runway and they'd be perfect. [laughs] In general, I think, yes, we can look back, but not that much. It's too literal. Like shoulder pads. We belonged to that time. But for me, it doesn't make sense today. You can play with it for one season, but it's not going to be revolutionary. I think we should move forward, not back. To define the era we live in is very difficult. How do we define it? We define it by music. That's different today. We listen to different music than we used to 10 years ago. Fashion is struggling to define itself today. For me, I'm concentrating more on fabrics, on the technological aspect of fabrics." [Interview]
• Which, you know, totally fits, because the iPhone is the future of the fashion economy. [WWD]
• A man named Jinyoung Jo has designed a Chanel concept car in South Korea. His effort, the Fiole, comes with crystal double-C logos on the grill and on the wheels. It's a pretty snazzy little space-age sports car, to be sure, but what we wonder is: can anyone just up and design a Chanel something? Trademark and copyright protection law would suggest otherwise. It's not clear if Jo had Chanel's approval to make this car. [Sassybella]
• And we all know Chanel polices its intellectual property like the proverbial hawk. The company just announced a lawsuit against a Manhattan jewelry store, Joseph Anthony, for allegedly selling counterfeit Chanel baubles. [NY Post]
• Barbara Hulanicki, on her customers, past and present, and why she hates Barbie: "In that period in England, they hadn't traveled at all and they were very green. And now they're brainwashed by Barbie doll...She's been so damaging. [CHUCKLES] She has such abominable taste." [Interview]
• A see-through swimsuit (for efficient tanning, duh) sounds like just the sort of thing Barbie would approve of. And it sounds like melanoma. [Telegraph]
• Carlos Falchi, known for his extremely expensive handbags and penchant for python skin, is to be the next designer to have a Target GO! International accessories collection. Falchi's line for Target will be available in stores and online from October 11, and will comprise 13 pieces. The styles include jewel-toned faux-snakeskin pieces, and some bags which incorporate patchwork. [WWD]
• Marios Schwab, newly named creative director of Halston, on how he is not Roy Halston Frowick, reincarnated: "It would be a little bit weird to ask a designer who is exactly like Halston to design Halston, don't you think? I mean, I don't think Halston, if he were alive today, would be doing the seventies in 2009, you know? And anyway, there's so much more potential for an interesting result if the designer is versatile. From the perspective of the label, I think they wanted someone who understood the DNA of the brand and shared something of it, but who could bring a new idea." [Style.com]
• H&M opened its 10th Manhattan store, on the Upper East Side. [WWD]
• J. Crew earned $20.4 million in the quarter ended May 2 — a decline of 33% on last year's results, but still ahead of analysts' expectations. CEO Millard Drexler says the chain is sopping up customers from higher-end boutiques who've been priced out of their usual market. [WSJ]
• Tiffany's reported earnings of $24.3 million, which isn't too shabby for a company known for its diamonds in this economy of lowered expectations. But it's still a decline of 62% on last year's profits. Sales fell 22% overall — and 31% in the Americas. Among the worst-hit was its Manhattan flagship, where sales declined by 42%. [The Street]
• Bankrupt men's clothier Hartmarx won extra time to negotiate a possible sale to private equity firm Emerisque. Emerisque has pledged not to liquidate the business, should its bid prove successful. Hartmarx's main debt obligation is to Wells Fargo; employees at its Chicago area factory have threatened to sit-in if the business folds. [WWD]
• Natalie Suliman, a British lingerie model, claims that not only were her breasts not retouched for a Marks & Spencer billboard, but that she wasn't even wearing so much as a spot of body makeup. Or moisturizer. (Just to be clear: That. Does. Not. Happen. And how would the model know what happened in post-pro, anyway?) [Daily Mail]

• Freida Pinto and Evangeline Lilly are new faces of L'Oreal. To mark the occasion, Lilly said she's proud "to represent a brand whose ambition is to...contribute to the fulfilment [sic] and well-being of everyone." [PRNewswire]

• After long construction delays, cash-strapped Roberto Cavalli has opened his $30 million designer night club in Dubai. The floors are black quartz, and Swarovski crystals dangle from the ceilings, for that pre-recession look. [WWD]
• Designer Hussein Chalayan, for his part, sees the future, and it looks like you wearing his ugly sneakers for Puma. [Dazed Digital]
• The pop star Estelle, who recently designed a handbag, now wants a shoe line. [WWD]
• Giles Deacon is expanding his business. A new manufacturing deal with Italy's Castor Srl will allow his label to reach more than 120 stores worldwide, compared with his current 38, and to do pre-season collections. [Elle UK]
• Pharrell Williams, and Takashi Murakami. Making art, together. [WWD]
• Sophie Dahl, who recently published her first cookbook, is rumored to be in talks to present a food show for the BBC. [Metro UK]
• The Elle Decor of cokey hipster creatives, The Selby, shot Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's New York apartment. Look only if you can stomach a designer shoe collection with a total sticker price in the tens of thousands before noon. [The Selby]
• Christian Siriano, who has made Heidi Klum some clothes to wear during her fourth pregnancy, demonstrates the way not to talk about a high-profile client after the fact: "I think she's trying to cover it a little this time. She's getting older and wants to be more sophisticated, not casual. She's trying to keep it a little quiet." Klum's trainer, David Kirsch, shows the proper deference and positivity: "Why should she do anything differently? She had a beautiful body all throughout her pregnancies. She's very disciplined and dialed in to being healthy." [People]
• Sessilee Lopez credits last July's all-black issue of Italian Vogue, which featured her on one of its four covers, with "resurrecting" her career. [The Cut]
• Topshop is on the hunt for more retail locations in Manhattan. [NY Observer]
• Competitor H&M is making its latest designer collaboration, with Brit Matthew Williamson, available in more of its stores than ever before. The Swedish chain has 1,700 stores worldwide, and Williamson's summer collection will be stocked in 1,600 of them when it launches this Thursday — compared with the 200 stores that previous collaborations with designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney had reached. [WSJ]
• The H&M line is also Williamson's first foray into men's wear — something he might continue under his own label, if the mass-market collection goes over well. [WWD]
• Rick Ross wore a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses on the May cover of XXL magazine — and promptly received a letter from the company informing him they were counterfeit. "Louis Vuitton did not grant permission to Mr. Ross or to whoever did make the sunglasses to use our trademarks," wrote a miffed company spokesperson. Ross says the glasses are real, but that he had an L.A. jeweler add 14 karat gold accents to them. Which befits a style named "The Millionaire." [WWD]
• Macy's, ever neighborly, expands its inventory whenever a competitor within its ambit fails, in order to lure the bankrupt chain's former customers. [WSJ]
• Nordstrom is being sued by a group of former employees who allege that the company stole their sales commissions. When an item is returned by a Nordstrom customer, the commission originally paid the salesperson is deducted from that worker's salary — but thanks to Nordstrom's lenient return policy, in practice this policy means that items bought, and commission accordingly paid, months earlier can suddenly be rescinded. Nordstrom settled a racial harassment lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $292,500 last month. [Fashionista]
• eBay has won the lawsuit brought against it by L'Oreal, meaning the auction giant has no legal responsibility for counterfeit products sold through its site. [WWD]
• Liz Claiborne reported a loss of $91.4 million in the first quarter of this year. This was much steeper than analysts had expected, and the company's share price fell. [Reuters]
• If you want to fly like Superman, this leotard worn by Christopher Reeve — with reinforced slits for wires — might get you started. [Mirror]

• Michelle Obama will not attend the CFDA Fashion Awards, despite the fact that she is receiving the CFDA's Board of Directors' Special Tribute (an award they made up especially for her). [WWD]

• A few months back, Peaches Geldof obligingly posed for a News of the World paparazzo while frolicking topless in St. Tropez. (The things you must do for cash in this economy!) Lingerie brand Ultimo noticed the shots, and offered Peaches six figures to be its new face. Which is why there are now pictures of the 20-year-old noted Nylon correspondent lying on a table in her underwear, surrounded by cupcakes and milkshakes, and giving quotes about how it's better for her to model lingerie than "an anorexic model." Tell that to the Photoshopper, doll. [Daily Mail]
• Supposedly, despite the global financial crisis and the recession it has spawned, the Chinese are still buying luxury goods. Either that, or the AP found the one lady in Beijing who can still afford Dior. [AP]
• Lanvin and Kate Spade, however, see business opportunities in Japan. (Have they read any economic news out of Japan recently?) [WWD]
• Donatella Versace went to the White House Correspondents' Dinner — her second — and reflected on the differences between the last administration and the current one. (The Obamas made sure to have "cool" Hollywood people, not "stiff" Hollywood people, at their party, for one.) Then she met Colin Powell, who is apparently her "hero." [HuffPo]
• Tim Gunn was also in Washington, D.C., this week — as a lobbyist. The CFDA sent Gunn, along with Project Runway Season 5 winner Leanne Marshall, to talk to politicians about the recently re-introduced Design Piracy Bill, which would extend copyright protection to clothing. (At the moment, images printed on clothes can be copyrighted, because they're considered artwork, and an exact pattern can be copyrighted, but all the other distinctive design features of a garment can be legally copied by any manufacturer.) Gunn was soon besieged with questions from Hill staffers about how to spruce up their outfits. [NY Observer]
• This fall, you too can smell like Akon. In two different ways. [WWD]
• Katy Perry: "Usually, I'm trying to look like a party." [People]
• If you care about Gossip Girl, which I hear is a television show people watch, sometimes, then perhaps you would like to read this article about how, during the soap opera's 80s flashback scenes, the characters dress in clothes. From the 80s. [WWD]
• Suzy Menkes — writer of that terrible story on the "African" fashion trend — thinks blogs are great. But that they get things wrong. No argument there! But since when are newspapers any different? A commenter on this story promptly identified an error in a four-year-old piece Menkes wrote for the New York Times. [The Cut]
• If you wear a size 16 in Ann Taylor or Ann Taylor Loft clothing, after this spring — wait, that's, like, right now! — you'll need to go online to find it. The company says they will no longer stock size 16 in stores because of lack of consumer demand, which seems awfully fishy when you remember that 70% of American women are a size 12 or above. Ann Taylor thus joins Banana Republic and J. Crew in selling size 16 only online. [Crain's]
• Jenna Lyons, the creative director of J. Crew, comes across as the kind of person who thrives under stress in this interview. [Fashionista]
• The inaugural Ellen Tracy intimates collection will be available in stores this December. [WWD]
• Betsey Johnson is into designing a diffusion line for Target or "whatever it's called." HSN, QVC, Topshop, H&M — anything, really, she swears. Call her. Please. [The Cut]
• Zaha Hadid for Lacoste shoes look like a rubber octopus with a foot fetish. [WWD]
• Puma's sales actually increased 3.6% in the first quarter of this year, but its overall net income fell 93.8% on figures from two years ago. [WWD]
• Troubled retailer Abercrombie & Fitch is taking over a 4,300 square foot space on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue — only three blocks south of its current flagship store. Hickey Freeman, the menswear store, is forced to close its old flagship at 666 Fifth because of the bankruptcy of its parent company, Hartmarx, and Abercrombie is apparently only too happy to take it over. [WWD]
• John Varvatos — the designer who made CBGB's a store selling $2,000 jackets — just laid off 12 people, or 4% of his workforce. [WWD]
• Scientists at Virginia Tech have created a fabric that can measure the speed, motion, and direction of its movements, and transmit those data to a computer. Science is magic, guys. [Advanced Imaging Pro]
• A makeup artist for The Bold And The Beautiful thinks women will go for putting her own special brand of concealer on their feet to hide corns and calluses. To which I say: Why not do that with the foundation you already own, should you feel such a step be necessary? And: Makeup smudges on my lovely shoes? No thanks. The brave ladies of The Cut road-tested the execrable product. Warning: click only if you want to see pictures of feet before lunchtime. [The Cut]

[Managua, April 22. Image via Getty.]

A Cougar (Puma concolor), lies at its cage of the Nicaraguan National Zoo, April 22, 2009 during Earth Day in Managua. Different species of animals in danger of exctintion are in many zoos around the world. AFP PHOTO/Miguel ALVAREZ (Photo credit should read MIGUEL ALVAREZ/AFP/Getty Images)

• Lindsay Lohan's spoof singles video doubled as an ad for her leggings line and self-tanner. [WWD]
• And Zooey Deschanel wrote and performed a ditty about cotton — the fabric of our lives! [Videogum]

• Could Madonna be returning for another season's duty as the face of Louis Vuitton? Rumors say this fall's campaign will maintain both her Madgesty and photographer Steven Meisel. [Fashionologie]
• Eddie Van Halen is launching a namesake sneaker, the EVH. They look exactly like chucks. [WWD]
• Not to be outdone, Puma and Yves Saint Laurent have released a sneaker. (Puma also did kicks for Alexander McQueen and Sergio Rossi, which are both, like YSL, brands owned by parent company PPR, which makes sense since Puma is itself part-owned by the luxury goods giant.) The shoes are surprisingly...ugly. The toe box looks like one of those godawful Clarks Wallabee shoes that came briefly into fashion and set the bar of taste low enough for Crocs to duck under shortly thereafter. I had a friend who called those shoes with that terrible toe "piss-catchers." Which was accurate. [WWD]
• Diane Pernet reports on a rumor "from a very good source" that ex-Nina Ricci designer Olivier Theyskens will be brought in to revive the house of Elsa Schiaparelli. Which would be a much better fit for Theyskens than Halston, which was last week's rumor. [ASOF]
• Georgina Chapman, otherwise known as the co-founder of Marchesa and Mrs. Harvey Weinstein, says she made her own wedding gown. "I didn't finish my dress until about three days before my wedding — I had the flu and was stitching it from my bed," she told New York. Her only advice for the "impulsive" bride who might choose one of her $3,100-$6,500 dresses off the rack on her way to the registry office, is that she make sure she can walk in it. [NYMag]
• Same-store sales at H&M, the world's third-largest apparel retailer by revenue, fell 3% in the month of March. Sales at fast fashion chains had been more resilient in this downturn than the figures for department and boutique stores; this drop took analysts surprise. [WSJThe thing about this economy is that there's always ample evidence business could be worse: Levi's earnings fell 50.5% last quarter. [WWD]
• The Texas-based private investment group that took J. Crew public three years ago has sold its last remaining shares in the troubled retailer. J. Crew's share price has fallen more than 60% in the past year. [Crain's]
• Duncan Quinn, the brand whose last ad featured a man strangling a nearly naked woman on the hood of a car, went for restraint this season. The new campaign is a man holding a sawed-off shotgun. [Racked]
• Tory Burch and David Yurman are now ratified members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America board. [WWD]

• Designer Oscar de la Renta says Hillary Clinton, whom he's dressing for the Inaugural ball, is "very prudish about the type of clothes she likes to wear." It's a constant battle! [People]

• Fergie's MAC campaign is — how do we put this? —scary. [Oh No They Didn't]
• “Did you know there’s dissent in the Gossip Girl wardrobe closet? The main costume designer is clashing with the other stylists and producers on set because they think he’s making Blake look like a “trashy whore” and they’re convinced he was responsible for her awful Golden Globes dress." [Fashionista]
• Showing a total disregard for celebrity morale, every designer seems to be canceling their fashion week parties. [WWD]
• As the financial crisis hits the luxe market hard, both Elizabeth Arden and Estee Lauder cut their profit views. [Reuters]
• Alexander McQueen and Puma are teaming up for a (tartan?!) sportswear line. [WWD]
• Edina Monsoon, take note: Christian Lacroix is selling his Paris apartment for about $2.6 million. [WSJ]
• If you were panting to see the spawn of Keith Richards, Carly Simon and James Taylor shill for Lucky jeans (us neither), sorry, Charlie, you'll have to go online. [WWD]
• Optimism? Red herring? Either way, Project Runway is on the fashion week schedule, and we want to believe! [Blogging Project Runway]
• Dolce and Gabbana's long-awaited foray into cosemtics happens next month. [WWD]
• Wait for it: Alexander Wang's diffusion line is actually cheap! [New York]
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers, currently ludicrous for Hugo Boss cologne, will be the legs of New Energie jeans. [WWD]
• Stetson, us, wants Obama to wear a fedora to the Inaugural. We can all dream on. [Brand Freak]
• Oy: Saks is laying of 1,100 employees. That's 9% of its workforce. [WWD]
• And yet Uggs, the cockroach of the clothing world, are still doing better than ever! [Telegraph]
• Michael Pitt's doing the short film thin for designer Stefano Pilati. [WWD]
• And in real news, Calvin Klein is wrangling with the preservation board over overhaulin' his Hamptons waterfront home. [Media Bistro]

• Word is, Mrs. Ryan Reynolds née maybe-alien Scarlett Johansson will be fronting Dolce and Gabbana's latest campaign. For what? Um, no one knows. [Style.com]

• Carolina Herrera: "There's no need to be ashamed of trying to keep looking good. I even tell my doorman when I've been to have a little filler injected." Not that he asked. [Independent]
• Oh dear. Is the head of L'Oreal being manipulated by a gigolo? Her daughter says yes. But then, we've heard that before... [Independent]
• Designer Gai Mattiolo is not really feeling his house arrest for fraud. Says one friend, "creative geniuses are often naive about business." Besides the genius part, us too! [UPI]
• Helena Christensen: “I’m not really into exercising, to be quite honest, but I realize that you have to do something to stay in shape, so I box. I’ve boxed for almost two and a half years.” If you take out the boxing part, us too! [NY Mag]
• Zac Posen: do not tease us with these promises of "lower priced collections" if you cannot deliver! [Fashion Week Daily]
• Speaking of fast fashion, H&M took a November hit. [WSJ]
• And. Fast fashion has meant a drop in the quality of thrift shop clothes. [Times of London]
• Coco Rocha unveils mannequin of herself; it doesn't look that much like her when she stands right next to it. [ElleUK]
• Women's Professional Soccer's teamed up with Puma. [WSJ]
• D&G, for their part, are outfitting the Giro d'Italia bike race. [VogueUk>]
• Daisy Lowe to be in annoying-sounding DKNY ad with Sean Lennon and Kelly Osborne's boyfriend, shot by The Sartorialist. [ElleUK]
• Speaking of slash/slash types! The Sisters Miller (Sienna and Savannah) will be showing their first Twenty8Twelve fashion show come Feb! [Grazia]
• YSL paper dolls. As close as many of us will come! Also: more fun. [Fashionista]
• Speaking of YSL! The company's making a generous donation to the United Nations Development Fund for Women. [WWD]

• More Olympian ovations! This week we crushed on Shelly-Ann Fraser's gleaming braces and Shawn Johnson's balance beam dominance.
• You sent in your retro sports photos, which won the adorable Olympics.
• We audibly squeeeeeee-d when we discovered that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams were back together. Squeee!
• We did not squee over P.U.M.A.s, Will Bower, or any other mouth-breathing, politically destructive a-holes.
• International Male from the early mid-80s. Fringe and short shorts and spandex oh my!

• We pondered fast fashion.
• We no longer want to ponder the status of Jennifer Aniston's vagina, ring finger.
• It's the weekend, y'all! So eat some questionable sushi, read some delightful YA novels about brother fucking and relax!

"You know her. She's got wild eyes and rumpled hair. At some point she stopped caring about the stains on her blouse. She's hurt, angry, rejected, and she's willing to take the whole damn place down with her. She is Lady Macbeth," Lithwick writes. "She is the oldest literary type around—the bitter madwoman, hellbent on revenge and willing to act against her own interest to win some respect. "

Look, we all agree that Clinton was treated with outrageous misogyny by some detractors. But even Hillary herself asked supporters to get behind Barack Obama, so to me, the P.U.M.A's aren't just perpetuating the stereotype of the "bitter madwoman," they're perpetuating another, more modern meme: one of self-absorption. There's been a lot of decrying of Generation Y narcissism, but the women of Hillary's generation were trailblazers in that sort of age-of-Aquarius "me" culture just as they were glass ceiling breakers.

P.U.M.A. found support in a very 2.0 way — through a Facebook group — so younger, social-networking happy narcissists are likely buying into their mission statement as well. Each one of its members is more concerned with "being heard" than with their own welfare or the welfare of this country. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had very similar platforms, and they are pro-female. As Lithwick notes, "These disgruntled women—whether they plan to vote for John McCain, sit out the election, or simply gobble up airtime—are tacitly working toward electing McCain; a candidate who claimed last week at a presidential forum at Saddleback Church that life begins 'at the moment of conception' and who voted against legislation ensuring equal pay for women."

Reading what P.U.M.A. spokesperson Will Bower said in an interview on HuffPo really reinforced the utter selfishness of the group's pursuit. "It's amazing," Bower said. "It's been wild. My phone is just attached to me. I'm up always. It's been the most invigorating time of my life." How nice for you. It's the increasing inability to think about anyone but ourselves that is a far scarier trope than the perpetuation of the "bitter madwoman."

The Madwoman In The Blogosphere [Slate]

• First, word was that annoying Brit It Pixie Geldof (sister of Peaches… naturally) was turning designer. "Pixie, 17, has just been offered an estimated £80,000 deal with high street chain New Look to design and model an eight piece fashion range." [Boldface ours.] [Mirror]
• But before we could even get properly irritated, we saw this: "Rumours are flying this morning that Pixie Geldof has signed an £80,000 deal to design a collection for New Look. However we can confirm that she has not signed a deal with the high street giant. We spoke to New Look this morning who told us, ' we admire Pixie's style very much and she is definitely someone we would like to work with in the near future', but a deal has not as of yet been signed." [ElleUK]
• More on Jessica Simpson's inexplicable dress line. [WWD]
• Michael Kors loves Mad Men: "Mad Men" is undeniably stylish—those super graphic titles, the Bernard Herrmann-esque score, the lighting…and then, obviously, I mean, the clothes. The show is like your terribly chic friend who was valedictorian. It gets you on every level." [Style.com]

• The horror! The horror! Pantyhose for men! (well, frumpy ones.) [Random Good Stuff]
• L'Oreal USA names new Luxury Products Chief [WWD]
• Apparently the Olympics have influenced this summer's "sporty style." [Fashionista]
• So, let's say Alexander McQueen collaborated with Puma. Well, the results would be exactly as ridiculous as you might have guessed! "The Puma AMQ line has most recently created a chocolate-brown crocodile leather kick that manages to combine urban style (note the high-top build) with high fashion — plus a little bit of a jungle vibe mixed in. "There is a part of me that is very couture, and a part of me that is very street," the designer explains." They're $3K, of course. [BlackBook.]
• The official word is that, rumors to the contrary, Peter Som was sticking with his man, Bill Blass. [Conde Nast Portfolio]
• But what about this, from Fashionista? "After only three collections, Peter Som has submitted his resignation at Bill Blass. Perhaps he can't handle the stress of designing more than one collection? Let's face it, he's no Marc or Karl.Word is management at Nexcen is keen on keeping him on board, at least in name, until they can sell the brand." [Fashionista]
• And if Elle UK is wrong? I don't wanna be right! [ElleUK]
• Breaking:Peter Som has left Bill Blass. [WWD]
• Gisele Bunchen and beau Tom Brady slash asking prices on their NYC property listings! No, we still can't afford them. [WSJ]
• And speaking of expensive stuff, Burberry expands its obnoxious but still kinda cute (who doesn't like little English children?!) kids' line. "Best sellers include trench coats and dresses that match the design of the men's and womenswear collections (and the campaign sweetly mirrors that of the main collections, which this season features Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Sam Riley); back to school sales alone have boosted profits no end, with the mini quilted coats for both boys and girls having sold out within a week." [VogueUK]
• So, WWD100, which ranks designers by recognizability, makes TOMMY HILFIGER #1! Over THE KAISER, PEOPLE! [Breitbart]
• Recession? We didn't hear you - we were wearing our diamond-encrusted ear buds. "DEOS Diamond [www.deos-diamond.com] ear phone covers fit that bill nicely—the collection of covers, which come with colored, clear, or black VS-quality diamonds set into titanium—are designed by Allison Lee Zeiss (an alum of Vera Wang's fine jewelry line) and cost between $3,500 and $40,000, depending on the number and color of diamonds. The sparkly little sleeves slide onto the standard white Apple ear buds to add instant glam to phone or pod." [Style.com]
• Or maybe I was blinded by my jeweled contacts. [New York Magazine]
• Christian Lacroix: the creative millionaire's choice. [Dazed Digital]
• Speaking of awesomeness, the Nanette Lepore boutique at Bloomingdale's has this rad high-tech mirror that allows you to 'virtually try on' clothes, superimposing the digital images over your reflection. Obviously the effect is kinda paper doll and you have no idea what you'd actually look like in the clothes, but...cool, no? [The Life Files]
• Banana Republic shouts repeatedly that it is a "lifetsyle brand," goes higher-end. Here's a good point a friend made to me when J.Crew went all high-end: "if you had that kind of money, why spend it at J. Crew?" Ditto, Banana. [WWD]
• Patyka's Biokaliftin launches (really expensive) organic cosmceuticals. [Style.com]
• Designers "give back." [ElleUK]
• Anglophiles holla back: Liberty of London now online! [ElleUK]

• OMG: Rachel Zoe has been disinvited from the Anna Wintour-hosted Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala, taking place Monday night in New York. This is what you get when you tempt the gods and proclaim yourself more important than Vogue. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Also, Wintour has instructed Vogue staffers that they may only wear white, silver, or other "pale shades." Just like the colors of faces that she likes to see on her magazine's cover! [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• French Vogue editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld and designer/Chanel creative director "Krazy" Karl Lagerfeld were both named to the Time 100 List, as influential members of the fashion community. Something about the way they both made fashion about "the street" or something. [Vogue UK]
  
• Gisele Bundchen is still the top-paid model, according to Forbes. Heidi Klum is the second. Take that, Moss. [Sassybella]

• Agyness Deyn: The mannequin. [BlackBook]
• The Rogan for Target collection is also going to be sold at Barneys. Which is not Target at all. [WSJ]
• Steve & Barry's is going to be shilling Sex and the City movie merchandise, which will be licensed for the store under Sarah Jessica Parker's "Bitten" label. [Sassybella]
• Uh oh: Seems the women behind the red carpet label Marchesa are having a bit of a tiff. While Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig used to be knows as the label's "co-designers", their titles have been changed on their website: Chapman is now listed as "designer" and Craig is noted as "co-founder." [Page Six]
• Dockers: Trying to reach out to the hip and the young. LOL. [MediaPost]
• Christian Siriano: Designed a dress for Puma. [Chic Report]
• Helena Christensen on why she loves photographer Peter Lindbergh: "Even when I looked pretty funny back in the day with my baby fat, perm, and hippie clothes, he put me on the cover of British Vogue!" Oh, models. [Fashion Week Daily]
• The latest beauty tool you didn't know you needed: An eyelash comb. [BellaSugar]
• The Versace resort in Dubai is... sorta exactly what you would expect a Versace resort in Dubai to be. [Chic Report]
• Diane von Furstenberg, Dolce & Gabbana, Oscar de la Renta, Akira Isogawa, the members of Coldplay, Jeff Koons, Philippe Starck and Tory Burch have all been asked to create "themes" for iGoogle's new customized homepage thingies. [Sassybella]
• Vanessa Paradis: The new face of Miu Miu? [Glaumrama]
• Calvin Klein went on a little field trip to Dubai last week. Blah blah, models behind plexiglass. The usual. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Jones New York: Stock is up, profits are down. The usual. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Kohl's: Gonna slow down its expansion plan 'cause their scared of the economy. The usual. [WWD, sub req'd]
• If you want to wear a pantsuit, make sure it's not double-breasted. [WSJ]
• Blue's Clues's: The shoes — at a Payless near you. [BrandWeek]

• Oh sweet Jesus: There are reports that Victoria Beckham will serve as the stylist on Tom Cruise's new movie, The Hardy Boys. [Fashionista]
  
• It's confirmed: The all-black Italian Vogue cover shot by Steven Meisel is a go and Jordan Dunn is set to star. [Vogue UK]
  
• Claire Danes: The new face of Gucci jewelry. Says Gucci creative director Frida Giannini: "Claire Danes is a modern icon...[Her] sensual, confident beauty and her passionate, independent and strong character embodies today's Gucci woman." Also, Claire Danes always looks totally bored by everything. Just saying. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Lindsay Lohan is the face of Visa's new glorified Salvation Army stores where old clothing can be swapped for other people's old clothing. How far she has fallen. [WWD, 5th item]

• Yay for the Humane Society for demanding for revised (meaning, honest) labeling practices for fur garments. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Barneys New York creative director/ my imaginary best friend Simon Doonan on the infamously red-soled Chrisitan Louboutin shoes: "Christian's shoes are like the circus coming into town. Louboutins are a total drug and there is no methadone." [WWD, 2nd item]
• Start counting down now: The McGraw by Tim McGraw fragrance enters drugstores in August. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Model Maggie Rizer wants to open up a doggy day care center and spa in New York's West Village. Of course she does. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Salma Hayek has been named the godmother of Puma's ocean-racing team. [Fashion Week Daily]

• Skincare guru Dr. Murad says that "being isolated isn't good for you." Is he saying that it's unhealthy that I work by myself from my couch watching Bravo reality shows all day? [BellaSugar]
• Maria Sharapova: Scared of Anna Wintour, and with good reason. [Page Six]
• Looks like Richie Rich and Trevor Rains' Heatherlette label has finally gone belly up. [NY Daily News]
• The new John Varvatos store in the old CBGB's space still smells like piss, beer and cigarettes. [NY Daily News]
• Africa: It's like totally inspiring. And fashionable. [Houston Chronicle]
• No shit! Celebs are good for selling products. [Forbes]
• Why hold out for the new iPhone when you can hold out for the new Prada phone? [Guardian]
• Why must Agyness Deyn continue to insist on her own importance? [NY Mag]

• As celebrity-commodity tie-ups go, it makes a certain kind of sense that Ashlee Simpson would shill for Wet Seal. Wet Seal is sort of the quintessential hollow youth retailer, possessing nary the layers of rigorous protocol and manufactured snobbery of Abercrombie & Fitch nor the countercultural "heritage" of Urban Outfitters, and so it is left, every few years, to "reinvent" itself under the watchful eye of the money men. Ashlee will be "designing" T-shirts "inspired by her own personality, sense of style and album artwork." [People]
  
• Oh, goody, and they're even going to make one that fits her. [Budget Fashionista]
  
• You know? There are a lot of topics that I could see inspiring me to write 300 pages of text and Kate Moss is not one of them. I mean, what all is there to say about Kate Moss? WWD asked the host of the party for a Kate Moss biography in Paris last night. "She always looks great," he said. [WWD]
  
• And her life is endless string of nabbing and losing endorsement contracts. [Mirror]

• J.C. Penney and "macroeconomic gloom" seem somehow appropriately tied to one another. [WSJ]
• Walgreen's is starting to sell $7 pajamas, and other clothing items. This reminds me of a fun game: what is the grossest thing in your wardrobe that you bought at a drugstore when you were locked out of your house after an ill-advised one-night stand and somehow still own? And why are "briefs" SO VERY GIANT? I have some brown plastic CVS sandals but I think the GIANT underwear takes the cake. [Mediapost]
• Some dispatch from a Calvin Klein party in Vegas involved Kate Bosworth being credited with this profundity: "The biggest tip I learned was come with as much as you're willing to loose." No dear, "loose" is the sample size on your bony body. [Fashion Week Daily]
• If you didn't know the story of how Puma and Adidas were founded by dueling German brothers named Adi and Rudolf Dassler and how Adi outfitted Nazis etc. etc., well, now you can read an entire book about it! Not that I want to distract your mind from such lofty matters as those sure to be addressed in the Kate Moss book! [BusinessWeek]

• Luke Wilson is "designing" a line of golf products and accessories for Puma. Ah, the insatiable American hunger for the consumption of stuff and celebrity! Or the perception of the insatiability, or whatever. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Speaking of! Rod Stewart is launching a clothing line. [Guardian]
  
• Donna Karan is doing Passover with Demi and Ashton in Miami. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Really, how much longer can Christian Siriano hold congratulatory celebrations for himself? [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Elle Macpherson is the latest face of Revlon. [WWD, sub req'd]

• English girl designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig are adding a bridal collection for their label, Marchesa, to debut next month. Chapman made herself not one but two wedding dresses for her recent nuptials to Harvey Weinstein, so she's totally qualified, btw. [WWD, 1st item]
• Marc Jacobs is already fighting with his new boyfriend, Austin A. Also: partying in sweatpants and wife-beaters.[Page Six]
• Mary J. Blige is taking sellers of knockoff Mary J. Blige concert tees to court. [Page Six]
• George Clooney may not be doing his own clothing line, but he does wear Belstaff in his upcoming film Leatherheads and the Italian label is sponsoring the film's European premiere. [Vogue UK]
• Steve McQueen also did not do his own clothing line. Though we think the fact that he's dead should have been evidence enough. [Reuters]
• Israeli fashion is apparently on the rise. I am going to be polite here and pretend like the words "Israeli style" don't actually evoke any sort of mental image for me because I love my people. But. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Jean-Paul Gaultier: Dressing Kylie Minogue for her upcoming tour. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Azzedine Alaia just received a French Legion of Honor. Who? What? [WWD, 1st item]
• Tom Ford has designs on Japan. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Stella McCartney is heading to India. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Agyness Deyn continues to find work. [The Sun UK]
• Drinking this water will apparently magically protect your skin from UV rays; LOL. [Chic Report]
• O.C. alum Samaire Armstrong: has a clothing line too. [Sassybella]
• How to recycle your clothing! [Utne]