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• Michael Jackson has settled on a costume for his upcoming tour: an ensemble made entirely from Swarovski crystals. His wardrobe uses 300,000 of the sparklers. Of course, this is the man who once wore a gold-plated jacket. [WWD]

• Meanwhile at Glastonbury, the band Florence and the Machine had its outfits designed specially by Topshop. [Telegraph]
• Anna Wintour is said to have instructed Vogue petty officers to create sockpuppet accounts on Facebook to monitor fan page comments about The September Issue. [P6]
• Bucking the trend of British fashion designers returning to London Fashion Week for its anniversary, Giles Deacon has announced he'll show his Spring 2010 collection in Paris. [WWD]
• Eva Green read what you wrote about her on the Internet, but unlike Anna, she just doesn't care! "I want to wear something that I wouldn't wear every day, I like to be a bit eccentric and I know lots of people say 'Oh my god blah' but I don't care, I want to have my style, I like to try something new," said the actress, who also pines for Topshop when she's in France. [Mirror]
• 50 Cent unveiled his new fragrance, Power, at a private party in New York. While unspecific about its target audience ("Everyone human...breathing...") he did manage to shove a journalist out of his path. The way she writes it, she didn't seem to mind. Power indeed. [The Cut]
• This week sees the official previews of two dark, "intellectual" fashion ranges, heavy on the strange shapes and deconstruction, and costing around $300-$600. One is by Juicy Couture ("There is...one pair of very expensive leather leggings", but we knew that already). The other is by Comme des Garçons. Odd! [Racked] [Racked]
• Council of Fashion Designers of America menswear award winner Band of Outsiders' Scott Sternberg (who tied for the award with Calvin Klein's Italo Zucchelli) was good enough to answer some of W magazine's questions. To "Waverly Inn or Monkey Bar?" he sagely responded: "No." Asked, "Jon or Kate?" Sternberg said: "Who?" Also, Paris Hilton better not ever ask to borrow his clothes. We like him even more now. [W]
• Christy Turlington, who bagged the spring campaign, too, is coming back this fall as the face of Bally. Mario Sorrenti shot the ads. A number of fashion houses have made the choice to stick with their spring casting choices for fall. Versace re-shot Gisele in virtually the same position and dress as before, and Louis Vuitton re-hired Madonna. [WWD]
• Bar Refaeli is now the new face of Garnier Fructis. [SassyBella]
• Speaking of, L'Oréal has been found guilty of racial discrimination in French court. To market its Fructis shampoo in supermarkets, the beauty giant hired a sales staff — and was caught giving instructions in writing to a temp agency to employ only white women aged 18-22 who wear a French size 38-42. L'Oréal and the temp agency, Adecco, each have to pay fines and damages of €60,000. [Times of London]
• Models of color did not fare well at Milan menswear week. Even reliably diverse clients, like DSquared2 (which last year used an all-black cast) had virtually no faces of color on their runways. Check out these pictures to see the practically all-white casts for yourself. [FashionBombDaily]
• An Australian retail chain called Diva has ripped off a wide variety of jewelry by indie designers. [ShanaLogic]
• Let me say this again: Male modeling is just like modeling for women. Only even more poorly paid. (This article quotes 500 Euros to several thousand Euros as a typical rate for men who work the shows in Europe — and says that it's lower than what women models get. Why do reporters never keep in mind who they're asking? In this case, it's a pair of twins who started out by booking campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana. Nothing about their experience of the industry is average.) [Telegraph]
• Project Runway's Leanne Marshall wrote on her personal blog that she was unhappy with a business opportunity gone sour — but one which it was too late to pull the plug on. Discontent with retail partner Bluefly is the only logical conclusion. [Racked]
• Ex-model and PR whiz Carlos Souza has returned to the house of Valentino to try and repair its damaged reputation. Since Valentino's departure, the brand has suffered through the embarrassing ousting of the talented successor Alessandra Facchinetti, and lackluster collections designed since then by two of Valentino's former assistants. [FWD]
• Vena Cava now has a blog. [Viva Vena Cava]
• Philippe Starck has launched a new clothing line, which he describes as "non-photogenic." It's made of waterproof cashmere and designed to last a long time, which is still enough to prick our interest. [UnBeige]
• Dress Barn announced plans to buy Tween Brands Inc., which operates the Limited Too and Justice. [WSJ]
• Nike, which cut 5% of its global workforce, some 1,750 jobs in May, saw sales for the fourth quarter decline to $341.4 million, from $490.5 million the year before. Orders for the next few month are also down 12%. [AP]
• Troubled Jones Apparel Group is betting on the Asian market. It just bought a 15% stake in the Hong Kong-based retail distribution group GRI, upping its total stake in the company to 25%. [WWD]
• H&M's sales are up by 6.4% in the quarter just ended. Revenue climbed 23%. [WSJ]
• Uniqlo is talking about buying the Gap. [Independent]
• The company that owns Lacoste has chosen the former head of the European supermarket chain Carrefour to lead the brand. [WWD]

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• Candie's decided to take a chance on Britney Spears, and her cohort of current fans. The singer is the latest face of the tween-friendly brand. [WWD]

• Hello, viral marketing! There's already a "behind-the-scenes" vid of Ms. Spears shooting looks for the Candie's campaign, but, slightly more interestingly, it includes rehearsal footage featuring Spears in what are presumably those DSquared costumes we just heard about. There's a cool big-shouldered red jacket with swinging black fringe on the epaulettes. [PopSugar]
• Here's some news to make it worth getting up in the morning: Tom Ford, who has said in the past that he wants to do women's wear with his eponymous label, might be re-hiring Alessandra Facchinetti as head designer for the ladies' stuff. Facchinetti was Ford's women's wear point person when he was at Gucci, and she succeeded him when he left the company. But Facchinetti was fired from her position after just two seasons, and she was unceremoniously dumped from her next position, as creative director at Valentino, after just a few months in charge as well. Facchinetti is a talented designer, but maybe it takes Ford to get the best work from her? Let's hope this rumor proves true. [The Cut]
• Uniqlo had its fourth straight month of improving same-store sales, even in the midst of this recession. Same-store sales were up 4.2% in February, mainly on the back of increased patronage, since per-customer sales didn't rise significantly. [WWD]
• Also demonstrating that retail isn't entirely a scorched-earth zone these days, albeit more tentatively, is Claire's. Although their fourth-quarter results are still bad, their same-store sales rose in January and crossed into positive numbers last month. [WWD]
• This month, Forever 21 is launching a new plus-size range, called Faith 21. (The company is run by weird fundamentalist Christians, which pretty much explains the name.) [LA Times]
• Chanel, on the other hand, is closing two of its Japanese stores, and Chopard is having layoffs. [WWD]
• Jennifer Connelly wears Balenciaga in her Revlon ads, shot at Milk studios in New York. In this video, she talks about beauty. [Style.com]
• Freida Pinto might be a pick for an Estée Lauder contract. [WWD]
• Pharrell Williams, whose fashion interests already include Ice Cream and the Billionaire Boys Club, bought an interest in an ecologically sensitive yarn company in December. Which W decided to write about, now. For some reason. [W]
• Marc Jacobs donated a signed iPod to charity and we might as well pretend for the fun of it that his song list offers unexpected insights into his personality. What kind of man mixes Leonard Cohen and Lady Gaga? And then polishes the lot off with "No Scrubs" by TLC? It's fun to imagine Jacobs mouthing, "No, I don't want your number/No, I don't wanna give you mine/I don't wanna meet you nowhere/I don't want none of your time!" while sketching blouses for his collections or something. Oh, and for one last piece of Britney news: her iPod only fetched $801 at auction. [Unbeige]
• The difference between Anna Wintour, who has the dusty feel of a fashion institution these days, and Carine Roitfeld, who gives the impression she just might have a dust rag on or about her person, couldn't be more aptly underscored by the difference in the camera crews they attract. Wintour, editor of American Vogue, is to be the subject of a 60 minutes piece by Morley Safer, who first came to acclaim for his Vietnam coverage. Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue, gets something on CNN Revealed, which will almost certainly be cooler, hipper, and better, since it's cable and Carine and all. [The Cut]
• Katie Grand's Love magazine is either sold out of its 67,000 print run, and therefore fastest-selling debut magazine for Condé Nast UK ever, or it's just a lot of creative hype and there are in fact copies all over the place in Britain, depending on whether you believe Love magazine, or a bunch of anonymous Fashionista commenters. [Fashionista]
• Ever flip through a J. Crew catalog and think, 'Wow! These people clearly are a bunch of insurgent creatives, introducing mad art and design to chinos and pastels.' The impression will only be confirmed by Alex Katz's turn as a model for their spring catalog and in-store displays. Katz, 81 years young, is a Big Deal in American painting. [Unbeige]

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• Jean Paul Gaultier always brings surprise into his shows. He's had Coco Rocha Irish dance, and included plus models in his lineup. This time he closed the show with magnificent Ines de la Fressange. [AFP]

• Taylor Swift is launching a line of sundresses that will cost $14 and be sold at Wal-Mart. However! She says she's not like all those other celebrity "designers" who are all too happy to claim the title. "I like people who have worked their entire lives to become designers," Swift says. "I think that they have their place as designers and I have my place as a musician, and I'm going to pretty much stick to that." Huh. If Taylor Swift isn't a designer, then who designed the line? Or did the dresses simply spring, fully formed, from the fingertips of a bevvy of 14-year-old Indonesian sweatshop workers? [The Cut]
• A Real World: Brooklyn cast member has become an underwear model. Scott from New Hampshire is the new face of Baskit Underwear's organic line, "Pure." [Racked]
• The Japanese government held a runway show in New York to promote young Japanese designers on the international scene. [WSJ]
• On the occasion of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli's first collection for Valentino, which will be shown today at couture week in Paris, the man himself has praise for the pair — and some choice words about his successor, Alessandra Facchinetti, who was fired after just eight months with the company. At the time of her appointment, Valentino, who left his company a year ago, would only say, "I've met her. She's pretty." After Facchinetti was dumped, he let rip: "[Chiuri and Piccioli] always demonstrated an enormous respect and love for my work. There is an existing archive with thousands of dresses where they can draw and take inspiration from to create a Valentino product that is relevant today. It is a shame that their predecessor didn't feel this need." Today, he'd like to remind everyone that, despite his affinity for Chiuri and Piccioli, he "categorically denies" helping them design their first collection. "If I decide to attend the presentation of their collection, it will only be as a supporter of two people I love and who have been close to me for many years," he said. All right then! [The Cut]
• Polyvoweled supermodel Iekeliene Stange was interviewed by Style.com on the occasion of her first solo photography show. She has this to say about fashion photography: "I think these days fashion photography is very restricted and lacks a lot of creativity. There’s always certain items that need to be shot in certain ways and you don’t have as much freedom. Very often these days it seems to be more about socializing and who knows who, rather than about actual photography." A pretty bold statement to make. [Style.com]
• Lydia Hearst's Pringle of Scotland ad leaked, and the trustafarian model has her patented dazed expression. Still, it's nice to see her actually, you know, working as a model. After last season's campaign efforts, which were a long way from her Prada heights, one would have sooner expected Hearst to turn up in an ad for Pringles than Pringle of Scotland. [The Cut]
• American Express, which, as a fashion week sponsor normally gets one designer to be in a special AmEx branded fashion show in the tents that card-holders can pay $150 to watch, is taking a slightly different route this fashion week. Diane von Furstenberg will be the featured talent, but instead of re-creating her Fall/Winter 09 show of a few days prior, she'll showcase looks from the current spring season. Things you can actually buy. (Of course, AmEx card-holders could also just walk into a DvF store to see her spring collection. But think of how it'll look on the runway, with hair and makeup and lights and music!) Ms. von Furstenberg will also do a Q&A with André Leon Talley before the show. The 850-seat venue is expected to sell out. [WSJ]
• Poor sales numbers at Swatch had a predictable effect on the company's performance for 2008. Gross profits rose less than expected, by 4.3%, to 6 billion Swiss francs ($5.2 billion). The company is predicting modest sales increases for 2009. [WWD]
• H&M had a better-than-expected fourth quarter, although it closed with disappointing December sales. Net profits for the brand jumped 9.4% to 5.09 billion Swedish kronor (about $626 million), up from last year's 4.65 billion kronor. Analysts had predicted a rise to 4.85 billion kronor. Overall profits for 2008 were up 13%; the chain is going to continue its expansion. [WSJ]
• Which is good news, because I'm already getting excited about Matthew Williamson for H&M, which hits stores this April. The designer himself will model in the ad campaign, alongside Daria Werbowy. Solve Sundsbo will shoot. [WWD]
• The 85% off sales of designer goods may have permanently affected the market. According to a new study, sales of luxury products are expected to fall between 3% and 7% in 2009, at least partly because now that consumers have seen how low prices can get, they feel like $600 is too high an asking price for a pair of shoes. I would agree! Some labels are going to permanently lower their prices, others might continue shifting production to Asia. [WSJ]
• Angelina Jolie wore a Max Azria dress to the SAG awards...backwards. I can actually see how it would have looked way too revealing if she'd worn it the "right" way around. Who among us has never turned a favorite sweater backwards for something new? [The Life Files]
• Project Runway's 5th season, which is still the subject of litigation in California, will still show at New York Fashion Week. But the designers featured, and whether there are any decoys among them, will be kept secret from the audience. Also Nina Garcia's writing another book, presumably to keep busy while the lawsuit shakes out. [Fabsugar]
• Betsey Johnson's reissuing a 35-piece capsule collection of garments from her archives. They'll only be sold at Opening Ceremony in Los Angeles and New York. And, I'm willing to predict, on eBay. [WWD]
• Oh. My. God: Lou Doillon and Charlotte Gainsbourg were shot by Annie Liebovitz for American Vogue. Did Anna Wintour just get a clue? [WWD]

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• Should American Apparel be exporting its porntastic aesthetic? Ask Dov! "Magna Carta 1215! They anticipated that international merchants should be able to come to Great Britain and sell their goods. I think it's section 43 or 42, you can look it up on Google." [IHT]
• Patricia Field finally admits what we've always suspected about styling: it's bullshit. "It's easy, it pays well and you don't have to worry about inventory [as you do when running a store]. For me, it was like a windfall, because in retail you have to work very long hours and often don't make much money. But [with styling] they're paying you all this money to put clothes on a few people. I was like, wow!" [Guardian]
• What would a Monday be without Lagerfeld? "I'm suffering from an overdose of myself...At a certain point, you ask yourself, am I a puppet or not?" [Canadian Press]
• Kate Winslet's definitely playing Vivienne Westwood. [Fashionista]

• Natalia Vodianova's launching a lingerie line. [Sassybella]
• So is Molly Sims. [New York Magazine]
• Alessandra Facchinetti — who learned about her Valentino firing through the media, mind you — says, 'fuck diplomacy': "I am very embittered...I thank Valentino (group) for appreciating my 'creative contribution' and my 'refined talent'. It's a shame that they have not been adequately used." [Reuters]
• Her replacements say they'll, um, do a good job too. [WWD]
• The Aussie government has proposed a fashion "Code of Conduct" that would require magazines "to feature normal-sized models and disclose the use of digitally enhanced photos." We were never allowed to toss around the term "normal" growing up in my house, but sounds good! [News.com.au]
• The provenance of Sarah Palin's shoes generates controversy. [BlackBook]
• Hey, wanna be like Kate Moss? Yeah, neither do we. Here's a book about it for those who don't have the energy for coke or Pete Doherty. [The Sun]
• Ferragamo's new villa takes the pulse of the times. Oh, wait. "The numbers involved in the project – by spring 2010 it will include 20 villas, 26 “hotel” suites, a Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course, spa, two restaurants, winery and stud – are clearly not for the credit-crunched." [FT]
• What to wear to weddings number 2, 3, 4...you get the picture. [Washington Post]
• The vitamin gift bag at Louis Vuitton sounds like crap to us, but celebs were into it! [WWD]
• Young Indian girls like sexu clothes, too! [Hindustan Times]
• Cardigans are back. Were they gone? [LA Times]
• Hard times: People are cutting back on plastic surgery. Zing! [CNN]
• Maybe that's why makeup sales are up! [BrandWeek]
• In some kind of Johnny Cash tribute-cum-intimidation tactic, sports fans are urging "blackouts" in which everybody um, wears black clothes in the stands. [NY Times]
• Yes, we're sure all this 3-D imaging looks awesome. But it's no substitute for the actual humiliation of trying on swimsuits! [Business Week]<<br /> li>Helen Mirren to win some "Most Stylish Woman" award we've never heard of. Brava! [Mirror]
• Model dons tiny corset; walks; faints. People are surprised. [The Sun]
• Alexander McQueen goes all Donnie Darko in a freaky bunny suit. [New York Magazine]

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• Addressing the alarming shortage of celebrity fragrances, Halle Berry, who is releasing her own, proclaims: "It’s a real, true expression of who I am — I was involved in all aspects of making it." [WWD]
• Oh, those wags at PETA! In another devastating jab at their fur-sporting nemeses, the animal rights wits have produced "Trollsen Twins" masks for us to wear on Halloween! "To complete the "Hairy Kate" and "Trashley" look, PETA recommends Starbucks, cigarettes and boho chic gear." [MollyGood]
• Hey! Wanna go to the Viktor & Rolf show? It's online! (No, you still can't afford anything.) [NY Mag]
• Kaiser Karl is coming to America! Specifically, Vermont. Quoth Lagerfeld, “I love it. It’s very much Emily Dickinson." [WWD]
• Leighton Meester "does her part to end domestic violence" by walking in a celebrity fashion show. [People]

• Irina Lazareanu, the Barbra of modeling, says she's really retiring this time. [Style.com]
• Yup, Alessandra Facchinetti's out at Valentino. [WWD]
• We're starting to feel bad for Lauren Conrad's clothing line . [Perez Hilton]
• And if LC and Heidi are too high-profile for you, perhaps you want to patronize a smaller designer, why, here's Audrina's denim line! [Perez Hilton]
• Anna Wintour: the Rasputin of the fashion world. [NY Mag]
• The CEO of Coach went all Joyce Carol Oates on us and just wrote a book about wrestling. [MediaBistro]
• Are we the only ones who think of Electra from Gypsy when we hear about all these high-tech "intelligent" clothes? This new jacket has a solar panel. Hey, you gotta have a gimmick! [Reuters]
• Possibly because of her complete blankness, Kate Moss is the most popular artist's muse of our age. [Independent]
• Kate also really likes that solid gold statue of herself. [VogueUK]
• She also doesn't wear underpants. And her hairdresser takes total credit for her style. [GraziaDaily]
• Rich people discover second-hand clothes. [LA Times]
• Uniqlo is up, at least. [WWD]
• New beauty director at Nylon, late of ElleGirl. [Fashionista]
• Vanessa Paradis on Johnny Depp: "Maybe I'm a good girlfriend because I'm his girlfriend. I'm not sure I'd be a good girlfriend to anyone else." Yeah, we're guessing we could go good for Sparrow, too. [ElleUK]

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• Would Rachel Zoe support Code Pink? Here's her response: "I’m embarking on a big initiative this year for ovarian cancer—that’s next. But if I lived in the ’70s, I would have been right in John Lennon’s bed with him and Yoko. God, I wish he were alive." We'll take that as a...maybe? [BlackBook]
• Anand Jon: Rapist, or simply a creep? [Radar]
• Despite rumors, Pixie Geldof isn't designing for New Look. She's modeling for them! [ElleUK]
• Finnish designer Ivana Helsinki based her knits line for Topshop on "the champagne state of drunkenness." Sign us up! [VogueUK]

• H&M feels the pinch. Don't we all. [WWD]
• Is Alessandra Facchinetti getting the pink slip at Valentino? [Fashion Week Daily]
• At the end of the day, fashion's a business. Albeit a ridiculous one. [Independent]
• Which is why Lanvin might be selling a stake to a Qatar investor. [IHT]
• Posh's new boots: ugly, of course, but are they equally uncomfortable?! [Guardian]
• Apparently Paris fashion week is sucking far less than did New York's. [Fashionista]
• This new hand-held scanner can tell if a garment's a fake -so you don't have to send your clothes to a lab, like you were doing before! [IHT]
• Foot Locker's buying skateboard apparel maker CCS. It's currently owned by Delia's. [WSJ]
• Model Sarah Murdoch says "In fashion ... there is an unhealthy body image for young women." No shit. [News.com.au]
• Balenciaga show apparently bites. [NYT]

]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5056833&view=rss&microfeed=true This week marked Alessandra Facchinetti's couture debut for the house of Valentino. Don't know what the fashion wags will say, but in my humble opinion, the collection was pretty rad; it evoked the Jackie O class that V is famous for but felt more vital, even though something unspecific about the makeup really bothered me. I didn't know much about the new designer, save that she'd been at Gucci and was kind of a dark-horse choice to fill Valentino's Italian loafers. But check out how awesome this trivia is: "Father is Roby Facchinetti, singer and keyboard player for Italian rock band Pooh. Brother is rapper DJ Francesco." Groovy! (Selected images begin below.)

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• Now the face of Versace menswear, Patrick Dempsey has started referring to Donatella Versace as his "Italian mother." [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Model Erin O'Connor musing on the end of another fashion season: "...yes I'm howling, oh how woeful I was when the mini cab rocked up early Sunday morning to collect the regal attire, literally stripped from my back to be sent back to each designer. Kind enough to donate for the week I hear you mutter? Jees, and Cinderella thought she had it bad? Hark, where for art thou my four-door Sports Series Maseratti? Not even a pumpkin post-shows for this lowly creature, just her own two spindly legs to get her from A to B..." [Vogue UK]
  
• The Herve Leger dress that Victoria Beckham wore to the Marc Jacobs show last season is now on sale at Intermix. Er, maybe not? So many people tried to buy it online that the Intermix website crashed. [Fashionista]

• Why was this not a challenge on Project Runway this season? Clothing made from plastic bags is the new recycling. [Guardian UK]
• Alessandra Facchinetti debut collection for the Valentino label: Hitting the runway on Thursday! [FT]
• Fashion folk: Mainly computer illiterate. [IHT]
• Jeffrey Kalinsky of luxe boutique Jeffrey, is giving Nordstrom a "makeover." Jeffrey, if you have never had the distinct pleasure of being abused there, is known for its infamously bitchy salespeople. [WSJ]
• Yves Saint Laurent's Stefano Pilati wants shoppers to feel like they've been taking opium when visiting the new YSL store in Paris. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Oscar de la Renta has just inked two licensing deal for handbags and small leather goods, finding more and more ways to put a little O in your life. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Escada's got a new CEO and he's ready to whore out the company by focusing on money-making world of accessories. Didn't we just read like fifty-thousand stories on the death of the It Bag? [WWD, sub req'd]
• I will mock my boyfriend ruthlessly if he ever wears a robe like this. [Chic Report]
• Recession? What recession? Women's apparel prices areon the rise. [IHT]

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