• Deets on the Diane von Furstenberg comic book! "With 'Be the Wonder Woman You Can Be, Featuring the Adventures of Diva, Viva & Fifa,' the new comic book she authored, she doesn’t just turn herself into a bonafide superheroine, but offers inspiring tales about women and the life-empowering choices they face — all with illustrations by artist Konstantin Kakanias." Plus, it's got the stamp of approval from real life WW's Gloria Steinem and Lynda Carter. We're sure the 13-year-old boys are already lined up! [WWD]
• Despite repeated evidence that she should never talk ever, Kate Moss is appearing on a new style TV show. [Fashionista]
• Kate Winslet is not, repeat, not, playing Vivienne Westwood. [People]
• In bad news for the environment and boring news for the rest of us, model Jessica Stam gets her pilot's license. Or talks about getting one. [Fashionista]

• Heidi Klum obviously hates Kenley. "We don’t change their words. What they say is what they say. So she was the way you see her. She was laughing at people at times, she would talk back. And it is a very hard thing for these designers to be on the runway and show themselves to everyone, but this is what you sign up for. You have to take the criticism. And I don’t think she could handle that very well. But she is a good designer." [LA Times]
• Gwyneth Paltrow sells hand-me-downs for charity. We're sure you can read all about it on her dumb blog. [ElleUK]
• Santino Rice has a reality show in the works. We very much doubt it will be "bigger than Project Runway” but whatevs! [Fashion Week Daily]
• This is cool: the Metropolitan Museum's entire costume institute collection is now online. [WWD]
• Banana Republic forces the Paul Taylor Dance Company out of its longtime home. Hey, Paul Taylor, people shouldn't have to walk a full three blocks to buy chinos! Stop being so selfish! [NY Times]
• Denim-distressing is a full-time job. [BoingBoing]
• Mel B's underwear ad. It's her, in underwear. [The Mirror]
• The consensus: Paris Fashion Week was the best of the bunch. But buyers are still cutting way back. [WWD]
• IMG — which handles all the, um, real fashion weeks — is no longer repping LA's. [NY Post]
• England's street-style program, The Clothes Show, bans super-skinny guys in oder to discourage "manorexia." (Interestingly, when my brother was in London, he was asked to appear on this. Presumably before this rule went into effect.) [Daily Mail]
• "A model will now be assessed if he is too thin by looking at his body mass index, with any model below 19 being classed underweight.Those with 26 and 28 inch waists will also be classed as the male equivalent of a female size zero and will not be allowed to take part." Suck it, Charlie Stein! [Telegraph]
• French It girl Lou Doillon is opening a store. She says vaguely, "We’ll have a mix of fashion, literature, modern and old, with more of an English than French influence, and not conventional." [ElleUK]
• Anya Hindmarch has hit Target. [NY Post]
• Reshuffling at obscurely grossly-named Aquascutum. [VogueUK]

• Apparently emboldened by last week's success in Milan, Bruno — aka Sacha Baron Cohen — crashed Stella McCartney today. "With his red thong clearly visible above his jeans, the comedian — who was virtually unrecognisable in a flamboyant leather gilet, with his slicked-down hair dyed blonde and brown — sucked Tampax, clapped along to the music and generally disgruntled the front row by continually pushing aside those sitting in front of him for a better look at the models." He then delivered a "lone standing ovation." [VogueUK]
• In total radness: DVF to design a comic book in connection with her Wonder Woman-inspired collection. Really hoping she has to make the rounds of the comics conventions. [Fashionista]
• Chloe Sevigny gets into menswear. Well, Gallo will wear it. [Nylon]

• Andre Benjamin's clothing line is for the modern fop. "To create a persona for his fashion line, Mr. Benjamin combined his surname with that of Bill Bixby. The character is a world traveler whose wardrobe includes things like a $995 cotton corduroy blazer, a $350 felted waistcoat and a $95 newsboy cap." [NY Times]
• Whoever wears that will surely be the intended demographic for "J. Crew's first book." "Written by Max Blagg and illustrated by Hugo Guinness, What a Man Should Know is a collection of 50 (very) whimsical tips for the modern male. So what should you know? Chess, wine, and figure-drawing." [Men.Style]
• Some people claimed Heidi stole the Project Runway premise — aka the same setup every single competition reality show has ever had ever. A judge, not surprisingly, dismissed it. [wwltv]
• Michelle Obama sports H&M on the campaign trail. [BlackBook]
• Lagerfeld video. Nuff said. [NY Mag]
• Scary Spice Mel B wants a Project Runway-style reality show. Get in line, kid. [E]
• Rather than going bargain basement, Target courts recessionistas. [Business Week]
• More on Miss Sixty's woes. [BBC]
• Sorta It-Girl Cory Kennedy to replace Kinda It-Girl Daisy Lowe as the face of Docs. [Fashionista]
• Levi's tries way, way too hard: "The San Francisco company has launched a new viral effort it hopes will attract young men to pass along videos of customized "beasts" emerging from the button-fly of Levi's jeans. At Unbuttonyourbeast.com, visitors can choose from nine different animated characters with names like Trout Troutman, Paul the Pincher and Sock Nasty, then customize the beast's message by calling a toll-free number. The effort, unsurprisingly, is geared to young men just out of college." The emails are titled, "Do you dare to unbutton my beast?" [AdWeek]
• India eases the way for the burgeoning luxury market. [IHT]
• Guy Ritchie's first hit since hooking up with Madge: a Nike ad gets big on YouTube. [Telegraph]
• Naomi Campbell's gonna walk for Hermes; everybody flips out. [Fashion Week Daily]
• I wish these celebs would stop calling their mix tapes "albums." Anyhoo, Heatherette designer Richie Rich's, "Celebutante," is about to drop. [Fashionista]
• "If there were a gold medal for marathon modeling, Shalom Harlow would surely win it for the Viktor & Rolf fashion film that will begin today on the Dutch duo’s Web site. 'It was like the fashion Olympics,' said Rolf Snoeren, who, with Viktor Horsting, reenacted a high-tech version of 'Funny Face' to showcase their spring collection. 'It was 14 hours a day on high heels, but she was a champion.'” [WWD]
• 80's power shoulders are big (sorry) on the Paris runways. [WSJ]
• That gold statue of Kate Moss was just unveiled. [Mirror]
• UGGS are like cockroaches: all that will be left after a nuclear holocaust. While everything else is foundering, UGGs is way up! [WSJ]
• The Lauren Conrad line forlorn and unbought. [Page Six]
• Bossy new bikini has "decorative beads" that change color when UV rays grow dangerously high. [Telegraph]
• Screw Jimmy Choos. Cheap shoes make more sense for actual walking. [Daily News]
• "Margherita Missoni, meanwhile, has experienced some teasing for wearing vintage sparkling Harper’s Bazaar frames — due to an eye problem. 'Suzy Menkes says it’s my Sarah Palin look,' she laughed. 'It is definitely not inspired by her.'" [WWD]

• Mini moguls Mary Kate and Ashley are dipping their tiny feet into the world of fashionable footwear. They're teaming up with Steve Madden to add a shoe line to their Elizabeth and James label. [ElleUK]
• Weirdly, model Twiggy's husband calls her Twiggy too. [Daily Express]
• Moddles fall all over the runway on Prada's slippery runway. Try not to enjoy it. [NY Times]
• Following in the steps of such sex symbols as Gorbachev and the Berlin Wall, Sean Connery goes before Annie Leibovitz's lens for Louis Vuitton. [WWD]
• Just saying, if I were running for office, known ass Andre Leon Tally is kind of the last person I'd want carrying a tote with my name all over it, even if it was a DVF original. [Concrete Loop]

• Diesel launches the Diesel car. Doesn't require diesel though. [ElleUK]
• As they say, the rich get richer: cosmetics mogul Laura Mercier sells pad for numerous millions. [Observer]
• Marc Jacobs turns London's black cabs into a "dasiy chain." "In promotion for his floral fragrance Daisy, Jacobs will be adorning black cabs in London with the flower, as well as outfitting the cabs’ interiors with faux daisy fields." One can only assume long-suffering cabbies were not consulted. [BlackBook]
• Remember Bag, Borrow or Steal, which got plugged in the SATC movie when Jennifer Hudson borrowed her fug purses from them? Yeah, here's more about that. [The Street]
• Heidi Klum is very gracious about J.Lo's obvious lying to get out of Project Runway finale. [The Cut via a href="http://www.accesshollywood.com/heidi-klum-on-jlo-missing-runway-finale-she-is-fantastic-i-believe-her_article_11364">Access Hollywood]
• Calvin Klein on fashion's realities: "It's a tough business. It's one that you really have to work at — if you're a very small business, or it's very large. It requires a full commitment. There is no easy way to do this," [Yahoo]
• Prada wants in on the pre-fab millionaire's playground that is Dubai. [IHT]
• David Bowie loans Ziggy Stardust outfit to a pop exhibition. What does he do with it the rest of the time? [Daily Express]
• Despite her involvement with the Freddy Prinze, Jr. vehicle Head Over Heels, Shalom Harlow will be the star of Viktor and Rolf's virtual fashion show. [WWD]
• To make up for flagging sales, luxury retailers focus on their outlet stores. Which are hopefully less depressing as a result. Looking at you, Saks outlet at Woodbury Commons! [Business Week]
• Le sigh. Editrice spawn Julia Restoin-Roitfeld to front British chain Accessorize. [WWD]

According to StereoHyped, Behnaz Sarafpour used one black model; Rodarte used one; Jill Stuart used 4, up from zero last season. Calvin Klein used one. Monique Lhullier used none. Reuters reports that Vivienne Tam also used none.

After writing about this subject repeatedly, it's still shocking to see a post by a commenter on StereoHyped which reads: "Please explain to me why this is such an important issue?" It's incredible that people really don't get it. Having only white models on New York Fashion Week runways sends a dangerous message: That there is only one high-fashion "look," and it is to have pale skin. During Fashion Week, reporters come from around the globe, photographers take pictures that are seen in hundreds of countries. New York is a cosmopolitan city where it is unacceptable to tell a woman you're not going to hire her because she is black. And yet, for the past few years, that's exactly what has been happening in the fashion industry. In New York.

So, are things slowly getting better? "Visually on the runways, it has improved," model mogul (and organizer of the "Absence Of Color" summits) Bethann Hardison tells Reuters. "But the results are still racist. [Designers] choose the same white and never go towards the brown or the dark."

Fashion Week Features Few Black Runway Models [Reuters]
Black Model Watch: Spring '09 Fashion Week [StereoHyped]

Earllier: Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash

• Holy underminer, Batman! Whitney Port on her clothing line: "I'm developing a clothing line. It won't be like Lauren's stuff, which I loved. Mine will be a little more high-end." [Radar]
• "Fashion Victims: The Catty Catalogue of Stylish Casualties From A to Z" by Michael Roberts, fashion director of Vanity Fair, sounds like it will be fascinating to the fashionistas he skewers and completely stultifying to everyone else. "Roberts has written a poem for each letter of the alphabet, for instance P for "photographer": "Why am I so fabulous? What makes me truly great? What would life be without me? It's hard to contemplate . . . No billboards straddling city streets with body parts gigantic/Nor me with glass in premiere class crisscrossing the Atlantic." The accompanying illustration is a caricature of Mario Testino. " Sounds like a gas. [NY Post]
• Early estimates place the price of Cindy McCain's RNC outfit at $300,000. Well, in fairness $280,000 goes towards her three-karat diamond earrings. [US News]

• We love how thoughtfully celebrities consider the challenges of starting a small business! Jamie-Lynn Sigler on her new jewelry line: “We just started beading these gold bracelets with all different types of gold one day and started playing with different charms, and we thought, Hey, let’s do it,” [NY Mag]
• Word on the street is that Cole Mahr, the dude who wore a dress in the Marc Jacobs print ads, will be doing it again on the runway. Does this bode well for Isis?! [Fashionista]
• Lancome adds Dominican model Arlenis Sosa to its "stable." Says Lancome's prez, “Arlenis possesses beauty, intelligence, charm and compassion...All of our brand ambassadors share these attributes, so we knew she would be a wonderful addition. We are very proud to welcome her to the Lancôme family.” [WWD]
• You'll be relieved to know that Fashion Week is civic-minded. A fashion week press release tells us, "In the spirit of the election season and theme at this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, unique, fashion inspired election slogan pins will be given out in small quantities each day. Fashionistas can vote for their favorite slogan at www.votembfashionweek.com."
• "Furrier to the stars" Dennis Basso owes the IRS. "The baritone-voiced minkmeister is singing the blues now that the feds have imposed a $200,000 lien on his swanky Central Park West apartment, according to public records." Basso says it's all a misunderstanding because his "accountant's mother had a heart attack." [NY Post]
• ANTM judge and "top fashion photographer" Nigel Barker and his wife are having a baby girl. "We found out it’s going to be a little girl," Barker, 36, told Us Thursday at the Saks Fifth Avenue Ruby Slippers Collection party in NYC. "We’re going to look at her, and when we see her, we’re going to come up with a name." They already have a 2-year-old son. [US Weekly]
• Men's Heath EIC and titanic douche David Zinczenko is psyched about the new Women's Health. Quoth he, "We've pulled into the passing lane, and we're poised to surpass a lot of women's magazines now. We can see Glamour just up ahead. There are a lot of opportunities for Women's Health because of the size of the market." [WWD]
• We wouldn't normally think much of the fact that AOL is relaunching its style and beauty site, StyleList.com, except that they've tapped Carmindy as their beauty expert, and we love What Not to Wear. [WWD]
• A Saks Fifth Avenue employee has been charged with $680K in theft. [NY Post]
• Wait, has Rachel Bilson been on any worst-dressed lists? “I think it’s cool to be on the worst-dressed list,” she says. “If people aren’t accepting, that’s OK. Bring it on, I don’t care!” [People]
• Fern Mallis basically runs Fashion Week. Here's why she's psyched: "First of all, September shows always feel like school is starting. This particular season there's different kind of buzz in the air, especially with the elections. We are all wondering how the outcome will affect our industry, especially with two first ladies who wear clothes particularly well." [Huffington Post]
• Behold fall's least flattering fashion trend: the pegged trouser. "They usually have two front pleats at the waistband that are designed to add volume in the hip area, then balloon out in the thigh before tapering in again at the ankle. They can also be cropped on the ankle and high-waisted. Admittedly, they sound alarm bells for most of us - extra volume around the thighs is always a hard sell." Thanks a lot, YSL! [The Guardian]
• Speaking of the 90s: LA Gear is back, baby! In what The Cut describes as the requisite "in Saved by the Bell shapes and neon colors." [The Cut]
• Italian designer Mila Schon has died at 92. [Reuters]
• Kate Betts, Joel Stein and Isaac Mizrahi will all be blogging fashion week for Style & Design. Says Betts, "I wanted to offer readers the same kind of inside, up-to-the-minute, offbeat look at fashion week as opposed to straightforward reviews...Joel and Isaac, I hope, will add a lot of humor." [WWD]
• Model Lily Cole is leaving modeling to pursue acting, was inspired by Heath Ledger. But more to the point, she's starting Cambridge, where she'll be studying history! Says the 20-year-old, "modelling can get a little lonely sometimes, especially when you are travelling on your own. That's what I'm looking forward to about going to university to meet lots of new people." [Telegraph]
• Not profiting by Lily Cole's example, former internet phenom/partygirl and wannabe-Lezark Cory Kennedy has been signed to One Model Management. [Fashionista]
• Domino really understands the needs of its readers; they've done the important work of making a "fashion week survival guide." "The survival guide includes recommendations from designers, editors and fashion insiders, including Francisco Costa, Bloomingdale's fashion director Stephanie Solomon, Simon Doonan, Anya Hindmarch, Vera Wang, Lela Rose and Peter Som. Musings include recommendations on what to do for an hour in between shows — Humberto Leon, from Opening Ceremony, suggested Wu Lim Qi Gong Master Massage." [WWD]
• Raise your hand if you want the new KISS Vans! Wait...no one? "To celebrate that fateful day in 1978 when all four members of the band released solo albums, the skatewear brand (and main sponsor of the Warped Tour) is releasing the Vans x Kiss Sk8-Hi commemorative T-shirt and shoe pack sometime in the "late fall" of this year." [AdAge]
• As previously reported, designer Heather Thomson has tapped New York's pool of exotic dancing talent for her upcoming lingerie show. "She held a competition of dancers who perform gymnastics-like routines on brass poles at some of Manhattan's poshest strip clubs and picked eight to model her Yummie Tummie Shapewear." [Reuters]
• The Rag&Bone designers are refreshingly enthusiastic! "We are big fans of Radiohead. Actually, seeing them perform at Glastonbury head-to-toe in Rag & Bone would be pretty magic." [Fashion Week Daily]
• In addition to a ludicrous rock-themed fashion mag and a fashion-themed rock concert, Fashion Rocks sponsors a charity auction. "Among the items up for auction: A leather jacket autographed by Keith Urban and seats at Kimora Lee Simmons and Diane Von Furstenberg's coveted runway shows." [People]
• We love Daphne Guinness largely because of her connection to the Mitfords, but on any terms her upcoming shoot for Vogue Italia sounds rad! [Fashionista]

Coming down the runway, I thought Blayne's knickers looked a little insayne.

Korto's pop of yellow: Divine. The judges approved. Diane von Furstenberg was eyeing it like she wanted to add it to her collection, for real.

Somehow this cobbled-together Frock De Fug™ didn't get Suede kicked off. Michael Kors was all, "Did she get dressed in the dark?" Notice how Suede does not speak of himself in the third person on the runway? Suede knows better.

Jerell loves jaunty little hats. Maybe he's inspired by the Summer 1986 International Male? In any case, this ensemble was a wee awkward, no?

Terri, Terri, Terri. I am rooting for you! Step it up! This was meh.

Here is Kenley's dress. The dress that drove her to tears! The dress she argued and fought for on the runway. Yawn.

Leanne was the winner of this challenge. She did a cutesy little spy thing in the workroom, and it wasn't even annoying. Her midnight blue gown is totally Dietrich — and the ruffles on the back are exquisite.

I hated, hated Joe's Shanghai surprise. The back was jacked up beyond belief. The good news is that it looked better on the runway than it did in the workroom, where the top was a belly shirt. Joe very nearly went home. I really thought he would.

It was Stella who was sent home. As CDFA prez Fern Mallis said, "Stella was not stellar." The best was when Stella was auf'd: She said, "My ego was way to big to be here anyway." Wait, what? Oh, well. She and Ratbones will live happily leather after.

Project Runway Season 5 [Bravo]

• Diane Von Furstenberg: writer. The wrap doyenne's gonna "pen" a column for Departures, the high-falutin American Express travel magazine. "The designer and Council of Fashion Designers of America president will start writing about her jet-set life starting with the magazine's November/December issue." Let's hope she doesn't make yet another investigation of "how to pack" her inaugural column. [WWD]
• Penelope Cruz for Mango. Yes, she looks stunning. [FabSugar]
• Ew. Harper's Bazaar has shot the Ronsons (DJs, LiLo lovers, designers and socialites) as Wes Anderson's eccentric Tenenbaum clan. They wish! [Harpers Bazaar]
• Outspoken ass Roberto Cavalli describes models thus: "For me, models are just pieces of wood that I carve to make clothes look beautiful," goes on to trash Kate, Naomi. Bad enemies, Cavalli. [NY Mag]

• Justin Timberlake to show/perform at Fashion Week. [NY Mag]
• Jimmy Choo director, Christian Slater-squeeze and legally embattled Tamara Mellon has joined the board of directors at Revlon. Quoth she, "I am thrilled to become a director of Revlon, an iconic brand in beauty and one that represents the image of a confident, glamorous woman." [ElleUK]
• Spanish chain Zara takes 'world's largest retailer' title from Gap. [Guardian]
• Sneak "peek" (okay, description) of the Commes des Garcons for H&M line, W via Fashionista. It's "mostly black and with Japanese tomboy airs, the H&M collection includes a range of tailored jackets, many deconstructed, along with cropped pants, baggy shorts and a variety of skirts in stretch wool. On the perkier side are polkadot knits in jersey or merino wool, colorful shirts - some with dots - and a "showpiece" coat-dress decorated here and there with dense Victorian ruffles." [Fashionista]
• Weirdly, the recession isn't curbing men's spending on clothes. "Over the past year, men have been on a clothes-buying spree, while women have pulled back even more." [Los Angeles Times]
• Depressingly, the Olympics aren't helping Beijing retailers at all. [WWD]
• Steve Madden names new CEO. [Crains]
• That open call for real women to model in that British Wonderbra campaign has resulted in a creepy-sounding mosaic of boobs, plus the tagline, "D to G, because we're more than a handful." [Salon]
• Style.com is finally adding the long-awaited beauty blog. [WWD]
• Celia Birtwell's rad new Top Shop line will just whet your appetite for the new AMERICAN TOP SHOP opening in October!!! [VogueUK]
• Back away slowly. IToo Faced Fuze Slenderize Guilt Free lip gloss may be the Antichrist. "Inspired by fruity flavors like Blueberry Raspberry and Dragon Fruit Lime, these lip shiners are made with Fuze ingredients that supposedly suppress appetite and boost energy levels — all from glossing up your puckers." [Nylon]

• Cute little 14-year-old Taylor Momsen — aka Gossip Girl's "Little J" — launches her modeling career with a rather self-important bang. 'A source from the shoot - in Brooklyn - tells us that "Taylor was so nice and so cool. She took the subway from her apartment in Chelsea to the set, with her mom. They said they didn't want to do the usual obvious stuff that a teen TV star would do; they were looking for really high-end things."' [Fashionista]
• Diane Von Furstenberg uses Warhol images. Unlike everybody else who does that, though, she actually knew him. [Fashionista]
• Naomi Watts has a total girl crush on Kate Moss, despite obviously being vastly more awesome. "I want to be hip like her," says Naomi. [VogueUK]
• "Nothing is dead or alive. There are just always great new categories. But who am I to say what’s in or out? I walked in here with my dress on backwards." That's Stefani Greenfield, the owner of the Scoop chain, being interviewed with pal Stuart Weitzman. [Scoop]

• Nike investigates worker abuse allegations. [Wall Street Journal]
• Video of that Vanity Fair new designers photo shoot. [Vanity Fair]
• Meet the "Nat 2 Shoe," which looks kinda like a really ugly Converse and "unzips" into a flip flop that is, presumably, equally ugly. Oh, it's German. [The Sun]
• I didn't want to believe it but we can deny it no longer: the leather dress is huge for fall. [Mail on Sunday]
• Also big, literally: huge bows. [Fabsugar]
• Time's running short for models to get their special, sorta illegal fashion week Visas! [Times of London]
• Liz Claiborne recruits creative type to revamp menswear: "The fashion world is filled with pairings of creative souls and bean counters, the yin and yang of the industry, but this is one of the most pronounced cases of opposites attracting with the mission of reviving a withered American brand." [Washington Post]
• Is Agyness forgetting the little(ish) people? Designer Henry Holland: 'Now Agyness is hugely successful and I'm so pleased for her. I just hope I can get her to fly back for my show.' [Daily Mail]
• Gott in himmel! People are wearing rolled-up jeans. "The puffy, peg-leg '80s profile we never thought would come back is with us again." [Los Angeles Times]
• Yet another self-described "first supermodel", Penelope Tree. [Guardian]
• Lanvin's tres chic new denim: "Miles away from the navel-grazing, hip-hugging, utilitarian image of jeans in America, this is denim like you've never seen it before — sophisticated, feminine and utterly French." [Los Angeles Times]
• Yeah, yeah, we've heard: Man Men inspired fall fashions. [AdAge]
• High-tech fabrics — self-cleaning! — morph from sportswear to runway. [Financial Times]
• Graphic novelist Adrian Tomine designs pretty nifty tote for the Strand bookstore, which is just nerdy and awesome in so many ways. [MediaBistro]
• Betsey Johson turns 30! (You know what I mean; she's obviously 60-something.) Says her business partner, "The first show, I sat everyone, and then I modeled, and the next day I went to the showroom and sold it, and then I paid the bills, and Betsey did the patterns." [Yahoo]
• New chairman for luxury behemoth LVMH. [WWD]
• Japanese shoe-removal conventions lead to sock anxiety. "Many Japanese will sympathize with (expat) Tanahashi - we all know how Bad Socks Days can be. On the other hand, wearing great socks is a good way to boost morale. By great socks the Japanese mean they must be functional, lovingly made, attractive and comfortable." [IHT]
• Also from VF's 'fashion issue: seriously freaky London models spread. [Vanity Fair]
• Another one bites the dust: Boscov's chain files for Chapter 11. [WWD]
• The age-old question: do those creepy dry shampoos work? [ElleUK]

• Who is Tory Burch's elusive 23-year old stepdaughter Pookie? On Mondays, Pookie interns for Bruce Weber, and the rest of the week she works as the assistant to the president of Carolina Herrera, and she was (allegedly) responsible for the magical pairing of New York's leading faux-WASP ice princess with Princess Coldstare, but alas, we have scoured the Google and cannot find a picture of her. So this will have to do. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• M.I.A has designed her own eponymous clothing line, which is really brightly colored so that, "if you lose it or someone steals it, you can see it from miles away and you can be like, 'Oy! Give me my shirt back!'" Oy is right! [WWD, 3rd item]
  
• Tinsley Mortimer, you see, is not a bad designer of handbags, it's just that she made the mistake of trying to sell them in Japan. "Japanese girls have no use for clutches because they just go to the clubs right after work. They are so different from New York. Stylewise, colorwise, stylewise. It's very youth-oriented. I'm designing for women between the ages of 20 and 40... But in Japan, after 25, it's like, basically, you're dead." [NYMag]

• "Now that I've been modeling some, I can actually stand in high heels—at least for a night." Oh, Hagyness. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Meanwhile, poor Erin Wasson broke her foot running in stilettos while shooting the ad campaign for Justin Timberlake's clothing line, William Rast. Doctors say her bones were fragile due to the amount of time she has spent in her life in heels. Ouch. [NYMag]
• Are you ready for Tuesday night's Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala? [Is that a trick question? -Moe] The theme is superheroes because "the superhero is the overarching metaphor for fashion, because both share this obsession with the body, identity and transformation." [WWD, sub req'd]
• No actually, explains Diane Von Furstenberg, superheroes are just super-trendy right now. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Poor Nicole Fahri was mugged at knifepoint outside her home! [Mirror UK]
• "My wife and I had a great time just sitting and going through things and working on what we liked the best...I would love to see her have a fragrance, and us to have one together — a unisex fragrance. That would be wonderful. She's a lot more expensive than I am." Tim McGraw on his new eponymous fragrance and his oft-PhotoShopped wife, Faith Hill. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Virtual Christian Siriano prom dresses? We're confused. Explain this to us, please. [Gaia]
• Oscar de la Renta shot his Fall/WInter 2008 ad campaign at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego. Which is, um, really random and has nothing to do with polio? [WWD, sub req'd]
• Is former Dior Homme designer Hedi Slimane doing a line for Diesel? Eh, probs. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Naomi Watts is the new face of Thierry Mugler's Angel fragrance. We are so happy for her. [WWD, 2nd item]
• Martin Margiela is trying to go mainstream. Have you never heard of him? Well, that's cause he's so not mainstream. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Chuck Close, Jeff Koons, Marilyn Minter, Kiki Smith, Cai Guo-Qiang, Barbara Kruger, Ashley Bickerton, Kenny Scharf, Glenn Ligon, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Kerry James Marshall, Hanna Liden and Sarah Sze are all collaborating with the Gap on a series of t-shirts. [WWD, sub req'd]
• And Elie Tahari is collaborating with artist Kenny Scharf, too. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Alice Temperely: Showing in London come September for the first time in six seasons. Buh-bye, New York. [Vogue UK]
• Colin McDowell, fashion editor of The Sunday Times of London, is leaving the paper to become creative editor-at-large of Net-a-Porter and spearhead its original editorial content. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Revlon: In debt. But less so now than before. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Elizabeth Arden: Profits are down. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Same goes for Bebe. [WWD, sub req'd]
• And Steve Madden! Hmmm, I wonder what it all means? [Crain's]

• 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]

Food.
I hate the smell of cooking. Some people love it, but I don't care for it. I don't eat sweet things. I don't eat greasy things. And I like fish better than meat. In fact, I hate meat. My doctor calls me to eat meat twice a week, as apparently we are cannibals. There used to be a Nobu here in Paris but it was very bad; it was horrible. The one one in London is great. It's my favorite restaurant in London.

Fat people.
Yes, new Russian girls are like this. But this is a subject I won't discuss. You know why? In France there are a large percentage of young girls who are overweight and less than one percent are skinny. So let's talk about the 25 percent who have a weight problem, or are overweight. We don't need to discuss the less than one percent. Anorexia is nothing to do with fashion. These Russian girls are so young. Chinese ones are skinny, too, and bony. I don't think it's a subject to discuss. And in today's world, many people take drugs, not only models, hmm? It's an unnecessary subject. Let's talk about the fat ones.

Children.
Do you ever wish you had a son to pass on your wisdom to, to continue the Chanel heritage?
That's the last thing I want. I hate all children. For other people, it's fine, but not for me. I was born not to be a family person.

Going to other places that involve people.
I live in certain isolation. I never take appointments in the morning. I leave my house only after lunch. I don't want to have a social life. I've had enough of that in my life. It's demode. It's another era. Perhaps people are still excited by that era, but not me. It's uninteresting today. It says nothing. It's boring, pretentious and vulgar...Even for charity, people get paid. I try to avoid charity. It doesn't happen for me. I'm rich enough not to have to do that. Thank God I don't have to do that. I do a lot of unnecessary things for free, but I'm very much against that. Money itself isn't interesting, the use of it is.

Going to other places, period.
Sometimes, to be inspired by things or places, it's better not to go there. You have to imagine. I imagine the world from my window. I am not a traveler. I hate it. I never look at my watch. The good thing about private jets is that you go whenever you're ready. That's the real luxury of today. In all my contracts it says, if you want me, send a private jet.

People who try to touch him.
Also I cannot go on airlines because people stare at me, you have to be touched by people. I hate that...I hate bespoke because I hate to be touched by strangers. It bores me to death.

People who try to analyze him.
Diane von Furstenberg told me she thinks you may not be the best designer aesthetically, but that you're by far the smartest.
And look at her prints, hmm? Maybe I've known her for too many years. Maybe she's right, I don't know. If she were an expert, perhaps her designs may be more impressive...I'm not a frustrated writer or architect, I'm frustrated by nothing at all, and frustration is the mother of all crimes. Ambition? I have no ambition. I just want things in a certain way...I don't want to be a teacher. I don't want to inform others through myself. In that way, it's all for myself. I'm the most selfish person in the world. Being selfish, I take care of others. My mother always used to say, "Don't sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there's nothing else you can give and nobody will care for you.

The nineties.
I think that Claudia Schiffer is better than ever. There are few very, very, very great girls. But it's not like in the '90s, the days of Linda Evangelista. That's demode now, that's another era. Very tacky, hmmm? On the one hand there was something intellectual going on during that time. On the other, it was just tacky. But you know, decades have a look, a mood, but that was that. We know what the '90s looked like now, but during the '90s we thought it was great perhaps...I put on weight in the early '90s because clothes were so large, then they got tighter, so I slimmed down. Never go one size ahead. Go down but not up.

Technology, the internet, etc.
I'm a computer by myself. I have a memory also for unnecessary things. Telephone numbers are a problem, but historical details are not.

Love.
Love is a subject I don't analyze publicly. Love is only an interesting subject when it's beyond. When it's down to earth it ceases to become interesting. It's a very dangerous subject. I've had so many tragedies in life, it's hard to discuss the subject.

• Oh, look, it's Madonna. On the cover of a glossy magazine's "green" issue. How novel! And even more exciting: Elle is doing some fashion designer water bottle promotion. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Robin Givhan on Madge: "Her latest incarnation — blond waves, lace-up boots and a corset — speaks to the most old-fashioned, condescending sentiment of all: She looks good for her age." [Washington Post]
  
• Christiane Amanpour slipped Diane Von Furstenburg a note Monday night saying, "Congratulations, from one dominatrix to another." Click the jump while there is still time to get a Jamie Rubin Barry Diller BDSM image out of your mind! [NYDN]

• Food riots, rising Asian inflation and Malthusian apocalypse scares be damned, Armani will conquer the developing world. [Hindustan Times]
• The run-down of this apparel industry salute to the Good Life featuring Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren, Martha Stewart and Tony Bennett will surely warm your cockles. [WWD]
• If, like me, you have not left a three block radius in the past month, you may not have seen the spring window treatments at The Gap. Well some blonde lady at The Street did that for you, and guess what? She found them boring! But J. Crew is alive with color. [TheStreet]
• "Do You Wear Heels To The Beach?" [Fabsugar]
• "How do you avoid a crisis and keep your prom makeup from fading?" [Teen Vogue]
• For those who have long pined for a Hermes Grannysmith apple-shaped tote with matching peeler but never dreamed it was possible. [Missbehave]

• Oh look! It's Melanie Griffith and her 17-year-old daughter Dakota, who is a model, entirely on her own merit. Oh what? You would rather have nepotism in charge of some less-influential realm of the public sphere? Hey, look who's on TV talking about the troop surge! So the scandal here is: does Dakota's modeling card lie about her size? [SassyBella]
  
• PETA crashed a private Alexander McQueen fashion show in New York last night with its signature blood-red paint and hollering protesters. The animal rights group was nicer to New York State's first lady, however, [PETA, NY Daily News]
  
• If Donna Karan is the like the crazy aunt who gave you your first joint, Diane von Furstenberg is the crazy aunt who bought your first vibrator. Says DVF: "Women inspire me... Sometimes, when people hear the word 'feminist', they think that means looking down on the idea of being feminine, but you can be feminine and feminist. But I do believe in the strength of women and I do believe that women can save the world." [Independent]
  
• A Chopard watch selling for $15,715 is totally unacceptable. Oh wait, it benefits the ASPCA: Nevermind! Yay for puppies! [Fashion Week Daily]

• The economy is shaking at its foundations and somehow H&M is still raking in the cash. [Times UK]
• We think that feathered corsets sound kinda freakish and, also: ugly. Knowing they will be worn by Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw in the upcoming Sex and the City movie confirms this feeling. [LA Times]
• Seriously, can someone explain to me why Carlos Santana has a women's shoe line? Really. The whole "universe is absurd" excuse can only go so far. [Dear Jen: the musician and the shoe designer are not the same person. -Ed.] [UPI]
• Remember when we asked last week, Who would want Heatherette for M.A.C. make-up? Well now we know! Former Top Model winner Caridee English. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Sass & Bide is going to do a diffusion line called s&b for the (rich) youngins. [News.com.au]
• Patsy and Edie's favorite designer Christian Lacroix is curating a photo exhibit on Arles, France. [News.com.au]
• Blah blah Luella Bartley collaborating with Tonic to do eco-aware tees blah blah helping children. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Rest assured, law enforcement is on top of the phony George Clooney clothing line. [WWD, sub req'd]

Childhood: Gunn, raised by a career FBI agent father and a homemaker mother, admits that his parents weren't always sure what to do with their first-born, a boy with a "debilitating" stutter who was painfully shy and preferred the company of adults to his peers. "I became an avid reader, was obsessed with Lego — which was my passion, studied piano and wrote lots," he said. His father, interestingly, worked directly under J. Edgar Hoover as the director's second-in-command.

I don't even know if you need to know this, but here's this FBI guy and here's his first born who is building fantasy buildings in Legos, playing "Mr. Frog Hops" on the piano, and when I got the build-your-own castle for my birthday, I started designing outfits for the soldiers — you know what I'm saying? He coached all of the neighborhood sports teams, none of which his son played on. My father and I had a difficult relationship, but he was always there for me in a crisis. And believe me, I gave him plenty of crises.

Career: When Gunn arrived in New York City in 1983 "running from a crisis," he was still wearing his "D.C. uniform" of "boxy, ample suits." Once in New York, he had "an outer-body experience and realized that no two people on any given street corner are dressed the same. This is a city that accepts you for however you choose to present yourself." (He insists that he didn't have his "real fashion epiphany" until he became the chair of the fashion department at Parsons: "I was 18-months into my time as chair when I had a meeting with Diane von Furstenberg, I'm sure she doesn't even remember this meeting, but I could tell by her quivering eye [that she thought of me] 'I don't know if this is going to work for you in this industry, this particular look.' And I thought to myself, I can't disappoint Diane! So I got a black leather blazer tailored like a suit jacket. That was my solution.") As for how he became chair, well, Gunn, had a bit of a Dick Cheney moment. Tapped to head up the search committee for the top position, he realized that an outsider wouldn't be able to do the job and promoted himself from associate dean.. "The program at Parsons was suffering from dormancy," he said. "The curriculum had been unchanged for 15 years. This was a department in need of love and care." After taking over, he threw out the department's entire curriculum, including its cornerstone program wherein groups of seniors apprenticed to different New York-based American fashion designers and replaced it with a program in which each senior was responsible for creating a collection that would later be presented in a runway show. He says he was vilified for doing so. "I was told by the designers who had worked with students in this program that I was driving the American fashion industry into the ground," he explains. "'Get rid of this man!'," he says the design community exhorted. "He's a bad man! He's a bad influence on the industry!" But the dean at Parsons stood by Gunn — and the very first senior final runway presentation under Gunn's reign, in the spring of 2002, produced the Proenza Schouler debut collection. Julie Gilhart, women's fashion director at Barneys, bought their entire senior project for the department store.

Project Runway: In 2004, Gunn was approached by producers at Bravo about an idea they had to do a reality show about the fashion industry. "I was horrified when they told me what they wanted to do," he said. "I told them, 'This industry is in enough trouble without this!'" But after many assurances, Gunn signed on. As an off-camera consultant. "My having a role on the show wasn't even in the ether" during these early meetings, he recalled. "They said to me, What if we told you we want them to make a wedding dress in two days? And I said to them, So they make a wedding dress in two days! As I tell my students, it will just have to be a make it work moment! But then I qualified my statement and said to them, 'But you should know — [if they make a wedding dress in two days] it's not going to be a Vera Wang.'" Gunn did put his foot down however, when producers broached the idea of hiring a full crew of pattern-makers and seamstresses who would actually make the clothes the contestants sketched. "But who is Heidi going to off then? The seamstress? Oh no," was his response.

The producers worried that the designers wouldn't talk while in the work room, so they asked Gunn to go in there and critique their work and offer advice.

I thought while taping season 1, 'No one needs me. No one needs to see me, hear my voice.' I thought I would going to be cut during edited, that they would just show the designers reacting to whatever I had said. I was too embarrassed to go to the premiere party because I thought for sure they were going to cut me... I watched the season 1 premiere from home the same way I watched The Wizard of Oz as a child: curled up in my bed with a blanket over my head.

As for the shot of energy Project Runway seems to have given to the fashion industry? He's happy. "I'd much rather have people attracted to the industry because of [Project Runway] than because of Sex and the City, which was also a phenomenon," he said of the fact that enrollment in fashion design programs has spiked since Project Runway's debut. And yet he hopes that people realize it's not an easy industry. "Ulli [Herzner, from season 3] called me to lament" the fact that buyers were calling but she couldn't match the demand because, in Gunn's words, "she still insists in having her hand in every part of production. I told her, 'Ulli — let go!' She needs to let go while her name is still on people's mind." Conversely, of season 2 winner Chloe Dao he says: "I have the utmost respect for Chloe. She expanded her business in Houston and did a diffusion line for QVC. It's success, but in her own way." And yet he realizes the limits of his own success garnered from the show: "I was at the Au Bon Pain by where we were doing casting for season 4 and when I walked in, the woman working there screamed, 'Oh my God! You're on TV! You're that guy from Project Runway!' And I said, 'Yes, yes I am.' And then she screamed, 'Everyone look — it's Michael Kors!"

• Agyness Deyn's mom Lorraine Collins is as amazed as we are that someone as FAT as Agyness could ever make it in fashion: "She has wonderful curves and a bit of meat on her. When she's home, she eats everything." [Mirror]
  
• Poor chivalrous BF-of-Marc-Jacobs Jason Preston! When he tried to stand up for a girl who got a drink thrown at her at a club, Preston got something worse thrown at him: a punch in the face. $10 says Marc incorporates a black eye makeup look into the Spring 2009 collection. [Page Six]
  
• Richard Chai is the latest designer to do a Target collection! [Who is Richard Chai? I asked Jennie. He's "very respected." And Asian. Okay. -Moe] [Nylon]
  
• But even more exciting: Alice McCall is designing for Topshop. [Who is...meh, forget it. I'm not the one reading the fashion news roundup.] [Sassybella]
  
• While we buy that Barack would smell like bergamot and musk, no way in hell is Hillary Clinton a "delicate floral." [BellaSugar]

• L'Oreal is honoring women for scientific achievements. No really! And not even, like, achievements related to wrinkle "therapy", but real achievements like discovering a new class of RNA molecules, although we're sure there is an anti-aging angle in there somewhere. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Louis Vuitton and Murakami are once again collaborating with a new print, "monoflage," which will make its debut when the Murakami retrospective opens at the Brooklyn Museum of Art on April 3rd. Because what the world really needs is another Vuitton-Murakami bag showing up everywhere. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Dries Van Noten's response when Diane von Furstenberg called him to tell him he would be receiving this year's CFDA International Award? "I don't know what to say! We're in a bad storm in Antwerp and I don't know whether or not we're going to have a house!'" Oy. [Chic Report]
• DKNY Jeans has recruited comic book artist Paul Pope to collaborate with the brand on a new line. Which should be really exciting for skater geeks who worship Tim Gunn? [Nylon]
• For the first time since Stella McCartney and Adidas joined forces together, they are not introducing a new fitness category for the collaborative brand for the Spring 2008 season. We guess that once you've differentiated "running" from "trail running" there really aren't any sports left. [WWD, 1st item]
• After 2010, New York Fashion Week is out of Bryant Park and moves over to...the 10th Avenue Rail Yards? Delightful! [Gatecrasher]
• Japan Fashion Week was, well, big in Japan. [Reuters]
• Will Coach buy Burberry? And if so, can Coach get a firm grasp on the devastatingly complex details of selling logo-ed accessories at accessibly outrageous prices? We bet they can! [Independent]
• Meanwhile, Coach is going to replace its own president with the COO of Victoria's Secret. Um, there's a track record we wouldn't be so quick to acquire, but okay. [WSJ]
• Anna Sui president Michael Pellegrino has announced his retirement. With a 65th birthday coming up, he wants to travel and volunteer with Meals on Wheels. And they say fashion has no heart. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Claudia Schiffer: The latest fashion star to judge London's Graduate Fashion Week. [Vogue UK]
• Coldwater Creek: In the throes of existential crisis. [MediaPost]
• American Eagle: Also not doing so well. [Reuters]

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Designer: Marc Jacobs Known for: Running late, reviving punk, loving Victoria Beckham and Sponge Bob SquarePants, equally Seen on: Posh, natch. Also: Winona Ryder, Courtney Love, M.I.A., and every starlet under the sun Odds of winning: 2:3 (I mean, the guy had a nervous breakdown and put out two radically different collections this year. Plus, he got CFDA prez Diane von Furstenberg to say that she would chain herself to a grate before she let him show in Paris)

Designer: Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein Known for: Keeping it simple, being a nice guy Seen on: Ashley Olsen, Kate Bosworth, ELLE editor-in-chief Roberta Myers Odds of winning: 1:3 (Won in 2006 — doesn't really need to win again)

Designer: Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough for Proenza Schouler. Known for: Intricate bustier dresses, being style chameleons, being child prodigies Seen on: Amy Adams, Isla Fisher Odds of winning: 1:3 (Won last year, but tied with Oscar de la Renta. Is this their year to not share the spotlight?)

Swarovski Womenswear Designer of the Year: Designer: Kate & Laura Mulleavy for Rodarte Known for: Gauze-strewn punk fairy dresses; being "intellectual" Seen on: Natalie Portman Odds of winning: 1:3 (Might be too intellectual and not practical enough for the fickle fashion world.)

Designer: Thakoon Panichgul Known for: Wares that resemble the love-child of a hippie and a minimalist Seen on: Top fashion editors, young fashion assistants who blow an entire fiscal quarter's pay on one piece Odds of winning: 2:3 (The vet of the young designer set. He'll probably be rewarded for his good behavior)

Designer: Alexander Wang Known for: Being a punk rock outlaw Seen on: 15-year old Estonian models Odds of winning: 1:3 (The young whippersnapper just got into the game — they're going to make him work for a statuette)

[Photos via AP, Getty, and ELLE.com]

• Oh lord: Tom Ford is having a baby in 2008. It will be "biologically" his, not his partner Richard Buckley's. "I don't want to get to 75 years old and just have made a lot of dresses, done some houses." In the same interview: "I don't find a guy's cock or a woman's vagina offensive; in fact, I find them beautiful." So will he be penetrating one to achieve this demonspawn? He probably won't be able to keep them off him! "I was having sex with girls when I was 14, and that was because they were pouncing on me." [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Waris Dirie says she's super sorry about that whole "disappearance" thing last week. She said she got lost in Brussels and spent the whole three days she was "gone" walking around and sleeping in hotel lobbies since she didn't know where she was and didn't have any money. Um, Anne Heche enough for you? [MSNBC]
  
• Katoucha Niane's family is asking French police to investigate the possibility that she was murdered, despite the conclusion of accidental death by drowning from the autopsy. [Telegraph]
  
• ELLE Fashion News Editor Anne Slowey learns the whole "never put limp plumper under your eyes" lesson the hard way. [Fashion Week Daily]

• And in other ELLE news, soon-to-be-ousted International Creative Director Gilles Bensimon is very Zen about his looming departure from the fashion mag: "I'm surprised, but I'm not upset. It's not their obligation to use me [to shoot covers] and [creative director] Joe [Zee] does not have to explain anything to me....ELLE is my life. I've been there since I was 23 years old. I will be at ELLE until the last month, the last minute. I'm not upset at [editor-in-chief] Robbie [Myers], really. I don't want to hate people. Hate makes you weak." [Chic Report]
• And in other inspiring news, Diane von Furstenberg is thinking about writing a book about her mother, a Holocaust survivor. When her mother was forced to leave her home, en route to the first of three concentration camps she would be put in, she threw a note into the street which read, "I don't know where I'm going but I want you to know I'm leaving with a smile." [WWD, 1st item]
• Color us shocked: Rihanna says she wants to do her own clothing line. [Sunday Mirror]
• Even better: roses with the Louis Vuitton logo stamped onto them! [Inventor Spot]
• Kate Moss's personal assistant has resigned to have a baby and now Kate Moss is crying, saying her life is over. Oh Kate, maybe you'd be less hysterically self-absorbed easier if you had kids of your own...I mean... [Daily Mail]
• Beck's wife Marissa Ribisi will be showing her Whitley Kros collection at L.A. Fashion Week, which will also play host to Nicky Hilton and Lauren Conrad's shows. [LATimes]
• Urban Outfitters: It grows. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Nike: Feigning concern over the fact that some of its shoes are made in Chinese factories that are not held to the labor standards upheld by the Nike brand. [FT]
• Brace yourselves, Dubai: Bloomingdales is headed your way! [WWD, sub req'd]
• Feathers: Big for fall. Animal rights groups: Unhappy. [Independent]
• Is Colette Dinnigan doing a lingerie line for Target? And if so, will it only be for Target Australia? Wait, there's Target in Australia? [Sassybella]

• Lindsay Lohan has been dropped as the face of Jill Stuart, because she's, well, Lindsay Lohan. Her replacement: Hilary Swank. [Porfolio - Mixed Media]
  
• Tomorrow's the last night of this season's Project Runway: What are fans supposed to do with ourselves now? Oh yes, stalk the casting sessions for Season 5, which begin this month. [Sassybella]