• Beyoncé's first perfume, Heat, launches in February. She says, "Red is one of my favorite colors, as is gold." And the bottle is intended to look antique, because her mother had so many old perfumes when she was little. [WWD]

• Whitney Port, of The Hills/The City fame, says, of fellow fashion-designing show alums Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag, "I put myself in a different sort of realm as them." Port's biggest fear with her label is "people not understanding your point of view, not being able to get it. But I think my biggest competition is myself." [WWD]
• About 200 Chanel employees picketed the company's headquarters just outside of Paris. Workers who make less than €3000 a month have been offered a 1% pay raise; instead, they would like a raise of 2.5%. [WWD]
• Charlize Theron embroidered a baobab tree on a pair of red Toms shoes for her limited-edition collaboration with the eco-friendly, ethically managed company. Ten thousand of the shoes will be distributed free to children in her native South Africa, and the profits from the $54 slip-ons will benefit Theron's charity. [People]
• According to Jimmy Choo, Madonna thinks his shoes are better than sex. "Madonna told me that buying a pair of my shoes is more satisfying than having sex with a man. At least you know they are going to last for ever!" [OK!]
• Tory Burch is growing overseas. The designer recently opened a flagship in Manila, and her first Tokyo store, which just fêted its launch, will be joined by 30 more outposts across the country over the next few years. [WWD]
• Check out the decade in Olsen style, from distressed denim and tube tops to Chloé wedges and studded Givenchy jackets, via the notorious NYU bag lady period. [Style.com]
• Ever since Barack Obama identified his wife's pin, on Oprah, as one he had purchased for her at Garavelli on their anniversary, people have been buying Garavelli jewelry like it's going out of style. [WWD]
• Lady Gaga curated a selection of goods for sale at the site Not Just A Label. You can snap up her fringed lace half hat from the video for "Bad Romance" for a surprisingly reasonable £92, should you feel the need to dress like a deranged Spanish widow from 2078. [NJAL]
• Malls in Dubai still seem busy, despite the debt crisis there. [WWD]
• Hilary Rhoda will be in next year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. Friend-to-Jezebel Liz Glover recently interviewed the model and asked her about her shoot for last year's issue. "For a model, it is a major achievement and a business tactic to widen my fan base," said the Chevy Chase native, over e-mail. "I work out every day, and to have a strong body instead of something frail like in fashion magazines, that's something to look up to." Rhoda, of course, sometimes does appear in the pages of fashion magazines — she once made the cover of American Vogue. Could her athletic look gain high-fashion acceptance? We can dare to dream. [Washington Times]
• Model Jamie Bochert recently ran 12 blocks to get her purse back from a robber. Now that's an athlete. Also she is in the new Lanvin campaign. [WWD]
• Christian Siriano says his maternity line includes party dresses because, "When you're pregnant you still do the same things that you would normally do — go to events, baby showers and weddings. Not every brand does sweet, fun party dresses like this." [People]
• Says Carmen Dell'Orefice, whose name this time Page Six spells correctly: "Sympathy I don't need. Another ad campaign would be great." Dell'Orefice lost most of her fortune in Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme. [P6]
• More details have emerged about the fashion business incubator program launching soon in New York. Twelve lucky designers will be given the opportunity to rent studio space in the heart of the garment district for under market rates — around $1500 a month. The program is underwritten by a $200,000 grant from the New York City Economic Development Corporation and operated by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The tenant designers will be announced this month. [FWD]
• Because of dismal sales, Ben Sherman is shuttering its women's line. The company earlier this year stopped making children's wear. [WWD]
• Nike's quarterly results for the period ended November 30 were only slightly down on last year's. Profits and sales at the world's largest sporting goods company each fell by 4%. [WSJ]

[Dubai, November 16. Image via Getty]

An Emirati man watches cheerleaders perform on the beach at Jumeira, on the first day of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai, on November 16, 2009. AFP PHOTO/KARIM SAHIB (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)

[Dubai, August 31. Image via Getty]

A nurse takes the temperature of a student at the United International Private School (UIPS) in Dubai on August 31, 2009. The school has launched an awareness campaign for swine flu or A(H1N1) influenza as it opened its doors for the new academic year. Monitoring and taking the temperature of students is conducted every day as part of the campaign. The United Arab Emirates announced its second case of swine flu fatality as a pregnant woman died after delivery. The health ministry said that some 600,000 school students will be given vaccination once it becomes available from the manufacturers. AFP PHOTO/KARIM SAHIB (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)

From the Department of Questionable Comparisons, AdAge blogger Tom Martin writes that an ad agency advising clients on digital media and social networking when it's not Web-savvy "is like a virgin showing a hooker the ropes." • Reuters has a video of thousands of women protesting against sex selective abortion in India; in some areas of the country, as many as 2,000 female fetuses are aborted per day. • Did HuffPo really have to compare Fox Business and CNBC based on the hotness of their female reporters? And did they have to make the same joke about "hard-hitting" journalism twice in one slideshow? • Despite Apple's stringent anti-porn policy, for a limited time you might be able to download pictures of "Sexy Asian Girls" and "Young Racing Queens." Great. • The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer has challenged Susan G. Komen for the Cure "to debate the abortion-breast cancer (ABC) link with us at the next Catholic Health Association (CHA) meeting or another venue," despite the fact that no such link exists. • A study says teen girls with breast lumps should be initially tested with ultrasound rather than an invasive biopsy, because their risk of breast cancer is so low. • The percentage of childless women in Britain has doubled since the 1990s, in part because more women are pursuing careers and forgoing marriage, choices the Telegraph calls a "modern lifestyle." • Perhaps unsurprisingly, our brains process a person's gaze differently depending on whether we think they can actually see. • An American artist's portrait of Neda Agha Soltan drew hundreds of comments and e-mails from Iranians. • A study of the sexual habits of women over 45 found that sexual inactivity was more often due to the physical problems or lack of interest of a partner than to any physical problems in the women. Also, Latinas reported more sexual satisfaction than white women. • Researchers found that male seed beetles with "low genetic quality" were actually more successful at fertilizing eggs. We're sure somebody will try to connect this to human behavior, and that the connection will be ludicrous. • Shockingly, people behave badly on eBay: a seller is suing a Nevada woman for erroneously claiming that he sold her a fake Gucci bag. • A Dubai man has been jailed for a month — and will be deported to his native Lebanon — for wearing a T-shirt depicting a naked Victoria Beckham. •

[Dubai, May 31. Image via Getty]

Arab supporters and two girls watch a training session of the German national football team on May 31, 2009 in Dubai, during the team's summer tour to China and the United Arab Emirates. Germany will play a friendly match against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai on June 2. AFP PHOTO / OLIVER LANG (Photo credit should read OLIVER LANG/AFP/Getty Images)

• 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]

• In Florida, a man is seeking $15,000 in damages from a strip club after he was allegedly injured when a stripper's shoe flew off her foot and broke a mirrored ceiling above his head. • Find out how to make cocaine. Hint: The secret ingredient is gasoline! • A new rock opera titled Lovelace: A Rock Opera focuses on the late Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace's life with help from the Go-Go's Charlotte Caffey. • A recent study of prairie voles suggests that a brain chemical related to depression is found in the brain of grieving voles or voles that are separated from their female partners. • Today, a British couple were sentenced to 3 months in jail for having sex on a beach in Dubai. The couple maintain that they did not have sex and plan on appealing the case. • Matchmaking agencies that offer Singapore businessmen foreign brides are seeing business dwindle as the financial meltdown forces male clients to scale back on lavish spending. • The American Cancer Society reports that it is seeing a decline in women over 40 getting yearly mammograms, possibly due to the pain during the process. • Pregnant Japanese women visit Shinto shrines on the Day of the Dog because the Japanese believe that dogs have easy births. • A poll-dancing fitness instructor reached a settlement on Wednesday with the Adams Township in Pennsylvania, allowing her to open up a pole-dancing studio for women. • Mattel denied claims today that the Little Mommy Cuddle N' Coo doll says "Islam is the light" as part of its pre-recorded cooing sounds. • Parents are pulling their children out of a music class at Foxboro Elementary School in Vacaville, California because of the teacher's recent gender reassignment surgery. • A Japanese study claims that high levels of soy consumption can reduce the risk of estrogen receptor-positive tumors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative tumors, two types of breast cancer. • A 76-year-old woman who is charged in the death of one of her five dead husbands posted bond and was released from jail today in North Carolina. • Doctors say that the Bee Gees song "Stayin' Alive" is the ideal beat (103 beats per minute) to follow while performing chest compressions as part of CPR on a heart attack victim. • A new study links decreased dopamine activity, a neurotransmitter typically released in response to a pleasure experience, with obese women when they eat "pleasurable" foods like chocolate milkshakes. •

• 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]

What people were not shocked about was the crime itself. According to the AP, in Egypt, "Rumors abound of businessmen and politicians peddling out actresses and singers in prostitution rings. The frequent marriages and divorces of celebrities and businessmen make big news." Dubai brass are also pissed about the murder, because they're trying to change their image as the skanky Vegas of the Persian Gulf. "The emirate has recently cracked down on tourists going topless on beaches, and has launched a public anti-corruption effort." (Recall the two British expats now facing six years in the slammer for having sex on a Dubai beach).

Anyway, it remains to be seen if the arrest of Mustafa will result in actual jail time. Some speculate that he's merely been arrested to show that Egypt is tough on upper class malfeasance, and that he will be acquitted when the case goes to trial. Considering the overwhelming evidence — police have pretty damning phone calls on record between Mustafa and the hit man — Tamim can have some postmortem justice.

Egypt Tycoon Held For Tamim Death [BBC]
Pop Star's Slaying Turns Into Mideast Drama [AP via MSNBC]
Not Business As Usual [Al-Ahram]

Earlier: Couple Caught Having Sex On The Beach Face Six Years In The Slammer

In the papers' defense, Michelle was arrested for assault and indecency, as she allegedly attacked the policeman who caught the couple getting busy (the other part of the story: the policeman reportedly caught them a first time and let them go, only to catch them a second time). The tabloids usually have the juiciest details, and the Sun refers to Acors as "sozzled" and also gives the pertinent info that Michelle was on top when they were caught.

Anyway, Michelle is bearing the brunt of this scandal: she's already been fired from her job as a manager at the ITP Publishing company for violating a decency clause in her contract. Michelle wrote into an online forum recently to ask for discretion. "Please be sympathetic for the sake of those I love, if this were you, your sister/brother, your daughter/son, how would you really be feeling?" Poor girl. Here's the lesson to be learned from this debacle: never have sex with a guy whose co-workers refer to as "Vince Charming."

First Picture Of British Businessman Whose Dubai Beach Tryst Could Put Him And His Lover In Jail For Six Years [This Is London]
"Woman Accused Of Sex And Assault On Dubai Beach Faces Jail" [Guardian]
"Woman Arrested For 'Sex On Beach'" [BBC]
British Girl On Dubai Sex Rap [The Sun]

• 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]

• "Either give them the basic tools for protecting the population and themselves, or have the decency to just bring them all home. Because you can't do it halfway. Bring them home and shut off your TV and your radio and your phones and the Internet and go back into the offices and wait until it's all over." That's George Clooney, on Darfur. Also, the UN rescinded its invitation to speak so he was stuck telling reporters what he wished he could have said. [LA Times]
  
• Just what is so wrong with a former president going to lick the ass of a nefarious dictator under the guise of helping ppl with AIDS when really he was helping a friend land an insanely lucrative long-shot uranium deal so said friend would donate $131 million to his charity that helps ppl with AIDS?
  
• Well see, while Bill Clinton was in Kazakhstan telling them he hoped they would land the leadership of some regional security thing, the wife back home was writing letters to the State Department aout how they should prevent Kazakhstan from achieving that, so...it just kind of looks like they don't talk enough? [NYT]
  
• Esp since the same thing sort of happened the year earlier w. Dubai? [WSJ]
  
• Obama is the most liberal senator according to the National Journal, which ranks Hillary #16. You'd think this might lead to that "substantive discussion of the issues you all have so been longing for," but I think you have to pay them lots of money for them to tell you how they calculate this shit. [National Journal]

• "We've learned that a good or a bad president can make the difference between war and peace." [NY Times]
• And the difference between a $2 trillion budget and a $3 trillion one! [WSJ]
• A second opposition leader in Kenya has been killed. Government leaders say it was a crime of passion that had to do with some sort of love triangle, but...uh...[NYT]
• McCain, Rudy and the Governator triangulate Hillary's "green collar" thing; Obama raised $32 million. [Wash Post]
• Money means nothing. [Talking Points Memo
• Did Bill Clinton just speak a painful and politically unpopular truth about how money means nothing if we can't do what's best for the country over the long term? [ABC News]
• And don't forget tonight's debate in Hell-Ay! [WSJ]

[Dubai, December 9. Image via INF.]

• Rapper Eve's clothing line Fetish is having a revival. After suffering bad break-ups with both the Innovo Group and Marc Ecko, it's now reborn under the Signature Group's tutelage. And, like, the quality's going to be really good and, like, Eve is totally involved on a day-by-day basis with the line this time and we stopped listening and...uh, wait, is Eve even actually famous anymore? [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Barney's, the luxury department store chain, will probably be acquired by the Dubai government's investment arm for at least $825 million. Because you can always find something to spend your excess oil money on at Barney's. [NYT]
  
• Apparently the Japanese Jill Stuart licensee wants to scrap Lindsay Lohan as the face of its fall marketing. Did these people learn nothing from Kate Moss? [Hollywood Rag]

• But OMG! Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham is totally going to be at the Saks Fifth Avenue New York flagship store this evening for the launch of her denim line, DVB. Because she is so imaginative, she didn't need a branding consultant to think of that name, which stands for "David Victoria Beckham." [Racked]
• Ok we get it already: Valentino isn't retiring anytime soon. (Even if he does have a bad case of "The lady doth protest too much.") [WWD, sub req'd]
• We are snickering at jewelry designer Carolyn Roumeguere, who told Vogue UK, "I think that my gold and silver discs... epitomise Bedouins. A percentage of each sale goes to education and medical aid in Africa so that I give something back to the country that I have chosen to be my home and have gained so much from." Ugh. [Vogue UK]
• The MAC Cosmetics AIDS Fund donated $1.25 million to the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative. This is not exactly Bill Gates money but it makes us feel sorta better about buying at least one kind of MAC. [WWD, sub req'd]

• Kate Moss's globe-spanning style domination continues with the launch of her own hair-care line, created in collaboration with personal hairstylist and long-time best friend James Brown. [The Sun UK]
• Only in Italy! Two rival families with significant amount of shares in the Valentino label are negotiating with two different private equity firms regarding a buy-out of the label. [WSJ]
• For fall, Uniqlo will be showcasing works created specifically for the store by designers Lutz & Patmos, Adam Jones, and Keita Maruyama. [WWD]

• Donna Karan received the title of Honorary Fellow from Israel's Shenkar Design School last week, where she evaluated graduating students' final collections and encouraged them to work through the country's current state of political strife through their work. [WWD]
• The groundbreaking ceremony for the first of a planned 14 Versace-branded luxury resorts took place last night in Dubai. [WWD]