• We never thought of Lady Gaga's style as something one should actually seek to take credit for, but Roisin Murphy apparently feels differently. [Refinery29]

• Katie Holmes' clothing line, which she designs with her stylist, Jeannie Yang, is ready to launch for fall at Maxfield in Los Angeles. [WWD]
• Mariah Carey's latest scent, Forever, comes out this September. "I am in a wonderful place right now," says the singer, "surrounded by all the things I love, and Forever captures this moment in time." So Forever smells like marriage to a younger man, and something pink? [WWD]
• Also this September, Nanette Lepore is launching her new fragrance, Nanette by Nanette. [WWD]
• Political Science Ph.D. and former Communist Party member Miuccia Prada didn't vote in the last Italian elections, much to her family's chagrin. "My son criticized me. ‘You're not coming? You're not going to vote?' So I have to justify. Of course, because I always taught them principles and the idea of [the importance of] politics, if they see in myself a false step, they become...I know it was wrong. I should have gone." Speaking of false steps, Prada also said, of the many model tumbles that marred her Spring/Summer '09 show, which featured her impossible-to-walk-in shoes, "I liked it. It made the show more interesting." A hypocrite with a missing compassion chip? Our Miuccia Prada crush is rapidly dissipating. [W]
• Crocs apparently thinks that by selling what amounts to a rubber clog for your cell phone, it can save its business. Interesting. [InventorSpot]
• For some reason, somebody put Andy Warhol screenprints of dollar signs on a unisex perfume. People will license anything that isn't nailed down in this world. [WWD]
• Whitney Port made an awful, frosted pink lipstick that looks like what your slutty cousin wore in 1983. Even the fact that $2 from the sale price goes to charity isn't enough to stop us hating. [People]
  
• Covergirl is seeking more brand prestige. [WWD]
• Manolo Blahnik loves boots. Loves them. And skirts, which he'd wear if he were a woman. "Every year I have lots of boots in my collection. This year I have chosen something a little extreme — a paper-flat sole with lots of big buckles. I love this look – it makes me think of old films, of Margaret Lockwood, or crinolines. I love the look of a very long skirt with these paper-flat boots. Women in winter must wear very high or very flat boots, it's so chic — forget your pumps. Long skirts are a must in women's wardrobes, although you don't see many of them these days. It's what I would wear, though. Every year I have done over-the-knee boots. One year they were so high you could tie them to your belt — Elle Macpherson in that was so sexy." [Independent]
• Bloomingdale's is spending $55 million on a two-month renovation of its 60,000 sq. foot main sales floor. [WWD]
• Stella McCartney is opening a pop-up store in the Hamptons. All the better that we never see what we could never afford. [WWD]
• Oh, look. Gap gave certain fashion bloggers free jeans. And then certain fashion bloggers wrote about how awesome Gap's jeans are. Odd coincidence! We're sure the failure to disclose the freebie was simply an oversight. [Fashionista]
• Although retail spending was down 12.7% during the back-to-school period, compared with last year, spending on denim was relatively well-performing. Even sales-hemorrhaging Abercrombie & Fitch has seen its denim remain popular. [TS]
• Swatch reported a 28% drop in profits for the first half of this year, to 301 million Swiss Francs. Sales fell 15.3% on last year. [WSJ]
• Elizabeth Arden's sales for the last quarter, like pretty much everybody else's, slipped. The company lost $3.6 million. [WWD]
• JC Penney's quarterly results were not as bad as analysts had expected. The company lost $1 million, compared with earning a profit of $117 million for the same period last year. [NYTimes]
• The Hemline Index never made any sense to begin with. The Lipstick Bellwether sounded good, but wasn't true. The Heel Height Indicator came into vogue briefly, like platform shoes (which by the way weren't invented during the Great Depression). Of all the hokey, jokey faux-economic indicators — most of which, you might notice, are female-linked, probably because of undying cultural stereotypes about women and shopping — the so-called Men's Underwear Index is obviously our favorite. It just will not die! [PhilInquirer]

First, the term "anti-aging" is lie, because from the moment you are born until the moment you die, you are AGING. No cream will stop that. Maybe "temporarily hydrates and plumps the skin to minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles" isn't as catchy, but at least it's not a misnomer. In any case, have women become so used to "anti-aging" products that they are now looking for a "new twist"?

Almost all "cosmeceutical" ads have footnotes and claims from clinical studies. (Who do you think owns the "clinic"?) This ad is for "deep-set wrinkle repair," which you need, clearly, because your wrinkles are broken. Also, check out the "clinical results":


It's not just my scan — you'll see if you pick up a magazine — the pictures look almost exactly the same. This stuff is twenty bucks for 1.7 ounces.


This ad plays on the whole idea that "cosmeceuticals" are good for you because a doctor is somehow involved. This guy is "green" — see the leafy stethoscope? The pitch to use the product is marketed as "Doctor's Orders." Do women really believe you can get an EYE LIFT in a bottle? A closer look at the pitch:

See the mortar and pestle? Tricking you into thinking this is a "prescription" for what ails you? And this stuff is made from DMAE, which is dimethylaminoethanol, a compound which helps aging people's brains, but the research on skin is limited, according to Smartskincare.com. Still, you're not supposed to think about that — doctor's orders!

Lancôme has created something called Génifique, which is maybe a mashup between "genetics" and "magnifique"? The stuff is a "youth activating concentrate." It activates youth? Really? Like, yells out the window at kids to be less lazy? The copy reads, "Discover the skin you were born to have." Confusing! Don't I already have the skin I was born to have? This ad has four footnotes:


…None of which contribute to the clarity of the claims.

Being white — or as pale as possible — is the "ultimate luxury." That's the message in this Shiseido ad, where the model is so light she is fading into nothingness. The copy claims "Even bare, spots and freckles seem to fade from view." It's a skin lightener! And a quick internet search finds that users report "[it] makes my face itch like crazy" and "It made my face itch," and "The cleanser is ok… Everything else from this line was a waste of money" and "Didn't or doesn't do much for me... meaning, no actual 'whitening' effect and it also makes my skin a bit dry after cleansing." Good to know, since the cream alone is $54 for 1.7 ounces!

Another ad with a footnote, and this one clams that "in a very short time," you will see a "measurable reduction in the look of wrinkles." Emphasis mine; you won't actually have fewer wrinkles, but the ones you do have will look different. Also, the X in the logo again plays on the idea that this is somehow a prescription product; the name "professional" adds to the feeling that this shit is not for amateurs. Just a reminder: It's lotion. Skin cream.

You're broken! But don't worry. Rest easy. We'll repair you overnight.

From the Department Of Redundancy Department: "Ageless Intensives Deep Wrinkle Anti-Wrinkle Moisture." Say wrinkle again! They should call it "Wrinkle Cream For Wrinkles On Wrinkly Old Wrinkled Up Wrinkle Women. Like You."

The next ad may be my favorite, and the worst. It comes from Elizabeth Arden's "DermaTechnology Division" and has two footnotes. The copy points out different parts of a body, reducing one person to parts:

"Décolletage: Maximum exposure means dreaded age spots, fine lines and crepiness. Freckles are definitely not cute anymore."

And:

"Stomach: "Weight gain and loss. Childbirth. Need we say more?"

And:

"The Bottom Line: Loss of firmness and tone. Stretch marks and sagging. It's time to take a firm position."

The crazy thing is they're pointing all of this out on a mannequin. This woman is not even real:


And yet, even she needs a "total transforming anti-aging moisturizer." Sigh.


Earlier: What If Women Weren't Afraid To Grow Old?

TPATG is the story of the rivalry between makeup mavens Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, and the birth of the modern cosmetics industry. Whereas before makeup had been the purview of actresses and whores, and a clandestine secret of respectable women, these two dames took it public, made it chic, and brought women into the marketplace, all the while sporting some truly superb millinery. As Rubinstein put it, before them, "All the American women had purple noses and gray lips, and their faces were chalk white from terrible powder. I realized that the United States could be my life's work."

Elizabeth Arden (real name, awesomely, Florence Nightingale Graham) hailed from rural Ontario, was a suffragette and a self-made woman. Helena (Chaya) Rubinstein was Polish-born, and established her business in Europe before taking the rivalry to Fifth Avenue, only blocks from Arden's salon. Over the course of a fifty-year rivalry of products and image, the two doyennes avoided each other - and never met. Rubinstein famously said, "With her packaging and my product, we could have ruled the world."

While it's always fun to see imperious dames of a certain era sweeping around, making pronouncements, and generally ruling their respective roosts with stylish elan, it's also worth considering that this was the only way a woman could get ahead: by being larger-than-life, and to a degree probably sacrificing some of the personal for the image. It must have been a tricky balancing act: being grandes dames without threatening the men; being always "women" before "executives" yet careful not to expose any femininity that could be perceived as weakness. (See also "Chanel, Coco" and "Draper, Dorothy.") The film touches on prejudice they dealt with (although we don't hear much about the anti-semitism Rubinstein must surely have faced as a woman working in this era), but it's a side note...probably because they chose not to expose these things themselves in a time when a woman couldn't afford even perceived chinks in her armor. Could such characters exist today? Probably not - not least because they wouldn't need to.

The film's clumsy at points, and not always satisfying about the cultural implications of the evolving makeup industry, but as biography of amazing women - and a really good rivalry story - it's a very good watch. Then too, it's fascinating to consider the implications of cosmetics as early liberator - and to consider that in an era when female entrepreneurship was difficult enough, this was a particularly outre line of work. That said, the timing was right - and the doc does a lot with exploring the synergy of the development of makeup and film...and by extension, the deification of Hollywood as role model.

I can pay this film no higher compliment than to reprint Star magazine's disappointed pan:

But it gets a stuffy, academic treatment in this boring film. It should be fun but, instead of gossip by insiders, it's mostly a bunch of professors talking about it in dull, scholarly terms. The subject is fascinating - particularly the way the arrival of movies changed people's attitudes toward make-up (before movies, the only women who painted their faces were actresses - and prostitutes!). But this film finds ways to drain the juice out of every aspect of this subject that it looks at.

The Powder and the Glory [powderandglory.com]
The Powder and the Glory [Star]

• Before we tackle today's inevitable layoffs, liquidations and bankruptcies, look at David Beckham. Look at semi-naked David Beckham. In his very important new Emporio Armani ad. Why, good morning to you, Dave. [People]

• Unfortunately for Heidi Montag, clothing lines whose main qualification as same is the attachment of a famous name are not faring well in the downturn. (Please, let someone therefore piece it together that continuing to announce B-List Star for Major Middle Market Retailer arrangements isn't a recession-proof move.) [AdAge]
• Unfortunately, the news came too late to stop Hilary Duff for DKNY Jeans... [WWD]
• ...and to stop Jessica Alba from dipping her toe into the designer waters. [Fashionista]
• And Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen menswear. (OK, so The Row technically should get a pass for being, actually, kinda good, but it's the principle of the thing.) [Elle]
• But getting a celebrity to wear your dress on a red carpet is still worth a starlet's weight in gold. [WSJ]
• The recession will not, however, kill Spanx, which had sales volume of over $350 million last year. Because while the shitty economy is temporary, hating your body enough to want to squeeze and yank and pull it into a girdle is forever. [Reuters]
• The economic situation is making it tougher perhaps than ever for young designers who were in the midst of expanding in line with pre-recession demand and fanfare. [NY Times]
• Esprit has reported its first interim drop in profits in ten years. Sales are slow worldwide, and particularly so in Europe. [Financial Times]
• Estee Lauder's second-quarter profits are also down by 30%. The company will restructure 2,000 workers out of working existence. [The Street]
• Elizabeth Arden, however, beat analysts' expectations for the second quarter by 2 cents a share. Sales still fell 12.7% and net profit was down from $33.8 million one year ago to $17.4 million now. [Reuters]
• A handful more details about the Mathew Williamson line for Target: it launches on April 23, it will be colorful (which, frankly, if anything at all comes to mind when you think "Mathew Williamson" you already knew), and in addition to the regular frocks and tops, there'll be jumpsuits. Controversial move! [Blackbook]
• Kim Gordon discusses her line for Urban Outfitters, Mirror/Dash, with the New York Times, but although they hit stores on February 16, there's only one picture of the actual clothes. She's surprisingly realistic about Mirror/Dash's design process — she admits she doesn't actually sketch so much as talk about fabric and "ideas" with her partner before sending away to Urban Outfitters' sample houses. [The Moment]
• Never to be outdone by Vogue and its eyebrow-raising Sean Avery internship, Elle now has for an intern the fashlete (did I just make that up? I think I did. Let's go with it!) Stew Bradley, an actual Philadelphia Eagle. May he cherish the coffee-schlepping, xeroxing, and sexual harassment that are the hallmarks of any true New York media internship. [The Cut]
• Except, on his first day, Bradley went to lunch with Diana Ross, Diane von Furstenberg, Jessica Alba, Jason Wu, Anil Kapoor Veronica Webb, Eva Amurri, John Frey, Roberta Myers, Joe Zee, Anne Slowey, Whitney Port, and Olivia Palermo. At Diane von Furstenberg's studio. [WWD]
• Now, if she'd only worn her favorite label, Carhartt, on the campaign trail, Sarah Palin might have had a shot at the Brooklyn hipster vote! [US News]
• Janie Bryant, the costume designer for Mad Men, is crafting a contemporary, not vintage, clothing line. And that's about all she's willing to say just now. [WSJ]
• High-end Baltimore fabric store Michael's Fabrics says it has the lemongrass embroidered wool Isabel Toledo used to create Michelle Obama's inauguration day outfit. It's 33" wide and yours for a mere $500 a yard. Just in case you want to whip a dress up at home. [Unbeige]
• Isabel Toledo is still reeling from the media attention following dressing Michelle Obama. (Her husband, the fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo, calls it "Obamathon.") An exhibition of her dresses is going up at the museum at FIT in June. [WWD]
• Monique Lhuillier is introducing a new, more moderately priced line for fall. Given her regular dresses retail for $3,000-$7,000, "moderately priced" in this sentence means around $2,500. [WSJ]
• The Washington Post saw Jill Biden and her security detail nip into Bloomingdale's to buy some Tory Burch shoes. [Washington Post]
• UK Elle has Vivienne Westwood's handwritten "manifesto," and it includes such worthwhile tips as "DIY Suggestions: Necklace of safety pins" and the reminder "We need an estimated $30 billion per year to save the rainforest. $30,000,000,000,000,000,000,000etc-->" Also, she believes Leonard Peltier is innocent. [Elle]
• PETA Photoshopped a Pinocchio nose on to Giorgio Armani's face for a full-page ad in Variety after the scrappy perma-tanned Italian allegedly went back on his word after pledging to no longer use fur in his collections. Armani's people say they use only rabbit fur from animals raised for meat. [New York Daily News]
• Now, this should be fun: Lynda Carter, Valerie Bertinelli, Katie Couric, Natya Liukin, Jennie Garth, and Tori Spelling are among those modeling for a fashion week show dedicated to heart health. Designers include Christian Siriano, Carolina Herrera, and those guys at Badgley Mischka. [WWD]

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

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

• Rapper Nas is partnering with Fila. The company will pay for his tour and album, he'll wear their stuff and create a "late-80's"-inspired line. [Adage]
• You will be relieved and delighted to hear that celebrity? socialite? sex-taper? Aha! television personality Kim Kardashian is launching a perfume. "It all started when my mom introduced me to famous perfumer Caroline Sabas from Gras, France. She and I have been working together to create a scent that is uniquely me that I can share with everyone!" [Official Kim Kardashian]
• Renaissance woman, polymath and Strokes-dater Agyness Deyn can add "DJ" to her ever-lengthening resume (which one can only assume is printed on hot-pink paper and doesn't actually exist). [New York Magazine]
• Tan television personality and alleged designer Michael Kors "dishes" on Condi Rice, Anna Wintour and that skintight black tee he always "sports." [Huffington Post]
• Hey, you guys watch The Closer? Me either. Anyhoo, QVC's selling a replica of Kyra Sedgwick's purse. [UPI]

• Project Runway's prolific breeder and steely redhead Laura Bennett brings you swimsuit advice. [Blogging Project Runway]
• Atlanta Jeans gang steals over a million dollars' worth of premium denim. [WWD]
• Kate Moss, Lily Allen, Scarlett, Liv, my brother are all, for some reason, sporting Wayfarers. [Independent]
• Stars also like really, really big watches. So they're never late! [ElleUK]
• Surf-wear company Billabong buys skateboard company Sector 9. One assumes this will upset either skaters or surfers, but maybe they can't be bothered. [News.com.au]
• Hey, you like that cross-dresser from the new Marc Jacobs ads? Good, cause here's more of him. [Style.com]
• New Valentino designer did the old man proud. [Yahoo]
• Oh, yeah...the fancy mascaras that give you longerfulleryoingerbettersmarterextreme lashes? They can also cause glaucoma and blindness. [New York Times]
• Katharine Hamnett channels Baywatch. "Hamnett has linked up with the Environmental Justice Foundation, or EJF, to produce a range of lifeguard-themed organic cotton T-shirts, emblazoned with "Save The Sea", to spread the message about the damage illegal pirate fishing is doing to the world's oceans." [Vogue UK]
• Oscar de la Renta sues Elizabeth Arden over perfume shenanigans. [WWD]
• Runners-up in a duct tame prom dress competition demand a recount, I refuse to use the words "sticky situation." [UPI]
• China is a new source for young fashion talent. [Wall Street Journal]
• "Thursday Styles" discovers that denim is big! [New York Times]
• Concert tees go green. "Fabrics are softer, with organic cotton often supplanting synthetics. Shirts are U.S.-made or crafted in factories that uphold fair labor standards." [USA Today]
• Totally missing the point, The Guardian asks, "who can afford couture?" [Guardian]
• That douche who didn't win America's Most Smartest Model has been cleared of all sexual assault charges. [Page Six]
• Pre-Olympics, Adidas steps up Beijing presence. [WWD]
• Agent Provocateur-designed car (hint:it's pink and black) sells for like 70 grand. [Sassybella]
• Finnish-gnome-David Marrimekko versus big Italian Goliath Dolce and Gabbanna. [Breitbart]
• Goody's expands Ashley Judd line to include plus sizes. [WWD]
• Designer Rachel Roy teams with Grey Goose vodka. So has the bum on my corner! Well, I don't know if it's Grey Goose. [Vogue UK]

• 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]

• Former Chanel model and activist Waris Dirie has gone missing; this is particularly concerning following the discovery of the body of fellow African model Katoucha Niane's body last week. Both models campaigned against female genital mutilation, a standard practice in many African countries (and elsewhere). Update: She's been found, thankfully alive. [CNN]
  
• "I would never put my health at risk. Obviously, working out is important. Well, I don't. What do you wear on the running machine? I can't bring myself to wear flat shoes." Why I love Victoria Beckham: No way is she not in on the joke. [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• And, says Posh's new bff, Project Runway Christian Siriano: "This was a really hard season to beat, and I'm kinda worried about next season, because I feel like it'll be compared to our season. I'm thinking they need to change it up, but I don't want them to change it for the better 'cause then I'll be jealous....The line I showed at fashion week, I don't know if it's for the Bluefly customer — I would rather have it at Bergdorf and Barneys...that is, unless Victoria [Beckham] buys the whole collection, which she very well might." [WWD, 3rd item]

• "I'm a stockholder, not just the face," says Catherine Zeta-Jones on her involvement with Elizabeth Arden. Defensive much? [WWD, sub req'd]
• Dolce & Gabbana has been fined for tax evasion. [WWD, 1st item]
• Also, Bryan Adams is playing an invite-only show for the label on Saturday. Why is Bryan Adams back? [WWD, 1st item]
• Oh, and Mr. Dolce and Mr. Gabbana are buying a monastery. Somehow, I suspect these three items are all connected in some sort of Da Vinci Code kinda way. [WWD, 1st item]
• Whoah we want some no-wedgie undies! [UPI]
• Is a Rem Koolhaas-designed Prada art gallery in the works? Eh, probs. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Jellies are back! [Chic Report]
• Vera Wang's Pam Beach home can be yours for $19 million. [WSJ]
• H&M has bought Cheap Monday denim. But we doubt Cheap Monday will be any cheaper now. [Sassybella]

• Carrie Bradshaw in Burberry in Sex and the City movie ads: Potentially even more damaging to the brand than the chavs? [Vogue UK]
  
• Quick turnaround! Halston redux will be available on-line on Net-a-Porter the day after its runway show next week? Says Net-a-Porter chairman Natalie Massenet:"I am sure this will be a shock to the brands that specialize in knocking off some of the talent in the fashion industry. They had their cake and have been eating it for a while." [Vogue UK]
  
• All employees in the Tod's group were just given a $2,000 bonus by Group head Diego Della Valle as an "I'm-Sorry-The-Italian-Economy-Is-Bad-Right-Now" gesture. Um, are you reading this, Mr. Denton? [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• Cynthia Rowley: Now designing for Target. [WWD, 4th item]
  
• ThreeAsFour: Now designing for the Gap. [Fashionista]

• Louis Vuitton, not content to merely assault us with logos in magazines, on billboards and plastered across half the luggage in LAX's baggage carousels, is producing television commercials now too. [WWD]
• Since the stars have no awards shows to go to it looks like many will be coming out to New York for next week's fashion shows instead. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Alberta Ferretti has inked a fragrance licensing deal with Elizabeth Arden; the label's premiere scent is set to launch in spring 2009, with a skin care line to follow. [WWD, 1st item]
• Ralph Lauren just opened a new endoscopy wing at the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention in Harlem. We never knew that Ralph was all into helping cancer patients in Harlem! [WWD]
• The Spring 2008 Nordstrom campaign is all artsy and highbrow, with paintings done by Ruven Afandor. Paintings done by Ruven Afandor on models, that is. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Marie Claire editor-in-chief Joanna Coles on the reasoning behind the pre-Fashion Week dinner she threw: "The designers needed help and the models needed feeding." [Fashion Week Daily]
• More from PR pro Kelly Cutrone on preparing for Fashion Week: "Mara Hoffman...refus[ed] to show before 2:21 p.m. on February 2 as the moon would be void, off course (of course)...Araks will show first, immediately followed (after 2:21 p.m.) by Mara. I call Mara and ask, "What is happening astrologically?" She replies, "Mercury is in retrograde." [Chic Report]
• No shocker here: More and more people are buying clothes from Amazon.com. [Times of London]
• How bad is the economy? So bad that lipstick isn't even selling. And lipstick sales are supposed to go up during a recession. [AdAge]

• Remember how, before Sofia Coppola was a fashion icon and Marc Jacobs muse and celebrity spokesmodel for numerous fashion labels, she actually worked in fashion and had her own clothing line? Yeah, well the clothing line actually still exists, in Japan. [Sassybella]
  
• Also, Marc Jacobs' new fragrance Daisy has its own film. Sigh. [Sassybella]
  
• The new face of lingerie line Agent Provocateur is Catherine Bailey. Who is 46 years old. We think this is pretty awesome, but we fear the dreaded Photoshop of Horrors. [Sassybella]
  
• Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour celebrated a birthday on Saturday! Maybe you want to send your belated birthday wishes to the Conde Nast building? [Fashion Week Daily]

• Tai-chi inspired lounge wear is the new yoga-inspired lounge wear! And Celine spokeswoman/actress Emmanuelle Seigner is teaming up with the Celine design team to create a line of it. (Actual model Karen Elson will take over.) [WWD, 1st item]
• See these Ferragamo flats? They cost $395. I got identical flats at Dolce Vita on sale for $30. [FabSugar]
• Yves Saint Laurent designer Stefano Pilati on being a child of divorce: "I was always the kid - I had to be careful how to express things, I could never be aggressive. Then my sexuality developed into homosexuality. And I think that this helped me, in the sense that I finally had the chance to understand a man's world, from the inside....I never liked [my father]. I went through so many things in my life by myself, I didn't need him, but I needed a man, I needed a father. So I got used to the idea, and grew up making my own decisions." [Vogue UK]