• I know this is why I go to the British Museum: to see a life-sized Kate Moss rendered in pure gold. "A solid gold sculpture of the model, thought to be the world's largest gold statue built since the time of ancient Egypt, was given its first showing yesterday." [Independent]
• Working to combat any taint of elitism, Anna Wintour and Sarah Jessica Parker are hosting a fashion show to raise funds for the Obama campaign. "The Sept. 9 shindig at the Charles Nolan Studio will feature designs from Beyoncé and Tina Knowles for House of Dereon, Diane Von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, Juicy Couture, Narciso Rodriguez and Proenza Schouler, among others." [E]
• Meanwhile on the left coast, "Michelle Obama will get her chance to meet fashion and entertainment types in Los Angeles." Tom Ford is one of the hosts. [WWD]

• Armani joins the ranks of fashion designers inexplicably designing luxury residences. "The Armani Residences in Marassi, Egypt will offer palatial villas (of 2,500 to 5,400 square feet) furnished by, of course, Armani Casa. The resort includes a boardwalk lounge, health club, reflective pool, resort club, screening room, swimming pools, pool deck, and retail outlets." [Fashion Week Daily]
• Whether she's selling the label or not, Jil Sander is launching swimwear. [WWD]
• Despite a makeover, Vogue.com won't be getting its own site; it's still under Style.com's banner. [WWD]
• There's a book coming out on the 2002 rape and murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington. Some are crying poor taste. [NYT]
• Several retailers — Chico's and American Eagle among them — do better than expected. [NYT]
• Esprit shares plunge. [Reuters]
• Miami is scandalized by billboards: "Shot by Michael Thompson, model Hana Soukupova appears wearing only Wolford fishnet stockings. Perhaps it was their open weave that led the city to reject the banners, which usually run on major arteries, arguing they could cause traffic accidents." [WWD]
• Retailers bank on familiarity, hire old-school supermodels. "There's Linda Evangelista, with her trademark haughty sneer, wearing Prada's new austere lace look, Naomi Campbell shaking a waist-long mane of hair in an Yves Saint Laurent dress, and a black-bobbed Claudia Schiffer posing in front of a shabby-chic door for Chanel." [The Guardian]
• Sheryl Crowe, who's clothing line was already inexplicable, is moving into shoes. [WWD]
• Half the charges have been dropped against accused rapist and designer Anand Jon; that still leaves ten accusers. [LAT]
• Justin Timerlake (as William Rast, of course)'s cinematic ads are here! [FabSugar]
• Nina Garcia goes pretty easy on Hillary: "You know, I thought that what she wore was almost like sending us a message that she doesn't really care what we think." [New York]
• Oh, the challenges of costume design: "I'm the luckiest costume designer in Hollywood, for sure," The Telegraph reported Zophres said. "But getting George and Brad to look like ordinary guys? Even cheap suits look better on Brad." [UPI]
• Mulberry may be a luxury brand, but their factory still sounds like hell on earth. [Telegraph]
• Valentino has no problem playing favorites: "When asked to name the actresses who stood out for him, the designer said: "I have to be very sincere, the person that makes me feel very happy, also because (she) chose vintage, was Julia Roberts, when she got the Academy Award... I was very excited to see her when she appeared with my dress."" [The Star]
• Don't worry! "Style.com, the online home of Vogue, is introducing an iPhone application designed to enable dedicated followers of fashion to watch runway shows during New York Fashion Week." [NYT]
• Tommy Hilfiger's fashion week invitation features...a bare-assed model. [Nylon]
• Yes, indeedy. "I Am Queen" is in the works. Perfume or cologne? Diddy has yet to say! [NYT]

• Europeans are always more progressive than Americans. Rumor is, Italian Vogue may be producing a cover featuring only black models. [Fashionista]
  
• Oh. My. God. High School Musical and Hannah Montana-inspired Crocs, soon available at a store near you. [Yahoo]
  
• Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola will be the next faces of Louis Vuitton's "core values" campaign (the very same campaign in which Keith Richards agreed to participate in exchange for a LV monogrammed guitar case.) What do you think the Coppolas get out of this? An LV director's chair? An LV vinyard? [WWD, 1st item]
  
• "Boyfriend" jackets are big for spring. But Peter Som says the ones he designed for Bill Blass are inspired by Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. [WSJ]

• Elle editor-in-chief Roberta Myers has decided not to assume the role of president of the American Society of Magazine Editors, most likely because she is too hell-bent on becoming a reality TV star. [WWD, 1st item]
• Rumer Willis, Kristin Cavallari, Christina Milian, Josie Maran, Pete Wentz, Corbin Bleu and Wilmer Valderrama have all apparently gotten desperate and all collectively facing Wal-Mart's Op line's latest ad campaign. [Just Jared]
• If you are dying to know what's in Kimora Lee Simmons' makeup bag, well, here's an itemized list. [Marie Claire]
• The rumors are true: Linda Evangelista will be the face of Prada's Fall 2008 ad campaign. [FabSugar]
• Tory Burch refers to her employees as her "family". [WWD, sub req'd]
• Kanye West-endorsed, Damien Hirst-designed t-shirts to benefit Bono's Product (RED)? Oh my. [Chic Report]
• Uber fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone likes chopping vegetables and washing dishes. [WSJ]
• Moby: Wants you to design a t-shirt for him. [USA Today]

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.

The Good: Waris Ahluwalia and Chriara Clemente are one fierce duo. Linda Evangelista: Oh yes. Selita Ebanks is the shit. I want to put Takashi Murakami in my pocket and bring him home with me.

The Bad: Eva Herzigova was one of my favorite supermodels; why must she pain me by wearing this heinous fur? Jennifer Creel is stiff; perhaps she could use a stiff one? I pray to Pat Field and whomever else might be able to salvage Kristin Davis from the wardrobe of Charlotte York. This MR. guy scares me. Same goes for Terrence Koh. And Tinsley Mortimer.

The Ugly: Oh no, Chiho Ashima. Oh. No.

[Beverly Hills, February 19. Image via INFDaily.com]

[Malibu, February 17. Image via Flynet]

• "Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington would go to big designers and say: 'If you don't want Naomi to be in your show, then I don't want to be in it'...Women of colour are not a trend...That's the bottom line." — Naomi Campbell, still fighting for the cause of models of color. [Vogue UK]
  
• Speaking of women of color: Liya Kebede is looking to diversify! The model will be launching a children's clothing line made in Ethiopia but sold in the United States. [Chic Report]
  
• Dylan McDermott on why he attended the Proenza Schouler show: "My publicist said I should come." We admire his honesty. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Saleisha from ANTM walked in the Tibi show yesterday. No one cared. [Fashion Week Daily]

• And this is why I can't get enough of wunderkind designer Chris Benz: "Fall was kind of inspired by the time when I was staying in the 8th arrondissement in Paris...and there were these amazing old women with their slips showing, who would wear a hat from 1952 that they just pulled out. It was very Carol Channing. This will be known as the granny collection!" (Though Benz told me at his presentation on Monday night that the collection was inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums, but whatevs.) [Fashion Week Daily]
• Natalia Vodianova isn't really retiring! Says the Russian model, "I think maybe I'll do one a year. I don't want to get rusty." [FabSugar]
• Marie Claire editor-in-chief Joanna Coles on the Halston show: "I actually thought a lot of the models were too young to wear the clothes!" Obvs. [Chic Report]
• Rihanna on why she designed her umbrella line for Totes, "We ladies hate walking around with clumsy umbrellas all the time." True 'dat. [WWD, 2nd item]
• Why Rachel Zoe claims to have not been at the Halston show on Monday, "I have five clients in town and my television show, and my day job comes first." Haha — bitch totally got fired. [WWD, 5th item]
• Through the magic of Facebook, spoiled teens (and bored bloggers who spend way too much time on Facebook) can tell all the world if they prefer Barneys to Coach and Marc Jacobs to Victoria's Secret. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Cole Haan's new CEO wants the label to re-invent itself and become super-cool. LOL! [WWD, sub req'd]
• In case you still haven't heard: The economy's really bad. Which is why Macy's is thinking of consolidating its regional operations. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Liz Claiborne has sold Laundry by Design and C&C California to Perry Ellis. We hope they're happy together. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Ralph Lauren's net income: Up by 2%. People still love that stupid little polo horse? [WSJ]
• Wish you were at Monday night's Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony launch party? Pretend that you were with this video. [NYT]
• And watch the Proenza Schouler show for yourself here. [Sassybella]

P.S. Isn't Cindy Crawford just about the worst when it comes to reading lines? She totally would've failed at the correspondent challenge on Top Model.

[St. Barts, French West Indies; December 30. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

• Donna Karan's in love! The lucky guy is a male model, and a full two years older than "half her age." [Page Six]
  
• Barney's New York Creative Director/bon vivant Simon Doonan has a new book coming out in April 2008 titled Eccentric Glamour. Tagline: "Say no to ho." And yes to fashion appreciated exclusively by homos! [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Diane von Furstenberg to Amex cardholders who forked over $550 to hear her speak at her NYC flagship store, "For those of you who don't know, this is the Meatpacking District. A lot of Japanese tour buses go around and say, 'Oh, this is where Diane von Furstenberg lives.'" Uh, they do? [Fashion Week Daily]

• French Connection UK is abandoning FCUK to focus on more traditional, "high fashion" ads. We think a better idea would be if they were to just tag a bunch of their ads FUCK, and restore some of that initial brand-defining dyslexia, but no one listens to us. [WWD, 2nd item]
• "We're bringing uptown downtown, and teaching heiresses how to wear flip-flops and young SoHo girls how to invest in a fabulous python handbag." Big goals, brought to you by Michael Kors. [Fashion Week Daily]
• If you live in New York and if you care, alum Emmett McCarthy is having a sale at his store tomorrow. [Blogging Project Runway]
• Elle Macpherson to host Project Runway Australia. [Sassybella]
• Attention PETA: Anna Wintour is hosting an "intimate" pre-Christmas dinner at her home tomorrow night. We heard she likes foie gras! [Fashion Week Daily]
• Iman's jewelry line: one more reason to flip to the Home Shopping Network! [Vogue UK]
• Lazy shoppers are expected to spend $30 billion on gift cards this year. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Ooh! The incredibly brain-eroding "Which Supermodel Are You? quiz! I am Linda Evangelista. [BellaSugar]

[New York, October 23. Image via INF]

• Britney Spears turned herself into the LAPD last night to be booked on her August 6 hit-and-run charge. (You'll recall that while trying to park her car, she hit a parked car, examined the damage, made a pouty face and then walked away. Photographers documented the whole thing.) She was at the police station for 45 minutes, during which she was fingerprinted and photographed, then released. [TMZ]
  
• But before she was booked, she put on a pink wig, sat in her car and posed for photographers, of course. [The Sun]
  
• Natalie Portman gave Julia Roberts a necklace that read "Cunt" after they finished the film Closer because they used so many "dirty words" in the movie. Later, Julia gave Natalie one that read "Lil Cunt." How sweet! [Rush & Molloy]

• Jimmy Kimmel will be flying to New York City every day to guest-host "Live With Regis and Kelly" and then flying back to L.A. to host his own late night show, which is just a fucking ridiculous idea. Seriously. [Rush & Molloy, 9th from bottom]
• Two scantily-clad women were seen screaming at the front desk of the Shore Club Hotel in Miami because they'd spent the night in Derek Jeter's penthouse and were charged for parking. The nerve! [Page Six]
• Hilary Swank will star in a biopic about Amelia Earheart. [Page Six]
• Two women who had claimed that they were taped without permission for Joe Francis' Girls Gone Wild have recanted and issued an apology. Francis remains in jail in Nevada for his tax problems. [Page Six]
• Linda Evangelista gave birth a year ago and said the father was a "New York architect." But is it really François-Henri Pinault, the president of PPR (Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent)? You know, the man engaged to Salma Hayek and the father of her 1-month-old daughter? [Page Six]
• Is Gossip Girl star Chance (Nate Archibald) Crawford dating American Idol Carrie Underwood? Do you give a shit? [Page Six]
• In his memoir, Guns N' Roses star Slash writes that he spent his time on the road in the '80s "in and out of a variety of VD clinics." Lovely. [Page Six]
• Blind item! "Which teenage brother of hard-partying siblings is following in the family tradition? Visibly drunk at an L.A. nightclub on Saturday, he alarmed pals by vomiting later at a party in the Hollywood Hills, where he had been taken by his sister. And he was just off the plane from boarding school!" [Gatecrasher, last item]
• Lindsay Lohan is back in L.A. to work on her next film, Dare To Love Me. Hopefully she's staying away from some of her old "friends." [People]
• Colin Farrell has revealed that his son suffers from a rare neuro-genetic disorder called Angelman Syndrome, characterized by developmental delay, speech impairment, movement or balance disorder, excessive laughter and even seizures. "The only time I'm reminded that there is something different about him — that he has some deviation of what is perceived to be normal — is when I see him with other 4-year-olds. Then I go, 'Oh yeah,' and it comes back to me," Farrell says. "But from day one I felt that he's the way he's meant to be." [People]
• Jorja Fox is leaving CSI. "There are all these things I want to do. Some are personal. Some are professional," she says. Any fans here? [E!]

[New York, October 10. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

Christian Dior Fall 2007 Couture Collection [Style.com]

• Salma Hayek is not only engaged to but expecting a baby with Francois-Henri Pinault, who oversees the company that owns auction-house Christie's as well as design labels like YSL, Stella McCartney and Gucci. [E!Online]

• More billionaire babies! Linda Evangelista may be pregnant with boyfriend Peter Morton's child. [NYPost]

• It's looking likelier and likelier that Gisele Bundchen will be giving birth to the second of Tom Brady's children this fall. It'll be an interesting Christmas in Brady-land! [NY Daily News, 6th item]

• In other baby news: No one at Girlie Gawker is knocked up. Hormonal, yes, but not knocked up.