The Good, The Bad & The Italian: Fashionistas Break The Rules At Uomo Vogue Party

Happy Monday, friends! So, here was one of those cases where our stodgy old American ideas of "good" and "bad" just don't apply — and the Euro-fashionistas at the Uomo Vogue 40th Anniversary Celebration Party in Milan wouldn't care if they did. We've got Naomi Campbell, Gucci creative director Frida Giannini, Natalia Vodianova, Tilda Swinton, Margherita Missoni, Lapo Elkann All of "The Good" are kind of ugly; all of "The Bad" are kind of amazing and Giorgio Armani? Well, you'll just have to judge for yourselves, after the jump.

God Bless Ridiculous Fashion Folk, Every One Of Them

• God bless Vivienne Westwood for being so undeniably herself. Says the fashion designer-cum-philosopher: "I'd like to do less, but there are people dependent on me now. My thing has always been, just let me finish this pair of trousers and then I can read my book. We've all got to wear something, I suppose. So my advice would be to buy quality. Choose well. I think there's a certain status in seeing someone wearing the same thing over and over again." [Vogue UK]
  
• God bless Heidi Klum. She's just so wise: "[Take] time out for yourself so you can engage in an activity that you really enjoy. [Also, don't] neglect the romance in your life. [And] wear pretty lingerie if you don't want to feel schlumpy." [Vogue UK]
  
• God bless Donatella Versace for saying at the Times Talks on Sunday that her fashion motto is "Don't let the rappers wear more bling than you do!" and that she hopes to be reincarnated as Maya Rudolph. [Fashion Week Daily]

At Costume Institute Gala, The Good Superheroes Took A Fashion Flight Of Fancy

Harvey Weinstein's Out To Get Nina Garcia, But In A Good Way

• "We'll get her," says Harvey Weinstein of ELLE's Nina Garcia (Weinstein) is being sued for breach of contract for taking Project Runway from Bravo to Lifetime. While Weinstein is probably the first person to say anything about wanting to continue to work with Garcia, we find his statement more creepy than encouraging. [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• "I am fine alone now, but not when I'll be 90," says Giorgio Armani of having a private equity firm get involved in his business. [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• "Buying vintage or revamping clothes and making things myself is my take on helping the environment." Oh bite me, Zooey Deschanel. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• "I used to consider myself Italian, but now I feel very European." —Margherita Missoni. [Fashion Week Daily]

New Yorkers For Children Know How To Dress Like Adults

A New Vuitton-Murakami Handbag Line "Will Help Make New York Strong Again!"

• Takashi Murakami: would you just look at that fucking face? That is a face that will almost melt your cynicism away. You'll forget most people know who he is because he designed a line of handbags for Louis Vuitton...
  
• And that handbag line got knocked off to the point that he's arguably America's most famous contemporary artist. You forget the museum is packed with models and Marc Jacobs, Tinsley Mortimer, and Louis Vuitton executives saying things like "Vuitton has a long tradition of these collaborations, of relationships with artists, going back to the Impressionists," and "If I work with Takashi, and we do something colorful, I think it will help make New York strong again," (italics mine) and you might actually find yourself thinking, "Well, the financial sector ain't gonna make New York strong again," and enjoying the Kanye performance. This item, btw, refers to the Murakami exhibit, which was the most important thing that happened all weekend. [NY Times]
  
• Celebrity stylist Estee Stanley had a wedding and the Olsens came wearing masks, in silent remembrance of Heath Ledger. [PopSugar]
  
• Straight from the set of the new ELLE reality show "Fashionista": "[The contestants] are smart, most of them, but their style is really poor, at least so far. They dress like what they see magazine editors in movies wear, not what you guys actually wear. The producers are calling them 'Twenty percents,' like, they have 20% of the skills necessary to work at a magazine right now..." You gotta love how immediately "skills" reveal themselves to consist of "outfits" in magazine publishing. It's such an honest industry that way. [Fashionista]

The Other Boleyn Girl Fashions: Off With Their Heads

Egomaniac Movie Mogul & Marchesa Designer Say "I Do"

• Miramax mogul Harvey Weinstein and Marchesa co-designer Georgina Chapman got hitched on Saturday night at Weinstein's home in Westport, CT. The bride wore Marchesa, the groom Tom Ford, the Gypsy Kings gave a private concert and even Vogue's Anna Wintour attended. Also there: Model Natalia Vodianova, celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe, Renée Zellweger, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Anne Hathaway and Cameron Diaz (all of whom, sadly, need no further introduction). [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Chapman designed not one but two gowns for her wedding: One for the ceremony and one for the reception. Modest! [GlamChic]
  
• This year's CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fun big winner Rogan Gregory is rumored to be the next designer to do a collection for Target, thus confirming Moe's theory that designers go straight from Vogue to the red bullseye, lovingly guided by Anna Wintour herself. [WWD, 2nd item]

Gianfranco Ferre, "Architect Of Fashion", Dies

• Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre, the "architect of fashion" (and favorite designer of Oprah Winfrey) died yesterday at the age of 62 from a brain hemorrhage. In addition to designing his own eponymous label, he created scandal by being [gasp!] an Italian overseeing Dior, from 1989-1996. Nonsensical statement from John Galliano surely TK. [IHT]
  
• Who will be Ferre's successor? You know the Italians: They're always soooo clear cut and undramatic about these fashion house leadership questions.. [WSJ]
  
• Oscar de la Renta is creating a line of baubles for his beloved ladies who lunch. The jewelry line will run under the kinda-gross name "O Oscar." [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Gisele Bundchen: The highest paid-model of the year! Which proves, dears, that you don't have to be a flagrant cokehead and/or a 14-year old Slovenian girl to make a buck in this industry. [Vogue UK]
  
• Wal-Mart continues its ill-fated foray into fashion by ditching its employees' signature blue vest for a more "preppy" uniform. Memo to Wal-Mart: Maybe whenever you have an "instinct" about fashion, you should go ahead and do the opposite. [ABC News]

Twiggy Hits Anne Heche Territory

• Model Twiggy says she now has two personas and will start tracking down and fining anyone who subjects either one of them to "overexposure" by publishing unauthorized photos of them. [Vogue UK]
  
• Once-iconic label Bill Blass [Remember the Bill Blass Barbie? Uh, we didn't either. -Ed.] has lost head Michael Volbracht. Details are still emerging, though it could have to do with the fact that Volbracht was a total bitch whose designs critics sorta found unspectacular. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• New Missoni CEO Massimo Gasparini is refocusing the brand by — REVOLUTIONARY BUSINESS MODEL ALERT! — discontinuing the crappy sportswear line that was diluting the brand and opening company stores to better control distribution. Meanwhile, actual Missoni heirs serve mostly as [Term we love alert! -Ed.] "brand ambassadors." [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• No one is buying clothes at Wal-Mart, which is bad news for the people of Zibo, China. [WSJ, sub req'd]