• Leo DiCaprio has taken over for Brad Pitt as the Tag Heuer spokesman. Wearing that watch is not an easy job. [WWD]

• Speaking of watches, here's the $8 grand Obama model. "To mark the occasion and commemorate John F. Kennedy's timeless style, Omega has reissued the ultra thin timepiece the man wore during his inauguration on January 20th, 1961." "The man" would surely approve. [Racked]
• Given her influence, anti-fur critics are urging Michelle Obama to avoid fur at the inauguration. [HSUS]
• Fur aside, 'Obama' is the biggest name in luxury goods for 09! [Extra]
• Get the Obama look yourself, on a budget! "If you're looking to mimic Michelle Obama's graceful style or Barack Obama's sharp suits, while not spending a fortune, you can find it on SHOP.COM." [Shop.com]
• Ambassador Anna Wintour's fate is being contemplated by the fashion world "'with a guillotine glee akin to that which preceded the death of Marie Antoinette.' But one fashion source dismissed the prospects of her purported replacement, French Vogue editrix Carine Roitfeld: 'I don't see how you could give it to Carine. She barely speaks English.'" [New York Post]
• Accessories led the counterfeit seizures in '08. Well, yeah. [WWD]
• We're not gonna lie: the waxen LiLo for Fornarina ads kinda depress us. [Fabsugar]
• Men's Vogue stays alive...in a Lord Voldemort sort of way. The Spring Issue will be "reverse-bound" to the back of women's Vogue.[ WWD]
• In an awesome and vaguely disturbing Dean and Dan ad, supermodels Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista engage in fisticuffs. [Models.com]
• Peter Som parts ways with Creative Design Studios. [WWD]
• Deep holiday discounting has hurt Ted Baker's profits. [FT]
• Daisy Fuentes's new beauty line, Style Pro, uses all natural ingredients. [WWD]
• Are we obsessed with Sofia Coppola's enchanting Miss Dior ad? Obvs. But are we the only ones who kind of wish it was Audrey, or at least someone alive with a bit more personality? [Fashionista]
• Katie Holmes buys a cookie, some sweaters. [WWD]
• Aeropostale was one of the few winners in a dismal retail season. [The Street ]
• We love Oscar de la Renta: "This is a challenging time to be a designer because a woman today knows so much more...There has never been a woman so in control of her destiny as a woman today." [Bergdorf Goodman via New York]
• By contrast: "Karl Lagerfeld: That's the kind of thing we promise to do, but we never do it… So I have your big book in front of me.
  Tom Ford: Yes, it's very big.
  Karl Lagerfeld: Quite beautiful, but it's really the final point of a decade.
  Tom Ford: It is a closed period. And that was one of the reasons I wanted to do the book. For me, like you, being a Virgo, we like to have things very neat, very clean, very finished and I wanted to finish that chapter of my life so I could move on to the next one.
  Karl Lagerfeld: Exactly. I never turn pages; I tear them out. When the time is finished I don't turn the pages anymore, I forget about them.
  Tom Ford: I see what you're saying.
  Karl Lagerfeld: I think it's a very good attitude in life." [FakeKarl]

• Dad of the year Kevin Federline has launched a kids' clothing line, Otzi, which, when you think about it, makes no less sense than his rapping or acting careers. [People, Perez Hilton]

• Bill Blass files for Chapter 11, liquidates assets. [WWD]
• Amy Winehouse says she's designing a line for Fred Perry; the designer had no comment. Of course you are, dearie. [The Sun]
• Claudia Schiffer, for her part, is actually starting a beauty line, which she won't talk about. "With catwalk pal Elle Macpherson’s beauty range already a huge success, it looks as if the old model rivalries of the Nineties may be reignited." Or, you know, not. [Daily Mail]
• Enigmatic couture pixie John Galliano has been made a chevalier of the French legion of honor. [WWD]
• Christian Louboutin's new year's resolutions: “To brush my teeth three times a day, to not accept for one year to be a godfather — except for Barbie — and to not buy any real estate.” That last one is, in our experience, very hard to keep. [WWD]
• The full range of Madonna's unladylike poses for Louis Vuitton are out. Check it. [Jossip]
• Speaking of: With all due respect to the dead, we hated the Stephen Sprouse for LV collection when it came out in 2000, and we hate the updated version now. "In addition to using graffiti, Louis Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs updated the look by splashing Sprouse's roses on monogram wallets, handbags and scarves to spectacular effect. The collection ($175 to $2,555) is a joy to look at in these dark times, a 1980s punk Pop Art explosion of Day-Glo pink, green and orange that's a happy homage to Sprouse, who died of lung cancer in 2004." [LA Times]
• Oh, fudge. Apparently Xtina for TopShop was just a rumor. [ElleUK]
• A solar panel purse: clever, green, cool, really ugly. [NY Times]
• Potentially awesome: online "sample sale" sites may be big in '09. All the savings, none of the hassle? [LA Times]
• Nonprofit One World Action helps garment workers fight for a larger share of clothing profits. [Independent]
• Amidst falling sales, Marc Jacobs is consolidating some of his many New York stores. [The Fashion Informer]
• The newly-buff designer doesn't seem bothered: "'I like the fact that people are sort of commenting on my appearance...I work on these things! So to have them recognised, even if sometimes I don't like the way they're recognised, I like that they are, and I feel good that I can admit that, instead of being ashamed...I'm going to get a shameless tattoo next. That's what I think everyone should aspire to in life: being shameless.'" [Telegraph]
• Could valenki — traditional Russian wool boots — be the new Ugg? [New York Times]
• The inevitable Twilight fragrance will help tweens nab vampires, even though it's apparently apple-scented and Edward says specifically that Bella's scent is floral! Not that we've read it... [Perez Hilton]
• Unconfirmed rumors are a-flyin' that Men's Vogue— already scaled down — may be kaput. [Fashionista]

• Sarah Palin: "I'm back to wearing my own clothes from my favorite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska." The store's name? Out of the Closet. [L.A. Times]
• Oy. Celebrity stylist Philip Bloch christens Michelle Obama "Blackie O." [NY Mag]
• Michelle's J.Crew bump continues to push the company - because of course if you buy those separates you'll look just like her and be a potential first lady! [Racked]
• Thank God, local news is monitoring Karl Lagerfeld's Vermont activity. Apparently he's wearing the full Karl Kostume! And his neighbor is named "Loomis Beame." [NY Magazine]
• Keira Knightley carries Anya Hindmarch dust bag instead of the purse it came with. [ElleUK]

• How would you respond to this query to the WSJ's style column? "I always think my husband and I should look more like a couple when we go out, with complementary outfits. But he just puts on the same baggy jeans, even though I am in dresses. What's a way for us to dress more like a couple?" [WSJ]
• Obviously copying my Halloween costume, Rebecca Minkoff cites Liz Taylor as an inspiration. [WWD]
• Angelina's stylist on her red carpet "gown": "It's two separates that looked great together, clean and simple with a pretty shape, which is what we like." [FabSugar]
• Anand Jon's (whose real last name is apparently Alexander) trial wraps up. [Breitbart]
• Narciso Rodriguez: "I don’t recall a specific thought, like, 'Oh, this is who I am,' but I was always watching my mom make clothes, and so I was comfortable with the idea of tearing into a piece of fabric. I remember a piece of black wool felt—I was making a very cool vest, and Mom walked in on me with the scissors in my hand, as I was cutting into the felt, and she freaked out: “What are you doing?!” I was ruining a lot of fabric back then." [Style.com]
• Michelle Malkin accuses the Gap of promoting "Voter Fraud Chic." [Michelle Malkin]
• Is that why The Gap has sent all its employees on a three-day vacation?! "Cutting costs" my eye. [WWD]
• Model Carol Alt loses high-profile legal battle with her ex. [Reuters]
• Obama vows "to support five key textile industry policy positions" to save the listing U.S. industry and monitor China. [WWD]
• Say it ain't so! Spies say Nina Garcia was seen purchasing slutty schoolgirl costume! [NY Mag]
• Model moments through the ages: kinda fun. [Telegraph]
• Still got time to waste? Here's a gallery of movie fashion moments through the ages! [EW]
• Crotchety WSJ writer is proud to be a shlub. [WSJ]
• What do sharks in formaldehyde and prospectors have in common? Why Damien Hirst's line for Levi's, of course! T"he 12-piece Damien Hirst X Levi’s Collection revolves around some of Hirst’s favored themes — skulls, colorful spots and tropical butterflies. Jeans retail for about 180 euros, or $230 at current exchange, with T-shirts at 65 euros, or $83." You can get it in Berlin and Milan. [WWD]
• Stefano Pilati on sex — or not — at YSL. "For me, the main factor is the seduction factor. I want to look at a woman and feel seduced. I never touch the idea of sex...Sex one of the most complicated things; it's too subjective. And if you have subjectivity, you have to balance it out - with you skills, your knowledge, the values of your brand. Sex for me is personal." [VogueUK]

Over on the blog Feministe, Jill Filipovic writes, "I see a scary animalistic black man, a primal scream, and a beautiful white woman. Google image King Kong for a comparison." What's interesting is that the editors had another, more "civilized" photograph of LeBron and Gisele they could have chosen. Upon seeing this more "civilized" image, blogger Angel from Concrete Loop asks, "Why wasn't this the cover instead of that other HORRID one?" Commenters on that site agree: "Lebron is straight up perpetuating a stereotype (that of the brutal, wild savage) that helped enslave, lynch, and murder hundreds of THOUSANDS of our black men for centuries... and I'm just supposed to be content because he made it onto "massa's" magazine?! Take that weak shit somewhere else," "MJ" writes. Adds "cococola72284": "This 'King Kong capturing the damsel in distress'... is offensive. Not only does this man look like an ape, but he's got this good ole prize, a white woman on his arm. There are a number of black high fashion models they could've paired him with and other shots they could've used of him. At least put him in a suit. He carries a suit VERY well." On this site, a shot of the cover prompted similar comments.

Why didn't the editors chose the more "civilized" image for the cover? Were they looking for something more dynamic and animated? Did they want something with action, with impact? Why not put LeBron James in a suit? (FYI, other athletes in the issue — skater Apolo Anton Ohno, snowboarder Shaun White and swimmer Michael Phelps — also appear in sport "uniforms" while the models wear high fashion.) Was it easy — maybe even on a subconscious level — to choose a photo that casts the black man as "big and scary" and therefore comfortable and familiar?

"Nobody says more about fashion size and shape than Gisele and LeBron," Vogue spokesman Patrick O'Connell tells Time. Really? Nobody??

LeBron James To Grace Vogue's Cover [Time]
I Know Vogue Isn't Exactly Racially Conscious, But... [Feministe]
Comment Spotlight: LeBron & The Vogue Cover [Concrete Loop]
Preview of US Vogue April 2008: The Shape Issue [ONTD]
Earlier: Holy Itshay, What Is That Big Black Man Doing On The Cover Of Vogue?!
Men's Vogue: Not Afraid Of Black People
What's The Message Behind A Black Man In Heels On The Cover Of Vogue?

"You've exhausted my patience!" erupts the late Nobel laureate Milton Friedman. "I have?" replies Johnson in disbelief.

The One Percent has less sympathy for the Fanjul family, the Florida sugar barons accused of polluting the Everglades. When I mention that — his own East Village residence notwithstanding — his social calendar may set him across from a Fanjul in Palm Beach or Manhattan at some point, he grows uncomfortable. "I don't know what that's gonna be like," he says. There follows talk of the difficulty of one person to really judge another, then a few failed sentences, finally a long breath. And for a wavering moment, Jamie Johnson looks like someone in a Jamie Johnson film. Then he decides to say what he means. "We're subsidizing an industry that trashes the environment, and then we're using tax dollars to pay for the cleanup and repair. It just so happens that the Fanjuls represent that."

Why Jamie Johnson Turned His Camera On The Rich And Powerful [Men's Vogue]

Covers with black people supposedly don't sell as well, but Men's Vogue editor in chief Jay Fielden tells Portfolio, "I don't think that Tiger or Senator Obama appeal only to one segment of the population. In fact, they proved to be two of the best-selling covers we've ever done, and we have good reason to expect even more from Denzel Washington and Will Smith. If there is some industry rule of thumb that you can't have African-Americans on the cover more than so many times a year, then we're glad to be the ones disproving it." Hmm, do we smell a Fielden/Wintour showcase showdown?

Black is the New White for 'Men's Vogue' [Portƒolio]

Earlier: Where Are All The Black Models? Let's Start By Asking Anna Wintour
We're Still Looking For Black Models

• WWD turns to everyone's favorite reputable source, reluctant fiction-writer James Frey for comment on the literary merits of Cynthia Rowley's new children's book, Slim. "I am very familiar with the genre of fantasy memoirs," he says. [WWD, 1st item]
• Vogue publishing director Tom Florio credits Men's Vogue as having "launched [Barack] Obama's campaign, right or wrong." [WWD, 1st item]
• Chloe Sevigny says her rebel-girl style stems from her disgust for the "homogenized, blonde, blue-eyed preppy girls" populating her Connecticut hometown. [Vogue UK]

• Fret not, Grey's Anatomy fans. Kate Walsh didn't take the plunge and chop her 'do into fierce bangs, as recently spotted at the GLAAD Media Awards: It's a wig. [People]
• Coulda-been-a-princess Kate Middleton gets offered a job by Tom Ford. [Fashionista]

The Budget Fashionista gets us all excited over the new Lela Rose line for Payless. [TheBudgetFashionista.com]

Those poor, sniffly models. [NYMag.com]

Hudson Morgan of Men's Vogue isn't gay? [Fashionista.com]

We think we're in love. [FabSugar.com}