• Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga's M.A.C. Viva Glam ad is out. Gaga looks...surprisingly normal. [FWD]

• Helena Christensen protested in Copenhagen this weekend. In quieter times, she reads the dictionary to expand her English vocabulary. And she's one of those people about text messages: "I get obsessed with spelling. I make every text message I send correct in punctuation," explains the Danish supermodel. "I am super-fastidious about certain things." [Daily Express]
• Phil Knight is standing by Tiger Woods. The scandal-plagued golfer's endorsement deal with Nike is worth a reported $30 million annually; Knight admitted doing a background check on Woods before signing him. "He came out clean," the company founder said. [Reuters]
• It has been confirmed that André Leon Talley is a new judge for the whole next cycle of America's Next Top Model. Kimora Lee Simmons is only a guest judge. It's puzzling that Vogue would want to touch anything in Tyra Banks' smizing empire with a bargepole, but it'll be great to see André's judicial robes on nighttime television. (Also: I would leave New Zealand only for Tyra et al. to set off there. They are shooting the CoverGirl challenge today in Half Moon Bay, apparently.) [TVNZ]
• Christian Lacroix has designed new uniforms for 20,000 French railway employees. They are grey and purple. Few more of these gigs and he'll have his couture business back in no time. [WWD]
• "I've struggled with it! I've struggled with that. I've struggled with that," says Tom Ford, on the luxury culture of insatiable accretion, and charging $75 for socks."Just because one is spiritual doesn't mean one doesn't like crocodile, cashmere. We live in a material world." [TDB]
• To produce its fashion show, Victoria's Secret allegedly filled half a city block with noisy generators that ran 24 hours a day for over a week. This disturbed the sleep of nearby residents, including those at a home for people with HIV. Michael Musto's anonymous source claims that the company, which coincidentally finally broadcast its show on World AIDS Day, had to offer the residents a cash settlement. [Village Voice]
• Serena Williams returns to the Home Shopping Network to sell her line of clothing today. Last time the tennis star did the HSN rounds, her goods sold out in under three hours. How? "Everything in the collection is under $100," Williams explains. "And everything you get from me [is] great quality. I think for those prices and [this] quality, it is a no-brainer." Do you hear that? A no-brainer. It's not buying her clothes that really defies explanation. [People]
• The family that owns Salvatore Ferragamo bought a decrepit estate with a vineyard in Tuscany in 1993. The restoration process now complete, Ferragamo is now introducing four wines into the U.S. market, ranging in price from $15-$80 per bottle. They do not carry the family name trademark, because that would be so vulgar. [BW]
• Project Runway alumnus Rami Kashou has been dressing Queen Rania of Jordan. His spring collection is partly inspired by Frank Gehry. [LATimes]
• Knitwear designer Carmen Colle's lawsuit against Chanel has been thrown out by a Paris court. Colle's company, World Tricot, which designs new knitting and crochet patterns for various designer clients to incorporate into their runway looks, sued Chanel in 2004 when she spied a Chanel coat made from what she alleged was a World Tricot crochet pattern that Chanel had rejected, and never paid for. But it wasn't all bad news for Colle. World Tricot also sued for breach of contract, after Chanel abruptly stopped patronizing the house. Chanel countersued for besmirching its good name by bringing the suit at all. The court found World Tricot was owed €400,000 for the breach of contract, and it also found that Chanel was owed €200,000 for "commercial prejudice." World Tricot may appeal the forgery ruling. [WSJ]
• Jason Wu was asked if he was for or against brunch. "Pro, but only if it's after 1:30," the designer responded. Who the hell is against brunch? [TFI]
• Christopher Kane clarifies his earlier statements about not liking fashion blogs because designers have little to no control over what they publish. Now he says blogs can be fine, so long as they're not "critical" or "negative": "You're allowed to say what you want but sometimes the blogs that you read are really negative and that's what I meant to say really. Sometimes it's too negative for my liking and I think maybe they could give someone a compliment or say something nice. But bloggers nowadays seem to be a bit negative...but when it gets to someone's work and they're being critical, it's like ‘Give them a break'." [Grazia]
• Unilever has suspended its relationship with a palm oil supplier after Greenpeace alleged that the supplier was not harvesting its oil sustainably. Palm oil is a key ingredient in many cosmetics, but deforestation and environmental destruction can result when farmers slash and burn forests to plant palms. [WWD]

• A French bankruptcy court has backed a plan that will cut 90% of Christian Lacroix's staff, and reduce the 22-year-old house to a licensing operation. [ToL]
• None other than Simon Doonan is decorating the White House for Christmas. [NYTimes]

• Speaking of the Obamas: Naeem Khan made not one but five dresses for Michelle Obama to consider for the state dinner last week. "It took 10 people three weeks to make the embroidery," says the Indian-born designer. The dresses were made in America, but the beading came from India. [W]
• The point of this story seems to be: Rihanna has changed her style remarkably since she started entertaining us with song. [CNN]
• Tiger Woods may still be wanted for questioning by the Florida Highway Patrol, but Nike is emphatically standing by their $40-million star. [WWD]
• Kate Hudson loved the costumes in her movie Nine, set in 1960s Italy like its progenitor, 8 1/2, because the period fabulousness reminded her of watching her mother get dressed as a little girl. [UPI]
• Catherine McNeil's Australian Vogue comeback cover is out. [Models.com]
• Hey, everyone! This week is the week that all the major department stores expect to magically start reducing their prices as one! To a modest 30-40% off. (Just don't call it collusion!) Net-A-Porter went 30-50% off yesterday, so that $4,000 dress might now be $2,500, with tax, and Saks is starting its up to 40% off sale Thursday; hold on till after Christmas for steeper cuts. Stores laid in around 20% less stock than last year, in hopes of avoiding last fall's rash of below-cost markdowns. It appears they've been successful. [WWD]
• "Whoever your mom is, people won't give you hundreds of thousands of dollars," says Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, who was given $50,000 to mount his first art exhibition last February, and whose latest show, of Nicolas Pol's work, drew Jean-Paul Gaultier, Andre Balazs, Daphne Guinness, and, oh yeah, his mother Carine Roitfeld, to its opening. Young Vlad's secret? "We work extremely hard." [Bloomberg]
• For I-D's 30th anniversary spring issue, Nick Knight will photograph 100 portraits of different fashion stars featured in its pages over the years — live, in front of an audience. His studio will be open to the public as an exhibition until December 20, and people will be able to watch shoots with, say, Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell, through a two-way mirror. Or live on the Internet, at Knight's showstudio.com. There's nothing that strikes us as less tedious than watching a month-long editorial fashion shoot, but someone might be into it. [WWD]
• The Telegraph gets to the bottom of the mysteriously straight and non-neurotic fashion designer Giles Deacon. How come he's so successful, anyway? "Don't know. My parents weren't into fashion. I didn't have an eccentric granny who mixed lace mantillas with tweed. I never believe people who say that, anyway. 'Oh, my granny had great style.' I just like doing it and I enjoy working hard. I go to work at 10am and I'm still there at 8.30pm. We get the wine out then, but anyone who is successful and tells you they don't work hard is lying." [Telegraph]
• Olivier Theyskens has a book on the way! Olivier Theyskens: The Other Side Of The Picture is due out from Assouline in February. He also might be involved in a new "retail concept," but neither he nor the company involved would comment. [WWD]
• It's official: Bravo will begin airing the Kelly Cutrone reality television series we've all been waiting for, Kell On Earth, next February. As long as Ms. Cutrone keeps dropping f-bombs on live morning television, an audience for this shit is practically guaranteed. [UPI]
• Peaches Geldof, Photoshopped within an inch of her life, is in a second campaign for the UK underwear brand Ultimo. The dividends of just happening upon that News Of The World photographer starkers continue to accrue. [Telegraph]
• North Korean jeans made by a trio of Swedes who describe making contact with the communist regime as "like Facebook poking a country"? Is this a joke? [FWD]
• Inez and Vinoodh shot the spring Lanvin men's wear ads this weekend in Paris, and rumor is they totally pulled a Juergen and put themselves in the shot. [WWD]

• Does Jay-Z reference Anna Wintour in his song "Empire State of Mind"? The line in question is: "caught up in the in crowd/now you're in-style/and in the winter gets cold en vogue with your skin out." [Fashion Week Daily]

• Earlier today it was reported that Michael Vick had resigned with Nike two years after the company dropped him when he was sent to prison for dogfighting. His agent said, "Mike has a long-standing, great relationship with Nike, and he looks forward to continuing that relationship." But, now Nike has released a statement saying it has not "contractual relationship" with Vick and it merely, "agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike." [AP]
• Michel Phan of the ESSEC Business School, which runs the world's only luxury brand management MBA program, says luxury retailers in Asia need to focus more on service. He explains: "It's not enough to say 'Our brand is expensive, or known'. You have to make customers connect with your brand, especially during this crisis, when they're more reluctant to buy on the spur of the moment. You have to give people a good reason to buy." [Reuters]
• Peter Copping, the new designer of Nina Ricci, says Ricci's romantic designs are in line with his personal taste and belief that customers want feminine clothes. In his previous job at Louis Vuitton, he says, "whenever we did more feminine-based collections, the sales were always incredible in the stores as opposed to the more austere or hard-edged things... Obviously, one has to find a way to make that contemporary, modern and fashionable." [WWD]
• On Tuesday, Giles Deacon received an award from France's National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts along with a grant of $233,470 that will finance his spring fashion show in Paris. [WWD]
• Timberland has collaborated with Wyclef Jean to design a line of 16 boots. For every pair sold $2 will be donated to Yéle Haiti Foundation to support reforestation in Haiti. [WWD]
• At the D&G runway show in Milan, the chief executives of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman were put in the second and third rows while the chief executive of Yoox.com was in the front row. Bloggers have been invited to New York shows for a few seasons, but Europe is just warming to fashion bloggers who write for sites like Bryanboy.com, JakandJil.com, and GaranceDore.fr. [WSJ]
• Artist Brian Einersen created a Lady Gaga comic book that's selling at Marc Jacobs stores for $2. [Fashionista]
• Gareth Pugh is considering doing a fast-fashion line. He says: "I have considered it. The offers have come in, and every time we get an offer, I mull it over. I'd like more people to have access to my clothes, but the timing hasn't been right, or the project hasn't been right, or some combination of both those things. The first time I was approached, I wasn't even producing the garments I was showing on the runway. I didn't have a factory. Everything I was making, I was making by hand. Doing a fast-fashion collection seemed a little premature." He says companies should, "Keep asking. And I'll keep thinking." [N.Y. Magazine]
• Robert Lee Morris had to create toned down versions of his jewelry in during the recession in the early '90s, but now his more showy creations are becoming popular again. They were featured in several runway shows this fall and Henri Bendel will open a Robert Lee Morris boutique tomorrow. [N.Y. Times]
• At a party celebrating Sundance Channel's new show Man Shops Globe about Anthropologie buyer at large, Keith Johnson introduced guests to his partner Glen Senk, who fell in love with him in grade school. "I moved next door to him, at age 9, and the first day I saw him, I fell in love with him," Senk said. "It was otherworldly. I felt sparks all over my body. Literally, I saw stars. He was the kindest, sweetest, most wonderful person. I feel like that 44 years later." Johnson said, "It took a few years to convince me... He didn't convince me until I was 12." [N.Y. Times]
• Paolo Colonna, a partner in Permira, the European private equity firm that bought the Valentino Fashion Group, said that though the fund usually exits its private equity investments after four or five years, but, "The various [economic] crises will delay our exit. Still, we are patient money. This is a long-term deal for us. I don't see any urgency to sell at these low valuations." [NY Times]
• Giorgio Armani has reorganized his company, expanding the board of directors and delegating more power to non-family members. He's been suffering with a bout of hepatitis for months and says his illness was worsened by working long hours for decades. The reorganization is raising questions about whether the brand can outlive Armani. [WSJ]
• Pam Grier says, "I'm hoping the Smithsonian will call me for the dress from Foxy Brown. The blue one with the ruffles. I'm holding onto it. Call me, Smithsonian!" [Village Voice]

[New York, September 20. Image via INF]

• Erin Wasson is reviving her jewelry collection as a cheaper costume line. Let's hope in addition to ditching the $1000+ price point, Wasson also abandons her unfortunate habit of claiming jewelry designer Bliss Lau's pieces as her own. [Elle UK]

• Because she lurves Roger Federer, Anna Wintour and her longtime boyfriend, Shelby Bryan, went to see Federer's match at the U.S. Open. They left before Serena even took the court. [P6]
• Vivienne Westwood has chosen Pamela Anderson for her Gold Label campaign for the second season running. Westwood and husband Andreas Kronthaler also re-join Anderson in the whimsical set of images. [Daily Mail]
• Crazy enough to work: Threeasfour and Yoko Ono. Ono reportedly inspired the wacky design trio's spring collection, and also contributed her artwork for prints. [WWD]
• Rachel Zoe's QVC collection, which clocks in at a relatively modest $32.50-130 price range, is full of faux fur and snakeskin pieces. [Nitro:Licious]
• Tim Gunn on Project Runway guest judge Lindsay Lohan: "I was surprised and pleased by how extremely knowledgeable about fashion and articulate Lindsay Lohan was. She's very young and can be portrayed in ways that aren't all together flattering, and she was a true statesperson and really weighed in on the designers and what they were doing exceptionally well. And it was really a thrill to have her." [People]
• Although 19-year-old model Jourdan Dunn was included in the Women agency's Spring/Summer 2010 Show Package, which was thought to mean that the five months pregnant runway star would make the circuit of casting directors this season, Women has confirmed that Dunn will not be at fashion week. Guess we won't get to add Dunn to the list of models (Dunn's compatriots Karen Elson and Stella Tennant among them) who have also walked shows while pregnant. [The Cut]
• Yigal Azrouël, who has earned more press in recent months for his alleged role in the breakup of Billy Joel and Katie Lee's marriage than for his designs, is reportedly in the unique position of seeking less media attention. Although his show will still be attended by around 800 people, expect fewer celebrities, and no after-party. Also, nobody who ever slept with Eliot Spitzer is invited. [NYDN]
• Daphne Guinness, on what tuberose, the principal note in her new perfume, Daphne, reminds her of: "My mother and the flower market in Figueres in Spain and in Cadaqués, where I grew up. We always used to have these huge vats of them, and they would just fill the house with scent all summer long. It reminds me of my childhood. I would collect them and put them all on greaseproof paper with a kind of gel, and then you leave it for a few days. Then you'd scrape off the gel and have a sort of essence. It's quite an ancient plant. Don't quote me on this, but someone told me that pterodactyls used to eat them...it does make sense, because when they die they smell like rotting flesh, and that's why pterodactyls were attracted to them  actually maybe it was archaeopteryx. Tuberose, they're not beautiful in the peony sense of the word, but the smell is unlike anything else. I love it. And I love the scent of sort of all those woods that you get from the Middle East. I grew up in the seventies and everybody was running around burning Joss sticks and, you know, banging tambourines." [Style.com]
• Paper magazine is hosting a black-tie event at the New York Public Library  which is adjacent to Bryant Park  to kick off fashion week. Liza Minnelli and Queen Latifah, plus other "surprise" guests, will perform. [People]
• L'Oréal principal shareholder Liliane Bettencourt's legal fight with her daughter, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, has gone to court in France. Bettencourt, 86, has admitted turning over about $1 billion worth of her fortune to François-Marie Banier, a 62-year-old photographer who is her confidant. Bettencourt-Meyers accuses Banier of "exploitation of weakness," a criminal offense, while Bettencourt's side says that Bettencourt-Meyers is simply jealous and ungrateful. [ToL]
• Time's Style & Design issue will suspend publication after the current issue, which goes out today. Ad pages in the magazine had decreased precipitously. [WWD]
• Abakus jewelry designer Marsha Chun-Matsubara: "My parents say that when I was four, I wore a small, heavy bike chain around my neck. Later, when I really wanted my ears pierced I stuck Chiquita Banana stickers on my earlobes. When I was about seven, my mother was teaching me how to use an abacus. I was so frustrated that I threw it and all the beads scattered. From then on, I used the wooden beads to make necklaces. That's where I got the name for my line." [W]
• The sadly deceased DJ AM  a noted sneakerhead who owned more than 700 pairs of Nikes  was working on his own line for the shoe giant when he died last week. Although the final designs, Nike says, had Adam Goldstein's approval, whether and when they will ever be released now depends on the desires of the musician's family. [TMZ]
  
• Nancy Talbot, the woman behind the Talbot's retail chain, has died in Colorado. She was 89. [NYTimes]
• Donatella Versace tells Out magazine  the October cover of which she graces, with model Paul Sculfor  that "You can be too boring, but you can never be too seductive." Which is a point of view we were pretty much familiar with from looking at her clothes. [WWD]
• Vanessa Williams says Ugly Betty's wardrobe department is spending its money wisely  and sticking to sale items. "There was a Naeem Kahn dress that went for $3,000, and they watched it and watched and by the time we got it, it was like $800." [People]
• The premium denim market may have some life in it yet. At the apparel trade show in Las Vegas, pricey brands like True Religion and Citizens of Humanity reported strong wholesale sales, and the NPD Group says the premium denim market grew 5% in the 12 months ended in June. [Reuters]
• But during the month of August, across the whole apparel sector, same-store sales declined an average of 2.5%. Back-to-school sales and promotions did little to stoke the desire of unwilling consumers. [Crains]
• Quiksilver reported a 53% drop in third-quarter earnings on last year. [WSJ]
• Movado scraped through the quarter with a modest profit  $528,000  after six months of losses. The result still represents a 93.5% fall in earnings on last year. [WWD]
• Meanwhile, Abercrombie & Fitch continues to live up to its reputation as the Worst Recession Company Ever. (Thanks Time!) After announcing its latest disastrous monthly comps  August same-store sales fell 29%  Citi downgraded the stock to a Sell, and share prices fell 6%. [TS]
• Choosing the 50 Sluttiest American Apparel ads is like shooting fish in a barrel. [StyleCrave]

• Katie Holmes can add another feather to her designing cap: creative-directing new uniforms for the Church of Scientology. Holmes and Tom Cruise apparently had creative oversight of the religion's new threads, offering direction to designer Richard Tyler. [Daily Mail]

• For some reason, we literally had no idea that Daphne Guinness  Steven Klein's sometime subject, and a woman who brings exquisite creativity to dress  was Bernard-Henri Lévy's girlfriend. Lévy told her once, "You are no longer a person, you have become a concept." (Too bad he's married to the actress Arielle Dombasle.) [Telegraph]
• Market research company the NPD Group estimates that fully 12% of fashion industry vendors will not survive this recession. An additional 20% will abandon their expansion strategies, and retrench to focus on core markets and products. Sobering news for anyone who loves fashion. [WWD]
• Kate Moss and Scarlett Johansson, shilling for the supermodel's Topshop line and for Mango, respectively, ended up posing in awkward, sprawling positions, wearing grey sweaters and ripped black tights. Irrefutable evidence that when high street stores pick from a season's grab-bag of trends, their choices will inevitably sometimes coincide. [Stylefile]
• YLB, Yasmin Le Bon's line for the British fast-fashion chain Wallis, which targets middle-aged women, is apparently relatively demure  but still, she hopes, fashionable. As for her family, by the end of next month, Le Bon's eldest daughters, Amber and Saffron, will be 20 and 18, respectively. "I'll have two adults. In legal terms only! They can vote, but they can't do a lot else," says the supermodel. "No, they're great girls, they completely entertain us. But if I'd known how much heartache was in store... wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow. It never stops. There's no cut-off point for your children, no matter how grown-up they are. It's a big deal." [ToL]
• Christie Brinkley, on an average Sunday morning: "If it's not raining, I'll go outside with my coffee with my parrot on my shoulder and wander around pinching the petunias. Then I read the newspaper." [NYTimes]
• Tory Burch did a Gossip Girl cameo because "It's a show that's very important in our culture right now." [FWD]
• Dunja Knezevic and Victoria Keon-Cohen, who in 2007 founded the world's first successful models' union in London, are about to set up the industry's first-ever code of conduct to protect models from exploitation. The kinds of behavior they want the code to regulate includes the usual list of complaints about sexual harassment, abuse by hair and makeup artists  the union received one complaint from a male model whose scalp bled because of peroxide  and dangerous practices like models being asked to risk their ankles by jumping on trampolines in high heels. Keon-Cohen and Knezevic both grew up in Australia, but make no mistake the duo's home country has no plans to take up their initiative and institute a similar code: "We are lucky in Australia that we have a small but very professional group of agencies providing a world-class service," said a snippy spokesperson for the Sydney agency Chic. [SMH]
• Meanwhile, in other model-activist news, Gloria Mika, a face of L'Oréal, is campaigning for free and fair elections in her native Gabon. Mika aims to recruit volunteer poll watchers online, and says the response to her website has been extraordinary. The 23-strong field of candidates for president is led by Ali Ben Bongo, the son of the recently deceased Omar Bongo, who ran the nation for 42 years and enriched himself dramatically in the process. [BBC]
• Apparently, three male celebrities wearing mostly gender-neutral items marketed towards women, like scarves, pouch bags, and "boyfriend" jackets, constitutes a trend toward "girlfriend" dressing. We're suspicious of this "trend," but we agree Jamie Hince should probably not wear Kate Moss's denim cutoffs again. [Telegraph]
• Elettra Weidemann, on Anna Wintour: "She's been doing this for so long, surrounded by men. There's absolutely a feminist aspect to her. I think a lot of the attacks against her are misogynist. Men in business are totally cutthroat and nobody says bad things about them for it." [The Cut]
• "A couple of years ago I thought to myself that I wanted to build a whole lifestyle brand and really educate people that anyone can have style. You don't need a lot of money." Rachel Zoe says one thing and means another. [USAToday]
• Europe's largest distributor of band t-shirts, Completely Independent Distribution, may soon have to drop the "independent" from its name: the music label giant EMI is considering a $500,000 bid for the company, as it seeks to diversify its revenue streams now that nobody buys CDs but concerts become increasingly profitable. [FT]
• One person who apparently isn't thrilled about Marc Jacobs' and Lorenzo Martone's rumored secret elopement to Provincetown, Massachussetts, this past weekend: Jacobs' ex, Jason Preston. The party promoter, who was once so devoted to his designer beau that he has his logo tattooed on his forearm, Twittered to Courtney Love on Friday, "I miss u love!!! I feel this is gunna b a VERY bad weekend 4me rumor around town is he's getting married this weekend. : (" [CityFile]
• One way of reaching consumers in emerging markets? Offering purchase by installment plan, as Levi's is doing in India. [FT]
• Sales at Ann Taylor fell 21% in the second quarter, and the company swung to a loss. The company, which this spring admitted its product lines had been dowdy, is hoping that new fall offerings  and a new ad campaign with Cameron Russell  will reel consumers back in. [WSJ]
• Marc Dreier's ponzi scheme defrauded $400 million, mainly from large investment funds, and Dreier was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month. But a number of fashion companies, including Nike, Adidas, Seven For All Mankind, Tommy Hilfiger, Rock & Republic, and Nautica, were also investors, who are now seeking to be repaid some of what Dreier took. [WWD]
• Charlotte Russe, which put itself up for sale in March, will be bought for $380 million by the private-equity firm Advent International Corp. [WSJ]

• Kate Moss was shot by Mario Testino for the September cover of British Vogue. That trench coat looks very Gisele photoshop-gate/neighborhood flasher, no? [Design Scene]

• Speaking of Gisele, she has signed on to voice a series of web cartoons intended to educate children about the environment, finance, and science. The supermodel will record the role of Gigi, a supermodel who doubles as an environmental superhero. [UK Elle]
• Another image from Victoria Beckham's Armani campaign has dropped. [Daily Mail]
• Transformers director Michael Bay shot the Victoria's Secret holiday commercial. [P6]
• For some reason, Lady GaGa apparently told the News Of The World that she spends all her money on clothes. "Every single dollar that I've earned I put into my tour. Mainly into my crazy outfits. My performance is my life. And I'm not that great with money. I've gone bankrupt four times already." Um, hire a financial planner? Or a stylist who can pull Jean-Charles de Castelbajac Kermit coats for free? [NOTW]
• "My fashion wisdom comes from gardening. This is a difficult time for many, but I am not in crisis mode. Like the seasons of gardening, there is a time to plant and a time to harvest, and now is a time to weed. This will pass." Oscar de la Renta, like everyone else, is hoping he has green thumbs. [WWD]
• Mid-size fashion businesses, those who expanded in the boom years to $7-$10 million in annual sales, are at a greater risk in this recession than any other tranche of the industry, so Oscar will in fact probably be safe. But not so designers like Peter Som and Jane Mayle. As retailers continue to contend with falling consumer spending by cutting inventory and ditching labels that don't move swiftly from the racks, more designer bankruptcies over the coming season are likely. [WWD]
• Zandra Rhodes, on her style icon: "Me! Otherwise what am I designing for?" [Independent]
• We are not sure why this story, which has no news about Alexis Bledel and her projects, but several large photos of the actress wearing a leotard with incredibly teased hair, exists. But it does. Also, Alexis Bledel is not Rory Gilmore in real life. Who knew? [WWD]
• John Varvatos, who in the past has chosen rock stars like Iggy Pop as models, this year selected ZZ Top for his fall campaign. The group was shot against a diorama of water buffalo at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. [WWD]
• The British Fashion Council is moving its headquarters — and its largest event, fashion week — to historic Somerset House. This September, London Fashion Week is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and British designers from Matthew Williamson to Gareth Pugh have vowed to show in the city. [Telegraph]
• Bobbi Brown and Lauren Bush are co-launching a FEED makeup bag. The model's charity project supports the U.N. World Food Program. The makeup pouch will cost $50, including three Bobbi Brown lip glosses, and Bush says the cost will support 10 women in the UNWFP's Food for Work program. [WWD]
• Alexander Wang's e-commerce venture is now live. When it asks for a password, type in AWSTYLE.COM. [AlexanderWang]
• Ciara supports not texting while driving. [WWD]
• Lela Rose may be on to something as an ice cream cook. When asked her favorite flavor, the designer replied, "My own homemade ice cream called Brown Bread. It's an almond base, with bread crumbs that have been baked in butter and brown sugar with almonds. It's just delicious." [WWD]
• Roland Mouret, on quitting smoking: "I read Allen Carr books. I was hypnotised. I am now a non-smoker, and I smoked for 20 years. It's over." [Guardian]
• Catherine Deneuve and L'Oréal principal shareholder Liliane Bettencourt are among those inducted this year into the International Best-Dressed List Hall of Fame; that, in case anyone's wondering, is Vanity Fair's made-up list of well-dressed people. [VF]
• Following the news that leather suppliers were selling skins from cattle involved in illegal deforestation of the Amazon, Clarks, Timberland, Adidas, and Nike have asked that their suppliers stop that. Seems a little weak. [Guardian]
• Tom Ford's directorial debut, "A Single Man," an adaptation of the Christopher Isherwood novel that stars Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, will take place at the Venice Film Festival this September. [WWD]
• Fast-fashion chain Peacocks is making its own très Chanel-inspired quilted rain boots. Maybe they heard Audrey Tautou's endorsement of the real thing? [Guardian]
• Instead of having to pay back 100 million Euros this month, and another 350 million Euros next July, Prada has won a loan extension until 2012. [WWD]
• Uniqlo's same-store sales for the month of July fell 4.2%. [WWD]

• Fran Drescher is launching a skincare line  called FranBrand  this fall on HSN. The products are organic and paraben-free, because, as Drescher puts it, "Women are schmearing stuff on their décolleté, wondering why we're all getting breast cancer..."

• "...Once you wake up and smell the coffee, it's hard to go back to sleep. So I'm sounding the alarm." Drescher, a survivor of uterine cancer, founded the organization Cancer Schmancer. (And she also taught us to love Loehmann's.) [The Cut]
• As we learned yesterday, London Fog confirmed Gisele Bundchen's pregnancy by the roundabout way of announcing it had airbrushed her 5-6 month belly out of its latest campaign "to protect her privacy." But the outerwear brand also released a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot, which includes footage of the raw, unretouched shots as they appear on the computer monitor. A side-by-side comparison reveals exactly what London Fog thought wouldn't move units this fall. [SassyBella]
• Bar Refaeli is allegedly seeing Israeli multi-millionaire Teddy Sagi. Sagi owns a company that makes software for Internet gambling sites, and the nicest thing the Daily Mail can say about him is that he "has a lovely smile." The supermodel's relationship with Leonardo Di Caprio ended earlier this year. [Daily Mail]
• Liya Kebede addressed the UN Secretary-General's Forum on the topic of maternal health. Writes the supermodel, "In times of economic crisis, it is tempting to turn inward, to ignore or postpone the problems of the outside world and focus on ourselves. But, if we hope to thrive once again, we must realize that there are no outside problems in today's interwoven, globalized world. Each mother who dies leaves behind a devastated family and weakened community that will eventually, somehow, affect each of us. Each mother who dies deepens the financial and social strain on our world and puts economic recovery further away. Mothers are our best stimulus package because they invest in their families and in our collective future." [HuffPo]
• SassyBella unearthed footage of Karen Mulder hosting an E! special in 1999. The Dutch model encounters a new girl, who, when she introduces herself, turns out to be an 18-year-old Adriana Lima. [SassyBella]
• The first pictures of Rad by Rad Hourani, the Canadian designer's diffusion line, are looking pretty good, at least for those who were already fans of Hourani's unisex, pared-down rocker aesthetic. "This is exactly the same thing," as his main line, Hourani confirmed. Only instead of costing thousands of dollars it costs hundreds. We need more of this. [WWD]
• The writer of the sometimes entertaining, sometimes savage, always fascinating fashion blog The Emperor's Old Clothes has revealed himself  as New York designer Eric Gaskins. Gaskins, after 22 years in business, was this week forced to close his doors because of the economy. [NYTimes]
• And in September, Daphne Guinness is releasing a signature scent with Comme des Garçons. Only unlike most celebrity perfumes lines, this is actually the distinctive fragrance Guinness has, herself, been mixing for years. "I'll be in airports or in a taxi and the driver will say, ‘What are you wearing?'" reports the heiress. [WWD]
• Designer Hussein Chalayan is "weirded out" by models with clothing lines, like Kate Moss, Amber Valetta, Erin Wasson, and Elle MacPherson: "If you have a really strong sense of style and people want to aspire to being like you, I can understand that. But if you really are doing it just because you think of yourself as a brand and you haven't had the training and you know nothing about clothes, it kind of demeans all the training that designers have had." Chalayan thought Kate Moss's line for Topshop was a poor effort. "I don't think it represented her, and I didn't think she worked hard enough. I even told her to her face." How did la Moss respond? "She said, ‘Oh, I'm just trying to do a light thing; I'm not trying to do anything serious.' But I said, ‘That's not the point.'" [WWD]
• In which case, add Jessica Stam to the list of models who've raised Chalayan's ire. The Canadian just announced a collaboration with Rag & Bone. [Style.com]
• Vogue's Lauren Santo Domingo, on being told her boss Anna Wintour had worn flats to a party in the Hamptons: "I wonder if that means we can wear flats to the office now?" [The Cut]
• Fashion blind item: "Which fantastical designer has a new man? She's ditched her long term fiance for an artist with prime real estate." We're with the commenters on this: signs point to Erin Fetherston, who hasn't been photographed in public with her longtime fiancé, Hedi Ferjani, since late April. [Fashionista]
• Ali Wise, the Dolce & Gabbana publicist who was arrested for hacking into the voicemail of a woman who was dating Wise's ex boyfriend, is no longer a Dolce & Gabbana employee. Which must seem like the least of her problems: Wise is facing felony charges of computer trespass and eavesdropping. [WWD]
• A well-written parsing of W magazine's cover story on model Lara Stone: "The fashion industry  and, in turn, the fashion media  have such a warped concept of slimness that a model like Lara Stone is so much larger than her contemporaries that they feel the need to explain her presence. If Stone's body is such an outlier, what does that say about the rest of us? Worse, the magazine saw fit to issue the disclaimer that Stone 'is, it should be noted, a very lithe five foot ten.' Why, yes, do note that! As if there's the slightest chance someone is going to look at these photos and think Stone needs to, like, slow down on the Cheetos." [GlossedOver]
• Lagardère, the French publishing company that owns Hachette Filipacchi Media, which owns the U.S. edition of Elle magazine, has denied that it is in talks to sell the title to rival Hearst, as had been reported in yesterday's New York Post. [WWD]
• Scott Nylund, Beyoncé's design director, comes from Owatonna, Minnesota. Which is where you can see an exhibit that spans his earliest childhood sketches of women in dresses, to his college fashion collection, to his creations for Beyoncé. [StarTrib]
• Freja Beha Erichsen says Karl Lagerfeld's house in Vermont  which recently served as the setting for the fall Chanel campaign she starred in with Heidi Mount  is a serious farm. With horses and chickens and  spitting llamas. Erichsen also praised Chanel for providing food backstage at its runway shows, which a lot of brands don't manage to do. [W]
• Fashion Meets Finance, the terrible event for douchebags and gold-diggers, is back. It's happening August 6th in  where else?  Murray Hill. [FMF]
• Will Ferrell has a Nike sneaker coming out in Japan. It's inspired by Anchorman's Ron Burgundy, that lovable asshole we met, uh, five years ago. [HighSnobiety]
• Timberland lost $19.2 million in the last quarter, a worse-than-expected result that came off the back of a 14% drop in sales, to $179.7 million. [WWD]
• Shiseido was even worse off  its profits declined 57.8%. [WWD]
• Likewise Hugo Boss, which lost $21.17 million in the last quarter. [WWD]
• Bare Escentuals profits also slid 20% in the same period. [WWD]
• Competitor Avon's profits fell 64.3% on revenues that shrank by 9.7%. Revlon's sales fell 12.2%, and its total profits declined to just $200,000, from $19.9 million one year earlier. [WWD]
• Bucking this downward trend is Tod's  the Italian leather brand reported a 3.4% increase in sales for this first six months of this year. [WWD]
• Ann Taylor wants to cut $30 to $40 million in costs by "right-sizing" its organization. No word yet on the number of people who will be laid off. [WWD]
• Three members of a multi-million-dollar New York counterfeiting ring received prison sentences, and a fourth was sentenced to probation by a federal judge. Michael Chu, the group's leader, was in 2005 ordered to pay $7 million in damages stemming from an unrelated counterfeiting case involving North Face jackets. This time, Chu, who imported fake Nike, Chanel and Burberry products, was sentenced to prison for just over 8 years. [WWD]

• Michelle Obama may have skipped the CFDAs, but she'll celebrate the National Design Awards at the White House on July 24. The winners, chosen by the Smithsonian and including Francisco Costa, will participate in events around Washington. [WWD]

• The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving Chicago apparel manufacturer American Needle and the National Football League. American Needle contends that the league ran afoul of antitrust laws when its 32 teams canceled their individual apparel licenses to manufacture exclusively with Reebok in 2001; the NHL says that it is, in fact, a single entity entitled to do business with whomever it likes. [Breitbart]
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection had a banner week, seizing $10 million worth of counterfeit goods. Six different intercepted shipments included fake Nike sneakers, fake Coach bags, fake Gucci shoes, and fake Louis Vuitton purses. [WWD]
• Victoria Beckham is bringing in an all-new team to design and produce her dVb denim line ahead of its relaunch, expected for next year. "Victoria makes out she's hands-on, but she doesn't sit there cutting patterns," explains an anonymous friend. Not that there was much misunderstanding on that count. [Daily Mail]
• Ed Westwick  from that show about high schoolers with credit cards  posed for K Swiss shoes, and boy does he talk about the experience as one itching to be re-hired! "They know who they are," the actor said of the company, before casually mentioning that he'd just love to do another campaign. [WWD]
• Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy talked to New York about his Spring 09 couture collection, and his just-presented Resort 09 collection. Tisci, who ascended to his position five years ago, at the age of 28, calls himself the youngest couturier in history, despite the fact that both Yves Saint Laurent, who took the reins at Christian Dior at the age of 21, and Hubert de Givenchy himself, who founded his namesake line at 25 back in 1952, were younger. [The Cut]
• Model Chanel Iman's inability to distinguish between "their" and "there" has not hampered her ability to snag an internship at Teen Vogue. In a sweet touch of near-authenticity, the Condé Nasties had her clean out the styling closet. [Twitter]
• Urban Outfitters now sells its clothes via mobile phone, for those occasions when you yearn to smell of Vincent Gallo's ballsweat and early 90s desperation, but can't find your way to a store or a computer. [WWD]
• Of course American Apparel would market its new bedding with a bunch of "Oh hai Dov, this your bed? Tee hee!" shots. [AmApp]
• In other news of products that signal the apocalypse, you can now buy an Oscar de la Renta dress for your three-year-old. [W]
• These fashion-show-throwing Manhattan middle schoolers, on the other hand, seem self-sufficient enough to never be heard wailing, "But Mommy I want an Oscar noooooooow!" [Reuters]
• Valentino's owner, the U.K. private-equity firm Permira, is in talks with the fashion house's primary creditors to relax the terms of its €2.5 billion debt. Permira bought Valentino for €5.3 billion in 2007, when such buy-outs  and the easy credit they were financed with  were common. Head designer Valentino Garavani retired within months of the deal, and the house has struggled to express a coherent creative vision since his departure. [ToL]
• Madonna's wholesale transformation of her boy-toy, Jesus Luz, into a real runway model is proceeding apace. After his exclusive appearance on the Dolce & Gabbana runway for Milan's men's wear week, he headed to Paris  unburdened by any exclusive deal  and promptly racked up a spot in Givenchy's lineup. His outfit included studded gladiator sandals, harem pants, and a very busy floral/plaid shirt. [The Cut]
• Esteban Cortazar and Mounir Moufarrige, the C.E.O. of the house of Ungaro, continue to do the will-they-won't-they dance around rumors of designer Cortazar's departure. Cortazar was at the Ungaro men's wear show in Paris and, when asked about his differences with management, said "For now I am here." Moufarrige, for his part, when asked if he would be retaining Cortazar's services into the future, said, "He's here," and pointed at the runway. [WWD]
• The rumor that Pierre Cardin's Chinese shoe and leather goods licensee was in talks to take over the French brand outright has been denied by both Pierre Cardin and the shoemaker. [Reuters]
• American retailers just can't catch a break. If it's not the recession, the rising unemployment rate, or the precipitous drop in consumer spending, it's the risk of tornadoes and unseasonal torrential rain keeping the customers from their stores. [WWD]
• Versace saw a 13.4% decline in revenue during the first quarter of this year, but its sales results were stronger during the months of May and June, company chairman Santo Versace reported. [Reuters]
• Maybe part of the reason that Aéropostale is outperforming competitors like Abercrombie & Fitch to such a large degree is due to the fact that the company spends 80% of its marketing budget online, online being where most of its customers are? [WWD]

• Michael Jackson has settled on a costume for his upcoming tour: an ensemble made entirely from Swarovski crystals. His wardrobe uses 300,000 of the sparklers. Of course, this is the man who once wore a gold-plated jacket. [WWD]

• Meanwhile at Glastonbury, the band Florence and the Machine had its outfits designed specially by Topshop. [Telegraph]
• Anna Wintour is said to have instructed Vogue petty officers to create sockpuppet accounts on Facebook to monitor fan page comments about The September Issue. [P6]
• Bucking the trend of British fashion designers returning to London Fashion Week for its anniversary, Giles Deacon has announced he'll show his Spring 2010 collection in Paris. [WWD]
• Eva Green read what you wrote about her on the Internet, but unlike Anna, she just doesn't care! "I want to wear something that I wouldn't wear every day, I like to be a bit eccentric and I know lots of people say 'Oh my god blah' but I don't care, I want to have my style, I like to try something new," said the actress, who also pines for Topshop when she's in France. [Mirror]
• 50 Cent unveiled his new fragrance, Power, at a private party in New York. While unspecific about its target audience ("Everyone human...breathing...") he did manage to shove a journalist out of his path. The way she writes it, she didn't seem to mind. Power indeed. [The Cut]
• This week sees the official previews of two dark, "intellectual" fashion ranges, heavy on the strange shapes and deconstruction, and costing around $300-$600. One is by Juicy Couture ("There is...one pair of very expensive leather leggings", but we knew that already). The other is by Comme des Garçons. Odd! [Racked] [Racked]
• Council of Fashion Designers of America menswear award winner Band of Outsiders' Scott Sternberg (who tied for the award with Calvin Klein's Italo Zucchelli) was good enough to answer some of W magazine's questions. To "Waverly Inn or Monkey Bar?" he sagely responded: "No." Asked, "Jon or Kate?" Sternberg said: "Who?" Also, Paris Hilton better not ever ask to borrow his clothes. We like him even more now. [W]
• Christy Turlington, who bagged the spring campaign, too, is coming back this fall as the face of Bally. Mario Sorrenti shot the ads. A number of fashion houses have made the choice to stick with their spring casting choices for fall. Versace re-shot Gisele in virtually the same position and dress as before, and Louis Vuitton re-hired Madonna. [WWD]
• Bar Refaeli is now the new face of Garnier Fructis. [SassyBella]
• Speaking of, L'Oréal has been found guilty of racial discrimination in French court. To market its Fructis shampoo in supermarkets, the beauty giant hired a sales staff  and was caught giving instructions in writing to a temp agency to employ only white women aged 18-22 who wear a French size 38-42. L'Oréal and the temp agency, Adecco, each have to pay fines and damages of €60,000. [Times of London]
• Models of color did not fare well at Milan menswear week. Even reliably diverse clients, like DSquared2 (which last year used an all-black cast) had virtually no faces of color on their runways. Check out these pictures to see the practically all-white casts for yourself. [FashionBombDaily]
• An Australian retail chain called Diva has ripped off a wide variety of jewelry by indie designers. [ShanaLogic]
• Let me say this again: Male modeling is just like modeling for women. Only even more poorly paid. (This article quotes 500 Euros to several thousand Euros as a typical rate for men who work the shows in Europe  and says that it's lower than what women models get. Why do reporters never keep in mind who they're asking? In this case, it's a pair of twins who started out by booking campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana. Nothing about their experience of the industry is average.) [Telegraph]
• Project Runway's Leanne Marshall wrote on her personal blog that she was unhappy with a business opportunity gone sour  but one which it was too late to pull the plug on. Discontent with retail partner Bluefly is the only logical conclusion. [Racked]
• Ex-model and PR whiz Carlos Souza has returned to the house of Valentino to try and repair its damaged reputation. Since Valentino's departure, the brand has suffered through the embarrassing ousting of the talented successor Alessandra Facchinetti, and lackluster collections designed since then by two of Valentino's former assistants. [FWD]
• Vena Cava now has a blog. [Viva Vena Cava]
• Philippe Starck has launched a new clothing line, which he describes as "non-photogenic." It's made of waterproof cashmere and designed to last a long time, which is still enough to prick our interest. [UnBeige]
• Dress Barn announced plans to buy Tween Brands Inc., which operates the Limited Too and Justice. [WSJ]
• Nike, which cut 5% of its global workforce, some 1,750 jobs in May, saw sales for the fourth quarter decline to $341.4 million, from $490.5 million the year before. Orders for the next few month are also down 12%. [AP]
• Troubled Jones Apparel Group is betting on the Asian market. It just bought a 15% stake in the Hong Kong-based retail distribution group GRI, upping its total stake in the company to 25%. [WWD]
• H&M's sales are up by 6.4% in the quarter just ended. Revenue climbed 23%. [WSJ]
• Uniqlo is talking about buying the Gap. [Independent]
• The company that owns Lacoste has chosen the former head of the European supermarket chain Carrefour to lead the brand. [WWD]

• Helena Christensen is one of the many hailing British Vogue's Alexandra Shulman. "Obviously I am of the same belief," said the supermodel photographer. "Aren't we in a business that is supposed to explore all kinds of shapes and silhouettes?" [WWD]

• H&M is famous for its sought-after designer collaborations. Matthew Williamson's of this summer being just the latest in a long, mostly successful, line. But the Swedish fast-fashion giant has never brought a high-profile shoe maker on board  until now. Behold: Jimmy Choo for H&M. Jimmy Choo accessories collections for women and men will be in 200 stores November 14. [Reuters]
• Designer Malcolm Harris, of the label Mal Sirrah, hung up on Angelina Jolie when she rang to inquire about one of his dresses. Twice. Harris thought it was a prank; Jolie still bought three of them for $225 apiece. [P6]
• So how did designer Zac Posen get ready for the CFDAs? "I was on Perez Hilton all day." [The Cut]
• Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy are getting hitched, and, no surprises here, Danes is choosing her favorite designer (and CFDA date) Narciso Rodriguez to make her wedding dress. The actress says the process is "intimate" and often makes her "weepy." [People]
• Rodriguez even whipped out a needle and thread to repair the train of Danes' dress at the CFDAs after a fellow guest stepped on it and it ripped. [NYDN]
• Kanye West went on a $5,000 spending spree at a Chicago store called Deliciously Vintage. With no lady in sight while he shopped, speculation is rife as to who'll get the haul. Amber Rose? Kanye himself in the privacy of his own multi-million dollar home? Rife, we say. [TMZ]
• Vera Wang was unwilling to confirm that she would be on the next season of Dancing With The Stars at the CFDAs. "They approach a lot of people, not just me," said the designer. As for going on the show, "We haven't decided. They haven't and I haven't." [The Cut]
• Esteban Cortazar, the young Colombian designer who has helmed the troubled house of Ungaro since 2007, says he is still at the company. Despite rumors of an acrimonious split, and a lawsuit on the part of Cortazar, at the CFDAs he told journalists "I am still there," but admitted, "We are trying to work things out. We have had some differences but hopefully things will work out for the best, whether I am there or not." [WWD]
• Agyness Deyn, says an anonymous friend, is considering quitting modelling and moving back to London to pursue roles in British indie films. [Mirror]
• Karl Lagerfeld made his transition into film  assuming we're not counting the excellent doc Lagerfeld Confidential  by providing the voice for an animated kid's movie villain. The designer apparently worked hard through take and re-take, bringing his famous perfectionism to bear on the character of a bitter ex-model who kidnaps people in order to "fabulous" them, or turn them into his own image. "He was very serious about it and very open to criticism," said his spokesperson. [WWD]
• Super-stylist Nicola Formichetti: "I hate the whole idea of celebrity in America. It's so boring  all fake smiles and big business. It seems like you can sell crap if you put a famous name on it. America's crazy, you know?" [The Cut]
• Eddie Van Halen's held a copyright on the famous red, black and white striped pattern of his Frankenstein guitar since 2001. So how did it end up adorning the soles of a bunch of Nikes? The rocker's lawyers sure wanna find out. [WWD]
• Sales are so bad at the Gap that the company might use a different advertising agency for its holiday campaign, after a seven-year unbroken streak with the same house. [AdAge]
• Also agency shopping: Zappos. [BrandWeek]
• Check out the new Isabel Toledo exhibit at the Museum at FIT on video. Ms. Toledo and her husband are on hand to talk about their history in fashion, and that dress that Michelle Obama wore that one time on the Mall. [The Cut]
• Aeropostale, one of the mall chains whose business isn't hanging by a thread during the recession, plans to launch P.S., a new line for 7-12-year-olds. [WWD]
• MTV VJ Alexa Chung once said of her retirement, "Modelling gave me a distorted body image. As soon as I stopped, I realised how ridiculous it all was. I went on about it because I was really fed up with modelling –- it's like I was saying negative things to reinforce in my mind that I had to get out. I never say or think those things now. I've used up all that neurosis –- there's none left. It's just really boring. I'd rather have a bigger brain than smaller bones." Apparently, Chung still models  when the project suits her. She's turned up in the look book for quirky L.A. label Wren. [Fashionista]
• A worker at London's Oxford St. Topshop flagship has a confirmed case of the H1N1 swine flu virus. The store reportedly sees over 200,000 visitors a week. Topshop has no plans to close it. [Racked]
• Giorgio Armani is set to unveil his latest scent, Idole d'Armani, next month. Polish actress Kasia Smutniak will be the face of the brand. [Reuters]
• Calvin Klein designers Italo Zucchelli and Francisco Costa defend their racy billboard against the pearl-clutchers of SoHo. (Or something.) Said Costa, "There was no intention of making that controversial. Just make beautiful ads. And they're beautiful ads. And I think, you know, we're such a forward society, but we tend to be a little prudish sometimes. It's New York City! It's the 21st century! Honey, we have to move on!" Zucchelli called the ad "In the best tradition of Calvin Klein," and said, "It's my favorite campaign ever! ...Everyone needs to be scandalized and screaming. That is what we want." [The Cut]
• The economy goes one way, shoplifting statistics go another. [WWD]
• Sophia Kokosalaki is moving to helm Diesel's Black Gold line. [WWD]
• After the hash-up of a bankruptcy auction, eventual owners of the Filene's Basement chain, Syms and Vornado Realty, say they want to proceed with their purchase as quickly as possible. [WWD]

• In a 90's flashback, Kate Moss sings on the Lemonheads track "Dirty Robot." It's mostly her Rex Harrisoning "You're a dirty robot" over an electronica track. Is moderately awesome. [Fashionologie via Dazed Digital]

• The Paris Museum, which is putting together an exhibit on the creation of the "Kate Moss myth," has postponed it due to the overwhelming body of submissions. [WWD]
• The new Bjorn Borg store in SoHo may seem like an odd recession gamble, but the brightly-hued panty-and-tennis emporio sure is cute! [Fashion Week Daily]
• The latest crop of H&M's Designers Against AIDS includes Dita Von Teese, Katy Perry, Yoko Ono, and Cyndi Lauper. Bring it! [Just Jared]
• Maybe it's karma? H&M sales are slightly up, prompting hopes of a rebound. [Reuters]
• Or maybe it's the runaway success of its Matthew Williamson collection? They've re-stocked! [Racked]
• The tanking economy has led to a new phenomenon of high-end discount retail: think Filene's, um, parlor? [Reuters]
• John Bartlett, who was, apparently, a major fashion bad boy for a while, now has a really grown-up apartment full of dogs. [WSJ]
• Ouch: Nordstrom posts a 32% profit decline. [The Street]
• And Eddie Bauer, around whom sales rumors are swirling, has more than doubled its losses. [The Street]
• And if you're hoping for a reprieve, stop reading: Nike's cutting 1,750 jobs worldwide. [MSNBC]
• Abercrombie and Fitch is still in free fall, re-strategising like mad. [WSJ]
• Meanwhile, U.S.-made apparel prices, while down for April, are up for the year. [WWD]
• Necessity being the mother of globalization, Oscar de la Renta's hoping to boost worldwide sales by expanding to the Arabian Gulf. [WWD]
• Neither Soon-Yi Previn nor Mia Farrow will be called to testify in the Battle of the Nebbishes, Woody Allen versus American Apparel. Maybe because they have nothing to do with the case? [Reuters]< li>More previews of the Anna Wintour 60 Minutes interview! It's actually really dull! "It's very important to me that I look good when I go out publicly...I like looking at my clothes rack in the morning and deciding what to pick out. I enjoy fashion, Morley, I mean, I wouldn't be in this job if I didn't." [New York]
• Meanwhile, the editrice is teaming up with New York hizzoner Michael Bloomberg for an initiative to jump-start NYC retail. [WWD]
• We're only so-so excited about Tracy Feith's upcoming line for Target, which feels more fast and girlish than really adaptable. "Think super-short skirts, bloomer shorts and ruffled bikinis. Feith is known for his spirited, acid-floral prints and here, some are better than others." [LA Times]
• Talking "fast," Forever21 is rolling out a new "contemporary" line, Love21. Not sure what this means, as it's not like the current clothes are exactly "vintage." [Fabsugar]
• Jessica Hart, who apparently made waves (sorry) in the SI swimsuit issue, will be hitting the Victoria's Secret runway. But wait, we don't remember her appearance on The City! What did she do? [News.com.au]
• Speaking of The City! Is Olivia Palermo moving to Elle? But what about her special assignment to Paris? [New York Post]
• Read it and weep: some truly amazing vintage couture is going under the hammer in Paris in July. [WWD]
• Karl Lagerfeld was two hours late for a dinner in Venice. But doesn't he travel with his own boiled quail or something anyway? [Style.com]
• Louis Vuitton has funded artist Richard Prince's latest public installation: wrapping the Hong Kong Museum of Art in pulp fiction covers. [WWS]
• In concert with Cannes, Louis Vuitton is collaborating with Spanish actress Rossy de Palma on a $546 fan. We're sure Lagerfeld will eye it longingly, like a high school love. [WWD]

• Fresh off his CFDA award women's wear nomination, Marc Jacobs is reportedly engaged to his Brazilian boyfriend of one year, Lorenzo Martone. Mazel tov to the happy couple! [WWD]

• Anna Sui, who is being given the Geoffrey Beene lifetime achievement award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, talked to Style.com for the occasion about New York's garment district, which has been threatened by rent rises and zoning changes, not to mention the increasing number of designers who outsource their fabric and notions sourcing, and their sample construction. "So much of my work is based on the resources in that neighborhood  the lacemakers and the pleaters and so on," said Sui. "I have my design studio here; I drape on a mannequin; we sew our own samples. That's how I know how to make clothes. I can't make sense of a dress without seeing how a fabric drapes, for example...I would just really hate to see the fashion industry go the way of all industry in America, and give up and go totally outsourced. We used to have the most beautiful woolen mills here, and the best denim. There was a sense of craft." [Style.com]
• Louis Vuitton, a company whose zealotry in protecting its intellectual property is well-known, is taking on Google in the European Court of Justice. At issue: the fact that the search giant sells ads to companies that make counterfeit Louis Vuitton products, and that those ads appear above the legitimate search results. Louis Vuitton says it's tantamount to copyright infringement, Google says it's up to users whether they click on any ads or not. [The Cut]
• Spring at H&M involves a wide-legged drop-crotch zebra-print jumpsuit. Don't say nobody warned you. [Fabsugar]
• This otherwise fine profile of Lauren Hutton begins by calling her "fashion's most wondrous wrinkly." Which certainly made me wrinkle my nose. [Telegraph]
• Even though he, like Hutton, is increasingly an actor these days, Tyson Beckford wishes magazines would use more models on their covers. [AP]
• And as if to taunt him, here's Penelope Cruz, looking sort of like she needs to pee, on the April cover of Spanish Vogue. [Popsugar]
• There are all kinds of fashion-y things going on with your television this week. Today is the premiere of CNN International's Carine Roitfeld documentary, which you can watch online, Friday is Valentino Day on Martha Stewart, and Saturday is the debut episode of the newly revived House of Style with Bar Refaeli and Chanel Iman. In case that's not enough, Valentino: The Last Emperor is opening in select theaters today, and soon enough we'll be treated to whatever Morley Safer cooks up on Anna Wintour, too. Phew. [Fashionista]
• Speaking of Valentino: his half-dozen pugs might guest-blog on Martha Stewart's dogs' blog, the Daily Wag. I thought the whole point was that on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog? [The Cut]
• Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow (who says those pugs are "not good kids dogs") said at the New York premiere of the film that it had failed to reveal Vava's "naughty" side. "He's the naughtiest [man]-slash-gentlemen in the entire world," said the actress. [WWD]
• Catherine Zeta-Jones can be seen moonlighting in a seven-minute advertisement for Unilever's Lux hair product brand, developed for the Asian market. [AdAge]
• Nike's sales for the third quarter declined slightly, but there may be worse times ahead: the company largely sells according to futures orders, orders for clothing and shoes scheduled one season ahead of time. And those have contracted by 10% this quarter, to $6.5 billion. [WSJ]
• The company that makes Crocs is likely to go under. At least, that's the opinion of its auditor, as disclosed in the business's annual report. Falling revenue makes it all but impossible that the company will be able to secure a new revolving credit line after its current one matures on April 2. [The Street]
• Eddie Bauer also says it's at significant risk of violating its debt obligations. After two attempted debt restructuring deals were rejected by creditors, a third amended debt deal was made, under which the company will pay higher interest rates and issue warrants for its stock. Fourth-quarter revenue fell 5.7%, and the company has seen a wave of recent layoffs and store closures nationwide. [Reuters]
• The auction of items from Gianni Versace's Lake Como villa netted some $10.3 million  far exceeding the original estimate of $3.3 million. And that was after the withdrawal from sale of the 18th century Johann Zoffany painting whose ownership is now in question. [Telegraph]
• Hermes beat its profit forecast for 2008, and says it is on track as of right now to meet its expectation of stable sales in 2009. [FT]
• Proctor and Gamble-owned Rochas, which in the years since firing Olivier Theyskens has existed only as a perfume brand, is a fashion house once more thanks to Marco Zanini. Zanini was most recently heard from as the guy hired to relaunch Halston. (It didn't go so well.) The new collection looks a little bland, and it's interesting that only now, in the post-shows news gulch, is this a story. [WSJ]
• And in news to make you barf, Goyard has a "limited-edition" pink trunk for sale at Colette in Paris. It's large enough to fit a Barbie doll and her accoutrements, and it costs $3650. [Forbes]

• Dita Von Teese wears two Elie Saab couture creations in her limited-run Paris show. Is it strange that the only people who can afford couture these days are burlesque artists and Saudi princesses? [IHT]

• Fashion week is "hitting the reset button" because in this economic climate, return on investment is ever more important. [WWD]
• And don't expect any parties. Really. [WWD]
• The show schedule is now available online. [The Cut]
• Christian Siriano will be there, in the Salon at the tents, showing his new collection for Payless. Which is good news because at $25-$45 for bags and shoes inspired by Egyptology, these are that rare affordable fashion week thing. [WWD]
• Interesting: Richie Rich, everyone's favorite glittering ex-club kid, is showing on February 18. At no less a venue than the Waldorf Astoria, demonstrating once and for all that his particular brand of sparkle can exist above 23rd St. There hasn't been much heard of Rich since the end of his old label, Heatherette, which he ran with Traver Rains. [The Cut]
• Rich is promising "Head-to-toe wearable" for his namesake collection. Wonder how this'll shake out. [WWD]
• Isaac Mizrahi already showed his fall/winter collection for Liz Claiborne. It looks good, and involves something called "Kaleidoplaid." [Style.com]
• And the re-re-animated Halston is forgoing a show in favor of a video it's going to e-mail to editors and buyers on Saturday. [WWD]
• PETA's also gearing up for its favorite parasitic marketing opportunity of the year. Giorgio Armani, who stopped using all fur except for, it claims, rabbit pelts left over from the meat industry, recently drew the pressure group's ire and his New York flagship store will be picketed. [NYDN]
• Jason Wu, the American Vogue cover getting, Michelle Obama outfitting, 26-year-old fashion superstar, is to be sold on Net-A-Porter.com. [UK Elle]
• New York Magazine has 10 models to watch this season, you know, just some real new faces like that girl who walked for Marc Jacobs that one time and that girl in the current Prada campaign. [The Cut]
• Finally, a fashion magazine for the girls who smoke cigarettes behind the parking lot at school and could tell a Steven Meisel from a Steven Klein at 50 paces before entering their teens. Carine Roitfeld, editor-in-chief of French Vogue, is rumored to be assembling a team to launch a biannual teen fashion magazine. French Teen Vogue! Ooh la la. [FWD]
• Chanel Iman is supposedly to have a walk-on part on Gossip Girl as a guest at one of Serena's parties. A tipster reports she ate macaroni and cheese for lunch. (Chanel's still at that age where you can eat anything and not gain an ounce. Sigh.) [Daily Intel]
• Emma Roberts, Julia's niece, is another new face of Neutrogena. [WWD]
• Lorenzo Martone, Marc Jacobs' boyfriend of 11 months, seems like a charming romantic. "Valentine's Day is two days before his show, it has to be very quiet, but I'm still planning a little surprise," says the Brazilian. "During the last Vuitton show in Paris, I didn't tell him I was going to go  I just showed up in Paris in his office with flowers as a surprise the day before the show. He was totally, totally surprised. It was really, really good to see his reaction, and I don't know  we are so in love that it was really gorgeous to see his eyes." My heart, it's melting now. [The Cut]
• Two acts who grew up in Illinois, Liz Phair and OK Go!, are among the musicians featured in Banana Republic's New York-themed spring campaign, which will be out on February 18. [Brand Week]
• The "Got Milk?" campaign is the latest concern to drop alleged domestic abuser Chris Brown from its roster. Cover Girl says it's standing by Rihanna. [E! Online]
• Jones Apparel Group posted a slightly smaller-than-expected quarterly loss of 4 cents a share. (Analysts had expected 5 cents.) Revenues for the company even rose, by 1%, to $846.9 million. Let us all cheer not-bad fashion business news! [NY Times]
• Nike is cutting 4% of its 35,000-strong workforce. [WWD]
• Bob Marley's family has licensed his image and name, along with catchphrases like "Catch a fire" and "One Love" to the company Hilco Consumer Capital, which paid some $20 million in the deal. Hilco already owns Ellen Tracy and Linens 'n' Things. [Reuters]
• Hadley Freeman scored the first interview with Phoebe Philo, newly of Celine. Marco Gobetti, the LVMH vice-president with whom Philo is rumored to already be clashing, makes an uncomfortable joke about having to "cover up the bruises"  his, or Philo's, it's not clear  before the journalist arrived. [Guardian]
• The New York Times' critical shopper visited the new Brooks Brothers Black Fleece store in the West Village, and found the Thom Browne-designed line very interesting if not ultimately practical. (There are fit issues with the womenswear.) Still, the theory is good: "Picture a cross between Pee-wee Herman and Nurse Ratched, only more obsessive-compulsive. It is a look so stiffly starched - all the buttons are just so very, very buttoned, both up and down - as to recall corsetry, humane restraint devices or orthopedic inserts. It is a look that may mold and instruct the wearer in his relentless quest for superior health, posture and hygiene. As the 'Goldberg Variations' were to Glenn Gould, these clothes seem to be both the tools and execution of a meticulously tended neurosis." [NY Times]
• This sounds awesome: Prada has asked four stylists, including Carine Roitfeld and Katie Grand, to style their stores in New York, London, Paris and Milan. Anyone not in those cities can see the project online. [WWD]
• Whoa. Raquel Welch is shilling reading glasses. I suppose One Million Years B.C. was a long time ago. [Brand Freak]
• There's an entertaining and thoughtful Q&A with someone named Chicken John Rinaldi, who apparently led the fight against the proposed American Apparel on Valencia St. in San Francisco. Rinaldi comes off rather well: "It depends on whose liberty you are defending. Are you defending the liberty of American Apparel to open a store wherever they want? Or are you defending the liberty of the people who live on the block? Or are you defending the people who shop at the store? Or are you going to defend the liberty of the people who own the other stores whose rents are without question going to quadruple?" [Mother Jones]
• And now, our daily minute of hate: Italian brand Relish's new campaign, shot in Rio de Janeiro but featured now on billboards in Italy, features men dressed as Rio cops molesting women as they arrest them. [Shakesville]

• The first images from Katie Holmes' campaign for Miu Miu have arrived... [Vogue UK]
• ...and she looks a lot like her BFF Victoria Beckham, whose ads for Emporio Armani are just out as well. [Telegraph]

• Lindsay Lohan's latest campaign, for Fornarina, has debuted. She looks a little like a hard-partying LA star who woke up in a strange mansion wondering, 'Why?' Must have been a stretch. [People]
• One reason J Crew's chief exec may have been so confident the era of the $800 shoe was over yesterday is because he knew the era of the $300 shoe was over, too: the retailer, for the first time in its history, has so much unsold stock that it's been forced to contract with a sample sale operator just to move the units. The brand's own network of factory stores could not absorb the overruns. Fellow retailer Calypso recently took the same move, and one industry consultant says another "high-end retailer" is planning a first-time warehouse sale. J Crew's sale starts next Tuesday in Manhattan, and stock will be discounted up to 70%. [Crain's]
• Barnes and Noble, being booksellers, probably should know a thing or two about copyright and intellectual property, no? Unfortunately, the megastore is pimping a bookbag (with a lifetime guarantee!) that bears a striking resemblance to a Louis Vuitton resort collection canvas tote from 2005. Down to the very buckles, and the striped webbing handles. Someone's gonna get fired for this. [Fashionista]
• Valentino has been fined for tax evasion in Italy. His longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, is also cited, and together they owe some $39 million. Valentino retired from his label last year, and officially moved his residence back to Italy, which is how they got him. The two claim it's all a misunderstanding. [WWD]
• Second bankruptcy of the week: Retailer Gottschalks is in Chapter 11, trying to get a reorganization plan approved. [AP]
• Kenneth Cole is forecasting a fourth quarter operations loss and 11% reduction in same-store sales. Share prices are near 52-week lows. [Crain's]
• Decidedly not floundering is Swatch. The watchmaker plans to open 15 stores in Hong Kong alone this year. [WSJ]
• Vera Wang, who founded her line after failing to male the U.S. Olympic figure skating team, is being inducted into the sport's hall of fame for her costume designs. How sweet. [WWD]
• I kind of love it when the mainstream press covers fashion; they always think they have discovered some massive, important story about how industry conditions are changing, or something, and then they go and drop a line like "Linda Evangelista, the current face of fashion giant Prada" and I get my hackles all up like BITCH, THAT NEW CAMPAIGN DROPPED TWO WEEKS AGO, and it stars Ymre Steikema, Anna Jagodzinska, Giedre Dukauskaite, Katrin Thormann, Nimue Smit, Sigrid Agren, Toni Garrn, and Viktoriya Sasonkina. And then I discount everything the esteemed Daily Telegraph has to tell me about models getting "curvier" (ha, ha, ha!) or whatever. [Daily Telegraph]
• Peter Som is in a state of uncertainty after the departure of his financial backer and the cancellation of his fashion week show. The talented designer is putting out feelers to do a diffusion line for Target or H&M. He doesn't care which. [The Cut]
• And...Opening Ceremony for Uniqlo! Shazam. [Refinery29]
• Designers are also creating t-shirts and totes in support of our president-elect. The sales of the items, by talents like Alexander Wang, Diane von Furstenberg, and, er, House of Dereon, will help pay for the inauguration. [WWD]
• The USA Today has some standard-issue rules for inauguration outfits, including such headscratchers as keeping your gown 1-1.5" off the floor since "that way, you're not going to step on it" and "High heels may look great, but they're not always comfortable." Revolutionary. [USATODAY]
• Time talked to Vivienne Westwood, and she said awesome things like, "I just think people buy too many clothes, whether they love fashion or whether they just want 12 T shirts, all different colors, and 12 pairs of jeans all the same. People look a mess because they're buying too many clothes; they're not thinking. If you do buy something new, if you've got the money to afford it, then buy a beautiful piece." Read it. [Time]
• Now it makes sense. The reason Niki Taylor was replaced by Australian model Nicole Trunfio on Make Me A Supermodel: she's pregnant again. She wanted to share the news with ET, naturally. [ETonline]
• Now, ladies, let Diane von Furstenberg explain how to do a mariage blanc: "Barry respects me so much," she said of husband Diller. "We don't live together during the week, although we go out together. I live on top of my shop; he lives at the Carlyle hotel. It doesn't feel strange at all. I just need a little bit of space. If I can't be alone a little bit, then I lose myself  and I cannot lose myself." Actually sounds pretty giddy. [Racked]

• A celeb designer we could actually get behind: Helen Mirren! If given a line for Marks & Spencer, she says she'd call it, "DWS: Dresses With Sleeves." [Telegraph]
• Meanwhile, addressing the crucial shortage of celebrity fragrances, Patrick Dempsey launches "Unscripted," replete with "lavender top notes, fig mid notes, and patchouli finish." Quoth the Can't Buy Me Love star, “Sometimes people are scared off by patchouli, but I think most people secretly like it!” Think again, mister. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Brit presenter Alexa Chung: "I stopped modelling because it was just so stifling. It is very hard, when something is your passion, to be controlled and told how to do it and what to wear." Um, exactly which part was she "passionate" about? [Telegraph]
• Vogue editor-at-XXL Andre Leon Talley is sporting a rhinestone-bedazzled "Obama" hat, overcoat. President-elect backs away slowly. [WSJ]

• Michael Jackson is auctioning off his iconic "Billie Jean" glove! The embattled King of Pop must be, ahem, embattled. [WWLTV]
• While we have no idea whether or not Michelle would actually wear Khuraira's new bronze "Lady Obama" lipstick, she'd probably approve of a percentage of profits going to a breast cancer charity. [Nylon]
• Victoria Beckham's dresses are selling like gangbusters stateside! [WWD]
• Maybe it's because Posh has her design priorities: easy access. "I knew I would spend a lot on the best-quality zips because, like many women, I’ve had my share of crappy zips. I wanted a zip that undoes from both ends because then you can either put the dress on over your head or, if you don’t want to mess up your hair, you can step into it. And also, you know, going to the loo wouldn’t be this whole big palaver." [The Sun]
• Conde Nast's new odds-beating Love mag has a secret blog. [Fashionista]
• Celebs are all about odd-looking custom knits. [Telegraph]
• Speaking of bespoke: Will Savile Row's custom tailors be a recession casualty? [Independent]
• Meanwhile, mild winters spell doom for Russia's fur industry; probably still spells doom for animals. [Reuters]
• Also hurting: the overseas factories who supply U.S. stores. [FT]
• Ugh. Theory lays off 50. [WWD]
• Oscar de la Renta, however, has hired 15! [Fashion Week Daily]
• As we suspected, the Leger bandage dress is apparently impossible to eat in. [Daily Mail]
• Conversely, sales of men's XL clothes are way up in England. [Telegraph]
• Fashionistas are pissed that Marc Jacobs has canceled his annual holiday party. But could he really top last year's camel toe? [WWD]
• Rich Parisienne scores some haute couture bargain. "It must be because of the crisis everybody is talking about." [Reuters]
• They say YSL's art collection is good. Judge for yourselves! [Vanity Fair]
• Given that Nike's collaborating with APC, you know the resulting sneakers will be chic, simple, and way out of our price range. [VogueUK]
• "Have you seen a toddler? They're all bums and tums. But if you look at a mannequin of a toddler, it's a little shrunken adult body, like a little alien. If you're making clothes and using that as the model, it's not going to work." That's why Janice Wang makes realistic fit mannequins. [FT]
• Save the planet, celeb style! "The event not only showed off McDonald’s exquisite pendants featuring pavé diamond bears on top of geodes, but also raised awareness for Conservation International, an organization that protects the Ursus Maritimus as well as other endangered species." [WWD]
• New "invisible panties" are way less sexy, more practical than they sound! [Daily Mail]
• When you remember that awful urine-drinking Diesel campaign, it's no shocker that the film for their new kids' line is totally freaky: "The finale is unnerving, as the whole cast—bathed in an unearthly, almost hellish glow—start screaming. " [AdWeek]
• Mario Testino's new Burberry ads, featuring moddles in a plant nursery, is somewhat less alarming. [WWD]

• Rumor has it that Jessica Biel's gonna be designing bags for squeeze Justin Timberlake's William Rast line. "Sources say she has already started sketching designs for a limited edition collection. Isn't it a coincidence how much hidden design talent there is in Hollywood? [Daily Express]
• "In times of uncertainty, I think the wrap dress becomes an even more important friend. It's flattering. And wrapping is a reassuring thing." Why yes, it is, Diane Von Furstenberg! [Newsweek]
• Naomi Campbell is doing a duet and music video with Indian star Ashkay Kumar - in Hindi. [VogueUK]
• Apparently Manolo Blahnik can take or leave Sex And The City. He's never seen it! [New York Post]

• Karl Lagerfeld unveiled the Christmas windows of Paris store Printemps, which feature "a fantasy troupe of articulated puppets named Coco frolicking in a garden of golden flowers." [WWD]
• "Each puppet is stylishly attired in a modern, almost space age take on the classic quilted Chanel suit and every puppet has Mademoiselle Chanel's iconic blunt fringed bob." [ElleUK]
• Speaking of moddles named Coco: "Not so long ago, Rocha was just your average Irish-dancing, nature-loving Canadian teenager." [WWD]
• "The first order of business for the new president will no doubt be to get America to hitch up its pants and give the economy a kick-start. It will be interesting to see if he can also get America to hitch up its pants, period." [NY Times]
• Breaking! "This week has seen Agyness Deyn on a fashion rollercoaster channelling a different trend or decade every day." [ElleUK]
• Cosmetics company Carol's Daughter will help address the severe shortage of celeb fragrances with "My Life by Mary J Blige." [WWD]
• Following K-Mart's example, Sears brings back layaway. Which, sadly, requires far too much foresight for the average holiday shopper.[AdAge]
• L'Oreal announces winners for the 11th annual L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science. [WWD]
• Oscar de la Renta's house is really nice. [Style.com]
• Jennifer Vendetti may be the one to discover the rest of us! "The New York casting director is known in the industry for her rare eye for finding the imperfect, but captivating, beauty in everyday people." [W]
• Check it: Hayden Hartnett's line for Target. Dig the umbrella. [Racked]
• Rachel Bilson's "style obsessions" apparently include Kobo candles, her own line. [Cosmopolitan]
• These "just douche it" ads are intended/likely to piss off Nike. [AdRants]
• Fashion darlings Rodarte win Swiss textile award. [WWD]
• Feminists, Catholics aren't thrilled about Boston College's Victoria's Secret collaboration. [UPI]
• Newsweek discovers that redefining our fashion priorities, recessionista-style, could be a good thing. [Newsweek]
• Modelinia, the new all-moddles-all-the-time site, is gearing up. [Fashionista]
• More on Helmut Lang's bizarre collaboration with Absolut, which is allegedly about "experiencing art" in new ways. Drunk? [BlackBook]
• New book on secret rebel Geoffrey Beene. "On the outside, the bespectacled, bow-tied Southerner appeared uptight and WASPy, but he was an enthusiastic early adapter of cheap chic (launching his lower-priced Beene Bag sportswear collection in 1971) and the promise of the Internet." We do like our contradictions! [Los Angeles Times]
• Kohl's and Nordstrom pessimistically cut their outlooks. [Reuters]
• Ouch, and Abercrombie's really hurting. [The Street]
• Get me Demarchelier! The legendary lensman started small: "I was 17 and living in Le Havre when my stepfather offered me a camera. I got hooked instantly. I learned the art of photography working in a small shop there, taking passport and wedding photos." [WSJ]
• Jay McCarroll hates the spotlight. Kinda. "But I guess the more I stand there and the more someone notices and writes, then I can have a beach house...I’m going to get to drinking now, okay?" [Observer]
• Apparently the hemline index is still relevant in Morocco! [Global Voices]

• Ooh! Sneak peek at Christian Siriano's bizarre "Moody Mamas" maternity line! [New York Magazine]
• Russia's fashion elite feel the financial burn; neglect shopping. "Usually abuzz with Moscow's rich, the shop was populated only by the mounds of black caviar and giant lobsters left untouched in fridges." [Reuters]
• Jesse McCartney (he's part of the Disney stable for those over the age of 16) is launching a scent. [WWD]
• I'm sure you can figure it out, but here's a how-to on Palin Halloween costumes! [Sassybella]

• Call your PO on a Prada cell! [WWD]
• Scrawny designer Hedi Slimane now a photographer instead. [Fashionista]
• New CEO is optimistic about Steve & Barry's. Although seriously, what's he supposed to say? [NY Times]
• Nike is suing WalMart for allegedly ripping off a shoe, selling a cheaper version. Completely implausible! [WSJ]
• Forbes "discovers" 10 "undiscovered designers" who, despite being completely secret are, you know, already being sold at boutiques and stuff. [Forbes]
• How to weather the recession? Cross-dressing! But seriously, I've scored in the boy's section at SalvA. [WSJ]
• Gotta say, if a moddle's gotta multitask, Karen Elson's Nashville boutique sounds kind of good: "The model, musician, and Jack White spouse joints forces with Venus & Mars’ Amy Patterson to open Venus & Mars—The Showroom. As Refinery29 notes, the shop “will be stocked with rare high-end vintage duds for men and women (with the option of custom tailoring in-house, upping the profile and selection of what was already, in the words of GQ, ‘the best clothing store in America’ two years in a row.'” [BlackBook]
• Barney's fashion director on Rodarte: “They are two of the best designers right now.…I really do know. I don’t brag that often, but I really do know.” [WWD]
• Illustrator It-Girl Daisy de Villeneuve is collaborating with Absolut Vodka on this London installation, "The House of Masquerade." "A vintage clothing boutique and cocktail bar in one, for five nights only, the space will play host to a fashion wonderland, offering shoppers the chance to come in and play dress-up - there'll even be a dedicated stylist on hand to help - while chilling out in the elegant surround." [VogueUK]
• FabSugar brings us its Budget Shopper's Guide to Fall. (Otherwise known as, not shopping.) But it's good: nothing over $50 for once. [FabSugar]

• Apparently emboldened by last week's success in Milan, Bruno — aka Sacha Baron Cohen — crashed Stella McCartney today. "With his red thong clearly visible above his jeans, the comedian — who was virtually unrecognisable in a flamboyant leather gilet, with his slicked-down hair dyed blonde and brown — sucked Tampax, clapped along to the music and generally disgruntled the front row by continually pushing aside those sitting in front of him for a better look at the models." He then delivered a "lone standing ovation." [VogueUK]
• In total radness: DVF to design a comic book in connection with her Wonder Woman-inspired collection. Really hoping she has to make the rounds of the comics conventions. [Fashionista]
• Chloe Sevigny gets into menswear. Well, Gallo will wear it. [Nylon]

• Andre Benjamin's clothing line is for the modern fop. "To create a persona for his fashion line, Mr. Benjamin combined his surname with that of Bill Bixby. The character is a world traveler whose wardrobe includes things like a $995 cotton corduroy blazer, a $350 felted waistcoat and a $95 newsboy cap." [NY Times]
• Whoever wears that will surely be the intended demographic for "J. Crew's first book." "Written by Max Blagg and illustrated by Hugo Guinness, What a Man Should Know is a collection of 50 (very) whimsical tips for the modern male. So what should you know? Chess, wine, and figure-drawing." [Men.Style]
• Some people claimed Heidi stole the Project Runway premise — aka the same setup every single competition reality show has ever had ever. A judge, not surprisingly, dismissed it. [wwltv]
• Michelle Obama sports H&M on the campaign trail. [BlackBook]
• Lagerfeld video. Nuff said. [NY Mag]
• Scary Spice Mel B wants a Project Runway-style reality show. Get in line, kid. [E]
• Rather than going bargain basement, Target courts recessionistas. [Business Week]
• More on Miss Sixty's woes. [BBC]
• Sorta It-Girl Cory Kennedy to replace Kinda It-Girl Daisy Lowe as the face of Docs. [Fashionista]
• Levi's tries way, way too hard: "The San Francisco company has launched a new viral effort it hopes will attract young men to pass along videos of customized "beasts" emerging from the button-fly of Levi's jeans. At Unbuttonyourbeast.com, visitors can choose from nine different animated characters with names like Trout Troutman, Paul the Pincher and Sock Nasty, then customize the beast's message by calling a toll-free number. The effort, unsurprisingly, is geared to young men just out of college." The emails are titled, "Do you dare to unbutton my beast?" [AdWeek]
• India eases the way for the burgeoning luxury market. [IHT]
• Guy Ritchie's first hit since hooking up with Madge: a Nike ad gets big on YouTube. [Telegraph]
• Naomi Campbell's gonna walk for Hermes; everybody flips out. [Fashion Week Daily]
• I wish these celebs would stop calling their mix tapes "albums." Anyhoo, Heatherette designer Richie Rich's, "Celebutante," is about to drop. [Fashionista]
• "If there were a gold medal for marathon modeling, Shalom Harlow would surely win it for the Viktor & Rolf fashion film that will begin today on the Dutch duo’s Web site. 'It was like the fashion Olympics,' said Rolf Snoeren, who, with Viktor Horsting, reenacted a high-tech version of 'Funny Face' to showcase their spring collection. 'It was 14 hours a day on high heels, but she was a champion.'” [WWD]
• 80's power shoulders are big (sorry) on the Paris runways. [WSJ]
• That gold statue of Kate Moss was just unveiled. [Mirror]
• UGGS are like cockroaches: all that will be left after a nuclear holocaust. While everything else is foundering, UGGs is way up! [WSJ]
• The Lauren Conrad line forlorn and unbought. [Page Six]
• Bossy new bikini has "decorative beads" that change color when UV rays grow dangerously high. [Telegraph]
• Screw Jimmy Choos. Cheap shoes make more sense for actual walking. [Daily News]
• "Margherita Missoni, meanwhile, has experienced some teasing for wearing vintage sparkling Harper’s Bazaar frames — due to an eye problem. 'Suzy Menkes says it’s my Sarah Palin look,' she laughed. 'It is definitely not inspired by her.'" [WWD]