Jezebel: rag trade

Retailers Treat Ungaro Like A Hot Potato; No Fashion Line For Ashley Tisdale

Jenna — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST

And now, the cold, hard, retail reality sets in: Neiman Marcus and Net-A-Porter are dropping Ungaro for Spring. Barneys and Saks also aren't ordering. Lindsay Lohan and Mounir Moufarrige, what have you wrought! [Style.com]

Ashley Tisdale does not yearn for a clothing line. "I've started a production company; I guess that's kind of my clothing line," says the actress. [WWD]
The incredible Alexander McQueen shoes — both the bulbous hoof ones, and the ones that look like some piece of anthropomorphic weaponry out of eXistenZ, which Lady Gaga wore in the video for "Bad Romance" — are apparently a hit. The designer says he's been inundated with calls from women wanting to buy the so-called "Alien" shoes, albeit some who are interested in them as art pieces. The process by which the shoes are made is protected by copyright, says a spokesperson for the brand. No word on whether a commercial version will be produced for wide sale; McQueen is mulling a charity auction for the runway samples. [Grazia]
Carlos Falchi's line of handbags for Target is in stores now through December 27th. The designer says, if he didn't have his current job, "I'd like to be a Brazilian cowboy." [TFI]
Victoria Beckham's people are denying the rumors she is planning, with Simon Fuller, to open a modeling agency — perhaps a U.S. branch of Storm, in which Fuller holds a controlling stake — in New York. "There is absolutely no truth in the story regarding Victoria Beckham and Simon Fuller opening a modeling agency in New York," says her spokesman. "Victoria is concentrating all her efforts on her fashion line and her family." [Vogue UK]
Daniel Lalonde, president of Louis Vuitton, basically confirmed Lara Stone will be the face of the spring campaign. [The Cut]
Betsey Johnson is redesigning her stores. Gone will be the hot-pink walls, replaced with white walls and checkerboard floors, to better display the clothes. [Racked]
Dooney & Bourke co-founder Frederic Bourke has been sentenced to 366 days in prison and a $1 million fine for his role in a failed scheme to bribe Azeri officials into privatizing Azerbaijan's oil company, which would have essentially deprived the country of profits from its greatest national resource. Bourke is appealing. [WWD]
Model Karmen Pedaru spent a year as goalie on an Estonian national soccer team. [W]
Funny, the only item this list of How To Look Like Gisele Bundchen is missing is: being born to look like Gisele Bundchen. (OK, so Nars Orgasm is bog standard by now, but $475 moisturizer? Come on.) [Blackbook]
The BHV — pretty much the most awesome department store in Paris — is getting Beth Ditto and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac to do its holiday windows. Meanwhile, stately old Printemps has Natalia Vodianova. [WWD]
The British Fashion Council will give an award to the winner of a public vote on who best "embodies the spirit of London." Nominees include Alexa Chung, Kate Moss, and Vivienne Westwood. [BFC]
Jeffrey Monteiro might be taking over as head designer at Bill Blass. [WWD]
Liz Lange is launching a lifestyle shopping site, apparently kind of like Gilt crossed with Daily Candy. [Crains]
People are trying to save Luella on the Internet. [Fashionista]
The Gossip Girl timeline is apparently now forever divided by the caesura of the Threesome; say Before The Threesome or After The Threesome, and everyone immediately knows what you mean. The boys on the show have been wearing a lot of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's line, Elizabeth & James, People notes. [People]
Jason Wu is doing a capsule collection for Tse this spring. [WWD]
Anthropologie is the most profitable of the three Urban Outfitters brands, quarterly results reveal. [TS]
Marie Osmond is licensing her name to a fashion and home decor line. Every last piece in the Marie Lifestyle Collection will retail for under $100. Expect to see it in stores later this month. [UPI]
Donna Karan's West Indies home is currently making us cry bitter tears of envy from our very black souls. [SB]

Ungaro: Lindsay's Fashion Line "A Disaster"; Banana Republic Clerks Too Bouncy

Jenna — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST

Lindsay Lohan's first collection for Ungaro has been derided by yet another industry heavyweight: Emanuel Ungaro himself. The designer, who sold the business that bears his name in 2005, says Lohan's work was "a disaster" that left him "furious." [Independent]

Glamour editor Cindi Leive says the magazine has booked plus-size models for stories for every issue through February, including (relatively more prestigious) fashion and beauty spreads. "One of the plus-size models who was featured in our original story is in one of our two major fashion features in December, and looks amazing," added Leive. Could that be Crystal Renn? Or one of the other gaggle of naked lovelies the ladymag featured in November? [The Cut]
Christopher Bailey is no longer the Burberry creative director. He is Burberry's chief creative officer, and don't you forget it. [WWD]
Further layoffs at Zac Posen are rumored to be imminent. Since he eliminated his PR director on Monday, the task of handling publicity has been taken up by Posen's mom. Gucci is also said to be mulling serious layoffs. [NYDN]
Marc Jacobs, maker of Louis Vuitton Everything: "The kennel was a bit of a joke, really." [ToL]
Jason Wu loves to cook and bake, but macaroons had so far eluded his range of expertise. No more! Food & Wine arranged a special lesson for the designer with François Payard. It'll be the subject of an upcoming feature in the magazine. [Grub St]
Not only did positive results for the last quarter not boost Crocs' share price — because investors took note that the surplus was largely the result of some kind of one-time tax bonus — but the maker of hideous shoes has trouble on the legal front, too. Porsche is suing Crocs over its use of the brand Cayman, which Porsche holds as a trademark in Germany. Apparently Porsche thinks there might be some confusion over the $29.99 Cayman sandal, and a $51,000 Porsche Cayman. [Footnoted]
Prabal Gurung designed a festive red dress with poufy asymmetrical shoulders for Oprah to wear on the cover of the December issue of her magazine. Ellen, in a white suit, strikes a pose next to her fellow talkshow host. Gurung calls Oprah "a role model, a mentor, a leader and a constant source of inspiration." [People]
Jean-Paul Gaultier's collection for Target will, he says, "shock parents, shock teachers." Perhaps not as much as his unwitting floor show at the Standard hotel, which has windows overlooking the High Line and Chelsea. "So, I am in the bedroom where it is an exhibitionist event!" says Gaultier. "I did not know that, so I did exhibition without knowing what I was doing. I did not know people could see. But, nobody was looking. It's quite hilarious, it's excellent." [The Cut]
Heidi Klum will be the face of Ann Taylor's holiday collection. The company is struggling to reinvent itself after season upon season of declining sales and clothes that even the CEO has admitted were lacking in the design department. Photographer Peter Lindbergh and supermodel Klum are, apparently, part of the rejuvenation plan. [People]
Someone is licensing John Lennon's artwork for a clothing collection. Imagine that! [UPI]
Weirdest fashion story ever? German Vogue has an editorial featuring Lost's Jorge Garcia and Christie Brinkley. Bruce Weber shot it in Montauk. [Fashionista]
Wow. Brazilian Vogue might just be worse than American Vogue. [MadeinBrazil]
Adam Lippes has foot-in-mouth disease. After previously telling reporters that "it's rare to find an intern — especially one from a fashion school — that has good style," two of his workers came to him to suggest that he might, you know, apologize. He pooh-poohed them ("I was like, 'I don't mean THESE interns!'"), then reconsidered. He assembled the intern crowd, and told them "I just meant, like, fashion students." They seemed skeptical. "Meanwhile, one of them is wearing silver boots up to here and is a guy. 'Not you! Those boots are great.' But it was fine." Sure it was. The cherry on top: "Some of my interns dress fantastically." [The Cut]
Diesel, which stopped selling its jeans in Macy's in 2005 to up its brand value, is reportedly in negotiations to sell a lower-priced line exclusively through the mega-retailer. "If they keep going this route, they'll end up like Levi's," says one person inside the company. [NYPost]
Meanwhile, Macy's forecasts its same-store sales to fall 1-2% for the fourth quarter. Shares fell 3.4% in the day's trading. [Reuters]
If you've ever wanted to experience the world of malodorous anguish and foot pain that is fashion blogging, here's your chance to submit to a humiliating public competition and vote! [Grazia]
The Shophound thinks the clerks at New York's new Banana Republic are way too friendly. [Shophound]
American Apparel's quarterly profits rose 83%, to $4.2 million, but investors aren't buying it. The stock price sank 4.6%, to $2.49. [NYPost]
Italian cashmere producer Brunello Cucinelli runs a factory with long lunch breaks, no timeclocks, and posted "rules" are quotes from philosophers and writers. He thinks he can afford to be both a great boss and a good businessman, and his company's revenues for this year are forecast to reach 154 million Euros, which is some 7% greater than last year, even with the recession. [Reuters]
Talbots has reportedly hired outside consultants to help the company, which has weathered five quarters of successive losses, refinance $225 million in debt. [NYPost]

Alicia's Kooky Jewels; Tom Ford Calls Yves Saint Laurent "Evil"

Jenna — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST

Alicia Keys has a jewelry line; her bangles and rings come engraved with the words of the Japanese pseudoscientist Masaru Emoto. You can't make this up. [WWD]
Marie Claire has published some clear pictures of Rodarte's line for Target. [Nitrolicious]

John Galliano's Christmas tree design for Claridge's is extraordinary and very weird. [Vogue UK]
Madonna has rebounded from Louis Vuitton's decision not to re-hire her for a third season of ad campaigns rather well: she shot the spring Dolce & Gabbana campaign with Steven Klein in a Brooklyn studio on Friday. [WWD]
Zac Posen has eliminated his public relations officer because of budget constraints. [WWD]
Jamba Juice is getting into the rag trade. The maker of delicious smoothies thinks it can whip up "Jamba-inspired" t-shirts, sweatshirts, and headwear that everyone will want. No delivery date for the first collection was given. [BrandWeek]
Express is suing Forever 21 for copyright violations concerning several plaid patterns, in what has to be the endgame for fashion originality. [WWD]
Scarlett Johanson is apparently still doing ad campaigns for Mango. [FWD]
Diane Von Furstenberg dropped a few dresses off with Ikram Goldman during a recent trip to Chicago. We all know what that means! [WWD]
Thakoon Panichgul is now the creative director of the Japanese jewelry brand Tasaki. [Style.com]
Tom Ford's profile in the Advocate is alternately touching, perhaps too revealing, and kind of crass — kind of like the man's designs. He opens up about his depression, his struggles with alcohol dependency, admits to chasing youth with Botox and Restylane, and how he once shaved his eyebrow off when he was on mescaline, but most fascinatingly of all, to our ears, is the revelation that in his adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man, he gave the main character a last name after his first boyfriend, Ian Falconer. Oh! Also there's this: "Yves and his partner, Pierre Bergé, were so difficult and so evil and made my life such misery. I'd lived in France off and on and had always loved it. I went to college in France. It wasn't until I started working in France that I began to dislike it. They would call the fiscal police, and they would show up at our offices…They'd come marching in, and you had to let them in and they'd interview my secretary. And they can fine you and shut you down. Pierre was the one calling them. I've never talked about this on the record before, but it was an awful time for me. Pierre and Yves were just evil. So Yves Saint Laurent doesn't exist for me…I have letters from Yves Saint Laurent that are so mean you cannot even believe such vitriol is possible." [Advocate]
Says Vogue/CDFA Fashion Fund finalist Flora Gill, of Ohne Titel: "My parents were always very supportive. They actually bought me books about Comme des Garçons when I was 8 years old, which I think is not…usual." Meet the other nine finalists in this video. [Style.com]
Simon Fuller, who already holds a 51% stake in London's Storm Models, is rumored to be investigating setting up a New York agency. Posh is supposedly involved. This sounds awfully similar to the Simon-Fuller-and-Kate-Moss-are-going-to-found-an-agency rumor of a few months back. [Daily Mail]
The woman who runs British lingerie brand Ultimo (current face: Peaches Geldof) noticed her 10-year-old daughter talking about going on a diet. So she has decided to ban excessive Photoshopping in Ultimo's advertising images. (Whether she'll ban the company from employing women like Peaches Geldof as role models is unanswered.) [Sun]
Friday, Lady Gaga tweeted that she was visiting Nick Knight's Showstudio. The singer is apparently working with the fashion photographer/videographer on a video for her upcoming tour. The concept apparently involves "a veritable menagerie of animals." [Showstudio]
Style.com ranked 2009's top fashion partiers; all the usual suspects — Olivier Zahm, Alex Wang, Lauren Santo-Domingo, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, Leigh Lezark, Derek Blasberg, and Karl Lagerfeld — make the cut. But more importantly: can we never, ever refer to the Meatpacking District as "MePa" again? [Style.com]
Cacharel, relaunched this October under Belgian designer Cedric Charlier, is returning to worldwide distribution in the spring. [WWD]
And, just like that, it's over: Versace face, British Vogue cover model, Rimmel campaign-nabber Georgia May Jagger says she's quitting the biz. At least for the rest of the year: she's 17, so she has school, you know. [Vogue UK]
Luella is closing. [Vogue UK]
Former Gucci creative director Dawn Mello was allegedly run down by a bicycle messenger outside Bergdorf's. She has a shattered femur. [P6]

Versace In Trouble; Kate Moss Fires Hairstylist

Jenna — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST

Dana Thomas — author of Deluxe — wrote an excellent feature on the quagmire of the house of Versace. Thomas takes aim at Donatella and Santo Versace's resistance to change and ham-handed business decisions. It's a thrilling read. [Newsweek]

"My kids are my best style advisors because they are so honest," says Victoria Beckham. "I remember one time I was wearing a Chanel cape and skinny jeans and I walked down the stairs to see my sons and they said, 'Oh my God, Mummy, you're Batman!'" [Grazia]
We know this is hard to imagine, but the new Calvin Klein billboard in SoHo is quite sexual. Some say it "goes too far"! For more details of the development of this shocking and unexpected outrage, you can count on the Daily News. [NYDN]
Moises de la Renta, son of Oscar, is rumored to be "inking a deal" with Mango, presumably as a designer. [WWD]
Pamela Anderson has not one, but two perfumes: Malibu Blue and Malibu Pink. They start at $39 and are available at drug stores. [People]
Custom, one-of-a-kind Uggs really are a level of ugliness impressive to behold. [WWD]
Tamara Mellon says the clothes she has produced for the Jimmy Choo for H&M collaboration were hard to conceptualize, because she doesn't sketch. Then, like so many designers, she had a brainwave, and picked apart some much-loved vintage pieces, cut patterns, and slapped labels on them. [LATimes]
Although Mellon holds the copyright to the label Jimmy Choo, the real Jimmy Choo still designs bespoke shoes for an ultra-rich clientele under the name Jimmy Choo Couture. "I design like an architect," says the Malaysian-born Choo. "It's a beautiful, distinctive art, and shoes are like the foundations. If the foundations aren't right, the building won't stand upright, and if a woman's balance isn't right, nothing else is." Are you listening, Christian Louboutin? [Telegraph]
Kate Moss is notoriously resistant to being interviewed, so when longtime hairdresser James Brown included more of her than she anticipated in the final cut of a TV doc about his shop, she cut him loose. "She maintains her hair herself nowadays," says Brown, we imagine a tad wistfully. [Daily Mail]
Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons has a collection of handbags about the Beatles. [IHT]
Heard of Roksanda Ilincic? Mareunrols? Bogomir Doronger? Baltic and Eastern European designers must be a trend! [FT]
Hey, look: someone's applying the Netflix mail-order rental model to designer clothes. Drycleaning included in the fee. [NYTimes]
Burberry's social-networking site, artofthetrench.com, has launched. [Artofthetrench]
Cynthia Rowley is going to design new uniforms for United Airlines flight crews. [ChicagoTrib]
Henry Holland says he and Agyness Deyn, who both grew up in a town called Ramsbottom, rarely ponder the nuances of their unlikely fashion greatness. "We'd be complete wankers if we did that, wouldn't we? Pause the TV! 'Hang on, you're the hottest model and I'm one of the hottest young designers, let's talk about that while I make a brew.'" [Guardian]
While textile exports are worth around $12 billion to Pakistan's economy every year, the country's garment industry is relatively under-developed. "We are still doing the 30 dollar a dozen T-shirt business. There is no value added," said Ayesha Tammy Haq. "We should be employing millions of people, not hundreds of thousands of them." Hence Fashion Pakistan Week, of which Haq is the CEO. And don't expect the clothes to be dull: "This does not represent what we are as a people," designer Ayesha Tahir Masood said. "Only 0.001 percent of Pakistani women would wear these clothes, and then only in a controlled environment when drunk out of their minds." [AP]
Carmen Colle is a French designer who runs a company, World Tricot, that hand-makes unique knitwear to the specifications of top houses like Christian Dior, Givenchy and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Colle is suing Chanel for allegedly taking one of her crochet patterns without paying for it. The four-year-old suit is finally being heard in Paris, along with a countersuit that asks the judge to consider Colle's level of fault for daring blacken the Chanel name with such an allegation. Since filing her lawsuit, World Tricot has been largely abandoned by its other clients, and Colle has been forced to lay off all but 12 of her staff. [Guardian]
Lord & Taylor's same-store sales have risen 6% and 12%, respectively, on last September and October. Last September and October was pretty much the middle of the giant red Down arrow of the retail market, however, so even a double-digit improvement on those results is to be taken with a grain of salt. [WWD]
The company that makes Crocs enjoyed a $22.1 million third-quarter profit, but the stock is still losing value. The surplus largely came from a one-time tax benefit, and investors are dubious about the company's long-term prospects. [TS]

Zoe Kravitz For Vera; Mary-Kate & Ashley Close Beauty Line

Jenna — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST

Zoe Kravitz, negotiating the transition from Famous Daughter to Celebrity, has committed the necessary act of being photographed by Bruce Weber for a perfume campaign. Vera Wang was the lucky partner in fame-chasing. Shall we expect a reality show? [People]

Judge Richard Goldstone, who authored a U.N. report about Israel's war crimes, now has the honor of his name, embroidered in Arabic by local women, being used to sell scarves in Gaza. Shop owners say the scarves are selling out. [UPN]
That rumor we mentioned yesterday about Georgia Jagger proved true. She will be the face of Versace's spring campaign. [WWD]
Barbara Orbison, widow of Roy, has launched a perfume named for her late husband's best-known song: Pretty Woman. [WWD]
Lily Cole: "I'm very good at making salads, which probably sounds rather meek and model-like, but they're fancy salads. I add things like figs, blue cheese and pine nuts. I never follow a recipe –- I even make cakes by guessing what is the right amount of flour and the right number of eggs." Jesus, Cole, do you fly planes and mentally calculate pi to the 100th decimal and cure cancer, too? [Telegraph]
The Kimberley Process was set up in 2002 as an international regulatory body for the diamond trade. Incorporating governments, businesses, and NGOs and civilian groups, the goal was to end the trade in blood diamonds, which has destabilized the continent for decades. But at the group's annual meeting in Namibia, it failed to expel Zimbabwe from membership, despite a Kimberley fact-finding mission in June that discovered that Zimbabwean diamond miners are subject to constant government harassment, and that over 100 had been killed in the past year. The income from the mines, an estimated $1 million a month, is used by Robert Mugabe to prop up his regime. But Zimbabwe can't be expelled because the Kimberley group's own rules require unanimity before such a step is taken. (Looks like Kimberley might be the League of Nations of the gem trade.) The Women's Wear Daily journalist reports a mine owner said "it was up to consumers whether they should buy diamonds, when doing so could fund tribal warfare, genocide and terrorism." When the C.E.O. of a mining company tells you not to buy diamonds... [WWD]
Mulberry is doing a line of laptop bags with Apple. [Elle UK]
Justin Timberlake's William Rast is expanding. The company opened three stores in California this month, and plans another 40-50 by 2012. [WWD]
Zac Efron says he wore his favorite jeans every day for eight weeks to get them to look perfectly lived-in. [WWD]
Nicole Ritchie will be doing a House of Harlow 1960 collaboration with Bebe. The range will cost $38-$98, and one bracelet, for $25, will have "a portion" of its sales donated to the Ritchie-Madden Children's Foundation. The collection will hit stores on November 12. [People]
Vogue editor Lauren Santo-Domingo says that the office normally celebrates birthday parties with pizza and cupcakes — but that the question of whether or not to surprise Anna Wintour with a cake with 60 candles was obviated by her being in Washington, D.C., on the big day. "She's in Washington right now being anointed. She's being knighted by President Obama — I think that's a pretty good 60th-birthday present," said Santo-Domingo. Actually, she was appointed to a White House committee. [The Cut]
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen had a beauty line at Wal-Mart called mary-kateandashley. Who knew? Now you can't buy it anymore, because it's dead. [WWD]
Here's Rosie O'Donnell's account, given on her radio show, of a conversation she had with designer Eileen Fisher: "I see [her] and say, ‘I love you, and you have helped me. You can't imagine how much stress I had in my life because of clothing but once I found you three years ago everything changed. On behalf of every plus-sized woman in the world, I just want to thank you. And I want to ask you why do you only have the [plus] sizes down in SoHo?'" Fisher responded, "That's not really our demographic…you know, we sell a lot of size two." O'Donnell quipped, "Oh yeah, the plus-size two?" Fisher said, "No, the regular size two." O'Donnell leaped to the obvious conclusion. "So, you're trying to design for everyone and you don't really want the association with the plus-size people?" Fisher's response? "Well, it's just not the image that we're going for." Ouch. "It was like someone stabbed me in the heart. I was like, ‘OK, Eileen, we're broken up. I am wearing Donna Karan from now on.'" Sometimes meeting your idols is a terrible idea. But if Eileen Fisher is serious about passing over her established audience of professional women of means and age (a demographic which is severely under-served by the rest of the fashion industry) in favor of young things who want to wear leggings, then Fisher will probably get her comeuppance in the marketplace, won't she? [WWD]
Madonna donated a pair of Christian Dior shoes to a charity working to end discrimination against Roma people, and the shoes fetched $16,600 at auction. [SB]
Helena Rubinstein is coming back to the U.S. market with a new perfume, and Demi Moore as its face. [WWD]
[WWD]
If you live in New York, and somehow lack for opportunities to see men in strange outfits, you could go to Miss J's book signing next Tuesday at the TriBeCa Barnes & Noble. He wrote a tome entitled, Follow The Model: Miss J's Guide To Unleashing Presence, Poise, and Power. [Barnes & Noble]
If you wanna chain-smoke your downtown fashion people-spotting, Carine Roitfeld is rumored to be coming to New York next Monday for an art opening. (Only semi-related: we saw Olivier Zahm at the Tracey Emin opening last night. Outside the dusky confines of the [late, lamented] Beatrice Inn, we had the revelation that the Purple Fashion editor looks exactly like Rick Moranis. Or Booger from Revenge of the Nerds; we couldn't decide. Snap poll?) [P6]
Michael Kors says he enjoyed his Utah vacation. He went horse-riding, which he liked, and for a ride in a hot-air balloon, which left him "freaked out." "Face your fears!" says the designer. [WWD]
Sanjana Jon, sister of rapist designer Anand, showed her new fashion collection in Delhi. It's "inspired" by her brother. [NYPost]
Bankrupt German fashion house Escada has been bought by a daughter-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel baron. [NYTimes]

Versace Perhaps Switching From Gisele; A Very Happy Almost-Birthday To Daphne Guinness

Jenna — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST

UK Harper's Bazaar named Stella McCartney its best-dressed woman of the year. [Telegraph]
Georgia May Jagger is rumored to be the next face of Versace. [Fashionista]

Former Prada women's wear designer Rodolfo Paglialunga is now at the helm of the revived house of Vionnet. Let's hope this works, because the woman who invented the bias cut is not to be trifled with. [WSJ]
What was probably the fanciest party to ever celebrate the release of a DVD featured Adrien Brody, Marc Jacobs, Madonna, and Charlie Rose — all gathered in honor of Matt Tyrnauer's Valentino: The Last Emperor. Jesus Luz DJ'd, but didn't play any hip-hop. "I prefer electro-house," he shrugged. [TDB]
Tyrnauer, on the doc's Oscar chances: "We're honored to even be considered. Of course, there's been some talk. When I started making the movie the Oscars were the farthest thing from my mind. I just wanted to survive and make the best film I could. So it to be ranking up there with great docs this year is amazing. But we're all superstitious. And Italians are very, VERY superstitious. So, I guess we'll never talk about this openly." [FWD]
Daphne Guinness is currently re-reading Ringworld and W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge. [TFI]
And could she possibly be the "international fashion muse" spotted out in a pair of the insane heel-less shoes from Olivier Theyskens' much-mourned last collection for Nina Ricci? My goodness, Ms. Guinness. [VF]
It's her birthday on Monday. Guinness is going to celebrate by eating a sandwich and doing Bikram yoga. The Cut interrogated her further:

I forget [how old I'm turning]. 41, I think." (According to Wikipedia, she's turning 42.) "You know, I really don't care, because I don't expect to live for very much longer." What does that mean? "Oh boy, this is turning into a heavy conversation," she continued. "But it isn't about age — it's about experience. The only thing worth aiming for is love. As you long as you have that, it's okay, and then you have some issues you just need to work out during this lifetime, not that I'm religious in any shape or form. But I don't fear death. Love is the only thing that matters. Everything else is smoke and mirrors." So, is fashion smoke and mirrors, too? "That's the best smoke and the best mirror. You've gotta go out, so you should go out in style."

For the record, we hope she lives to a ripe old age. [The Cut]
When the Jimmy Choo for H&M collection goes on sale next week, queuing shoppers will be given wristbands as a crowd-control measure. That should work! [Telegraph]
FUBU is looking to return to the U.S., five years after leaving the market. The founder says the new collection will be "Carhartt-meets-Abercrombie-and-Fitch." Also, he thinks our short memories will save FUBU from forever being associated with tasteless puffa jackets and the wide-legged excesses of the late 90s, because "kids have a three-year memory span, so most don't have a sense of the brand's roots." [WWD]
Italo Zucchelli has already finished designing the entire fall 2010 Calvin Klein men's wear collection. Over-achiever. [Style.com]
Anthropologie is unveiling a new collaboration with Koi Suwannagate, under the label Lawan, Thai for "Beautiful." Although the first installment is only one dress, two cardigans, and a top, Suwannagate says the collaboration will be ongoing. [WWD]
Why anyone would go all the way to Mykonos, just to eat at Nobu, is beyond us. [Telegraph]

Heidi For Victoria's Secret; Tom Ford Talks About His Depression

Jenna — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST

Heidi Klum is not Superwoman, okay? She's not walking in the Victoria's Secret runway show a mere month after giving birth to her fourth child. She's just going to host it. Sheesh. Some people have such unrealistic expectations. [E!]

Meanwhile, this year's angels have been named: Candice Swanepoel, Chanel Iman, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Emanuela de Paula, and Lindsay Ellingson have all been welcomed into the fold. [SB]
In other important lingerie news, some people who sell bras in London say that 1950s-style pointy bras are gaining popularity. However, none of the equipment pictured looks that pointy. [Daily Mail]
Tom Ford says he struggled with depression after leaving Gucci, in 2004. "I started to sink emotionally, spiritually. I became a little bit lost. Leaving Gucci, it intensified because I had been able to cling to my job and to my work and to my identity as a successful fashion designer, and all of a sudden that was gone. It forced me to really think, Well, what am I, who am I, what am I about? It took me a bit of time to figure that out. I think this happens to most people in their life if they're insightful enough to indulge it and to get through to the other side." [W]
This week's episode of Project Runway was shot partly at the Getty Center, and the challenge for the contestants is to create outfits that somehow reflect the museum and its architecture. There's a free screening at 7 tonight at the museum. [LATimes]
Lady Gaga is now backtracking from her earlier claims, to Flare magazine, in which she said she would do a clothing line "at some point." The singer told the Accessories Council awards gala that she and her styling team aren't into that: "We will never do a line; we are not an economy." Then Toms founder Blake Mycoskie reminded the audience, gathered to celebrate, in Diane Von Furstenberg's words "friends you can carry with you and they make you feel better," that "Shoes, for 40 percent of the world, are not an accessory. They're a necessity." [Style.com]
50 Cent's torso appears in all its smoothly airbrushed glory for his new fragrance campaign, which he revealed to People. [People]
Stephanie Winston-Wolkoff, who, until this July, worked at Vogue and essentially ran the annual Met Costume Institute Gala, has just been confirmed as the new director of fashion week at Lincoln Center. [FWD]
There's news about Isaac Mizrahi's QVC collection, which goes on sale December 4, but we know what we all really are curious about is the cheesecake that will be sold. It's made by Junior's, the top looks to be printed with tartan in edible inks, and the crust is chocolate-flavored cookies. It'll be $40. Also for sale will be an Isaac Mizrahi banana nut loaf and chocolate-chip cookies. Yum. [WWD]
Sociology major and current Prada face Kendra Spears, on embarrassing moments: "Well, during a hurried interview backstage an investigatory journalist asked me what I liked to do when I was at home and I said, 'nothing too commotious.' Afterwards, I realized commotious isn't even a word." And on jobs she held, pre-modeling: "I worked part time as an assistant to the owner of a company called LiftPort which was (and may still be) in the forefront of technologies, mostly carbon nanotubes, to build an elevator into space." [W]
Because of the weak economy, more parents are trying to get agency representation for modeling and talent work for their children. Also because of the weak economy, there are fewer jobs to go around, and those jobs are still offered are less well-paying. [WSJ]
Rumor has it that John Galliano is designing and decorating this year's Christmas tree for London's Claridge's hotel. [Style.com]
Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous are in the Marks & Spencer holiday ads. [Mirror]
Designer Adam Lippes, who staffs his office with around 20 interns at any one time, says of them: "[I]t's rare to find an intern — especially one from a fashion school — that has good style. Because they try sooo hard, and it never works! You know?" Having been once dressed by an Adam Lippes intern who was wearing a kind of 1980s Medusa costume, with a corset, we are tempted to agree, but for chrissakes, Lippes, they work for you for free. (Also: look who's talking.) [The Cut]
Photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino is against France's proposed retouching laws, which would require digitally altered images to bear labels stating that they have been, well, digitally altered. He tells Libération Next, "The photos of old Hollywood? Retouched! The iconic image of Che Guevara? Retouched! All the photos taken by Richard Avedon of Marilyn Monroe? Retouched! And all of this before today's software existed, of course. Legs were lengthened using a wide angle; skins were smoothed through overexposure." Because using a wide-angle lens is exactly the same as scissoring one head onto another body and placing the Frankenstein creation into a separately shot background and then liquifying the nose a little and changing the light source and strength and whittling down the waist. [WWD]
Christian Siriano's holiday collection for Payless has turned up online. Are these even supposed to bear any resemblance to what he shows with his runway collection anymore? [Payless]
Jodi Arnold, starting with her resort collection, is changing the name of her line from MINT Jodi Arnold, to Jodi Arnold NYC. The designer, who has a new job working on a collaboration with The Limited, also just opened her first store, a pop-up in Greenwich village. [WWD]
The son of the founder of Escada is one of the bidders — in a consortium with the former head of Gucci and the department store owners Borletti Group — for the bankrupt German house. They are offering $118.2 million. [Reuters]
Steve Madden is not only not bankrupt, it's feeling pretty acquisitory. C.E.O. Edward Rosenfeld says the company is on the lookout for brands worth $30-$40 million, but could splurge on something worth up to $100 million. [TS]
Valentino head Stefano Sassi, says everything at the house is just great!!! Nothing to see here!!! Doth the C.E.O. protest too much? [Reuters]
Liz Claiborne's third quarter losses were even bigger than expected. This is the company's eighth consecutive quarter of losing money. [WSJ]

Miley & Max For Wal-Mart Is Cheap; Lady Gaga Planning A Clothing Line

Jenna — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST

Today in pointless clothing lines of the stars: Miley Cyrus and Max Azria's Wal-Mart collection! The digs look well worth every penny of their sub-$20 price point. [Lucky]
Now, even the Kings of Leon has one. [Blackbook]

Lady Gaga wants in on the action. On starting a clothing line, she told Flare magazine, "At some point, I will. Right now, I'm more concerned with using my fame to promote young designers such as Gary Card, an artist who designed a piece I used on stage." Why would she do such a thing? "There hasn't been a commercial artist lately that has embodied avant-garde and couture so insistently as myself." [ONTD]
Gaga has one new position to console herself with: M.A.C. Viva Glam AIDS fund face. Cyndi Lauper will co-star in the campaign to sell lipstick and raise money for research. [WWD]
The British Fashion Council and British Vogue are launching a fashion prize to encourage young talent, somewhat along the lines of the American Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund awards, which kicked off in 2003. £200,000 will be awarded to one UK designer who can demonstrate he or she has international stockists, a media profile, and demonstrated need of the money. [Telegraph]
Angelina Jolie and Shiloh are apparently fans of Stella McCartney's line for GapKids. [Radaronline]
That Christian Louboutin made his first public appearance in Washington, D.C., under Obama's watch is no coincidence. "For eight years I was invited, but I never wanted to come before. I never wanted to come with Bush," says the shoe designer. "I'm looking forward to coming back — at least for four years." We really want to make a crack about voting with your feet here. [WaPo]
Roberto Cavalli: "All over the world people don't treat me like a fashion designer; they treat me like a rock star… I can't walk down 5th Avenue without being treated like a rock star. In fact, maybe it's more… Many times I've walked down 5th Avenue with rock stars and nobody pays attention to them. It's very strange." [FWD]
Gisele Bundchen passed the written exam portion of her pilot's license. Although heavily pregnant, and "Almost too big to fly," according to her instructor, she's still making supervised practice flights up to three days a week. [People]
Karolina Kurkova has given birth to a baby boy. [People]
Kelly Osborne: Fan of Spanx. [People]
Christian Siriano says his new reality TV show will reflect the best of several recent high-profile fashion documentaries. "It's very like The September Issue, very Valentino [The Last Emperor]. We want it to be as cool and as real as possible." Apparently, September Issue director R.J. Cutler wouldn't touch the project, but he did advise Siriano "just to be real." [The Cut]
Sadie Frost's clothing line with Jemima French, FrostFrench, is opening its second store in London's Soho. [WWD]
A real ad man of the 1960s has some bones to pick with Mad Men's treatment of the brand London Fog. So an employee of an industry that manufactures fictions objects to a fictional show's fictionalizing history? We shake our heads at the irony. [AdAge]
JC Penney is being sued for trademark infringement by the retailer New York & Company. New York & Company says Penney's new "NYC Style" slogan is too close to its "NY Style" advertising tag line. [WWD]
Can Sir Philip Green conquer America? [Bloomberg]
Polo Ralph Lauren reported a 10% rise in second-quarter profits. [TS]
Bata shoes was, before Communism, an international brand headquartered in Slovakia. The company town isn't doing so hot right now, with the economic transition and the competition from Asia. [BussinessWeek]
Liz Claiborne may have had seven consecutive quarterly losses, with the announcement of an eight expected next week, but C.E.O. Bill McCombs doesn't have to worry about one thing: his job security. McCombs recently had his contract renewed for another three years. It's not an unusual strategy: only 38 companies in the S&P 500 have replaced their C.E.O.'s in the year to September 30, down 10 on the same period last year, despite the trying economic times. [WSJ]
Not so lucky is Missoni's general manager, Massimo Gasparini. He has been let go and his position will not be filled. [WWD]

Lindsay's Racy Leggings Ads; Steve Madden Teams With Mary-Kate & Ashley

Jenna — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST

Here are leaked pictures of Lindsay Lohan's spring campaign for 6126. The images were shot by reality-TV-star photographers Markus Klinko and Indrani. [Gone Hollywood]

That was quick: Steve Madden has finalized a deal with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to manufacture shoes and accessories for the pair's new Olsenboye JC Penney's brand. [Crains]
Francesca Versace, the niece of Donatella and daughter of Santo, was rejected the first time she applied to Central St. Martins. "I went to the London College of Fashion and did business and pattern cutting, which I hated, but reapplied for Saint Martins and finally got in. The first year, I was crying all the time. All the teachers gave me such a hard time." The designer says that, eventually, she started to fit in. "I did three years and I loved it. I had so much fun by the end." Now she lives in London and is best friends with Silvio Berlusconi's daughter. [Times UK]
The December cover of Harper's Bazaar is rumored to feature Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. [WWD]
Sometimes the Daily Mail online headline writers are evil geniuses. "Can Chanel Really Gild This Lily Or Are They Allen A Laugh?" would be one of those times. [Daily Mail]
Project Runway alum Jeffrey Sebelia is taking his poor-man's-Santino aesthetic to his latest position, as creative director of the casual wear label Fluxus. [WWD]
The M.A.C.-sponsored fashion shows at Milk Studios will continue at least for the next two years, says Estee Lauder Group president John Demsey. [The Cut]
Scott Schuman's project for Burberry involved him shooting 100 trench coats, reveals Garance Doré. Included in the post is one of the pictures, of Doré wearing a short navy trench with a Yankees cap. [Garance Doré]
The Gucci family biopic that Ridley Scott is making has Gucci family members upset. The story he's dramatizing — the intrafamily struggle for control that cost the life of eventual winner Maurizio Gucci, who was killed on his wife's orders just after hiring young designer Tom Ford — does not, they feel, redound to their benefit. "Enough mud," says Patrizia Gucci, Maurizio's cousin. "We have been through horrible things and paid plenty in person. I will write a book about the Guccis to say who they really are. And I will give Scott a copy, in hopes that his movie will never be released." Angelina Jolie is purportedly in talks to play Maurizio's wife. [Variety]
And with the opening of Mongolia's first Louis Vuitton store, late last month, comes the inevitable trend story about how Ulaan Bator is, like, so hot right now (move over, Paris!). Actually, the warmest praise the capital garners from Louis Vuitton C.E.O. Yves Carcelle is that it is equivalent to "a good-sized provincial town in China." [News.com.au]
Prada had just nailed down an agreement with its garment workers' union to furlough 250 out of 3,000 workers at its factory for four to six weeks when it announced that the rotating suspensions will only last three weeks. Spring orders outstripped the company's expectations by 10%. [Reuters]
Gabriel Aubry, the male model who fathered Halle Berry's child, will be the spring face of Louis Vuitton men's wear. [Sassybella]
Marc Jacobs might do a reality show. "I have very specific ideas about a show and how I'd want it to go, and I'd want it to be really different than the other ones," says the designer. But, "I don't think it's going to happen. I don't think so, unless we came up with the right thing, the right way." He hasn't been in touch with Bravo, who a few weeks back said it was "desperate" to have Jacobs in a show. We'd recommend re-watching Loïc Prigent's Louis Vuitton doc if you're feeling anxious. [The Cut]
Alexander "I make $390 Italian yarn bike shorts" Wang, on his successful Barneys trunk show last week: "When I got to Barneys, I was welcomed with the news that our Rocco bag had a waiting list of 400-plus. By day's end, their entire Spring 2010 handbag order sold out with pre-buys — and that's before it will even hit the floor. Yikes! Good news, but now we're going to have to figure out how to produce more bags so our section won't be empty come January." A 400-plus person waiting list? Are the bags made of gold? Is it magically charmed so that whatever you wish for, you reach in and, pouf, there it is? Does it buy you drinks after a long day? Because we're struggling to understand what it is that's attractive about a black leather bag with studs on the bottom that costs nearly a grand. [Style.com]

Stella's GapKids Line Debuts; Nicole's Navajo-Inspired Footwear

Jenna — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

Stella McCartney's collection for GapKids is pretty damn adorable. [KanyeUniverseCity]

Prince Charles toured the new Burberry headquarters yesterday. Designer Christopher Bailey and C.E.O. Angela Ahrendts showed him the 160,000 square foot building, and gave him a peek at the unreleased Burberry social-networking venture. [WWD]
J. Crew creative director Jenna Lyons, whose salary is $1.9 million annually, received a hefty $1 million bonus this week — with strings attached. If she leaves the company within two years, she must repay it, and if she leaves during the following two years, she has to repay half. J. Crew has been cutting costs aggressively since the economic downturn began; in February, it instituted a wage freeze, fired 95 employees, and ceased matching 401(k) contributions. [WSJ]
Kiwi model Rachel Hunter recommends see-to-be-seen spot The Standard Grill for dining in New York. She also recommends closing the curtains, should you rent a room at the hotel. [TDB]
Demi Moore is a big supporter of designer Prabal Gurung. After she wore one of his dresses, his Twitter followship jumped from 50 to over 1,000. Why this story merits the tabloid header "Should Ashton Be Jealous of Prabal?" is inexplicable. [Style.com]
Lara Stone may have missed out on the next Chanel campaign, but being the spring face of Louis Vuitton must be some consolation. Hopefully the brand won't Photoshop her into a waxy, corpselike likeness, à la Madonna fall 2009. [WWD]
Sexy designer Yigal Azrouël is running the New York Marathon this weekend. Joining him — and nearly 40,000 other people — will be supermodel Veronica Webb. Model Anne Vyalitsyna has volunteered to guide a disabled runner along the course. [The Cut]
There are paparazzi shots of Georgia May Jagger on the Leicester Square set of her new Rimmel ad. Yeah, she has her dad's mouth. [Daily Mail]
Christian Dior, Chanel, and dozens of other French labels are collaborating on a Chinese website that will feature lavish, 3-D photographs of their products. And then not allow anyone to buy them online. Sounds like a counterfeiters' cookbook if ever we heard of one. [AP]
Kenneth Cole ~~cracked puns~~ shared his sobering thoughts with students at FIT on Wednesday: "People say that things will get better in a few months, but to be honest, I don't think it will get better for years. The key is to go out in the world with a sense of contest....Find out where you can offer value as a designer and create something that people will desire." [WWD]
Then at FIT on Thursday, fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo took to the stage to talk about his new Penguin Classics cover designs. And his day job. Toledo says despite having his work featured in a plethora of international editions of Vogue, he hasn't cracked American Vogue because "they're a bit too safe." [The Fashion Informer]
Alexander Wang's fall collection includes $395 bike shorts. He defends them thusly: "People look at that and go 'Oh, those are biker shorts.' But the yarn we use is from Italy, the technique is digital weaving, there's a lot that goes into product development that the consumer doesn't necessarily always understand. And for the people that do understand it, they do get into it, they buy it, and those are the people I'm speaking to. And there will always be people that don't understand what you're doing, but I'm not here to satisfy everyone." Do you get that? Those are the people he's speaking to. He's selling $395 bike shorts to the $395 bike short-people. And only them. The rest of you peons can buy your non-Italian yarn, loomed bike shorts at Target. [The Cut]
You could buy two styles from Tory Burch's new sunglass range for less than the cost of Wang's shorts. (And they're still overpriced!) Though there's one pair of folding aviators that's kinda nifty. [Style.com]
Crystal Renn is in the latest campaign for Evans, the UK plus-size high street store. And she looks great. [Daily Mail]
Pics are out of Nicole Richie's footwear for her House of Harlow brand. The shoes, which will go on sale in the spring, feature some Navajo-inspired embroidery. Sounds like Richie's been taking a leaf from the Navajo-Pocahontas-at-the-disco stylings of Kelly Bensimon. [FabSugar]
Christian Siriano "designed" a Starbucks gift card for the holidays. It differs from the regular gift cards thus: it is smaller (which is noticeable) and "chic-er" (not really noticeable). [FWD]
"There's nothing more American than a pair of blue jeans," says a worker at one of the last remaining denim mills in the U.S. Actually, blue jeans are a French product — serge de Nîmes dyed with indigo imported via Genoa, or bleu de Gênes — that was reinvented in the American West by Eastern European Jewish immigrants. But close enough! Boo to those Mexicans who are now making our products! [CNN]
Michael Kors is doing a makeup collection for Estee Lauder. It'll go on sale in January, and it's named Very Hollywood, to match Estee Lauder's recently launched Very Hollywood perfume. [WWD]
Estee Lauder's profits for the quarter ended in September rose to $140.7 million dollars. Last year during the same period, the company made a paltry $51.1 million. [AP]

Posh Spice Wants Shoes; Top Chef Spurns Cavalli

Jenna — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EDT

Victoria Beckham might be adding shoes and accessories to her dress collection, because she's apparently sick of advertising other designers' goods. [Sun]
Fergie says she wanted her Avon scent to smell "fresh, and yet modern at the same time." [People]

There is one image from Sonia Rykiel's lingerie collection for H&M on the Internet. The collection, modeled by Caroline Trentini, Anne Vyalitsyna, and Lara Stone, features a lot of rosettes, some in perhaps ill-considered places. (Rosette nipples, anyone?) [Nitrolicious]
Lady Gaga says during the filming of Beyoncé's video for the upcoming single "Video Phone," she aped Beyoncé's style and choreography so well the crew took to calling her "Gee-yoncé." Gaga also says she and Beyoncé are working on music together next. [People]
Meanwhile, if anyone were ever destined to receive an Accessories Council Excellence Award, it's Gaga. [WWD]
Fashion's Night Out: becoming an annual event, according to Mayor Bloomberg. Who should know. [WWD]
Christian Lacroix says, in this annoying all-caps interview, "THE TRIBUNAL WILL DECIDE ON OCTOBER 27TH WHICH « DOSSIER » THEY'LL FAVOR. FALICS SUBMITED ONE, SOME OTHER FINANCIAL PEOPLE DID TOO AND I CHOSE TO GIVE MY SUPPORT AND SIGNATURE TO THE SHEIKH OF AJMAN WHO SEEMS TO BE THE STRONGEST SOLUTION. WE'LL SEE...WHATEVER WILL BE THE NEWS ON NEXT TUESDAY IT WILL BE A RELIEF." The designer also said, of his house's erstwhile collaborations with Pucci and Hermès, "IT WAS NO MORE POSSIBLE WITH OUR LAST AMERICAN BACKERS. WE'LL SEE WITH THE NEXT. IF I'M STILL PART OF THE VENTURE." If? If? If he's still part of the venture? It's too early in the morning for this heart-rending inconstancy. [UnNouveauIdeal]
And with that, hearings on the $100 million Emirati bid to take over the house of Lacroix have been delayed until November 17. The bankruptcy judge nonetheless says it is "likely" the sheikh's bid will be the one approved. [AFP]
Don't expect a Givenchy H&M collection anytime soon. Although the brand put together a capsule collection, at 40% off its regular astronomical pricepoint, for Barneys New York, designer Riccardo Tisci says of mass-market diffusion collaborations, "It's too early. I'm still building the brand, and we want to stay on image." Tisci also revealed he's in New York to work on costumes for a secret show. "I'm here for work on an upcoming show in 2011, which I'm doing all the costumes for. I can't say much more, but the performance is a combination of music and opera, and will travel worldwide. A project like this has been my dream." Sounds intriguing. [Fashionologie]
Julianne Moore says working with Tom Ford as a director was easy. "Tom is incredibly, incredibly meticulous and has a work ethic like nothing I've ever seen," says the actress. "He works very, very hard and is always very prepared and cares about every tiny detail." [People]
Eric Ripert, chef of Le Bernardin, on Roberto Cavalli's habit of sitting down at Italian restaurant Serafina and ordering from Manana, the Mexican place next door: "I would find that very insulting. And I won't let him! It's like me going to Roberto Cavalli and then asking the designer next door to bring a dress for my wife, and then dress her in his boutique. I would not do that. I would go to Hermès." Burn, Cavalli! [Grub Street]
The Sun has its nose out of joint about the press copy accompanying Kate Moss's new perfume. "The fragrance opens with illuminating pink pepper, white freesia and invigorating mandarin. Warm base notes of tonka bean, vanilla and skin musks add a depth and refinement," is kind of disgustingly over-the-top as PR speak goes. But anything that prompts a cranky old Englishman to write the words "Nobel Prize for shit-erature" goes back to being OK in our book. [Sun]
Steve Madden, everybody's favorite just-like-the-runway-but-made-of-pleather-and-still-over-$100 shoemaker, is getting into the clothing business. It will be women's wear, made under license, and expect to see its "Bohemian flair" in department stores early next year. [Crains]
There's now a bullshit term for world leaders wearing jeans: Power Jeans. [WSJ]
And there's a new bullshit term for idiotically priced jeans, too. $300-and-up denim will no longer be known by that hideous pre-recession term, "Premium Jeans." It is, instead, "Artisanal Jeans." [NYTimes]
Ellen Von Unwerth says, of her favorite shot, "I took this maybe three years ago, on a fashion shoot for Italian Vogue. We developed a romantic story to go with it: a woman comes back to the place where she grew up, and finds it all dusty and falling apart. We shot it in a chateau in Paris. The girl was a model, and it was the only time I worked with her. After this, she disappeared. She was from eastern Europe, Romania maybe, and even the agency couldn't find her again. So she's like a ghost. The picture certainly has a ghostly feeling." For some reason, we find this really disturbing. And sad. What happened to this girl? [Guardian]
Carlos Falchi sure seems like an upright guy. Reports the Times: "Once he said to a girl, 'That's my bag.' She didn't care for the remark, but then it sank in that this pot-bellied, gray-haired guy with silver bracelets was really him, the designer Carlos Falchi. Maybe in an age of brands and manufactured nostalgia she didn't even think he was real. She called her mother, who bought the bag 30 years before, and put Mr. Falchi on the phone and then closed the celebrity moment with a photo." Falchi's Target line debuts on November 1. [NYTimes]
Duckie Brown co-designer Steven Cox got to thinking about men's and women's fashion after Miuccia Prada said recently that men's wear should be more influenced by women's wear. "Originally we had this whole conversation about using women's fabric. I don't really agree with that," said Cox, of the Duckie Brown collection. "Because what makes a fabric women's? You know, there is no penis or vagina in a fabric. Like, why is chiffon women's and why is it not men's? I don't know." [The Cut]
Saks, eyeing the success of sample sale e-tailers like Gilt, is looking to replicate their tactics, and host its own online sample sales. [WSJ]
Avon earned $156.2 million in the third quarter. Last year, during the same period, the company made $222.6 million. [Crains]

Kate Moss Busts Out; Cindy Says She'd Never Make It As A Model Today

Jenna — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EDT

Pictures of the new Kate Moss Topshop collection are out — and they prominently display the supermodel's breasts, which she just recently up and grew, like she's some kind of experimental woman built by science, or something. [Telegraph]

Seeing the Alexander McQueen runway shoes side-by-side with a normal 4.5" pair of stilettos, it becomes apparent just how otherworldly those 12"-tall creatures really are. We still want to a cross-sectional view, because we're having a hard time imagining where the feet go once they're inside. [UK Vogue]
Marc Ecko sold a controlling 51% share of his brand to Iconix. Just last month, he told a reporter on the record that he would never give up control of the trademark he'd spent 16 years building. [NYPost]
Roberto Cavalli was dining with a tableful of models at Serafina, an Italian joint, when he was overcome by the desire for Mexican food. So he ordered in from the place next door. Vittorio Assaf, who happens to own both the restaurants, says, "Roberto loves his guacamole. Sometimes he comes in alone in the afternoon to sit in the back and order it. At Serafina we let him have the Mexican food delivered, but we don't tell our chef — he would walk out." Letting him know by reading it all over the Internet is surely the kinder move. You should recommend it to HR! [The Cut]
Meanwhile, fellow Italian designer Giorgio Armani, who earlier this year battled hepatitis, is mulling succession. "I'm already organizing staff who will continue my work," he said in Moscow. "Of course I am not eternal, there comes a time when you must hand it over." Perhaps he'll take that Senator For Life gig in his twilight years? [Reuters]
Finally, an explanation of the Olsenboye brand-name: it is, apparently, the Olsens' ancestral Norwegian surname. [NYPost]
Cindy Crawford says it: "I would not have become a supermodel in 2009. I look too healthy." She told a German magazine called Bunte, bodies "with big breasts, normal thighs and toned upper arms" do not currently interest the industry. [Telegraph]
Dutch Elle, in truly groundbreaking territory, ran a cover featuring a naked model. Can you imagine! Her name is Lonneke Engel. [IMG]
Yves Saint Laurent has been named, by Forbes (who else?) the top-earning dead celebrity. [Reuters]
Tamara Mellon's Jimmy Choo is launching a limited edition accessories collection. Part of the proceeds will go to the Elton John AIDS foundation to fund post-exposure prophylaxis drugs for rape victims in Cape Town, since taking the drugs within 72 hours can reduce the rates of HIV transmission by up to 79%. Mellon has worked with Sir Elton John before, and traveled to see the medical center in Cape Town, where she met victims of rape and incest. "One woman at the Simelela centre was sexually abused by a male relation from the age of 13," says Mellon. "She told me how the centre had given her the strength to get her life back. These women are dealing with AIDS, they are dealing with rape, they are dealing with incest. But it really hits you when you see where the money [we've raised] has gone. It's real, it's in front of you and it's a success. It's given me great hope." [Telegraph]
Ivanka Trump's wedding dress, by Vera Wang, consisted of three different layers of lace — including Lyon and Chantilly — and took about a month to make. It was partly based on Grace Kelly's marital attire. It also was not strapless — something Cathy Horyn says, "made a fresh statement." [On The Runway]
Thierry Mugler is looking to re-launch itself as a brand, with designer Rosemary Rodriguez at the helm. Although the collection is being shown at Moscow's fashion week this season, rumors are flying that the next step will be Paris. [FWD]
Sarah Mower is looking back on the spring 2010 collections and seeing women designers on top of their game, from Rodarte to Phoebe Philo to Isabel Marant. [Telegraph]
Joe Zee wants your boyfriend. For a makeover! He says, on Facebook, "Do you have a style-challenged boyfriend, husband or brother? Is that guy in your life screaming "untapped potential"? Is his hair more Don King than Don Juan? Then I want to make him over for my column. Let me give him my A to Zee treatment. Email me a picture of yourself with this fashion-clueless guy to AtoZee@hfmus.com by Nov 2nd." [Facebook]
Trouble already for Naomi Campbell's new perfume deal — a fragrance partner with whom the supermodel inked a deal in 1998 is suing her for breach of contract. [NYPost]
H&M, which already has 169 stores in the United States, would like to expand — especially in the South, where it is under-represented. [WWD]
Jones Apparel Group is reporting an 11% year-on-year increase in third-quarterly profit, to just over $30 million. Jones owns Nine West and Jones New York. [TS]
Versace, which recently shut its Japanese stores after nearly 20 years in the market, is now cutting 350 jobs. [WSJ]

Prada Does Skirts For Men; No HSN Scent For Heidi

Jenna — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

Miuccia Prada: "I'm working on [a men's collection] right now and someone at the office worriedly asked me, ‘You're not going to make short skirts again, are you?' So I'm now pushing it even further, just for revenge!" [BlackBook]

Leigh Lezark, on diversity: "I'm glad that a lot of kids — even now with the magazines that have come out — have something different to look up to. Not a tall, five-foot-ten blonde model, whatever...They can also look up to some faggots and a girl. I think it's great, because I wish I'd had that, and I never did." [The Cut]
Reports that Hills villain Heidi Montag was launching a perfume with the Home Shopping Network have been denied by the network. HSN — which has recently announced deals with Naeem Khan and Badgley Mischka — was thought to be seeking a more exclusive audience, and the collaboration did seem a tad odd in that light. Now we'll never find out who would choose to smell like silicone, self tanner, and Spencer! [The Cut]
In other fragrant news, Jude Law is the new face of Dior's men's scent, Sport. [Telegraph]
Yesterday, to promote their new line for JC Penney, the Olsens — and the Olsens' JC Penney branded cupcake truck — went to Union Square. Although no cupcakes were in evidence, onlookers could browse the Olsenboye debut line, and even buy things for $10. (Racked says the clothes are more High School Musical than Elizabeth & James.) Today, should you be curious and New York-bound, the truck will be in Herald Square, and tomorrow, in Washington Square Park. [Racked]
Kate Moss is happy with that Topshop line and those million-dollar cosmetics contracts, sure, but when it comes down to it, you know, she's just a mum. Reports the Guardian: " 'If I can keep people interested in my work for another few years I'll be happy. But the thing I'm always most proud of is my daughter. She's seven now, and vice captain of her class! My goodness!' Moss opens her mascara-ed eyes as wide as they'll go. 'I've never been vice captain of anything! She wants to be a chef, and her imaginary husband is a chef too. I was mother of the bride at their imaginary wedding, standing on the side holding her imaginary baby.' " [Guardian]
Naomi Campbell told a charity event that the situation facing models of color is an "injustice." Said the supermodel, "Nelson Mandela always told me to speak my mind and the consequences will take care of themselves...There is a small group of people whose minds we have to change because we are living in a multicultural society." Maybe there are a few things Campbell could do — or not do — too. [WWD]
Thakoon Panichgul, who was raised in Omaha, says he always wanted to be in fashion, but that his seamstress mother and grandmother didn't see how he could make a career out of something they understood as just "work." Luckily for Michelle Obama, he started going to Parsons at night, after completing business school. [Fashionista]
Sonia Rykiel's lingerie collection for H&M will be launched with a party at the Grand Palais, where Chanel typically holds its shows. The line will be released in 1,500 H&M stores worldwide on December 5. [WWD]
Cindy Crawford says she has no plans to make a return to the catwalk. "I don't want to stand next to a 20-year-old on the runway, even if people say you can still do it. It is like, 'Why would I do that to myself?' It would just make me depressed," said the supermodel. "I'm more comfortable with myself in the sense that hey, this is who I am now...I guess I appreciate my body for other things — like I was able to give birth to two kids. ... But at the same time, I am aware my body doesn't look the same way it did when I was 23. I actually don't want to feel that pressure." [Stylelist]
Sarah Murdoch, a model married to media heir Lachlan Murdoch, appeared on the cover of an Australian tabloid without retouching. She has wrinkles and looks amazing. [News.com.au]
The Escada sale certainly is shrouded in mystery. The bankrupt German house is understood to be entertaining unbinding offers from six would-be buyers, but nobody is prepared to own up to being one. One person from the company that owns Italy's La Rinescente and France's Printemps department stores spoke on the record, but denied acting in anything more than an advisory role. He declined to say whom he was advising. A deal is expected in early November. [WWD]
Topshop, buoyed by the successful opening of its New York store, wants to open stores in Paris and Milan. And China. [Telegraph]
The Limited's pop-up store in SoHo has been so popular with Manhattanites that the company has extended its lease — till December 28. [WWD]
Company-wide, The Limited — which also owns Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret — has adjusted its forecast for the quarter. Although it says October same-store sales are going to be worse than they had originally predicted, the company still thinks it may break even. [Reuters]
Marc Ecko, whose troubled and indebted company has been closing stores, is said to be considering selling to or partnering with Iconix. Although last month Ecko said, " We would never give up control of the intellectual property in Ecko. We've built this company up over 16 years," sources say that a deal with Iconix is about to be signed. [WWD]

Lindsay Working For Free; Diane Von Furstenberg In Daylight Robbery

Jenna — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:20:00 EDT

Rumors are flying that Lindsay Lohan is donating her time (except for any free clothes she snags) as Emanuel Ungaro's new "artistic director." This gossip item, however, doesn't spell "Emanuel Ungaro" correctly, so its veracity may be questionable. [Fox 411]

Ungaro C.E.O. Mounir Moufarrige says Lohan's pay is "quite enough. It's expensive." Before hiring her, he told the press he asked her how much time she intended to spend in jail this year; her unpredictability, he says, "has been factored in" to her compensation. [ToL]
The New York Times' Horacio Silva says he just had a talk with Renzo Rosso, who is "thisclose to naming a new designer at Martin Margiela." Margiela's departure from his namesake house was only confirmed recently, after months of speculation. In a follow-up tweet, Silva says Rosso maintains Margiela will still be involved in the house. Haider Ackermann and Raf Simons have been mentioned as possible contenders for Margiela's old job. [Twitter]
What if a luxury label opened a store, and nobody bothered to turn up? [Shophound]
Diane Von Furstenberg tweets from Madrid: "I just got robbed in the street in front of the Thyssen museum... My wallet, cash and all my credit cards!!" [Twitter]
Two Bravo executives described the network as "desperate" to get a reality TV deal with Marc Jacobs. Their pitch? A no-strings-attached everyday doc. "Just live his life, his amazing life, and let us shoot it," said Andy Cohen. "I mean, just go. Just go! Open your eyes, let us put the tape in the camera, and let us go." [The Cut]
Mo Rocca on the future of fashion? Hell. Yes. [CBS]
Number of times Time mentions Crystal Renn was a "size-0 model": 3. Number of times Time mentions she had anorexia: 0. [Time]
Karl Lagerfeld: "My father…was not stingy but he hated unnecessary expense but clothes he saw as the exception — he was of a different generation — if you were well dressed, half of the job was done. So I was told, be well dressed and doors will open." [i-D via Fashionista]
Can you imagine David Spade, Anthony Kiedis, Fred Durst, and Ron Burkle hanging out at a Zac Posen show? Us neither. L.A. is so weird. [Style.com]
Oscar de la Renta was presented with an award by Grace Coddington and Hamish Bowles. [Yahoo]
At the same event, Barneys creative director/author Simon Doonan said, "For years, all my writer friends would say to me, what the fuck are you doing working in a store every day? And now they're saying to me, how can I get a job in a store?" This is because "There's nothing at the moment that is worse-compensated than freelance writing. NOTHING. You can get more money panhandling on the street. It's shocking." We'd agree but we're now too depressed to move. Simon Doonan works for a C.E.O.-less department store with stock about eighteen zillion levels below investment grade, a department store so consistently subject to rumors of bankruptcy that its parent company periodically has to step in to remind everyone that it guarantees the (giant, growing, pile of) debt. And even he has it better than we do. [Daily Intel]
Meanwhile, Doonan says he finds the recession "a colossal bore." [WWD]
Martin Lingstrom, a brand strategist, spent three years hooking up over 2,000 people to sensors that monitored their physical and neurological responses to advertising and shopping. He says that, while deciding to buy something, our brains release dopamine. However, then there's the guilt: "It's not very strong at the beginning but increases when you swipe your credit card through the credit-card reader." That feeling is physiological. Instead of reaching the obvious conclusion from his data — shopping is against nature, a pattern of unhealthy addiction and guilt-ridden behaviors, and everyone in fashion is totally fucked — Martin Lingstrom apparently still works as a brand strategist. [WSJ]
The Wall Street Journal tried out Christian Louboutin and Piper Heidsieck's Le Rituel, the $5,000 glass slipper intended to serve as a champagne flute. The verdict? "It takes some finesse, balance, and you can't fill it very high with bubbly...It has its charm, but drinkers of champagne mat opt to keep their flutes handy." Imagine that. [WSJ]
Alexander Wang says he staged his first fashion show when he was 15, at his brother's wedding. "It was like 35 looks or something. We hired hair and make-up and everything." [Independent]
Heidi Klum is launching a fashion line. The footwear collection, all 48 styles, will be available starting next fall; to follow will be swimsuits and casual wear. [WWD]
Claudia Schiffer, on the supermodels comeback: "One of the logical reasons would be that we sort of went away at the same time and most of us had kids at the same time and then we sort of came back. We've also worked for such a long time, we are reliable and professional and you know what you'll get." [Independent]
Schiffer, who was once unceremoniously dropped by Karl Lagerfeld, during the grunge days, has been spotted with the designer around Buenos Aires. They, along with Baptiste Giabiconi and Freja Beha Erichsen, are shooting the next Chanel campaign. Local media reports that they ate "rich barbecue" for lunch one day. [Fashionologie]
Vivienne Westwood made a series of gowns for Leona Lewis. In exchange, the pop star will wear the dramatic metallic corseted creations in all the promotional materials for her new album and single. [Telegraph]
Odds Costume Rental, which supplied costumes for 22 years to productions like Law & Order and Road to Perdition, has filed for bankruptcy. Rising rent is one culprit — the business was hit with a $5,000/month increase last year — and the willingness of designers to give their clothes away to film and television shows is another. [Crains]
Salvatore Ferragamo is entering the online retail market. [WWD]

Olsens Go Mass-Market; Mary J. Blige Opens Charity Center With Gucci

Jenna — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

The Olsen twins are launching a new juniors' collection for JC Penney, home of the brands Kimora Lee Simmons, Bisou Bisou, and Charlotte Ronson. It'll be called Olsenboye and is expected in stores this spring. [The Cut]

The Olsens, plus Alexander Wang, Erin Fetherston, Jenna Lyons of J. Crew, Maria Pinto, and several others were officially inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America — "the Kiwanis Club of our business," as David Rees put it — on Wednesday night. After someone explained to Mary-Kate what the save the garment center campaign was about — the lax enforcement of existing zoning laws has allowed landlords in the area supposedly reserved for apparel companies to lease instead to higher-paying kinds of commercial tenants, driving up rents — she said she was totally for it. "We need it, as well. I hope we can save it," she said. [WWD]
"As a child, I never saw a confident woman — I only saw women being abused," says Mary J. Blige. The singer has just opened the new Mary J. Blige Center for Women in the city of Yonkers, where she grew up. It's intended to educate, empower, and encourage women. "I want every girl and woman who walks through this door to know that she is loved — no matter who is telling her she isn't loved," says the singer. Gucci's Frida Giannini turned up to the opening, and an unspecified portion of the profit from sales of a Gucci women's watch costing $1,895 will be donated to Blige's charity. Giannini was also in town to open Gucci's pop-up shop in SoHo, which will showcase Mark Ronson's alleged "sneaker" for the brand. [WWD]
First, there was the Sportiletto. And now, behold: The Lamborghini Heel. [FWD]
From former New York Times food critic and memoirist Frank Bruni's Twitter: "Anna Wintour comes to Marea, orders chicken, with avocado salad, neither on menu. What's the point?" [Twitter]
Tom Ford says the process of directing A Single Man, his adaptation of the Isherwood novel, has been about "coming to terms with the fact that I do spend so much of my life working in the material world. But as long as you keep it in perspective and don't take it too seriously, I think fashion is a great thing that adds quality to our lives. It doesn't mean that a beautiful pair of shoes isn't still beautiful. But if you lose them, big deal, because they don't really mean anything other than to be able to say, 'Wow, look at my feet. Aren't they pretty?'" [Out]
Christian Louboutin has created a special carrier bag that includes a bottle of champers and a crystal champagne flute shaped like a stiletto. The package, known as Le Rituel, costs $500, and you can watch a 3-minute film about it here. [WWD]
He made this bubbly slipper-sipper instead of doing a diffusion line for H&M. That sound just then was our hearts breaking. [The Cut]
Burberry is getting into the cosmetics business. It won't happen till next summer, but expect a full line — about 100 products for face, lips, and eyes — when it does. [WWD]
Manolo Blahnik does not want to talk about platforms, which he is relieved to note are finally falling from prominence. "Don't talk to me about platforms. I've done it all before. It bores me now. I want shoes to be beautiful, so women walk beautifully. Shoes should be beautiful — Oh, and of course, a little fun also." [Telegraph]
Project Runway's Kit Scarbo, who does not skate, is doing a women's line with the skateboard brand Etnies. [The Cut]
According to one student who took notes on Amy Astley's recent talk at FIDM, Teen Vogue is working on a new TV show. The mag's last dalliance with the medium resulted in The Hills. [Jazzi McG]
Someone who is a really big fan of Hedi Slimane made this claymation video of an imaginary rock band, clad entirely in Slimane's Dior collections. [YoungestIndie]
A kind of full-length women's chenille robe marketed by Pennsylvania company Blair is being recalled. The highly flammable robes have been linked to nine deaths so far. [NBC]

Nicole Richie Doing Designs; No Sampling Allowed At Oprah Store

Jenna — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

Of course a Nicole Richie clothing line was inevitable. It's called Winter Kate, and it will be hitting stores next February. [WWD]
The full Jimmy Choo for H&M lookbook is out. [Daily Mail]

Nick Knight is apparently shooting Raquel Zimmerman for the spring Alexander McQueen campaign. [Fashionologie]
At the Oprah Store in Chicago, you can buy items worn by Oprah Herself on the show, from Oprah's Closet. But don't dare try them on! The rule is "To preserve the integrity of the items and ensure that Oprah was the last person to wear them," says a clerk. [True/Slant]
Dennis Hopper has done an Easy Rider-inspired sneaker — whatever that means; it's navy suede — for Hogan. [WWD]
"It's really belittling of the customer to think that anyone from a different price bracket deserves anything less," says Stella McCartney, who has collaborated on lower-priced lines so far with H&M, Adidas, Le Sportsac, and now GapKids. [NYTimes]
Isaac Mizrahi decided to open his first store in the middle of a recession because a psychic told him to. [Fashionista]
Mizrahi also told audiences at the 92nd St. Y, "I've actually booked girls [for a fashion show] that weren't obese, they were real girls. Like gorgeous anatomy. And one was a stripper. And you could feel the energy in the room just go down. Closed the books. Pens went down. They were angry. I could feel the anger. And I never did it again, because I thought Why bother? It takes a lot to rile women. It takes like actual breasts. Someone with implants, they're fine. Yes, you're right. Fashion advertisements are hateful. Hateful. Yeah, but they wouldn't do it unless it worked, right? It works." [The Cut]
Yvon Chouinard, 70, is the founder of Patagonia. And as you would expect, he's outdoorsy. "I used to spend 250 days a year sleeping on the ground. I've climbed on every continent. I'm old enough to have seen the destruction," he says. "The reason I am in business is I want to protect what I love." And it seems like corporate responsibility has been Chouinard's practice since long before it became a buzzword; Patagonia has donated 1% of its annual sales to grass-roots environmental causes since 1985, and it switched to only using organic cotton in 1995. It has persuaded Nike, Timberland, and Wal-Mart to switch, too. [USN]
Meanwhile, Lily Cole is working with a group called the Sky Rainforest Rescue campaign, which is working to save a 3 million hectare area of rainforest in the state of Acre, Brazil. [Independent]
Levi's apparently thinks corporate responsibility comprises adding an extra message to its garment care tags, asking customers to please consider donating the jeans to charity when they are no longer needed, oh yeah, and to care for our planet. [AW]
A man named Daniel Storto makes gloves in a rust belt New York town called Gloversville. That's the best we can describe this story, which, though a tad long on the gosh-darnit quirky local color, you should totally read. [NYTimes]
Why would anyone make a $650 necklace, take the care to plate it in gold, and then adorn it with fake pearls? Questions that should be put to some outfit that sells at Barneys called Mawi. [W]
The save the garment district rally yesterday featured this grand promise from mayoral candidate Bill Thompson: "As mayor, I'll work with manufacturers, the fashion industry and labor unions to arrange for up to one million square feet of dedicated garment manufacturing space in nonprofit buildings." Meanwhile, one manufacturer wants tax cuts for companies that manufacture domestically, interest-free loans, vouchers for his rent, tariffs on imported garments, and a blow job from Anna Wintour. (All right, we made that last part up.) Enforcing existing zoning laws would probably work just as well. [Crain's]
Judith Leiber once designed a bag for Hillary Clinton based on Socks the Cat. [Style.com]
Louis Vuitton now has a store in Ulan Bator. That's in Mongolia. The country, or at least certain sectors of it, is awash in wealth from uranium and copper mining, and officials at LVMH are assured that "elegant women" are already sporting damier and monogram canvas items at Ulan Bator's "trendy nightclubs and restaurants." Louis Vuitton is not, however, the first luxury brand to hit the market: Ermenegildo Zegna opened last month. [WWD]
Roberto Cavalli, after having visited Chechnya, will now take care of fashion business in Turkey. [FWD]
Cynthia Rowley is doing a line of surfwear for Roxy. We want to see those alleged neoprene pencil skirts. [Racked]
J. Crew nearly doubled its earnings forecast for the fourth quarter, and its stock rose by 10%, to $42.01. [TS]
Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group — which owns Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, and Burton — reported a 13% rise in pre-tax profits, to £213.6 million, for the year to this August. [Independent]

Victoria's Secret's Diamond Bra, Now With More Diamonds; Eva & Tony Do London Fog

Jenna — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

Marisa Miller has earned the most coveted position of all the Victoria's Secret runway girls: Wearer Of The Diamond-Studded Bra. Her equipment costs $3 million. "It's surprisingly comfortable," says Miller. Sure looks it. [People]

Sir Paul Smith would love it "if fashion shows died out completely." The 63-year-old British designer explains, shows are "pure, self-indulgent theatre. How many girls were there this year in horns or neck braces with bare breasts? It wouldn't matter if they didn't take it all so seriously, but the fashion world is a dangerous, superficial and fickle place." [Telegraph]
Although the press sometimes jumps all over Anna Wintour for repeating her outfits, it's something she does all the time, and will continue to do, because who wears clothes once, for God's sake? "I usually wear the same dress twenty times. I think it's always fun to have something new, but it doesn't mean that everything you already have in your closet has to be thrown out, you know? Recycle." [The Cut]
The USAToday and W did the hard work of "parsing" Amelia Earhart's style. You know her, she's that woman famous for...wearing pants. [USAToday]
Donatella Versace tells a Vogue reader who says she would buy clothes in larger sizes, if Versace made them, that "I certainly wouldn't want to do a plus-size line, as I have no problem with women of any size wearing my clothes. I guess some styles lend themselves to being scaled up, while some others just don't work." Versace's own daughter, Allegra, has struggled with anorexia. [Style.com]
Donatella hosted a party for the Whitney, and a lot of celebrities came. (Since when are Lindsay Lohan and Taylor Momsen "just-wanna-have-fun blondes"?) Also in attendance at what was, you know, an art benefit were Chuck Close and Ellsworth Kelly. [Style.com]
Meanwhile, that equally tanned and fashionable Italian female, Gucci creative director Frida Giannini, is headed to Yonkers today to cut the ribbon with Mary J. Blige on something called the Mary J. Blige Center for Women. [P6]
Somebody should tell Mark Ronson that what he has designed for Gucci is not in fact a sneaker, but a boat shoe. The eyelets give it away. [Hypebeast]
Karl Lagerfeld is heading to Argentina. Lest you think it's to enjoy some steak and a nice Malbec, know this: "I only go to places if I have a professional reason. I'm not a tourist." He'll be shooting Freja Beha Erichsen, Baptiste GIabiconi, and Claudia Schiffer in the next Chanel campaign — what, no Lara Stone? — and researching a book about Argentine architecture. [WWD]
London Fog's holiday ad campaign features Tony Parker and Eva Longoria. There's got to be a Mad Men joke here somewhere. [People]
Meanwhile, John Galliano himself has revealed that the spring Dior campaign will star Karlie Kloss. [WWD]
Grace Kelly and Cartier are each getting stars on the Walk of Style on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. [HoustonChronicle]
Angelina Jolie is apparently in talks with Ridley Scott to star in a film about the 1995 murder of Maurizio Gucci. [Variety]
Tom Ford, the man Maurizio had hired to revitalize the brand, says he will do women's wear again. Just as soon as he can get financing. [WWD]
The Times' Critical Shopper, Cintra Wilson, went to Ann Taylor. She didn't expect to like it, but then: "Clothing companies, when they panic, tend to go rococo. They get flashier, busier and more disposable by slapping on bigger logos and more useless bows and frippery. Ann Taylor must be commended for choosing less clutter and better details that aren't always: the finished seams inside a little faille opera jacket; the velvet ribbon inside the waist of a peplum coat; the Italian three-season wool." [NYTimes]
Iconix Brand Group, the company behind everything from Candie's to Badgley Mischka, has been fined $250,000 by the Federal Trade Commission for violating certain provisions of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act when it collected information during some of its promotions last year. [Crain's]
Burberry is suing the U.K.-based pet supply store Pets At Home for using a checked fabric the company says is too similar to its own. Pets At Home, which has 250 stores, has pulled the offending products, but the dispute is ongoing. Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey told the New Yorker earlier this year about suing a pet store that advertised a dog cushion "in the famous Burberry check." [Guardian]
Maybe the answer is that Burberry should make like Mulberry, and do its own line of pet clothes. [FWD]
More details about the city's planned fashion incubator in the garment district have emerged: New York will subsidize 12 slots in a 10,000 sq. ft. space, reducing the rent from $2,900 to $1,500 a month. The designers, who are being selected right now, will also have access to mentoring and support from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. It's not for students fresh out of school: every designer must have already been in business for at least a year, and employ a staff (even if that staff is volunteer). What a wonderful use for a vacant showroom floor. [NYTimes]
Australian denim brand Ksubi is going to do a lower-priced line with the department store David Jones. And possibly another one with Topshop. [Sassybella]
Anhropologie is extending its reach across the Atlantic. Its first European store opens on Friday in London. [WWD]

Jean-Paul Gaultier Right On Target; Mad Men Women's Wear On Its Way

Jenna — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

Jean-Paul Gaultier is doing a collaboration with Target that will hit stores next spring; stay tuned for pricing information and images as they inevitably leak. Please let there be lingerie-as-outerwear! [WWD]
Agyness Deyn might star in a short film. [P6]

Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant says she intends to add women's wear, like evening gowns and office wear, to the clothing line inspired by the show. The first items, men's suits, go on sale at Brooks Brothers tomorrow. For now, of course, you can always dress like Joan Holloway by cruising the vintage stores. [Independent]
Oh, someone at Agent Provocateur has a sense of humor that matches our own. Penis! Har de har, har. [Things Doanie Likes]
The reason the Jimmy Choo for H&M collection tops out at $299, for a pair of thigh-high boots? The pieces are all real leather, says Tamara Mellon. Which begs the question, why does it cost so much, again? There's no law that says real leather has to cost $300. [The Cut]
17-year-old Kalief Rollins of Carson, California, started a t-shirt line called Phree Kountry. It sells shirts with messages like "Caution: Educated African American Male," and this week, his business plan was announced as the winner of the National Young Entrepreneur Competition. In addition to $10,000, Rollins got to meet the president, who kept one of the "Caution" shirts. Rollins needs to do two things: make those tees for women, and get a website. Hello! [CBS]
Hassan bin Ali al-Nuaimi, the angel investor who is ready to acquire the bankrupt house of Christian Lacroix, says if his bid is successful, he will investigate licensing the Lacroix name to private jets, exclusive hotels, and yachts. [Reuters]
Naeem Khan's Home Shopping Network line will be produced in sizes 0-24 and cost up to $450. [Style.com]
Ali Wise, the now-ex Dolce & Gabbana publicist accused of hacking into an ex-boyfriend's new flame's voicemail, faces additional charges apparently related to a total of four victims. The Manhattan District Attorney added four counts each of computer trespass, eavesdropping, computer tampering in the fourth degree and aggravated harassment in the second degree, and one count of stalking in the fourth degree. These are all misdemeanors; Wise already faced two felony charges of computer trespass and eavesdropping. The full complaint alleges that Wise used a service called SpoofCard to gain access to two other people's voicemails more than 1,000 times. [WWD]
From October 20, in France, you will be able to buy a 186-page "biography" of Chanel No. 5. Perfect for that chic woman you know who has...everything. [WWD]
Jill Biden likes to wear miniskirts sometimes. [HuffPo]
The Pierre Hardy for the Gap collaboration, which includes some high heeled boots that would be gorgeous if they didn't cost close to $200, has been delayed yet again. Although the boots were supposed to hit stores in September, Gap has been pushing back their delivery. Today was supposed to be Boot Day, but Racked is reporting that none of the Manhattan stores have any. What gives? [Racked]
Pearl Lowe has designed a line for the British retailer Peacocks. Her daughter, Daisy Lowe, is modeling it. How sweet. [Telegraph]
Vanessa Williams' PR rep must have some awesome dirt to be able to engineer coverage like this: a news item about the actress receiving a meaningless award for being "fearless" praises her "courage and humility," calls her an "entertainment denizen," and reports as objective fact her "fearless conviction." Williams herself accords that to "a thrill-seeking gene. The people that I come from are outspoken and driven and not afraid to take chances." Either really good dirt, or someone at Women's Wear Daily just loves Ugly Betty. [WWD]
Tom Ford sure does say the darndest things. The Guardian collects his most enduring quotes, including "Richard [Buckley, his partner] hardly ever has anything nice to say about my work. It's my mother all over again." [Guardian]
Vanessa Paradis is set to be the face of Chanel's Rouge Coco lipsticks next year. [Independent]
Coach's lower-priced handbag line, Poppy, introduced this summer, has helped raise revenues at the company even as profits continued to fall slightly. First-quarter profits were down 3% on last year, to $140.8 million, but sales rose 8% in North America. [NYTimes]
Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessyannounced a company-wide 0.6% decline in third quarter. [WSJ]

Stephanie Seymour Accused Of Bad Mothering; Manolo Blahnik "Hates" Celebrities

Jenna — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EDT

Stephanie Seymour's divorce from Peter Brant is getting even uglier. After police were called to the couple's home following Seymour's complaint that Brant's security assaulted her, Brant has accused the model of drug use and is seeking sole child custody:

Brant alleged in court filings that Seymour sought treatment for Vicodin abuse, and subsequently became addicted to the drug Subutex, which is used to treat opiate addiction. He says Seymour has missed multiple court-required breathalyzer tests, and has twice submitted urine samples that, though clean of Subutex, were too cold to meet the minimum valid temperature. The media mogul also says Seymour "broke in" to the couple's Florida mansion and removed $700,000 worth of items, all while the kids sat in a hotel in Connecticut. [NYP]
When fashion goes Galt, you know we're in trouble. [TDB]
Nanette Lepore, Michael Kors, Zac Posen, Anna Sui, Betsey Johnson, and that guy who was just endorsed by Barack Obama, whatsisname, Bill Thompson, will be on Seventh Avenue on Wednesday for a rally to save the New York Garment District. Twenty-five thousand people work in the district, and designers say they need their convenient access to sample houses and manufacturers it provides, but lax enforcement of existing zoning laws and competition from cheaper labor sources overseas have led the zone to dwindle. [NYDN]
Not to be outdone, Mayor Bloomberg — whom some designers have criticized for failing to do enough to protect the garment district — is launching a fashion incubator program for 12 up-and-coming designers this fall. [NYP]
Woody Allen is reportedly considering casting Adriana Lima in his new movie, which is set in Rio de Janeiro. Because he's "fascinated" by her beauty. [NYP]
"My fashion advice is to have a flattering mirror at home and then forget about it," says Vivienne Westwood. The designer lives in Captain Cook's old house, and has never sold out to a larger company or a private investor, despite some offers. And some polite nos: reports Cathy Horyn, one backer in the 90s picked another designer instead. "They could have made money with me. They lost it. I'm a woman," says Westwood. "I'm like household management or whatever it is. I would never spend more than I have." [NYTimes]
Tim Gunn has a cameo in the Sex And The City sequel. [E!]
JMS, a brand owned by Hanes, is adding a dedicated plus-size apparel line to its existing plus-size offerings, which were mainly jeans and underwear. It'll be sold at Wal-Mart and the creative director promises "slimming seams, strategically placed pockets, freedom of movement and appropriate-weight materials." [WWD]
Christian Louboutin, the designer who slimmed down Barbie's ankles when he had the chance to release a line of dolls under his own name, says he never meant to imply her ankles were big before. "Fat ankles she didn't have, she just could have had thinner ankles," explained Louboutin. Still digging, then. [WWD]
Manolo Blahnik: "I hate celebrities. All those pointless girls — I won't name names, but you know who I mean. They are 'famous'. Ridiculous. I like women with style: actresses like Uma Thurman, icons like Audrey Hepburn. I like women with style to wear my shoes." [Vogue UK]
Model Selita Ebanks joins Sinbad, Darryl Strawberry, and Cyndi Lauper in the next season of Celebrity Apprentice. [NYDN]
Pat Field made a tote bag for Diet Coke to give away with purchase, which will be available later this month from Boots stores. [Daily Express]
Erin Wasson, presumably to avoid her dreaded homelessness, makes an appearance in the fall J. Crew catalog. She eats a necklace in one shot. [Refinery29]
Something called the Japan Jeans Association given the country's first lady, Miyuki Hatoyama, its Best Jeanist Award. (She shares it with a pop star and an actor.) Pleased, the 66-year-old Hatoyama said, "This is the prize I have long wished to win. I'm a jeans lover. I'm always putting on jeans as they're easy to wear." She also recalled that she and her husband were each wearing jeans when they met. [AFP]
Gee, we're so glad reporter Giles Hattersley puts that nice boss, successful businesswoman, and maker of lovely shoes Tamara Mellon in her place in this hard-hitting profile. Apparently she smokes, wears "teensy" dresses, and altogether reminds Hattersley of "the heroine of some dicey Danielle Steel bonkathon." Can't have that. [ToL]
Love Moschino, the Italian company's lower-priced clothing line, is adding accessories to its collection. [WWD]
Georgia May Jagger, already having nabbed the Hudson Jeans campaign, is now the face of Rimmel cosmetics. [Telegraph]
Yasmin le Bon's daily life: "If lunch is at home then I tend to eat up leftovers from the fridge. I'm the leftover queen. I can't help it. I might mix them into an omelette or throw them all into a soup. One of the children won't eat soups any more because she's worried what old food I've put in it. Simon's mother, Ann Marie, often comes round with homemade bread and cakes." [ToL]
Alvin Ailey company dancers will wear Mark & James, Badgley Mischka's just-announced lower-priced line, to their season opening gala on December 2. [WWD]
Henry Holland kinda maybe sorta wants to move to New York. "Every time I come, the need to live here becomes more and more urgent and I want to go home less and less. I spend my entire time here plotting about how I would do it." But even if he did cross the Atlantic, he says he would still show his line in London. [Grazia]
The luxury market, once in free-fall, is still declining, just not as steeply as some analysts earlier expected. Instead of the overall 10% drop in luxury sales that had originally been forecast for 2009, analysts say the industry is on track for an 8% decline in sales. [WSJ]

Kardashians Kall The Shots; Megan Fox Said To Rake In $2 Mill From Armani

Jenna — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EDT

The Kardashian sisters are going to put on their thinking kaps and hopefully kome up with a kollection for Bebe. [Kim Kardashian]
Which makes about as much sense as Jermaine Jackson's rumored clothing line. [Times Of India]

Megan Fox has been gunning for her just-announced Armani campaign, for which she was paid a rumored $2 million, for years — or approximately as long as she's been famous. She has worn Armani to events and finally met the designer at his couture show this summer. [AP]
After missing the opportunity to release a Sarah Jessica Parker scent to coincide with the Sex And The City movie, Coty, the clever clogs company behing the actress' perfume deal, vowed to be prepared next time around. And lo, SJP NYC, a cute little pink thing in a beveled bottle, will launch next May, just in time for Sex And The City 2: Electric Boogaloo. [WWD]
Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas has signed a perfume deal with Avon, the preferred perfume partner of Reese Witherspoon, Courteney Cox, and Patrick Dempsey. [WWD]
See how Selena Gomez's new clothing line, Dream Out Loud, stacks up against the luminaries of tween clothing collections past: the Olsen twins' Wal-Mart line, Miley Cyrus and Max Azria's concatenation of sequins, and the criminally God-awful Stuff By Hilary Duff. [Refinery29]
Yeohlee Teng has been honored by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. She says, "Fashion is so often about the Eighties, about the Seventies, but not about original thinking." Teng's preferred design philosophy? "Construct a cube, then put it on the body and watch the body activate it." Check out her current show at the Crow Collection of Asian Art in downtown Dallas. [DN]
In some kind of grand, music-fashion-industry circle jerk, Michael Stipe will give an award to Renzo Rosso, Jon Bon Jovi will present something to Kenneth Cole, Oscar de la Renta will receive a prize from Grace Coddington, and Dita Von Teese will bestow something on Stephen Jones. In fashion, everyone's a winner. [WWD]
Coach creative director Reed Krakoff is not only getting an eponymous fashion line, but a New York Fashion Week debut. Expect to see Krakoff on the schedule for February. [FWD]
When I, like the Italian luxury — luxury as in $30,000 suits — label Brioni, turn 65, remind me to celebrate by releasing a limited-edition perfume and selling each of my 7,000 bottles for $399 (100 ml) r $830 (300 ml). Then, inexplicably, I'll invite Bryan Ferry to the launch. [WWD]
Nitrolicious was given a free pair of Steve Madden's "Seryna" booties — the alleged knock-off Alexander McQueen is suing Steve Madden over — and posted an understandably glowing review, with photos. But with praise like, "These are really a good copy of the original boots but cost a fraction of the price," not to mention the fact that posts like these serve as timestamped evidence that Steve Madden is continuing to promote the product, could the company only end up developing Alexander McQueen's case? [Nitrolicious]
We know Vera Wang won't be on the next season of Dancing With The Stars, but is it because the producers wouldn't let her design her own costumes? [FWD]
Wang's president of creative direction, Constance Darrow, announced her resignation from the company yesterday. The designer is understood to have offered Darrow a promotion to stay. The senior vice president of worldwide marketing and communications, Elizabeth Musmanno, left Vera Wang last week. These developments could be related either to Wang's rumored reality television show, or to the arrival of new company president Mario Grauso, who starts work today. [WWD]
Thus says model Liya Kebede: "Mothers are the world's best stimulus package because they invest in their families and their communities. When a mother dies, her children are up to 10 times more likely to die within two years. They are less likely to be immunized, more likely to be malnourished, more likely to contract HIV, and more likely to be exploited. When a mother lives, her children are fed, attend school, and know that someone exists who will do absolutely anything to make their lives better." [TDB]
The American launch of A*Muse, Richie Rich and Pamela Anderson's eco-friendly swimwear line, sounds much like the international launch, at New Zealand Fashion Week in September. Even down to Richie's rollerskates. (I'm beginning to feel bad for the models who have to wear the samples, no doubt well-rubbed with body makeup and other people's sweat, by now.) [People]
Ruffian's new collection for Anthropologie, Mise en Scene, is out. It's less whimsical than the retailer's typical fare, though the connection to vintage fashion is still obvious. [WWD]