• Lily Allen told a British radio show that she is quitting performing for two years to open a boutique called Lucy In Disguise. She's also going to found a record label. [Elle UK]

• President Obama wore a parka to visit the Great Wall of China. "The jacket has a fleece bib and removable bucket hood, suggesting that President likes his jackets as he likes his health care bills: riddled with options," notes Women's Wear Daily. [WWD]
• Michaele Salahi wore David Yurman jewelry to that little party she crashed about a week back, if you care. [WWD]
• Japanese outfit Cross Company has bought a majority stake in Thom Browne. Which makes a certain kind of sense, since Browne's aesthetic certainly is well-suited to Japan. Haha, 'suited,' see what we did there? Sorry. Anyway, how much money Browne got to part with his controlling stake was not disclosed, and they plan to open a flagship in Japan next year. [WWD]
• Cathy Horyn, on the closure of Christian Lacroix's couture and ready-to-wear lines: "I remember taking my mother, Nancy Horyn, to the Paris ready-to-wear shows in March of 1990. She saw three — Valentino, Romeo Gigli and Lacroix. She was utterly enchanted by Gigli; it was the season of the celebrated Murano glass collection. She didn't really care for Valentino; it was, you know, not her thing. She adored Lacroix. The show that season was held in the house, on those beautiful banquettes, so it was a different experience, more like a couture presentation. Before the show we stood in the little courtyard of the house, on the steps going up to the salon, and my mother asked about so-and-so, curious about their style of dress or exceedingly impulsive hairdo. It probably all seemed very urgent, though I imagine not in the least to her." [On The Runway]
• Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone closed on a nice little love nest in the Village for $10.4 million. It has a private elevator, yard, roof terrace, and a rear terrace. [P6]
• Anthropologie is moving into the Chelsea Market, at the corner of 15th Street and Ninth Avenue in New York City. [NYPost, second item]
• British designer Christopher Kane isn't having any of this Tommy-Ton-in-the-front-row nonsense: "It's a bit mad, isn't it? It feels like it's happened all of a sudden and at some shows this season the front row was just all bloggers. I think it will die down though, and people know what they are doing. No one who wants to read a serious review of a show is going to look at what a 14-year-old thinks. But it has become more critical; people can say what they want about anyone on a blog without consequences and that's quite scary. There are real repercussions for a designer if a photo of something is leaked by a blog; it can be copied in a fortnight and that can really harm a business." [Vogue UK]
• Dior Homme is launching a line of women's jeans. Women with the means to do so have been wearing Dior Homme's slim cut suits ever since Hedi Slimane was designing pants so sexy the darts alone could make you weak at the knees. Could the specifically-for-women versions be any better than those? [Vogue UK]
• You can buy Joan Collins' Dynasty costumes — along with Shirley Bassey's YSL heels — at a charity pop-up store in London, opening tomorrow. [Elle UK]
• Tom Ford smells like vanilla and has not only a Best Side but a Best Angle. He says things like, "I think of myself as a product." [NYTimes]
• Cathy Horyn likes his movie, A Single Man. [On The Runway]
• The Wall Street Journal investigates the peculiar and specific humiliation of having your once-treasured and still-fashionable clothing picked through by a snarky 19-year-old clerk at Buffalo Exchange, and found wanting. Word to the wise, as someone who used to make food and rent money by re-selling the designer "trade" I was usually "paid" in — and by scouring the $1 rag markets in LA for Lacoste sweaters and old prom dresses I could launder, repair and re-sell: Buffalo Exchange's prices are shit. They do not care if your shoes are thrice-worn Prada; they will offer you $9 for them. If you do not have the patience for eBay, go to Wasteland, if you're on the West Coast. If you're anywhere else, sew in some labels from your dad's old designer ties. Duh. [WSJ]
• Liliane Bettencourt's daughter has filed a civil case to declare L'Oreal heiress Bettencourt, the richest woman in Europe, incapable of managing her own affairs. Bettencourt gave a reported $1.5 billion worth of cash and artworks to a photographer friend, François-Marie Banier, who is already the subject of a criminal case for "abus de faiblesse," or taking advantage of the infirm. Liliane Bettencourt's lawyers reject both of the daughter's cases as an attempt to seize control of Bettencourt's assets. [Reuters]
• Someone you have never heard of before and will never hear of again was in the Victoria's Secret fashion show because she won a competition on the Internet. [AP]
• Aeropostale's third-quarter profit grew by 47% over last year's results. Same-store sales for November were up 7%, and black Friday weekend sales rose 10% on last year. Quarterly earnings were $62.6 million. [WSJ]
• Competitor Abercrombie & Fitch reported a 17% slide in same-store sales for the month of November. Analysts had expected only a 9% drop. The company's Hollister stores saw same-store sales declines of 23%. [TS]

• Did L.A. boutique Maxfield drop Victoria Beckham's dVb in favor of Holmes & Yang? Posh's people say Maxfield hasn't ordered the line for three seasons, and the decision had nothing to do with Katie Holmes, who is Posh's friend. [P6]

• Luckily, old bandmate Mel B says she loves Posh's clothing lines. "I'm going out with Geri and Emma while I'm here — and I'll be wearing one of Victoria's dresses," the singer told a crowd in London. [Daily Mail]
• American Apparel is laying off 1,500 workers — more than 10% of its total workforce — because of immigration violations. When ICE raided its factory in downtown L.A. two months ago, 1,600 workers were found to be unauthorized to work in the U.S., and a further 200 were found to have immigration irregularities. Company founder Dov Charney released a statement saying: "Many of you have been with me for so many years, and I just cry when I think that so many people will be leaving the company. It is my belief that immigrants bring prosperity to any economy." This is the latest in a long line of bad news for the company. From being dogged with sexual harassment lawsuits, to the $5 million settlement it had to pay Woody Allen in May after using his image on billboards without authorization, to this week's reprimand from the British Advertising Standards Authority for "sexualising a child," American Apparel can't seem to keep its house in order. [LATimes]
• There are behind-the-scenes shots of Lily Allen working with Karl Lagerfeld on the new Chanel Cocoon bag campaign. [DailyMail]
• We don't doubt that Patrick Demarchelier is planning to shoot 100 top models in Fashion's Night Out t-shirts outside Bryant Park on September 9, but somehow we think someone got confused when noting that "Iman and her daughter Chanel" would be among them. [WWD]
• OMG! Modelfights on Project Runway: Models Of The Catwalk. [P6]
• If you have any interest in beautiful, softly draped leather jackets, deconstructed tee shirts, or vaguely gothic skintight pants — or if you just want to know where that ubiquitous no-closure wraparound sweater, like a high-fashion snuggie ancestor, that everyone from Alice + Olivia to Eileen Fisher has knocked off came from originally — you need to learn about Rick Owens, now. And how his aesthetic is back in a big way just now. [NYTimes]
• Speaking of which, peep Jennifer Connelly in the British InStyle in Rodarte thigh-high boots and Olivier Theyskens' gothic heel-less 8" runway shoes. [Daily Mail]
• Also big for fall, at least in men's wear: Steve McQueen. [WSJ]
  
• There's a rumor going around that Peter Som is set to become the first creative director of Tommy Hilfiger. [WWD]
• Thom Browne is launching two new lower-priced lines for Spring 2010. [WWD]
• Mark your calendars! She by Sheree, apparently some design offspring of a Real Housewife, is coming to Fashion Week. [People]
• Juergen Teller, who shoots all of Marc Jacobs' campaigns, reports that only one set of images has ever caused any particular controversy — and it's not the ones of a then-12-year-old Dakota Fanning, which even the photographer calls "very hard-core." In Fall of 2006, Jacobs chose makeup artist Dick Page and his partner, James Gibbs, to star in the campaign, and Teller shot the couple making out in the woods outside their home. There was a furor: Men's Vogue even refused to run the ads. [The Moment]
• Kenny Chesney says his new clothing line, Blue Chair Bay, is designed to reflect his life off the stage. "I would wear these clothes in Malibu, East Tennessee, where I'm from, or on my boat in St. John," the singer explained at MAGIC, the apparel trade conference that just ended in Las Vegas. Chesney's apparel partners had an airstream full of clothes and purposefully-weatherbeaten blue wicker chairs parked in their booth at the show. [WWD]
• Daisy Lowe's jewelry line with Swarovski is said to feature pieces inspired by the stars, moon, and planets. [Elle UK]
  
• Derek Lam's CEO, Jan Schottlman, denies the anonymous reports published by Page Six that the company is haemorrhaging money. [The Cut]
• Dooney & Bourke are going back to models for their campaigns after seasons of using actresses. Hayden Panettiere is getting thrown over for Maggie Rizer. [WWD]
• Georgia May Jagger, in her new denim ad: "Hudson jeans. Soft...and blue. And very tight." Descriptive! [TDB]
• Richard Chai is doing a line with Keds. Chai's sneakers, which are canvas and leather in white, grey and black, have silver zippers between the rows of eyelets. They hit stores in January of next year, and pricing information isn't yet available. [WWD]
• Someone painted an entire Spanish Colonial-style bungalow in Louis Vuitton's signature logo print. So long as Britney Spears doesn't use it as the set for her next video, we imagine these folks in Mexicali might be safe from LVMH's lawyers. [BoingBoing via hazmeelchingadofavor]

I must say, I'm wondering at the significance of Anna Wintour's vaguely ethnic prints - although my instinct is to go with "none."


Sienna Miller and Anna Wintour are clinging together in half these shots - as two women victimized irrationally by the dislike of other women? Perhaps. The truth is, Sienna may be a victim of hype, but man, can the dame work an outfit. And I like to imagine this frock's a tribute to the best of John Hughes.


Look, we all get that Thom Browne's doing carefree subversive preppy here, but that doesn't mean it can't also look awful, absurd, vaguely disturbing.


Do you know what I love best about Georgina Chapman's dress? It's like "Franciscan Monk goes to Studio 54," and even one of these elements would have been a recipe for awesome.


It's so unfair. If most of us wore this, we'd be dismissed as "nerd whose Little House stage has lasted a weirdly long time." Whereas, Alexa Chung is protected by the auspices of high fashion!


I'm very eager to hear people's take on Renee Zellweger's choice, since she, flaming June orange and draped open panelling are all polarizing things. Note, please, that Renee has bravely bucked the gratuitously aggressive shoe trend, two days in a row, by sporting near-nudes.


I love how Cassie has become this Prince-inflected fashion star. Does this send me? No. Would I have done something a little more interesting than the usual jumpsuit-and-drag-heels? Probably. But she still manages to be essentially fab at all times.


Carolina Herrera is an ongoing argument for the efficacy of the uniform. I remember an essay she did in Vogue a few years ago extolling the virtues of the white blouse, which she claimed had "literally saved (her) life." The life-saving in question involved losing her luggage before a Chicago gala and finding a nice blouse at Banana Republic.


Anne V's shirt reads "Fashion's Night Out, September 10, 2009." So, you know, brace yourselves for that.


This Tyrolean smoking jacket situation was probably the inevitable evolution of Zac Posen's recent devotion to "shrunken dandy." He's trying to do for shrugging what Beau Brummel did for "moving your neck."


Okay, this is a lot going on. If idle hands are indeed the devil's playground, then Hilary Rhoda's incredibly busy outfit is in absolutely no danger of falling prey to the temptations of Old Nick.


See, the difference between Jessica White and the rest of the world is that when she chooses to break up her length with a lot of unflattering, harsh lines, she's still tall and willowy. The rest of us would be cut down to approximately microscopic size.


See, when, like Cynthia Rowley, her whole thing has always kinda been "girly downtown lunatic," one can only revel in her consistency.


Man, the amount of jewel-toned satin here is starting to give me that claustrophobic David's Bridal feeling - I'll save you the bad modern fiction image of the lines of dead gowns in their shrouds or whatever. And if you think I'm avoiding discussing Tory Burch's dress because I'm having a really hard time overcoming my instinctive, infantile aversion to its color (and the fact that she appears to have scalped Beaker to make her bag) well, you're right.


Vera Wang has officially discovered the most uncomfortable red-carpet pose in the world's history. It's called "Cat-on-a-Hot-Tin-Headlight."


Wow, the fun never stops at the Trump house!


Here's one thing I've wondered: has kilt-wearing taken off since Marc Jacobs started doing it exclusively? And I don't mean his entourage who obviously probably feel pressured to toss all their pants.

[Images via Getty]

• File under matches made in heaven: Karl Lagerfeld has designed couture costumes for England's National Ballet. [Telegraph]

• Did Eva Herzigova drink a lot of champagne at the opening of the Michael Kors store in London, and then walk out the door with a bracelet, watch, and sunglasses? Security guards reportedly looked like they were going to stop the supermodel, until the paparazzi started taking her picture. Kors claimed the next day that Herzigova was "being cheeky" — but that the items were a gift. [Daily Mail]
• Get ready to see a lot more of Jessica Biel: The actress has been named the newest face of Revlon. [WWD]
• Filene's Basement has filed for bankruptcy protection. Apparently, now that other stores have been forced to cut their prices, Filene's discounts are less impressive in the retail lineup. [Reuters]
• The Olivier Theyskens/Halston rumors are back. With the added complicator of Anna Wintour's involvement. [WWD]
• Holding the annual costume institute gala at the Met might distract from the Renoirs, sniffs writer Michael Gross. [NY Post]
• Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, and Linda Evangelista will all skip the event. Turlington is out of the country, filming a (doubtless very important) "documentary on maternal health." Steven Meisel will also sit the party out — but that's no surprise since the man is rarely glimpsed in public. [P6]
• Patti Smith doesn't require fashion. "I can wear rags," says the musician. "But they have to be cool rags." [The Cut]
• Mischa Barton, however, pretty much requires headbands. Or at least requires you to buy hers, since she doesn't have a career anymore, other than waiting to see if her pilot is getting picked up. [People]
• England apparently has has a Dress of the Year award since 1963. And this year it went to Kate Moss, for one of her Topshop designs. [Independent]
• Meanwhile Topshop, ever the good neighbor, has apparently knocked off Alexander Wang's "naked" dress — the one with the floating embroidery on mesh. [Racked]
• Wang's jacket for the Gap looks like a a biker jacket that swallowed a trench coat. [Racked]
• Is Azzedine Alaïa looking to launch a lingerie line? If so, why wont the famously body-conscious women's wear designer design it himself? [Elle]
• Speaking of lingerie, you should read this entertaining profile of Joe Corré, son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, and co-founder of Agent Provocateur. "I don't buy into all this brand-identity bollocks — the Gucci lifestyle, the Prada lifestyle," says Corré. "What does that mean? That you're a rich, bored idiot with no soul? It's just emperor's new clothes bullshit. We're against all that. Agent Provocateur is about an attitude, about empowerment." [Guardian]
• Hogan's fall campaign will reportedly star Nate Lowman, an artist who dates Mary-Kate Olsen. [Fashionista]
• Bar Refaeli, the Israeli supermodel, has designed "the perfect little black bikini." It looks exactly like every other string bikini you've ever seen, but it costs $120. [People]
• Ben Sherman is quitting the footwear business by the end of this year. [WWD]
• On the other foot: Skechers, which is now back in the black. [WWD]
• Lily Cole, the British model, has not one but three movies coming out. And a new Rimmel ad. And, oh yeah, she's a full-time student at Cabridge. [The Cut]
• Thom Browne, whose business was rumored to be in dire straits recently, had his CEO and CFO depart on Friday. [WWD]

• Geithner's proposed new regulatory framework buoyed retail stocks by 4.4% yesterday. Saks' shares rose 15%, Ann Taylor was up 18%, Macy's climbed 10.2%, and Liz Claiborne rose 16.2%. Finally, some good fashion economic news! [WWD]

• But it isn't all rosy on the business side. H&M's profits have fallen for the first time in five years. Their first-quarter net profit was down by 12%, which was worse than analysts had expected. [WSJ]
• Marc Ecko Enterprises owes business partners $170 million. $100 million of that is due to Li & Fung, the global sourcing giants, who announced just yesterday that their net was down 21%. [NY Post]
• Hugo Boss lost $20.6 million in the fourth quarter of 08. That's a decline in net of 27%. for the year. [WWD]
• Thom Browne, whom the New York Post reported was close to bankruptcy yesterday, denies the charge in WWD. The men's wear designer says he is looking for a financial backer to grow his company — but has been slow in his search because the relationship is a crucial one and he doesn't want to sell a majority stake in his business. [WWD]
• The Telegraph takes a tour of the Chanel handbag factory outside Paris, and finds 340 people working very slowly and carefully to complete the 180 steps in the making of a 2.55 purse. [Telegraph]
• Simply Vera by Vera Wang's spring line is out at Kohl's. I agree with this reviewer that it looks basically cute — but one word of advice? Do not ever imitate a runway or lookbook outfit head-to-toe. It's snoozeville. [Fabsugar]
• Last winter, Peacock Holdings LLC — a men's shirt concern, apparently — bought the Bill Blass brand from NexCen, the company which fired Peter Som and 60 Bill Blass employees without severance. At the time, Peacock said it planned to revive the ready-to-wear division within the year; they are just now looking for a creative director. [WWD]
• Kérastase is discontinuing ten products, including their Bain Après-Soleil shampoo. You can mourn them by buying the last little pottles of goodness at 30% off online with the code VIP30. [Kérastase Paris]
• Jane Whitfield, a designer at Louis Vuitton who shares the distinction, with fellow Briton Peter Copping, of being commonly described as "Marc Jacobs Right-Hand [Pronoun]" (or who perhaps doesn't have to share it anymore, following Copping's departure to Nina Ricci), lives in a charming centuries-old cottage near Versailles with her husband and kids. This story is entirely about her apparent knack for interiors and contains no other insight into her design work or experience. [Telegraph]
• In China, Clinique and Sony banded together to create a 40-episode web series that just happens to feature an awful lot of Clinique and Sony products. [WSJ]
• If you want to buy a punk outfit from Bergdorf, it will cost you $3000. [Blogue]

• Thierry Mugler meets Sasha Fierce: a match made in shoulderpad superhero sparkle heaven. Mugler says he was exploring "The duality between being a woman and a warrior." [WWD]

• Working in the same vein, or perhaps just remembering last year's Met Ball, Marvel comics is planning a major move into women's apparel, jewelry, and cosmetics in 2009. Since what Marvel owns are characters — more than 5,000 in total — the design options are almost limitless. This deal could be great news for women who already feel like part-time superheroes; unfortunately, the t-shirt illustrating this story has an image of the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, the Flash, and Thor playing in a band, with the slogan "I Heart Boys That Rock!" Weaksauce, Marvel. [WWD]
• Lauren Bush's clothing line, which is sold under her middle name, Lauren Pierce, hits Barneys today. The line is mostly day and cocktail dresses and pretty skirts — with a few reversible capes thrown in for good measure — but with a twist: the classic, vaguely preppy silhouettes are constructed out of eco-friendly fabrics hand-dyed by women with a sustainable business plan in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ten per cent of profits from the line go to charities in the source country. [VF]
• Ladies of a certain age, rejoice: Teri Agins says it's A-okay for you all to be wearing animal print. In fact, the suggestions she has are exactly the same for women of all ages — go for small-scale prints, buy garments with classic lines, and wear only one or two printed items at a time. [WSJ]
• It's campaign season, and the rumors are a-swirlin'. YSL is said to be choosing Christy Turlington for its fall ads, Balenciaga has opted for a group of celebrities, shot by Stephen Meisel, and word is Calvin Klein is using Monika "Jac" Jagaciak, one of the brand's exclusives from the fall show. All scuttlebutt, of course, so make allowances for salt, etc. [Fashionologie]
• Hong Kong-based sourcing behemoth Li & Fung (who recently paid Liz Claiborne $83 million for a long term exclusive sourcing agreement) says its net income has fallen 21%. [WWD]
• Widely influential men's wear designer Thom Browne's namesake line is said to be facing bankruptcy. Browne has been looking for a financial backer for over a year, despite his lucrative sideline deals with Brooks Brothers Black Fleece — which runs through 2011 — and Harry Winston and Moncler. [NY Post]
• Swarovski is cutting an additional 600 production jobs at its Austrian headquarters. The move follows 700 layoffs last year, and another round of 500 job cuts is being pondered. [WWD]
• J. Crew, following a fourth quarter loss of $13.5 million, is trying to adjust to recession-altered patterns of consumer spending. Accordingly, it will continue the expansion of its lower-priced Madewell line. There are presently 12 Madewell stores, and the company plans to open eight more in 2009. [Mediapost via Teenfashionista]
• Which is funny, because Fergie has the same idea. She's coming out with not one but two lines of footwear. "Fergie" will sell for $89-129, and "Fergalicious" will be $39-69. Which still frankly seems like a lot to pay to look like a pop star's feet. [NY Post]
• Gwyneth Paltrow will be "designing" a range for the French label ZOETees this fall. I wonder if they'll let her do $400 cashmere socks? [Sassybella]
• One good deal in any economy: free shit! Topshop, which is promising cross its fingers hope to die that the store at Broadway and Broome St. will finally open this April 2nd, has a van circling downtown New York as a promotional stunt. Which would be crass and silly and unworthy of coverage if it weren't for the fact that Topshop's clothes are generally amazing. The van is giving away goodie bags and gift cards of varying amounts, and you can follow it online. [Topshop]

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

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

Writes Sheidlower, the president's attire "was, by the standards of men's formal dress, simply incorrect." Wearing a white tie but not "white tie" is a no-no, and what's more, wearing the more formal neck ornament at a black tie event is to commit the sin of dressing more formally than the engagement demands. Sheidlower to the rescue! White tie, in case you need reminding,

is not simply a tuxedo worn with a white tie. It consists of a tailcoat, not a tuxedo jacket, and it is worn with a wing-collar shirt with a front of cotton piqué. The trousers traditionally have double piping on the side seam. Black tie consists of a tuxedo jacket (which traditionally has peak, not notch, lapels with satin or grosgrain facing) worn with a black bow tie and a pleated straight-collar shirt. The trousers have a single wide piping on the side seam.

This is all true. By the recondite system of conventions that govern men's formal wear, our new president was all kinds of wrong. (Sheidlower might have also pointed out that Obama wore a wristwatch — traditionally a no-no with evening wear for both sexes, because it implies you might be marking time instead of enjoying the sumptuous event.) But I can't help but wonder why sniffing that Obama wore the wrong suit is apparently Sheidlower's most urgent impression of the inauguration?

The point is, Obama, for all his formal wear code-switching, looked good. The notched lapels on his impeccably-fitted suit didn't distract from the elegance of the event. The white tie on his straight-collar shirt didn't even immediately jump out at me as wrong. And I certainly wasn't counting the stripes on his pants as I watched video clips on my laptop. Obama's overall look was strong, handsome, and well turned out. A certain creativity with the dress code is not, in my mind, a sin.

But what's what menswear always comes down to, isn't it? Despite the best efforts of designers like Hedi Slimane (who, although no longer at the helm of Dior Homme, will always be at the helm of my suit-loving heart), Thom Browne, and Stefano Pilati to make men's fashion about more than two-button or three-button suits, to inject it with some of the vitality and purposefulness that women take for granted in our ready-to-wear, dressing up as a dude is still about following rules more than it is about looking good. Can you imagine if we were still trapped in some timewarp where everyone was talking about Michelle Obama's inauguration day outfits in terms of the "right" colors for day and evening, the proper length of gloves, the right kind of hat and the ideal heel height? It's refreshing that so little of the commentary on her clothes has given even a cursory nod to such restrictive, convention-based notions. When it comes to one's choice of dress, maybe it's easier to be a woman than a man.

Obama's Fashion Faux Pas [Slate]

• Nastia Liukin's long-awaited and appropriately bendy BCBG ad is the business! [Popcrunch]

• Now that stars have inaugural balls to shop for, they're "totally over" the frivolity of dressing for awards shows. Celebs "are taking the registry very seriously — no one wants to be the Laura Bush of this inauguration." [MSNBC]
• Justin Timberlake's line, William Rast, is making its Bryant Park debut next month. "And for those who might anticipate a concert, there won’t be one." [WWD]
• Oh no she didn't! Did Michelle Obama insult Vera Wang's taste?! Um, no, she didn't, TMZ. [TMZ]
• Menswear designer Thom Browne, known for "avant-garde antics and perverse, themed spectacles" brings the pain to Europe. [WWD]
• Thakoon's new "Addition" line is good. Really good. [Style.com]
• Badgley Mischka is lowering their prices. We're guessing from "exorbitant" to "extravagant." [WSJ]
• Ferragamo goes green: "The collection, entitled Eco Ferragamo, feature five day bags in the Italian label's signature style - think chic, soft leather in classic shapes. The difference? These bags have undergone a tanning process that uses natural products instead of the the usual, environmental unfriendly metal elements, making the leather biodegradable and water-resistant." Sadly, they're ugly. [ElleUK]
• Big news: Claire McCardell’s mid-century classic, What Shall I Wear, is being reissued! [Fashionista]
• Was Valentino one of Madoff's many victims? [New York]
• Valentino says no! [WWD]
• Uniqlo introduces "interactive reviews." Which is great, if Uniqlo clothes don't make you look like a frumpy teenager. [BlackBook]
• Even though Michelle Obama wore one of her dresses, reporters seem surprised that designer Maria Pinto is, um, still living and working normally. [IHT]
• Not exactly peace in the Middle East, but a start: Following security closures, Benetton reopens its Tehran locations. [WWD]
• Oy. Macy's is closing 10 stores. [WSJ]
• Want to feel inadequate all day long? The new Anna Wintour ringtone dispenses fashion advice! Alternatively, Andre Leon Talley dispenses "career advice." Cause that's not gonna get you mugged on the bus! [New York]
• Would Anna find those sporting "Save Anna" shirts to be, how you say, losers? [Gawker]
• Only the good die young: Husband and wife rad-clothing-line Obedient Sons and Daughters is an economic casualty. [Fashionista]

• Pam Anderson is Vivienne Westwood's new muse. The two seem an unlikely pair but "when Westwood saw Anderson in one of her dresses she knew instantly that Pamela was the right person for her new campaign." [ElleUK]

• MIA's clothing line is ready to drop! As is her baby! [BlackBook]
• Bill Blass closes; his meatloaf recipe lives on! [NY Times]
• Betsey Johnson's Recession-sensitive fashion week show will be "a presentation, in which models wearing her Fall 2009 ensembles will be on display, and it will likely take place in her 5,000 square-foot Seventh Avenue showroom instead of the cavernous Bryant Park tent, which fits 1,000, that Ms. Johnson has used for several years." [WSJ]
• As shoe-throwing sweeps the nation (sans cultural context) Simon Doonan weighs in: “As symbolic gestures of hostility go, shoe tossing is rather incomprehensible. Why throw something that needs to be retrieved? You cannot beat a hasty retreat without your shoes. Better to, as they do at Tom Jones concerts, toss less essential items like panties or brassieres. Other possibilities: cracked dentures, out-of-fashion hats, and expired toupees.” [Fashionista via Vanity Fair]
• The Obama evening bag, "the perfect size for a night out on the town." Features creepy, Evita-style portrait of Barry. [Washington Post]
• However! It is still less ugly than this bag by Ines de la Fressange! [WWD]
• Speaking of luggage collabs (were we?), Thom Browne's teaming up with Samsonite. Insert some kind of skinny suitcase joke here. [WWD]
• Posh Spice is inspired by schoolteacher style. Um, which school did she attend? [The Sun]
• The latest trend: shopping local designers. People do realize that doesn't mean clothes are made locally, right? [WSJ]
• Zara workers are complaining of bad working conditions, including "unpredictable schedules, short staffing, favoritism by bosses, and disregard for seniority." Sounds like most jobs to us, but right on! [ShamelessMag]
• Christina Aguilera's feeling her new Stephen Webster jewelry campaign: “The last campaign was very Hitchcock and film noir inspired. The new look is more futuristic glam that pulls from the Sixties and Seventies era that has been inspiring me lately.” [WWD]
• French Vogue is soliciting copies of back issues to build their archive. Wait, shouldn't they have them? And don't they know that's what eBay's for? [NY Times]
• Khloe Kardashian explains her 360 shift on fur: "The reason PETA approached me initially is because in my past I did wear fur and they wanted to educate me on the brutal ways in which animals are skinned for their pelts," says the sorta-star of her gig for the animal rights org. [People]
• Leona Lewis, meanwhle, has been named PETA's person of the year. “Leona Lewis is admired for her beautiful voice, but it’s her kindness to animals that makes her a superstar in our book,” quoth the abrasive org. [PopCrunch]
• The building that houses Juicy Couture's new flagship "is secretly owned in part by an Iranian bank that helps fund Tehran's nuclear program, the feds charged yesterday in a bid for an ownership stake." Funding velour sweats is bad enough! [New York Post]
• Carla Bruni prevails: not only will the company using her nude image on bags pay damages; they've promised to destroy the remaining bags. [The Sun]

After Years Of Being Out, The Necktie Is In [NY Times]

• Shocking but true: MTV is investing in subversive style iconoclast Lauren Conrad's clothing line. What, Emily Weiss didn't tell her about "private equity"? We think this is a first for media behemoth Viacom and the apparel industry and we can only hope Toastie and Scott Baio's BFF are next, and that whoever owns Fuse will back Heidi and Spencer's line of American flag wear, and that no one in the country ever buys any of this shit. [Portfolio]
  
• Quote of the day:"I actually think our customer prefers it if she has to work a little for it. She knows she's not going to smell like everyone else," Jennifer Balbier, senior vice president of global product development, MAC Cosmetics, regarding limited edition fragrances. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Yogi/mogul (yogul?) Russell Simmons steps down as CEO of Phat Fashions so crazy Kimora can "get space" in which to self-destruct. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Derek Jeter's second fragrance comes out in December. It's called Driven Black. We think this sounds a little racist, but we're confused by that, because it would be a different story if it were called "Paint it Black" or "Smelling like a baseball player's cup is the new black" ... pondering. [WWD, sub req'd]

• Mazel tov to the Gap! The second fiscal quarter brought about their first financial gain since like, the Friendster era or something. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Not so much for Ann Taylor. [WSJ]

  
  

• Marc Jacobs and Richard Prince do the artist-fashion designer collabo thing for Louis Vuitton. [WWD, 1st item]
  
  • Kate Moss to open a gastropub in Gloucestershire, and the locals are less than exuberant. We think we know the cure! And um you won't find it at a "gastropub." [Vogue UK, 2nd item]
    
  • Custom-designed diamond-encrusted lederhosen. When else were you gonna get those five words together like that? [CBS News]
    
  • V magazine has scheduled its party for photographer Mario Testino's new book at the exact same time as the after-party for the Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2008 after party. OMG it's like the Jerusalem of time slots! [Fashion Week Daily]
    
  • Australian designers Sass & Bide are now doing a lingerie line. Unlike our role model starlets, we love underwear and hope you do too; photos here. [Sassybella]

• Marc Jacobs eats breakfast? Does he throw it up afterwards? [WWD, last item]
  
• Super-nice Australian dude Napoleon Perdis (yes, that's really his name) and his eponymous makeup line to become official beauty sponsor of this year's Emmy Awards. The guy is so genuinely nice, we don't even have anything snarky to say about this. [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• Jessica Biel wears Express? Can she not even spring for, like, the Gap? [People via Fab Sugar]
  
• Why are we not at all surprised that Thom Brown, designer of menswear for douchebags, loves Ayn Rand and Gustav Mahler? [The Fashion Informer]

• Explaining how she developed her personal style, English socialite Daphne Guinness responds, "I grew up in an artists' colony near Barcelona with Salvador Dali and the Surrealists, so my dress sense is very coloured by my youth. Everybody knew that Dali was the most crazy; you'd go to his house and he would have lobsters in his pool." [Vogue UK]
• The latest line of accessories by Temperley London are supposed to be inspired by Russia in the early 1900's. We're not sure what burgeoning communism has to do with outrageously expensive leather handbags. [Vogue UK]
• More opportunities to buy Urban Outfitters stuff online? Wow. We're so excited we can barely contain ourselves. [The Budget Fashionista]

• Sarah Silverman is going to be in ads for The Gap. What are the odds this genius plan was hatched in a corporate marketing meeting during which someone employed the term "edgy"? [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Menswear designer Thom Browne: Now bringing his shrunken jacket, cropped pant stylings to (lord help us) a womenswear line. Ugh. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• How cute! Readers of Seventeen and CosmoGIRL! can "connect" with the mags' advertisers through a special website! If only we could have developed a deep, personal, virtual relationship with J.C. Penney when we were in middle school! Jealous! [WWD, 3rd item]
  
• Hubert Givenchy? A little bitter! The retired designer says that "Fashion is over!" because the whole business now revolves around making giant, ugly handbags. Also bitter? One of our favorite fashion bitches, resigned Bill Blass designer Michael Vollbracht, who says, "When making big handbags is the only thing that will save your business, then designing clothes is finished!" [LizSmith]
  
• Diane von Furstenberg: Likes to hike! [Vogue UK]

This has yielded the following question: Which is the greater men's fashion offense? The, ahem, slightly-poncy skinny suit/cropped ankle combo? Or the hyper-masculine (or something) K-Fed poor little trucker boy look? Which turns you off more? And is there anything that men wear that actually ups their powers of attraction? Take our poll, or put your thoughts in the comments.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.