• Handbag model Lily Allen performed live at the farming-themed, hay-strewn Chanel show this morning. [Fashionista]
• Claudia Schiffer has formally announced she will no longer do any runway modeling. She plans to fill her downtime with a trip to Iraq. [Sun]

• Marc Jacobs' and Viacom's flacks have denied the reports that Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone are to appear on a gay version of the Real Housewives for the Logo network. [CityFile]
• Vera Wang, however, says bring on the cameras. "I'm doing a TV show. It's coming. I don't know when, or how, but it's coming," said the designer at the National Arts Awards. Wang, seated at the table of collector Julie Minskoff, said she doesn't buy art because she can't afford it. But if money were no object, "I would buy Tom Sachs, because I like Hello Kitty. And the guy who does all the pills, because I take them all." Should make for some interesting viewing, then. [StyleFile]
• A Puma branded mobile phone: It's happening sometime next spring. [WWD]
• Ever phlegmatic Vogue editor Grace Coddington, on fans now recognizing her in the street: "It's probably a short-lived thing. There will be another fashion movie and another person who comes out from that." [Grazia]
• During the Givenchy show, someone stole Coddington's purse from her chauffeured car while the driver apparently napped. [NYDN]
• Prince turned up at the Yves Saint Laurent show in a gold sequined suit he designed himself. [WWD]
• The only odd thing about this sweet article on the art show Rodarte is curating in Paris: who is this documentary crew that's mentioned in passing, and why have they been following the Mulleavy sisters for four years? [NYTimes]
• Actress Ashley Judd is releasing a perfume, of which she says, "Beloved Red Rose captures the essence of love." Not that she'd be an objective source on that or anything. [People]
• Meanwhile, Tamara Mellon's Jimmy Choo has signed a 12-year fragrance licensing contract. So expect a Jimmy Choo scent soon. [WWD]
• The reason Celine had a lag of 13 months between confirming Phoebe Philo as its new creative director and actually giving her a catwalk show is apparently not because the LVMH overlords' were given pause by anything Philo did — it's simply that 2009 was marked off as "Transition Year" in Marco Gobbetti's calendar, and spring 2010, well, that's a whole ball game. [Reuters]
• French Connection is closing it s21 stores in Japan. The retailer lost $16.8 million in the first six months of this year. [WWD]
• Cher and Bob Mackie are at it again, creating costumes out of rhinestones, nude tricot, and feathers for the star's Caesar's Palace show in Vegas. What else would you expect? [People]
• Juergen Teller is working on a book of nude photographs of Raquel Zimmerman and Charlotte Rampling at the Louvre. [WWD]
• Ellen Tracy is taking its sportswear slightly downmarket. From this spring onwards, its wares will cost $50-$149. The brand has signed an exclusive distributorship deal with Macy's. [Crain's]
• For those who wish they could be Don Draper: A limited run of 250 suits inspired by Mad Men will be sold at Brooks Brothers starting October 19th. [WWD]
• Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent's life and business partner, says he received death threats and was accompanied by bodyguards following his decision to auction two Qing dynasty bronzes from his and Saint Laurent's art collection that China wanted repatriated. [Reuters]
• Chef Marcus Samuelsson, television chef Giada de Laurentiis, and Zac Posen are cooking this weekend for a $325-a-head event at the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival. Samuelsson muses on the similarities between professional cooking and fashion design: "I've been backstage at a fashion show, and it's like a kitchen. It's a very similar energy." Posen, a home cook, says Martha Stewart and Jacques Pépin saved his life. "I was a very depressed middle-school student and I watched [those shows] avidly, and then Martha Stewart changed my life. Her first cookbook [Entertaining] was given to my mom, but I took it." WWD even re-prints Samuelsson's maple-glazed salmon and couscous recipe. [WWD]
• Renzo Rosso, the Diesel founder who owns Maison Martin Margiela, has confirmed that the rarely seen Belgian designer, rumored to have departed his namesake house, has been gone for "a long time." Instead, Margiela is "here but not here. We have a new fresh design team on board." This season's collection, just shown in Paris, was rated a disappointment by the fashion press, who would like to see a successor named. Haider Ackerman and Raf Simons are rumored to be under consideration, but anyone named would have to design the label anonymously. [Vogue UK]
• Roland Mouret: Just another designer broadcasting his show live on the Internet. [WWD]
• Some Very Important Designer forgot his ticket to Viktor & Rolf and nearly had to stand with the hoi polloi! [Fashionista]
• The Clean Clothes Campaign is pressuring Europe's biggest retailers, like Tesco, Aldi, and Carrefour, to institute a common guaranteed minimum wage for garment workers across Asia. Its lofty goal? Assuring that the people who make the clothes we wear are paid $475 a month and get a 48-hour workweek. You can e-mail retailers via the Campaign's website. [WWD]

[Rotterdam, September 17. Image via Getty.]

Artworks are displayed at the Art of Fashion in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, in Rotterdam on Spetember 17, 2009 for an exposition to open on September 19, meant to show how fashion approaches visual arts in many ways. International designers Viktor&Rolf, Hussein Chalayan, Naomi Filmer and Anna-Nicole Ziesche contributed to this exposition. AFP PHOTO / ANP / RICK NEDERSTIGHT netherlands out - belgium out (Photo credit should read RICK NEDERSTIGT/AFP/Getty Images)

• Michelle Obama wore French-born Brooklyn-based designer Sophie Theallet to unveil a bust of Sojourner Truth at Emancipation Hall yesterday. Naturally, journalistically, WWD asked the designer to specify the First Lady's measurements. Theallet declined. [WWD]

• Michael Kors, on the now-solved problem of women becoming socially invisible as they age: "I used to hear women saying, ‘Oh, I hate my arms, I hate my thighs' when they got older, but now they don't. They're in the gym or doing yoga, or getting what they don't like fixed. Sigourney Weaver's 60, Michelle Pfeiffer's 50. Michelle Obama is showing older women that you can be serious without looking stiff, and showing younger women that you don't have to dress like a hoochy mama to be modern. It's all different. Everyone is refusing to age." [Times of London]
• Christopher Kane is tackling a wider range of items than ever in his next season's Topshop range. Expect bags, knitwear, and shoes, in addition to the clothes. [Grazia]
• Fellow Brit Stella McCartney made the Time 100, the only fashion designer represented. Gwyneth Paltrow, her BFF, did the profile. [WWD]
• Vera Wang bedazzled a BlackBerry for a breast cancer charity raffle. Elizabeth Hurley will do the honors. [WWD]
• Now this is a match made in heaven: showmen fashion designers Viktor & Rolf are turning their talents to opera. For a German production of Der Freischütz, the duo made costumes with over a million crystals. That, Vera, is how you do bling. [Elle UK]
• The Payless shoes on Christian Siriano's runway back in February were kind of hideous; the ones likely to make it into stores this August are kind of boring. Let's hope he can even out his aesthetic at some point during his multi-year contract. [Racked]
• Alexa Chung, the British ex-model, moved to New York to further her television career — and was hotly rumored to be exploring options with MTV. That opportunity seems to have come to fruition: Chung will host a daily show on the network, something like TRL, only with Twitter. [Yahoo! News]
• The September Issue Director R.J. Cutler, on how his subject, Anna Wintour, communicates: "It's mostly in silences, gestures, and the occasional use of language. It's more than enough and she always gets her way. When she's not getting her way, she's happy to speak at greater length. In her work environment, that's how she communicates with everyone. Some people see the film and say, she seems so closed. She's a closed gal. That's who she is. But the times that she does open up in her life are the times that you see her open in the film — when she's with Bee, when she's talking about her dad, talking about her siblings. It's family." [MakingOf]
• The SoHo Hogan store is closing, and looking for a space uptown. [Racked]
• Australian Fashion Week, like fashion weeks everywhere, was smaller this season than before the recession. There were 15% fewer shows, and two catwalks inside the venue, compared to last August's three. Fewer buyers attended, and, barring any case of Aussie economic exceptionalism, the orders they place will prove smaller. Organizers say they expect things will be much better next season, because organizers have to say things like that. At least in public. [Reuters]
• As for the designers who did bother showing, half of them seemed to be phoning in 80s nostalgia and Balmain shoulderpads, and one, Ant!podium, well, they really, really like Beth Ditto. So they found a proudly non-model-sized tattooed artist named Tokio Pink to walk in their show. Such is their commitment to diversity. [News.com.au]
• Max Azria, on the other hand, isn't predicting any great improvement in business conditions during the rest of this year. [WWD]
• Jones Apparel Group, owner of the brands Anne Klein, Nine West, and Jones New York, handily beat analysts' expectations in their quarterly profit announcement. Although revenue still fell 9%, Jones shares rose 10% in response to the good news. [Reuters]
• Prada's profits fell 22% in 2008. [WWD]
• The opening of Forever 21's first store in Japan was a bit of a madhouse, apparently. It isn't hard to imagine why. [WWD]

• Addressing the alarming shortage of celebrity fragrances, Halle Berry, who is releasing her own, proclaims: "It’s a real, true expression of who I am — I was involved in all aspects of making it." [WWD]
• Oh, those wags at PETA! In another devastating jab at their fur-sporting nemeses, the animal rights wits have produced "Trollsen Twins" masks for us to wear on Halloween! "To complete the "Hairy Kate" and "Trashley" look, PETA recommends Starbucks, cigarettes and boho chic gear." [MollyGood]
• Hey! Wanna go to the Viktor & Rolf show? It's online! (No, you still can't afford anything.) [NY Mag]
• Kaiser Karl is coming to America! Specifically, Vermont. Quoth Lagerfeld, “I love it. It’s very much Emily Dickinson." [WWD]
• Leighton Meester "does her part to end domestic violence" by walking in a celebrity fashion show. [People]

• Irina Lazareanu, the Barbra of modeling, says she's really retiring this time. [Style.com]
• Yup, Alessandra Facchinetti's out at Valentino. [WWD]
• We're starting to feel bad for Lauren Conrad's clothing line . [Perez Hilton]
• And if LC and Heidi are too high-profile for you, perhaps you want to patronize a smaller designer, why, here's Audrina's denim line! [Perez Hilton]
• Anna Wintour: the Rasputin of the fashion world. [NY Mag]
• The CEO of Coach went all Joyce Carol Oates on us and just wrote a book about wrestling. [MediaBistro]
• Are we the only ones who think of Electra from Gypsy when we hear about all these high-tech "intelligent" clothes? This new jacket has a solar panel. Hey, you gotta have a gimmick! [Reuters]
• Possibly because of her complete blankness, Kate Moss is the most popular artist's muse of our age. [Independent]
• Kate also really likes that solid gold statue of herself. [VogueUK]
• She also doesn't wear underpants. And her hairdresser takes total credit for her style. [GraziaDaily]
• Rich people discover second-hand clothes. [LA Times]
• Uniqlo is up, at least. [WWD]
• New beauty director at Nylon, late of ElleGirl. [Fashionista]
• Vanessa Paradis on Johnny Depp: "Maybe I'm a good girlfriend because I'm his girlfriend. I'm not sure I'd be a good girlfriend to anyone else." Yeah, we're guessing we could go good for Sparrow, too. [ElleUK]

• Remember when Ellen came out and everyone was like, "yeah, we know, but thanks"? Her confirmation that she's the new Cover Girl is kinda like that. [People]
• Our unreasonable dislike of fame whore/hockey player/Vogue intern/fashionisto Sean Avery grows apace. He is now involved with a Bravo reality show. [NY Mag]
• Hey, remember how YA author Lauren Conrad's designing the gowns for the "trophy girls" at next Sunday's Emmy Awards? "'I did green because green [is the] theme for the Emmys this year,' said Conrad, who also mentions using a diamond brooch, signifying the Emmy's 60th anniversary, to accessorize the gown." [FabSugar]
• Model Erin Wasson: "The people with the best style for me are the people that are the poorest. Like, when I go down to Venice beach and I see the homeless, like, I'm like, 'Oh my God, they're pulling out, like, crazy looks and they, like, pulled shit out of like garbage cans." Indeed, moddle. Indeed. [Nylon TV via Fashionista]

• The Dow crisis is — surprise, surprise! — disastrous for retail stocks, too. [WWD]
• Apparently spoiled for models by having a bunch of dolls wear their creations earlier this year, Viktor & Rolf decide not to do a runway show. Speculation is they'll do something weird instead. [Style.com]
• Yup, it's all virtual. [VogueUK]
• Kate Moss was afraid the thief who broke into her car took this two hundred thousand pound diamond ring. But he didn't. He just took a chocolate bar. [The Mirror]
• The verdict is in: rompers and jumpsuits will once again be big for spring. [WWD]
• Also, sequins. [Fashionista]
• Weirdly, Gordon Brown hosts fashion week party. [ElleUK]
• Neighborhoodies is having personalities ("one blogger, writer, artist, or all-around cool person a week") do designs for them. Nerve's Erin Bradley kicks it off with a Dr. Ruth tee. [Neighborhoodies]
• Kicked to the curb by Liz Claiborne, designer Sigrid Olsen turns to art. [WSJ]
• Viv Westwood launches that album she compiled, reveals she's collaborating with robot rockers Queens of the Stone Age. Oh, and apparently she's nice, but we'd heard that.[The Mirror]
• Buyers (and us bloggers!) underwhelmed by NYC Fashion Week. [WWD]
• But! No fewer than five Top Model contestants spotted on the NYC runway. [NY Mag]
• Aww! Luella Bartley had pink and white meringue pigs at her pre-show breakfast! We'll assume no more sinister or insulting implication.[WWD]
• "Veronica Webb turned frosty at the Us Weekly 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers party at Hudson Terrace Friday night when she ran into Gretta Monahan - who replaced her as co-host on Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. A source said, 'They sat right next to each other but Veronica wouldn't even look at her. She's furious she was replaced on the show.'" [Page Six]

• So now that British It girl Peaches Geldof is a 19-year-old married lady, she needs a grown-up job! Hence: host of the new Nylon TV, obvs. "She's partnered with Cory Kennedy to host the 90210 feature in honor of the Nylon's first ever TV issue." [Fashionista]
• Viktor & Rolf speak as one (no, they do), believe in the sexiness of denial. "We believe that it is quite sexy to say “no,” so we decided to acknowledge our feelings and use them creatively." [BlackBook]
• Guess who? “I have no problem with journalists – many are friends. Only if they are really stupid, or if they’ve got bad breath, or if they smell. Yesterday [after the Chanel couture show] I had a problem. I said, ‘I’m sorry, you’ve got to tell this woman that she needs to be taken away. Her smell is not possible.’ ” Yes, obviously it's Karl Lagerfeld. [Fashionologie via Sunday Times]

• Jerry Ford, founder of iconic Ford Models, dies. The Times credits him with "turning a profession regarded as practically a hobby in the 1940s into one dominated by well-paid supermodels in the 1980s" for good or ill. [NY Times]
• Glamour's trying to go high-end with fashion, which is, obviously, the answer when all your readers are broke. [WWD]
• Back in 19th century Paris, the courtesans used to give out little cards with their pics on 'em for advertising. Well, for fashion week, the models are doing the same thing. Sort of. [The Cut]
• Are "slightly parted lips" the "I'm A Little Teapot" of Fall '08 poses? [Guardian]
• This is weird: even though Chico's has launched a "Debbie Phelps" line after learning that Michael's mom favors their clothing, they don't actually have a licensing agreement with her. [WWD]
• Riitta Immonen, one of the founders of Finnish fashion and textile design company Marimekko, has died at 90. [Breitbart]
• Donna Karan's latest charity stunt? "This Fashion Week DKNY made over another mode of transportation, the trucks of City Harvest, which collect and deliver millions of pounds of food to the neediest folks in the city. The exterior, as you see above, was inspired by her new fall ads." [NY Mag]
• Binda Group hires Edward Norton to be the face of its Breil Milano men's ad campaigns through 2010. How do these watch companies choose these random celebs, anyway? From a hat? [WWD]
• PR maven Kelly Mills is launching a fashion/comedy radio show called "Fashionably Yours." Expect guests from the Land of Fashion. [Fashionista]
• Aw, it's like a little piece of the 90s just died! Colorful nail polish mavens Hard Candy is practically shutting down; they'll just be selling "gift sets" whatever that means. [Fashionista]

• Jude Law-ex Sadie Frost's company, Frost-French, has been accused of firing a sales associate based on her race. The highly-experienced Aba Yankah was hired over the phone, but when she showed up for work, she claims the store's manager was cold, subjected her to demeaning tasks and then summarily fired her without justification. While a tribunal has found that Yankah did not prove outright racism, they have judged that the company's explanation to be inadequate and compensated the plaintiff for damages and lost income to the tune of £5,000 ($9,800). [Daily Mail]
• Vogue Italia pictures are up!! [NB: NSFW][Fashionista]
• "An aging British model" was busted for shaving eight years off her age to get work. Apparently changing your birth certificate qualifies as tampering with official documents. [UPI]
• Kanye West steals thunder by sporting his own line in the front row of fashion week. Apparently the Milan fixture "was kicking it in the front row at Louis Vuitton, kitted out in a teal T-shirt, khakis and a denim jacket accessorized with a Michael Jackson button and a chunky red Lego heart. What appeared to be a silk LV scarf billowed from his back pocket." [Los Angeles Times]
• By the by...Project Runway is casting. [SeenOn]

• Armani gets the French Legion of Honor. [VogueUK]
• Recessionistas take note! Flailing economy's silver lining? "Aggressive sales." [New York Times]
• The guns of august: lingerie trade show battles. [WWD]
• Recessionistas, mourn: Steve & Barry's collapse will likely imperil SJP's "Bitten" line. [AdAge]
• Viktor and Rolf to do "haute" eyelash line for Shu Uemura. "The three lash designs are Wing, which we think looks like paperclips! (pictured), Rhombus, which are gold, inspired by the diamond pattern on jesters outfits and Swirl, a set of super long lashes, which are the most simple of the three."[ElleUK]
• New "good health certificates" are totally freaking out models, says one agency rep. She claims that the initiative, designed to prevent dangerous thinness in the industry, are just an added stress during London fashion week. "I think they (the certificates) are crazy — not a good idea," Doukas said. "It will make some of the girls even more paranoid and freaked out about the weight thing, and they won't come to the U.K. market, they simply won't come to London Fashion Week." [UPI]
• Pop Magazine editor Katie Grand is, apparently, "an icon of cool." Best part of the interview? "When I met Grand she'd just been to New York for a POP shoot with the art photographer Ryan McGinley and model Agyness Deyn. She'd never worked with McGinley but he said he'd like to photograph Agyness, whom of course Grand knew, and Grand suggested they should do some nudes, because Agyness had never done a nude shoot, and McGinley agreed. 'And then a week later he sent me this reference photograph of kids falling off a fire escape - it was from the 1950s I think - and said he'd really like to have her falling. And naked. So we ended up with two stunt men and Agyness jumping naked from five stories onto a huge huge crash mat. It was incredible." [Guardian]
• Stealing hats from beggars? All in a day's work for a fashion photographer. [Telegraph]
• Mario Testino's diaries are somewhat less exciting. [Independent]
• "In one shot, the woman - dressed in clinging black dress and spike-heeled Manolos - lies seductively across the man's lap. Elsewhere, she is captured in executive-style sharp tailoring in an office overlooking St Paul's, while he is pictured straddling an MV Agusta F4 - the "Ferrari of motorcycles" - in a chic trench." The new Aquascutum campaign. [Telegraph]
• Record metal prices challenge jewelers. [WWD]
• I've always hated purple; feels either new-agey creative or Lisa Frank. Must be because I fear "the ultimate fashion challenge." [Independent]
• That $60 V-neck you got at Uniqlo? Probably at the expense of some Mongolian farmer being undercut by cheap Chinese cashmere. [Reuters]
• Theory's new accessory line inspired by Hair My brother would so do the "loser" cough right now. [Los Angeles Times]
• For fall, everyone and their mother "passionate about legwear." [WWD]
• I guess we were about due for another go-round: cherries are a trend again! [VogueUK]

• Potential First-Lady fash critiqued; results inconclusive. "As for who is the more stylish - the Jackie-esque Obama or the Nancy Reagan-ish McCain — [Glamour's Suze Yalof Schwarz] says they are sartorial equals." [New York Post]
• Mel "Scary Spice" B promotes bra line: "It’s not like wearing underwear - I like walking around naked so it’s perfect for me." [The Sun]
• Hermes sues eBay for knockoffs; wins. [WWD]
• J Crew launches 'concierge service' to assist with personal shopping, private parties. "Concierges will also hold coats, packages and umbrellas." Hoity-toity! [Wall Street Journal]
• Viktor & Rolf make adorable, sinister miniature dolls dressed in their greatest hits. "Each doll's head is made by a Belgian expert who fires bisque faces in the traditional way, with hair and make-up replicating the way the models looked in the show. One is a coppery-haired micro-Tilda Swinton, commemorating the a/w 03 show in which she modelled." [The Sun]

• L'Oreal gives Penn scientist fellowship which "provides support to postdoctoral women scientists who are undertaking cutting-edge research with practical applications." Wait, didn't Nine West just give Penn some money, too? [Eureka Alert]
• All other animals used up, the big jewelry trend for summer is insects. [New York Times]
• I like it when people like Goldenbleu's Rene Huber have to start designing stuff because they can't find what they want. [Fabsugar]
• Flock of seagulls hair stymies Darwin. [Telegraph]
• Georgina Chapman's riotous wedding woes! [Telegraph]
• Marc Jacobs shopgirl featured… Again! [Racked]
• Photog Tim Walker brings mucho whimsy to Vogue. [Telegraph]
• Everyone flips their shit over SATC book! [New York Magazine]
• Tom Ford dissatisfied with penis essay! [New York Magazine]
• Christian Siriano rocks the vote. [Blogging Project Runway]
• H&M goes green(ish). [fabsugar]
• YSL Remembered more: "A stylistic rebel with a paradoxically conservative streak, Saint Laurent arguably did more to advance fashion than any designer of his generation. His signal contribution to the world of style was to elevate the lowly and the outré, conferring an aristocratic insouciance on modes of dress — military peacoats, peasant blouses and raffia-bordered tribal skirts — once considered too gritty or exotic for conventional wear." [New York Times]
• Lilly Pulitzer works to stay in the game in a Tory Burch world. [WWD]
• ...and, most importantly, Avril Lavigne launches a perfume. [New York Magazine]

• Woody Allen is suing American Apparel for $10 million for using his image in its ads without consent. And to think if not for this minor infringement the two seem, well, cut from the same (sweatshop free knit jersey) cloth, if you know what I mean! [WSJ]
  
• And for those who'd rather read about it in Yiddish...[Daily Yid]
  
• The guys who design 6267 are now going to design Gianfranco Ferre. Everyone sorta knew this was coming. And by "everyone" I mean the people who actually know what 6267 is, which, I know for a fact, is not Moe Tkacik. [Dear Jennifer, Fuck you. -Eva] [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Talbots: Doesn't want to be "dowdy." Uh, John McCain doesn't want to be old, either, but sometimes...oh well, try to reinvent yourselves into the career woman's answer to Wet Seal, see if that works. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Patti Smith is still stylish, according to British people who know these things. [Times of London]

• BTW, fashion so over. [Telegraph]
• Banana Republic is doing a new "high-end" line called Monogram. LOL. [Fashionista]
• Playboy's e-retail women's store is doing so well, they're having to outsource the whole damn thing. Seriously, did no one read Bunny Tales?! Stop putting money in Hugh Hefner's baby-oil soaked pockets! [WWD, sub req'd]
• Donna Karan: Licensing a china and crystal line through Rosenthal. And Vera Wang's monopoly on label-conscious brides just shook in its stilettos. Not. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Recession special! Get your "basic men's sweaters" for only $3,500 here! [Village Voice]
• Alicia Keys says her friend Giorgio Armani "is like a magician." [Times of London]
• Dear Gucci: Stop having the people of Japan sully their cell phones with wallpapers bearing your logo and products. Kthxbai. [WWD, 2nd item]
• Paul Smith likes airports. [Nylon]
• Um is it wrong that I want to read the new Kate Moss biography? [Yes. -Errol Morris] [LA Times]

Earlier: Valentino In Vogue: Models With Ennui Playing Invisible Croquet
Why Don't I Love Shoes? An Exploration In Photos

• Jennifer Connelly looks a little scary in the spring Balenciaga ads. Something about floral print armor, an over-exaggerated model slouch, and toothpick legs gives us the uh-oh feeling. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• If you're in New Hampshire and reading this, here's who Karl Lagerfeld thinks you should vote for tonight: "My favorite is Ms. Clinton because you have no real idea what she is wearing. She is so clever and so brilliant that you see only her face — but also what she wears is right, you never really look at it because one is fascinated by her intelligence. But there is never a gimmick or bad detail either." If an endorsement from Krazy Karl isn't the kiss of death, we don't know what is. [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Mazel tov to Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Glenda Bailey, who was just awarded with an Order of the British Empire. We're sure the Queen's decision was based on Bailey's genius move to feature The Simpsons in her magazine's pages last year. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• Britney Spears's new fragrance "Curious Heart" launched yesterday. You didn't hear about it because everyone would rather talk about Britney's bipolar heart. [BellaSugar]

• Tommy Hilfiger is the latest to join the IPO game, beating Prada to be the first fashion public offering of the year. [WWD, sub req'd]
• More shake-ups at Liz Claiborne Co.: Laundry By Design and C&C California get sold to Perry Ellis Inc. while poor ol' Sigrid Olsen just get shut down. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Viktor & Rolf: Now designing doll clothes, just as God intended. [WWD, 2nd item]
• Rocker Bryan Adams is the new photographer for this season's Guess ads. Wait, Bryan Adams is still around? Wait, Guess is still around? [WWD, 2nd item]
• The peeps who own Lacoste just might buy Swedish clothing line Gant. [FT]
• RIP Shu Uemura. The Japanese makeup mogul passed away at the age of 79. His oil-based cleansers, however, will live forever. [Reuters]
• Fashion designer Ben di Lisi: He's just like us! In his "weak moments" he "[b]ecomes overly emotional and send[s] needy texts." Aw! [Independent]

• Paris Hilton showed up at the Victoria's Secret fashion show earlier this month and demanded to be cast in the show, according to model Miranda Kerr. And then — and here's where it gets really classy — she stole an outfit from the show to wear herself. [Sassybella]
  
• On being asked who designed the dress she wore to a party for actor Ewan MacGregor's new book, Helena Bonham Carter replied, "I can't remember, I can't remember anything." [WWD, 9th item]
  
• Venus Williams is inspired "as an athlete and as a designer" by Madonna. [WSJ]
  
• Model Gemma Ward: "surprisingly impressive" in her acting debut. [Sassybella]

• Adidas is partnering with Diesel to do a denim line, because what the world needs now is... that's right! Another denim line. [Vogue UK]
• Fresh from their H&M collection, Viktor & Rolf are designing a line of luggage for Samsonite. [IHT]
• Pierre Hardy for Gap shoes: Coming stateside soon! [WWD, 4th item]
• Model Natalia Vodianova and a bunch of "celebrities" we've never heard of are designing t-shirts for the Buddhist Punk label to benefit Al Gore's The Climate Project. And I guess it's understandable for Al to be tired of winning awards and ready to just party with models for once, but seriously, I am tired of the whole "designing" T-shirts for charity trend. [Vogue UK]
• Steve and Barry's is really (really!) a helluva lot more than just the place to buy Sarah Jessica Parker's "Bitten" line. Did you know they bought 3.5 million square feet of retails space in U.S. malls last year? We're not even sure what 3.5 million square feet looks like. [Business Week]
• Topshop is going to China! OMG just like this cycle's contestants on America's Next Top Model! We hope to see Heather at the first store opening. [Reuters]

• Gisele's agent on that whole "anything but dollars" scandal: "She is based in America, pays her bills in America. She, like anyone else who lives in America, doesn't feel the fluctuation of the dollar until she goes shopping in Paris. She is pretty much here all the time and doesn't feel the difference." Well, now we're convinced. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Cavalli for H&M goes in-stores today, and you can be prepared for a full report if we do not get trampled. [Vogue UK]
  
• Marc Jacobs did not have a sex change operation. [Fashion Week Daily]
  
• British Harper's Bazaar has released their list of best-dressed women of 2007. The top 10: 1. Natalia Vodianova (model), 2. Thandie Newton (actress), 3. Agyness Deyn (model), 4. Helen Mirren (actress), 5. Lily Allen (singer), 6. Emily Blunt (actress), 7. J. K. Rowling (author), 8. Anouck Lepere (model), 9. Irina Lazareanu (model), 10. Kate Moss (model). Um, really? [FabSugar]

• Our love for Isaac Mizrahi continues to grow: He is set to narrate a new production of Peter and the Wolf being performed at the Guggenheim Museum next month in a collaboration between the New York City Opera and Juilliard. And the show is going to be open to the public. And the tickets only cost $35. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Polo expects to do sucky during the next fiscal quarter. They blame the economy. We blame the fact that they haven't really had a new idea in 20 years. [You mean making your logo the size of a HAND doesn't count as design innovation?? -Moe] [WWD, sub req'd]
• Alberta Ferretti, the designer behind the hyper-femme label Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, is now going to design an activewear line! And she's naming it PHILO-sophy. Which sounds not active but pretty damn lazy to us. [WWD, sub req'd]
• BlackBook magazine is normally pretty retarded. But their idea to style female models as Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Viktor & Rolf, Vivienne Westwood, Anna Piaggi and our idol Carine Roitfeld is just so awesome. We're suckers for shit like this. Especially when it pays homage to Karl and Carine, all at the same time! [WWD, 5th item]
• Oh, goody, Anya "I am not Dating A Fag" Hindmarch is "expanding her brand." We wish her all the success of Von Dutch, Uggs and Crocs in proving she is so much more than her one ludicrously popular item! [Fashion Week Daily]
• Menswear designer Paul Smith is the only retailer you can turn to if you want to purchase the exclusive, limited edition book by Geoff MacCormack My Travels with Bowie, about his, well, you get the point. We heart Bowie. And so Paul Smith just earned some major street cred in our book. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Sister-of-Jackie-Kennedy-Onassis Lee Radizwell was the Director of Special Events for Armani back inher day. Who knew? [Sassybella]
• Louis Vuitton got all progressive and used a model in its Resort advertising campaign. Oh no! However will Scarlett Johansson survive? [Sassybella]