• Emma Watson is doing a clothing line with ethical fashion company People Tree. We're still waiting for Mischa Barton's collection, Tree People. [Guardian]

• Rachel Zoe, on extra-curricular fashion week activities: "I went to a meeting with a potential book publisher, because I am starting to wrap my head around doing my next book, which I am really excited about. I've gotten a little bit of my creative writing fill with doing the Zoe Report, my daily newsletter, and really remembered how much I love writing." Funny, because I met the Zoe Report's ghost blogger a couple weeks back! (Nice girl.) [Time]
• Jil Sander's line for Uniqlo, +J, starts hitting stores on October 1. The legendary German perfectionist says, "I like the concept of basic clothes in a democratic world. Uniqlo reminds me of Apple computers; fantastic design for everyone. And I like what is Japanese about Uniqlo, a strong sense of tradition, the orderly approach to everything, great know-how and logistics." Uniqlo dreams of taking over the position of Inditex — parent company of Zara — as the world's largest apparel company by 2020. The success of the retail chain's planned expansion will rest in large part on Sander's talents. [Telegraph]
• Journalistic pet peeve #1: Confusing "discrete" for "discreet." Journalistic pet peeve #2: Spending ten minutes reading an article that tediously explains events that happened a year ago. Who doesn't already know that last fall, "upscale department stores...started slashing prices to unload a glut of inventory. Saks fired the first volley, slapping 70%-off signs on luxury designer clothing in early November 2008. Neiman and Barneys frantically followed suit." [Time]
• For some apparel trade news that is actually, you know, news, how about this: apparel sales rose 2.4% from July to August, the biggest month-to-month increase since February. Sales were still down 5% on last August. [NYTimes]
• If more couples are staying home to have sex because of the recession — sex being, as Chip Lambert pointed out in The Corrections, one of the few pleasures in life that's actually free — wouldn't we be buying fewer pajamas, not more? [Telegraph]
• Courtney Love's fashion week highlights, so far: "Me playing at Alexander Wamg. That was certainly the fucking best. And then the second best was me playing at Alexander Wang." Anything else? "The Rodarte bitches were awesome." [The Cut]
• Abercrombie & Fitch has lost its appeal in the discrimination case brought by the family of an autistic girl who was not allowed to go into a changing room with her sister at the Mall of America store. The then-14-year-old was shopping with her then-17-year-old sibling, who notified a sales assistant that her sister had a disability and could not be left alone. In court, Abercrombie trotted out a psychologist as an expert witness who said that, "this experience is best considered to be a desirable outcome of active community involvement." Because having Abercrombie refuse to make a reasonable accommodation "offers the parents the opportunity to model social problem solving and coping skills to their daughter, as they have done so well throughout her life, and thus prepare her for such future natural community experiences." Abercrombie was fined $115,264. [MPR]
• Dan Ariely, the professor who studies branding and behavior and who concludes that wearing counterfeit designer goods makes people more dishonest in their every day life — on the basis of one study, which lacked a control group — is back to explain his nifty ideas in video format. How about this new rule for science: No studies where the scientist explains his methods thus: "We got Chloé to give us sunglasses..." And no studies that are presented at conferences convened by Harper's Bazaar. [BigThink]
• Dan Caten, one half of DSquared, on the brand's new eyewear line: "It's a way that people can buy into the brand. Maybe some people can't afford to buy the clothes or fit in the clothes." Instead of making clothes above a size 10, let's license out some sunglasses! (Average price: $391.) Perfect solution. [WSJ]
• Ann Taylor is holding an in-season runway show tonight in New York, with a real fashion quotient: Kate Young will be styling. It's all part of the retailer's attempt to turn around its dowdy image. (You may have noticed the new ad campaign starring model Cameron Russell.) [WWD]
• Heidi Klum, whom you may have heard of, is taking Cameron's spot for the retailer's holiday ads. But don't expect her at the show, because she's expecting, and can't fly to New York. [NYPost]
• Vogue's publisher, Tom Florio, doesn't want to talk about McKinsey — but he will take a softball on why he goes to fashion shows: "I look for trends in the business. Like the whole idea of luxury at a better price point, which is something Tory Burch is doing. I try to get a sense of the sociological trends which our editors will adapt. It just adds a little context. You need to understand the business trends like global warming and fabrics getting lighter and more transitional pieces in fashion. If you can speak intelligently about these things when you sell ad pages, you can sort of take their [advertisers'] point of view." [NYObs]
• Burberry, which already has around 600,000 Facebook friends, is launching its own social networking site at artofthetrench.com. Christopher Bailey has commissioned Scott Schuman to take pictures of people wearing Burberry trench coats around the world for the site. Users will also be able to send in pictures of themselves wearing Burberry trench coats. [FT]
• The British brand will also stream its Prorsum fashion show live over the Internet. It's scheduled for September 22, 6:30 p.m., London time. [WWD]
• Avon president Elizabeth Smith is leaving the company. No replacement has yet been named. [Crain's]
• French Connection has laid off 50 workers at its head offices and closed its offices in Denmark and Sweden as a response to continued weak sales. [Independent]

• Mickey Rourke, at Max Azria: "I really don't like Max that much. He's a short little guy with a good looking wife. Maybe I'll steal his wife." [WSJ]
• Tom Ford to close-talking columnist: "Are you trying to smell me?" [NationalPost]

• If you care about who People thinks is the best-dressed, their annual list is out. Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Vanessa Hudgens, and Freida Pinto all made the cut; on the men's side, so did Brad Pitt, Robert Pattinson, and Bradley Cooper. [People]
• Audrey Tautou, currently playing Coco Chanel across multiple platforms, has a print ad for Chanel No. 5 out. [People]
• Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz is to address the UNESCO World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries in Italy next week. [WWD]
• Lauren Conrad presents her fall collection for Kohl's in this video. It's very cute how she pretends to have seen it before. [People]
• Avril Lavigne presented her collection for Kohl's in New York City on Monday night. It includes a hoodie with earbuds in the drawstring. We must have missed this one for the Snuggie show. [People]
• Ralph Lifshitz and Calvin Klein grew up in the same part of the same neighborhood of the Bronx, Norwood's Mosholu Parkway, and both attended Public School 80, four years apart. Former Bronx borough president Fernando Ferrer says, "These are working-class guys — they were neither poor nor wealthy, and it's interesting that their clothes are aspirational. Ralph Lauren designs preppy, polo type clothes. That wasn't his experience then. So does Calvin Klein — elegance, simplicity." [Cityroom]
• Anya Hindmarch believes in "speaking up for bespoke" objects in a time of mass-production. Naturally, she also believes in charging £500 for a wallet. [ToL]
• Meanwhile, for the rest of us, Zara has plans to start selling its clothes online. [FT]
• Georgia May Jagger: "I really don't get it, to be perfectly honest. I still don't have that firm a grasp on why me being my parents' daughter is so interesting." Being your parents' daughter is the only reason you have a career, dear! [Style.com]
• It's certainly the only reason Vanity Fair is talking to her. "Modeling is always something I've really admired because I've seen my mum and sister do it," says Jagger. [VF]
• David Lauren: "We created the first 24-hour shopping experience on the windows of our mansion on 72nd St. You can literally walk up to the glass, press on the glass, and shop the product that's in the store. You can touch your credit card to the glass and buy it." [The Cut]
• Will lazy writers ever abandon the canard that Lara Stone — a model with stated measurements of 33"-24"-35", entirely within the tiny range of straight-size modeling — is somehow "curvy" or represents "change" on the catwalk? Stone — who is incredibly good at what she does, and well established in the business because of it — has not been "opening everyone's shows." In fact she has yet to be spotted anywhere in the lineup at a single show this season. [Telegraph]
• Halston, that long-rudderless brand, had a spring presentation that was a bit of a train wreck. The clothes looked very similar to each other, and the mannequins were weird. [WSJ]
• Barneys New York has now operated for 14 months without a C.E.O. Wracked by debt, the retailer is the subject of rumors alleging its inability to even pay its invoices. The head of Istithmar, the investment fund that owns Barneys, says "We have stood by Barneys and will continue to stand by this company." Words you never want to have to hear from a C.E.O. [WWD]
• Nina Garcia's third book about personal style is naturally all about the recessionista, not the fashionista. [Reuters]
• According to an online survey of 61,000 teens, teenagers are spending less money, because their parents are giving them less money, because their parents have less money. Thanks for getting to the bottom of this important recession conundrum, social networking site Habbo Hotel. [Reuters]

• They said it would never happen, but a judge ordered that Google reveal Liskula Cohen's anonymous online tormentor. The model sued Google to find out who was behind a hate-blog about her, in order to file a defamation suit. [NYPost]

• Marc Jacobs does not "enjoy", "look forward to," or anticipate seeing any shows besides his own at New York Fashion Week. "Enjoy?" said the designer, at a party in the Hamptons, "Enjoy is a weird word. It's work — work is more what it's about." So it's not fun? "No." In addition to his two collections to show, Jacobs has a wedding pull together just now — his nuptuals with partner Lorenzo Martone will take place privately in Provincetown, Massachussetts, "soon." [The Cut]
• Hopefully Jacobs was put in slightly better humor by a visit from Miss Piggy. She needed a dress for a red carpet affair in Chicago, and the designer was happy to oblige, so the porcine starlet popped in for a fitting. [WWD]
• Keira Knightley and a strategically arranged suspender star in the newest ad for Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle perfume. [Egotastic]
• Sass & Bide, the Australian denim label which generally shows internationally in New York, has announced it is joining the thundering horde heading to London Fashion Week this season. A raft of British designers have made special arrangements to return to London to show in this, London Fashion Week's 25th anniversary year, and even Anna Wintour — who normally drops the city from her fashion calendar — will be showing up. [Telegraph]
• The cast of the next season of Dancing With The Stars has been announced, and Vera Wang's name is not there. Kelly Osbourne, Melissa Joan Hart, and an Ultimate Fighting Champion might not make the best company, anyway, and Wang has a company to run, so we're not that surprised. [Us]
• Elettra Weidemann, Isabella Rossellini's daughter, scored another fall campaign, for G Star. Anton Corbijn, who directed the Joy Division movie Control, and has photographed U2 for years, was the photographer. [Fashionista]
• Eugenia Kim's diffusion line for Urban Outfitters, branded Eek!, includes a nice looking cloche, and some potentially interesting headbands and fascinators. For $28-$48, as opposed to Kim's main line's $200-$300 pricepoint, this line looks like a winner. [FabSugar]
• Speaking of Urban Outfitters, is there any other chain you would expect to take up the noble cause of saving Polaroid from obsolescence? [Elle UK]
• Hermès is reissuing one of its classic scarf designs to benefit the International Federation of Human Rights. The blue-green scarf will be sold on fidh.org for 215 Euros, starting early next month. [WWD]
• Fashion blind item! "WHICH rising American model has stopped getting snapped backstage by photographers? She's dated so many of them (and their important friends) that now they refuse to give her any exposure!" [Fashionista]
• Wal-Mart is expanding its reach into the tween market. In addition to having Taylor Swift design dresses for L.E.I., and selling Miley Cyrus's line with Max Azria, the world's largest retailer has inked a deal with Nickelodeon to partner with the young stars of a show called True Jackson. [WWD]
• Presumably in order to give Toby Keith a run for his money, Kenny Chesney is launching a fashion line. [People]
• Zara is expanding its outlet chain, Leftie's, into France, after successfully opening the super-budget stores in Portugal and Mexico. This is clearly something we need stateside, stat. [WWD]
• Saks' net loss in the second quarter widened to $54.5 million, an increase from the $32.7 million loss the company experienced during the same period last year. However, Saks actually beat analysts' expectations. [WWD]

• No plain yearbook headshot for this year's CFDA nominees: Jason Wu, Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, et al posed for Craig McDean while wearing their own creations. [WWD]
• Leggings impresario Lindsay Lohan is rumored to be seeking a position as Ungaro's "creative consultant." Designer Esteban Cortazar is allegedly spitting pins. [P6]

• Marc Jacobs, his intended, Lorenzo Martone, and Donna Karan all agree: Nacho Figueras, the Argentine polo champ, is totally hotter than Prince Harry. "Nacho's the sexiest man on earth. Hello," averred Martone. I suggest you look at this picture, and make up your own mind. [The Cut]
• Nicole Farhi, somewhat unsurprisingly, thought she was going to die during a knifepoint robbery outside her home when her two assailants strangled her until she lost consciousness. The trial of the brothers accused of carrying out this and 16 other robberies around London is ongoing. Farhi lost a ring and a Rolex that belonged to her father in the attack. [Telegraph]
• Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller have made a $10 million commitment to the High Line project, which is transforming a former elevated railway line into a landscaped mini-park. [NY Times]
• For its couture show this July, Dior is returning to its first-ever store and the site where Christian Dior launched the famous "New Look" collection in 1947. [British Vogue]
• Thakoon Panichgul has launched his slightly lower-priced line, Thakoon Addition. And by slightly, we mean dresses starting around $600. Sigh. [FWD]
• Meanwhile, Gucci has opened its Shanghai flagship store. [WWD]
• How have I only just discovered Erin O'Connor's blog? The British supermodel reports that on her last trip to New York, she overheard a woman ordering a plastic surgeon to give her lips like Erin's, on the grounds that they are "kinda thin enough to look real." Erin and old friend Karen Elson decided to re-start their netball team, and Maggie Rizer apparently has held on to pictures of the three of them in agency housing at the very start of their careers. Her trip through the Met's "Model as Muse" exhibit made her observe: "'Muse,' I thought out loud, is so passé. Surely models no longer exist to amuse as muses? The models I know are collaborators, brand makers and ball breakers!" [British Vogue]
• Izod home furnishings will soon be a thing which you can buy. For what reason, I don't know. [WWD]
• In a diversification that makes slightly more sense, Puma is getting into swimwear. [WWD]
• Ben Westwood is, at 49, slightly too old for the "enfant terrible" label his gallery would give him. (Is it fair to say that after a certain point, you're just plain terrible?) Vivienne Westwood's eldest son thought long and hard about being the child of a celebrity, and decided the best way to represent this unique set of problematic circumstances through art would be to hire fetish models to pose tied up in ropes with the names of famous parents — Bob Geldof, Paula Yates, Keith Allen — and then clumsily Photoshop images of the real progeny's faces over the models' heads. You see, the kids are literally tied up by their heritage. Groan. His show opened in London last week. [Flavour]
• Uniqlo's May same-store sales grew by a whopping 18.3%, proving that in a troubled economy, everyone likes a little cheap cashmere. [WWD]
• And the Japanese retailer is rumored to be interested in taking over Brooks Brothers' old store location at 666 Fifth Avenue. Brooks Brothers consolidated two Midtown stores, and initially Abercrombie & Fitch was to move into the Fifth Avenue space — but when neighboring Hickey Freeman closed because of parent company Hartmarx's bankruptcy, Abercrombie moved there instead. Uniqlo, Topshop, Zara, Forever21 and Century 21 are among those said to be interested in the prime location. Because even now, Fifth Avenue still means sales volume. [NY Post]
• In bankruptcy court, Hartmarx and Emerisque, the private equity firm that wants to buy the bankrupt men's clothier, renegotiated the proposed takeover bid to give more cash to chief creditor Wells Fargo. If the new plan is approved by the judge today, Hartmarx and its factory could remain in operation. [NY Times]

Scanning Zara's spring catalog — ably modeled by the incomparable Lara Stone against a minimalist all-white backdrop — reminded me just a little too strongly at times of offerings from all kinds of different designers' collections. But most notably, the fast fashion chain's design team is plundering Stella McCartney's and Balmain's silhouettes this season.

Which, frankly, is pretty much what Zara does, and at prices that are relatively consumer-friendly, which deserves props. At least they can be said to stay on trend while keeping to the right side of the Forever 21 conception of intellectual property. But fair's fair, and where Zara's reinterpretation gets a little literal, I've provided some memory aids from the runways.

Unfortunately, the Flickr set got scrambled in its transfer to this website in some kind of grand html-based snafu — which kind of spoils the effect of clicking through the slideshow and seeing Zara offering, runway original, Zara offering, runway original, etc. I trust you can piece it together even if it's slightly out of order.

Balmain Spring/Summer 09 [Style.com]
Blumarine Spring/Summer 09 [Style.com]
Stella McCartney Spring/Summer 09 [Style.com]
Jason Wu Spring/Summer 09 [Style.com]
Zara Spring 09 Women's Collection [Zara]

• 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]

• Wanna see Posh's designs, complete with lampshades and elephant-trunk headpieces? Check out the new commercial for her fashion line. [Fashionista]
• "The video sees various models taking inspiration from Posh’s own ads for Marc Jacobs last season by hiding themselves all over a large mansion – behind drawers, in carrier bags, hanging behind doors, turning themselves into lamp shades and transforming themselves into an elephant." [Sassybella]
• Says Posh: “Being in the Spice Girls, fashion-wise probably didn't open any doors. If anything it shut doors and I've had to bang them down.” [Times Online]
• A New York bridal shop is knocking off the Vivienne Westwood wedding gown in which Carrie Bradshaw was jilted. [New York Post]

• Notify jeans classifies butts into three categories. [Guanabee]
• Apparently Katie Holmes is surrounded by a whole gaggle of other moddles for her ballyhooed Miu Miu campaign. [New York]
• Uniqlo beats the odds, is up 32%. [WWD]
• This, we like: Kate Moss is teaming up with Liberty to use their classic floral prints in her next Top Shop collection. [WWD]
• "Liberty are already working with Topshop on a lingerie collaboration, which launched in stores yesterday, though exactly how Moss will use the London store's iconic prints is still under wraps." [ElleUK]
• Michelle Obama's Vogue cover's not a sure thing. Neither, apparently is Anna Wintour's job! [New York]
• Meanwhile, Michelle continues to boost young designers: the latest beneficiary is Jason Wu. [WSJ]
• Oh noes! J. Crew and Bloomies knocked out on a prime shopping day by website malfunctions. [Crains]
• So why is the entire payroll of NBC in this batch of holiday Gap ads? [Jossip]
• Luxury luggage gets extra-ridiculous to woo reluctant jet-setters. [IHT]
• Zara's founder is funding alternative energy solutions in Spain. [Business Week]
• Pre-fall collection peeks for Versace, DKNY, Alexander Wang, Armani, Missoni! [WWD]
• Supermodel Miranda Kerr has been replaced as the face of Australia's oldest department store. [AdAge]
• The “2009 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide" is a cheat-sheet to apparel made under ethical conditions. [WWD]
• Helena Christensen's line for Pilgrim jewelry is "typically, ethnically-inspired and feminine, in both delicate orchid-pastels and strong, spicy colours, priced between £10 and £100." [Telegraph]
• Victoria's Secret tries to go higher-end with a new flagship, "a level of elegance that casts the flirty and frilly lingerie and romantic beauty products in a softer, luxurious light." [WWD]

• McCain campaign claims that it didn't keep a lot of those Fashiongate duds: "about a third of it was returned immediately" when they didn't fit. Yes, that'd be $50,000 worth. [AP]
• Roseanne offers a McCain-Palin Hitler smiley-face tee on her website. Genocide sensitivity: ur doin it rong. [Oh No They Didn't]
• Tom Ford makes over 007: “It was time for a change and, whereas Brioni is very polished, this new Bond is edgier and darker...Tom Ford’s tailored suits work better for him.” [FT]
• Sarah Jessica Parker's hard at work on her new fragrances, Lovely Moments. "The collection will include three fragrances based on different expressions of time — Dawn, Endless and Twilight." What? [WWD]

• Moscow Fashion Week is uncharacteristically subdued. [Reuters]
• Because shopping at French Connection is a good indicator of your civic acumen, the chain is offering a 15% discount to those who can prove they voted. Seems ripe for voter fraud to me... [Nylon]
• Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell are co-hosting a Halloween party. What happens when they both come dressed as the Queen? [Fashionista]
• Quoth the creative director of Moschino: "The glossy, glamorous and cool world of fashion have never particularly fascinated me: I adore fashion and many of its representatives not for those aspects but for the creativity, the research and the effort that remains behind every collection." This translates to a front row filled with stuffed animals. [IHT]
• Zara continues to defy the market. In a good way. [Reuters]
• Ditto Avon; a gal still needs her undereye concealer. [Business Week]
• Other stalwarts? Plain white shirts. "Fun" men's shirts are out. [Telegraph]
• Tailoring, however, is in! [NY Times]
• Not to be left behind the, um, phone craze, Ralph Lauren launches an iPhone app, should you wish to gaze at madras at your whim. [MobileCrunch]
• British designer complains she can't find Size 10 (that's a U.S. 6) models to walk in her shows. "I have always been someone who would request that model agencies send me their curviest girls. But this time even they were too tiny to fill a pair of size 10 trousers and make them look great." [Guardian]
• The economy's climate of "retail darwinism" takes its toll on experimental fashion. [Portfolio]
• The carnage continues: although Elle is strong, Elle Accessories is suspended, loses four staffers. [NY Magazine]
• WWD names Natasha Poly and Lily Donaldson "the hottest models of the season." [WWD]
• Twiggy: "Just because you’re middle-aged you don’t have to live in flannel knickers!" It does mean you have to diet, apparently! [Mirror]
• "Sitting at his kitchen table recently, Mr. Siriano mused that he had a few days ahead of him with no bookings. I am like, 'Am I out? Is everyone over me?' That's kind of scary.'" Don't worry, Christian, you're fierce! [Wall Street Journal]
• Clothing line gives 400 poor little babies rashes on their backs! [USA Today]
• Alexander McQueen: "I was thinking of the British Empire...because we don't have one any more. Of course, it's not right for one nation to govern another, but I have no other mentality apart from a British mentality. We've lost our way as a nation at the moment, I think, and I wanted to unify myself with Britain throughout history, and to celebrate any heritage. The idea was to look at tradition as opposed to being anarchic." Translation? Rock necklaces. [Independent]
• Ecko employee sues over sexual harassment after a male colleague allegedly "threw a fistful of coins down into the crack of her buttocks." [NY Post]
• Lagerfeld is lukewarm on the contents of his Chanel pavilion: "The pavilion is the most exciting. Whatever may be in there—that is not my problem.” [The New Yorker]

• National tragedy: Heidiwood, Heidi Montag's fashion line, has apparently been discontinued! [Oh No They Didn't]
• Diddy buys Enyce from Liz Claiborne. [WWD]
• Karl Lagerfeld's interview with the Olsen twins is possibly the most awesome thing ever. The Kaiser dishes on his hatred of male models, tall women, men's opinions, and marriage! "Today you can have a baby first. If you want. I never liked the idea of a family at all. If it's a woman — it's more fun for a woman." [New York Mag]
• $700 mink Ric Owens stuffed bunny. You can put your keys in it. And it has "a mean face." [Fashionista]

• "Versatile classics" are the big sellers right now. [WWD]
• Another charming common touch piece from Cathy Horyn: "On Sunday afternoon I received a call from the Barneys women’s buying office saying my black Balenciaga dress was in. It was heartening to know in these difficult times that somebody wanted to make a sale." [NY Times]
• Having already beaten the candidates' neckwear into the ground, let's turn to their financial advisors! "Obama's man, Austan Goolsbee, wore a blue silk necktie with a subtle "neat" pattern—which on closer inspection turned out to be the phrase "Obama '08" repeated multiple times, like a subliminal message. His opponent, McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin, wore a conservative, law-and-order number: red with small white stars." [US News]
• Bond girls wear rad clothes. This premise serves an excuse for this reporter to try on all their outfits. [Telegraph]
• WWD takes full credit for Rodarte's breakout. [WWD]
• And speaking of Rodarte, the Mulleavy sisters are selling some of their archive online. [BlackBook]
• Although 50% of British women are size 16 and above, German designer Anna Scholz is the only one making high-end plus-sized clothes. "The problem is that other ranges want big women to apologise. It's always about disguising and concealing, never about celebrating. I don't understand it. Why would anyone want to wear a breast minimiser?”[Times Online]
• The Delhi Commission of Women seeks to ban a new film which they feel cruelly exploits the trials of the thinly-disguised model protagonist. [Hindustan Times]
• Zappos bans fur from its site, earning PETA's approval. [PETA]
• Apparently Zara's fall catalogue is good. [Fabsugar]
• Australian swimwear designer wrongly targeted in drug sting. [News.co.au]
• ABC cuts wardrobe budget for Desperate Housewives. [ MSNBC]
• Barneys gets all political, decorating the store with presidential portraits. Coolidge always gets me in a shopping mood! [WWD]
• There's some way you can win a clutch at Anya Hindmarch. It sounds like a raffle but it has something to do with Halloween. [VogueUK]

• In case Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle blog, Goop, wasn't quite irritating enough, now she brings us a breakdown of how to get her look. Apparently Roger Vivier bangles help. And don't think that one Uniqlo skirt fools anyone, Gwynnie; we've been wise to those tricks since Lucky hit newsstands! [Racked]
• Fashionologie claims it's "always a treat" to hear Kate Moss talk. We respectfully disagree. Draw yout own conclusions from this video of her "designing." [Fashionologie]
• Here are La Moss's "10 Style Rules": one of them's "Make It Look Effortless." Another is, "When In Doubt, Buy Diamonds." Oh, okay! Maybe this is Gwyneth's secret? [The Guardian]
• Karl Lagerfeld is now a proper noun in Le Petit Larousse Illustré. He also designed the cover. [WWD]

• Anya Hindmarch for Target sells out in 2 minutes! [VogueUK]
• PR's Jerrell comes off as a class act. "Who wants drama? That's not what we're there for. This isn't I Love New York; we're not sitting in a hot tub getting drunk. We're here to show the world what we do." [EW]
• Elle teams with Stardoll to make a tween/teen virtual mag. Kids can dress avatars in "high end virtual couture (such as apparel from DKNY). Users can also play virtual dress up with celebrity avatars such as Paris Hilton or Katie Holmes." I'm still holding out for a virtual thrift store! [Media Week]
• Recessions make strange bedfellows: Ann Taylor teams up with Proctor and Gamble to promote cleaning products that cut down on dry-cleaning. [NY Times]
• Zara succeeds by making fashion faster — and paying workers better. [Business Week]
• Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor launches a fashion web site. [UPI]
• We can't really improve upon Mollygood's description of Stylista, the new Devil Wears Prada reality ripoff: "Incompetent people who have no business being involved in the fashion industry? Check. Frightening dictator (fashion news director Anne Slowey)? Check. Inane tasks that have seemingly nothing to do with fashion? Check. The difference: We wanted Anne Hathaway to succeed in the movie; in the reality TV version, we kind of hope everyone fails miserably." [Mollygood]
• Mary McFadden: "When people look back at this period in our civilization, they'll say: This was the beginning of functional clothes ... I'm sorry, in a way people's lifestyles have become very utilitarian." Well, that explains sparkly leggings! [BlackBook]
• Not shockingly, discounters keeping their heads above retailers'. Does anyone else think those TJ Maxx ads where they explain how they keep their prices so low are completely genius? [NY Times]
• And, yes, LVMH is finally feeling the pinch. [WSJ]
• Louis Vuitton keeping them afloat. [WWD]
• That said, Armani is still really confident about opening shop in India. [Hindustan Times]
• Liz Hurley's Versace safety-pin dress has been named "The Greatest Red Carpet Gown of All Time." "Greatest" is apparently open to interpretation. [Mirror]
• Pixie Geldof takes on human trafficking. Via a tee shirt, obvs! [ElleUK]
• Ethical knitwear label Izzy Lane has won the RSPCA Good Business Award for its sheep-friendly practices. [Guardian]
• Leona Lewis snubs Harrods because of their continuing sales of fur. [Peta2]
• Someone's plastering Rachel Zoe's face all over New York. [Fashionista]
• Taylor Momsen's first modeling shots! Based on our newfound Top Model expertise, we'd say Little J is still looking for her signature pose. [Fabsugar]
• Balenciaga launches new frangrance, hopes to "renew Balenciaga's image as a serious fragrance contender." [ElleUK]

• Jessica Simpson's perfume is coming out. It's called "Fancy" and the following description doesn't even need to be parodied. '“Fancy is as alluring, feminine and romantic as Jessica Simpson herself. Her talent, charm and values have made her America’s sweetheart and have shown her to be the kind of person that women of all ages can admire,” Parlux chairman and CEO Neil Katz said in a statement.' Have at it, ladies! [Cosmetics News]
• Thakoon's new line is awesome. Which is good, because here's the part we really care about: they're doing a line for Target! [Glamour]
• Perhaps we underestimate Cavalli's influence? Kate Moss dropped from Grazia's best-dressed list. Maggie Gyllenhaal (yay!) is on it! [NY Mag]
• Wait. Victoria Beckham is showing at Fashion Week after all. "In the spirit of elitist designers like L'Wren Scott and Marchesa, Posh opted to show her frocks during New York Fashion Week to top editors and buyers by appointment only." Is this better or worse than a real show? [FabSugar]

• Proponent of sleaze, vertically-integrated manufacturing Dov Charney has lost his dog. Signs all over LA read: "Her Name is Hedkayce. I have had her for 10 years. She weighs 10lbs and has a scar on the left side of her face. She was left in the front yard of my home at 1809 Apex Ave. (Silverlake [sic] area). Please call at 213-923-7493 (cell) or my assistant Maria at 213-923-0616. ~ Dov Charney" [Racked]
• Fashion industry abandons plan to eliminate size zero models. "It has been shelved over claims of discrimination fears it could prevent models from working in this country, and a lack of support within the industry and from other fashion hotspots such as New York and Milan. " [Telegraph]
• Designer Ella Moss, known for cute, pricey, girly duds, to start making cute, pricey, girly swimwear. [WWD]
• There must be a dearth of real videographers around, otherwise why would model Coco Rocha be filming "behind the scenes" during fashion week for style.com? [Page Six]
• Zara (the #1 store in the world)'s fall and winter collex. [Telegraph]
• Intellectual fashionistas Rodarte up for a big award. [Style.com]
• Ann Taylor, mid-makeover, names new prez. [Wall Street Journal]
• Australian retailers/designers counting on the new Sydney Fashion Festival to get the dollars flowing. [News.com.au]
• Judge throws out L'Oreal's suit against eBay; the cosmetics giant was suing for the auction site's vending of knockoff cosmetics. [Wall Street Journal]
• More on that sleazy male model's kiss and tell: "Don't hit on the model whom the photographer has his eye on. If I couldn't figure out which girl he was going after," Hulse writes, "the likelihood was that he was coming after me." [BlackBook]
• Limited cuts a bunch of Limited Too stores, converts others to lower-end chain. [Wall Street Journal]
• Stephanie Seymour on the term "supermodel": "It's very embarrassing when you meet, like, a Russian prostitute, and she says she's a supermodel. And you're like, 'Hey, me too'," she told the World Entertainment News Network.' We, too, find it embarrassing when this happens.[VogueUK]

• Diane Von Furstenberg: writer. The wrap doyenne's gonna "pen" a column for Departures, the high-falutin American Express travel magazine. "The designer and Council of Fashion Designers of America president will start writing about her jet-set life starting with the magazine's November/December issue." Let's hope she doesn't make yet another investigation of "how to pack" her inaugural column. [WWD]
• Penelope Cruz for Mango. Yes, she looks stunning. [FabSugar]
• Ew. Harper's Bazaar has shot the Ronsons (DJs, LiLo lovers, designers and socialites) as Wes Anderson's eccentric Tenenbaum clan. They wish! [Harpers Bazaar]
• Outspoken ass Roberto Cavalli describes models thus: "For me, models are just pieces of wood that I carve to make clothes look beautiful," goes on to trash Kate, Naomi. Bad enemies, Cavalli. [NY Mag]

• Justin Timberlake to show/perform at Fashion Week. [NY Mag]
• Jimmy Choo director, Christian Slater-squeeze and legally embattled Tamara Mellon has joined the board of directors at Revlon. Quoth she, "I am thrilled to become a director of Revlon, an iconic brand in beauty and one that represents the image of a confident, glamorous woman." [ElleUK]
• Spanish chain Zara takes 'world's largest retailer' title from Gap. [Guardian]
• Sneak "peek" (okay, description) of the Commes des Garcons for H&M line, W via Fashionista. It's "mostly black and with Japanese tomboy airs, the H&M collection includes a range of tailored jackets, many deconstructed, along with cropped pants, baggy shorts and a variety of skirts in stretch wool. On the perkier side are polkadot knits in jersey or merino wool, colorful shirts - some with dots - and a "showpiece" coat-dress decorated here and there with dense Victorian ruffles." [Fashionista]
• Weirdly, the recession isn't curbing men's spending on clothes. "Over the past year, men have been on a clothes-buying spree, while women have pulled back even more." [Los Angeles Times]
• Depressingly, the Olympics aren't helping Beijing retailers at all. [WWD]
• Steve Madden names new CEO. [Crains]
• That open call for real women to model in that British Wonderbra campaign has resulted in a creepy-sounding mosaic of boobs, plus the tagline, "D to G, because we're more than a handful." [Salon]
• Style.com is finally adding the long-awaited beauty blog. [WWD]
• Celia Birtwell's rad new Top Shop line will just whet your appetite for the new AMERICAN TOP SHOP opening in October!!! [VogueUK]
• Back away slowly. IToo Faced Fuze Slenderize Guilt Free lip gloss may be the Antichrist. "Inspired by fruity flavors like Blueberry Raspberry and Dragon Fruit Lime, these lip shiners are made with Fuze ingredients that supposedly suppress appetite and boost energy levels — all from glossing up your puckers." [Nylon]

While gas prices climb higher and higher, the Times' Eric Wilson explains:

Clothing is one of the few categories in the federal Consumer Price Index in which overall prices have declined — about 10 percent — since 1998 (the cost of communication is another). That news may be of solace to anyone whose budget has been stretched just to drive to work or to stop at the supermarket; in fashion, at least, there are still deals to be had.

Of course, sometimes the "deals" come from manufacturers in China who move elsewhere (in China or out of the country) when their workers demand higher pay. Or maybe you wear Victoria's Secret underwear, made in Sri Lanka, by "skilled and educated" women working in a country torn by war, terrorism and racism. Or! Your "deal" could come from a company like Zara, which manufactures its clothing in La Coruña, Spain. "Because the company does its own manufacturing," Sherman explains, "The clothes reach the sales floor more quickly and efficiently, thus serving more consumers."

The truth is whether we're in a recession or not, all brands just want you to buy their stuff. You may not need it, but they need you to want it. So they're going to price accordingly. "We as a business cannot afford to have a customer take a second look and ask, ‘Do I need this?'" Bud Konheim, CEO of Nicole Miller tells the Times. "That is the kiss of death. We’re finished, because nobody really needs anything we make as a total industry."

Dress for Less and Less [NY Times]
Who Makes The Clothes On Your Back? [Forbes]
Lingerie And Terror [Economist]

Earlier: The Gap Is Dead; Long Live H&M. So Do You Buy More Or Less Regrettable Clothing Now?
Shocker: Not All Luxuries Are Created Equal

In Europe, retailers traditionally weren't supposed to hold sales. This has changed recently in some countries, but like, for years and years the government didn't let them mark down clothing. So while American retailers would over-order inventory from China by the shipping containerful, figuring that if something — boyfriend jeans? Editor pants? pleather — happened to take off, they could sell more of them at a retardedly inflated full price and get a better Christmas bonus. European retailers, meanwhile, were barred from law by generating this sort of waste. They were forced to simply become more efficient about monitoring what exactly was going to sell. This forced them to become more attuned to fashion while keeping prices at an "everyday low" level.

Then they came over to the U.S. and kicked the asses of all the bloated boring retail giants by offering cute clothes at reasonable prices. The thing is, do you end up buying more crap than you need now vs. the era of The Gap? Or less?

Pace-Setting Zara Seeks More Speed [WSJ]

• NY Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn continues to stick up for homeboy Marc Jacobs on her blog, disclosing that he personally dressed all of the models in his much-delayed show and that "if you're always under pressure, I suppose you're going to be more sensitive to the things you absolutely can control." Aw, tear? [NY Times]
  
• The Dress Barn's profits rocketed an amazing 38% this quarter. Um, what? Developing... [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Okay, we totally attended the wrong Fashion Week. Prince performed live at the Matthew Williamson show in London. [Vogue UK]
  
• Also at London fashion week: Courtney Love tripped Kate Moss, who went tumbling upon entering; someone spilled a drink on Anna Wintour; and Jade Jagger and Christian Louboutin were having "a private chat" (a private really ANIMATED and EXUBERANT chat, we're assuming) in the women's restroom. This is all at one party. [Vogue UK]

• Speaking of parties, the Christopher Kane afterparty was so good Agyness Deyn had to wait in line. [WWD, 2nd item]
• Things we did not know about Karl Lagerfeld that we learned just from reading a 300-word item about the forthcoming documentary about him: He has been sexually active since age 13, his family calls him "Shirley Temple," his bedroom looks just like mine, he talks trash about the former Chanel ("When I took on Chanel, it was a sleeping beauty. And not even a beautiful one. She snored'). [Vogue UK]
• Models/modelish types appearing in the Cavalli for H&M ads: Erin Wasson, Jessica Stam, Theodora Richards, Nicolas Malleville, Sean Lennon, Jane Schmitt, Lydia Hearst, Astrid Muñoz, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Anouck Lepère. [WWD, 1st item]
• Stella McCartney is adding a golf line to her Stella-for-Adidas label. Says McCartney, "I think it is about time that women who play golf can now echo what they wear in everyday life on the green." On our list of things it's about time for, this, uh, doesn't even make our pile of rejected ideas. [WWD, sub req'd]

• Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Glenda Bailey is appearing as a Simpsons character in the magazine's August issue. No, see, it makes sense because of the eight-page Simpsons fashion spread! [WWD, 1st item]
  
• Actor Ewan McGregor is the new face of Davidoff's newest, still unnamed men's fragrance. You know, this fragrance could smell like a heroin addict's toilet and we'd still buy it. Sigh. [Antara News]
  
• Yves Saint Laurent: Still a hypochondriac, but now also a Grand Officer of the French Legion! [WWD, 1st item]
  
• H&M sales up 17% in the month of June alone, for which the retailer credited good weather, a popular merchandise mix, and an uptick in visits from us and all our friends. 'Cause Zara has really sucked lately. [Vogue UK]

• Also joining Stella McCartney for a return to Mother England for London Fashion Week after showing elsewhere? Luella Bartley and Matthew Williamson. [WWD, 3rd item]
• Rhetorical question: Does Vogue never tire of patting itself on the back? [Vogue UK]
• Oh, to be 15 again! You can be cast as the official face of Australian Fashion Week and then fired for being too young. [Australian Broadcasting Corp]
• If you're reading this in Port au Prince, Haiti and your luggage has been lost, fret not: The New York Times has provided a handy guide to where to buy clothes quickly. [NYT]
• What? Some website ran an un-retouched Redbook cover? What? Who could it be? [WWD, 2nd item]

• After shooting her for a Dom Perignon campaign, Karl Lagerfeld expressed amazement at Claudia Schiffer's ability to play the diva at the heart of the campaign's storyline. We further express amazement that Karl got over his own whopping diva attitude to actually compliment someone other than himself. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• French designer Roland Mouret relaunching his new line Web 2.0 style on Net-A-Porter exclusively, with Victoria Beckham its celebrity spokesmodel. What vision! [Portfolio]
  
• Catherine Deneuve to design a handbag line! Which means that, sight unseen, some people (read: Jennifer) want one already. [WWD, 2nd item]
  
• Zara says cheap-chic competitors who use celebrity "designers" are cheating — since, um, duh they don't actually design? [Yahoo]

• Not-so-fast fashion: An Italian designer outfitted a gimpy 3-wheel car into her roving boutique. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Permira is thisclose to world domination! Er, we mean taking over 100% of Valentino. If pesky antitrust authorities don't get in the way, they'll have 60.2% of the label. Mwah hah hah. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Amsterdam-based designer Percy Irausquin is apparently one of the hottest up-and-coming names in fashion. Shouldn't he be from Antwerp or something? [Vogue UK]

Fashion Chain Zara Apologises For Selling 'Non-Kosher' Clothing [Independent]