Baptiste Giabiconi Isn't Sure Why Karl Lagerfeld Loves Him

• Dansk magazine’s wanton disregard for Baptiste Giabiconi‘s hotness makes us want to say to the stylist, Hey, whazz wong witz you, man? Meanwhile, it seems Giabiconi occasionally doubts his place in the heart of his Grand Monsieur, Karl Lagerfeld…

Giabiconi tells this touching story of one such time: “One day I went up to Karl and said: ‘Why me? What is it you see in me? Why do you only work with me?’ And he told me it’s because he sees something in me that he doesn’t see in other people, something in the way I carry myself. Karl said: ‘I see both a man and a woman in you at the same time.’” [Models.com, JustJared]

• Oh my God, fashionistas: Rachel Zoe says white is the new black. Adjust your wardrobes for total polar inversion. Remember that drill we had three months ago? It’s for real this time! Hide your LBDs, stock up on your OBs. [StyleList]
• For the first quarter, most ladymags saw year-on-year increases in their number of ad pages. (Bear in mind that the first three months of 2010 were not exactly a boom time for ad-supported print media.) People StyleWatch set the curve with a 46.5% increase. Elle rose 14.3%, Vogue was up 10.6%, Glamour rose 5.5%, and Marie Claire was flat. W, which saw a 22% decline during the first quarter of ’10, was up by 6.5% under new editor Stefano Tonchi, but Lucky, which also has a new editor in Brandon Holley, went the opposite way: First quarter of ’10 saw 17% growth, while in the quarter just ended, ad pages fell by 14.3%. Cosmo was down 12.5% and Harper’s Bazaar by 11.6%. [WWD]
• Here are some more images from the new Pop’Africana. [Models.com]
• Naomi Campbell didn’t show up for the latest hearing in her interminable lawsuit and counter-lawsuit with her former agent, Carol White. White accuses the supermodel of stiffing her on royalties for a perfume deal she negotiated for Campbell, which included the release of a scent named “Naomi Campbell Cat Deluxe With Kisses,” which we just can’t get over, because, like, come on. White’s lawyers say they have proof that Campbell’s manager perjured himself in his earlier testimony; the judge, who has been inundated with requests from both sides, warned the parties in court, “This may be a case of ‘no fine wine before it’s time.'” [WWD]
• Lady Gaga told Ellen the snow storms in New York are preventing her from wearing the shoes she wants to wear. Amateur. [YouTube]
• Taraji P. Henson got naked for publicity PETA. [TLF]
• Richard Avedon favorite China Machado, on participating in the great U.S.-French designer showdown at Versailles in 1973: “I thought, why not? The French are so pompous, and the Americans are so great, let’s do it and show them! And we did.” She wore “a topless dress. Green chiffon. And a peacock feather fan.” Machado says she is no longer involved in fashion — “Give me a break, I’m 81” — which is interesting, because when W profiled her last year, Machado wouldn’t give the reporter her age. [The Cut]
• Daphne Guinness says that she approves of Sarah Burton‘s work as the new creative director of Alexander McQueen. “Sarah’s brilliant — I loved her last collection. She worked with Lee for so long so she knows what to do. She’s not Lee but I think he’d be happy with her doing it. She learnt from him. Other than McQueen, I don’t love this resurrection of redundant labels. There are so many talented young designers and so many of them end up working under other people’s labels. They should be doing their own thing.” The museum at FIT will mount an exhibition of nearly 100 items from Guinness‘s clothing collection this September. “It’s quite daunting,” says Guinness, of the show. “I’ll start by dressing myself then dressing the mannequins, otherwise it doesn’t mean anything. It needs to be personal. The way I dress isn’t a conscious decision to be flamboyant — it comes out of joy. I don’t think it’s right to hoard things, you should share what you have.” [Vogue UK]
• H&M is offering online shopping in the U.S. — starting roughly a year from now. [@HMUSA]
• Ready for online shopping — or at least browsing — at present is former Nina Ricci designer Olivier Theyskens‘ first collection for Theory. Items retail for $70-$980, which means our only hope is to see them pop up at Loehmann’s, where the Theory racks are always plentifully stocked. [Fashionologie]
• Rag & Bone is putting up some poster advertising in Manhattan, seems to be the point of this story. Oh, right, their ads are different, blah blah blah. [WWD]
• J. Crew made a cute video of one of their shoes being made in Italy. [Official Site]
• Pricey lingerie concern Agent Provocateur is launching an aggressive expansion campaign, with an eye to doubling their sales in two years. [WWD]
• Jean-Paul Gaultier‘s couture hair design looks like it really, really hurt. [Style.com]
• Just Cavalli has a new home, after two years in limbo. When the licensee for the lower-priced line, Ittierre SpA, went bankrupt during the recession, Roberto Cavalli had to suddenly cancel his runway show and even cried in front of journalists. Now, he’s partnered with Diesel founder Renzo Rosso‘s company, which will produce Just Cavalli for the next ten years, so they can both make lots of money again. [WWD]
• Stephen Jones says that Christian Dior models look like they have perfectly even skin because they’re wearing makeup all over their bodies. And he’s still feuding with Vivienne Westwood over some hats he made for her in 1987. [Vogue UK]