Iman Says Italian Vogue "Might As Well Have Called" Those Slave Earrings "N— Earrings"

Iman doesn’t mince words when asked her opinion of the “Slave Earrings” story Vogue Italia published: “I didn’t like it. Slave does not make it ethnic. Mind you, it’s not lost in translation — the word slave, we know what it is. They might as well have called them ‘n***** earrings.’” Vogue pulled the big-earrings trend story, which read in part, “If the name brings to the mind the decorative traditions of the women of colour who were brought to the southern Unites States during the slave trade, the latest interpretation is pure freedom.” The magazine subsequently apologized for “the inconvenience” and blamed the outrage on poor translation. [Fashionista]

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Scarlett Johansson is in a new ad for Dolce & Gabbana cosmetics. [Beauty High]

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Florence Welch of the band Florence and the Machine was styled by Karl Lagerfeld for the October cover of Vogue Japan. [Style Bistro]

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Tampon tea connoisseur Terry Richardson took his 23-year-old girlfriend, Audrey Gelman, on holiday to Mexico. He posted lots of shots of Gelman in her bikini to his blog, and, oh look, Page Six noticed. Gelman works in politics: she’s the spokesperson for Manhattan borough president and 2013 New York City mayoral candidate Scott Stringer. Gelman was by his side last week, too, as Richardson blew out 46 candles on his birthday cake. [Terry’s Diary, P6]

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When Betsey Johnson‘s office was evacuated yesterday afternoon following the earthquake that rumbled through New York City, she took her employees out to a bar. Cheers. [@xoBetseyJohnson]

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Esprit is trying to revamp itself once more in the U.S., with fancy new ads featuring Gisele Bündchen and Erin Wasson, and by cutting all of its various sub-brands, which the company says have become confusing to customers. “In the past, we had all these different brands,” said a spokesperson. “Our target consumer is now a woman who is ‘forever 30.’ Now the brand will be saying the same thing to all women. In the past we were even using different size blocks. Nine months from now, we’ll be totally aligned — one brand direction.” So, uh, if you have any Esprit pants that fit you well, now’s the time to buy a few pairs to put on ice, cus that shit’s going away. [WWD]

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Freja Beha Erichsen wears Chanel-logo tears in these behind-the-scenes shots from a forthcoming campaign. [Chanel News]

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• There’s a rumor that Lady Gaga might launch a fashion line with her younger sister, Natali. Natali accompanied Stefani to the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards earlier this summer, and wants to work in fashion. [Grazia]
• Michael Kors and his husband Lance LePere exchanged custom-made platinum rings at their wedding last week. The inside of each band is set with diamonds from each groom’s family. [The Cut]
• Miranda Kerr says she eats four tablespoons of coconut oil every day to stay all purrrty. Cue run on coconut oil. [Daily Mail]
• Irina Shayk told a reporter, “everybody thinks models are stupid, but trust me, we are very smart.” [The Cut]
• There was a plus-size fashion show at Sydney fashion week — opened by Australian native Robyn Lawley, the first plus-size model to ever appear in the pages of Vogue Australia. The Daily Mail concern-trolls: “Adopting the slogan ‘Big is Beautiful’, and thus encouraging women to remain unhealthy, could be classed as almost as harmful as promoting the controversial ‘size zero.'” [Daily Mail]
• Alexa Chung is reportedly set to host a fashion reality TV show on Lifetime. [P6]
• Supermarket billionaire, owner of the private jet known as “Air Fuck One,” modelizer, intended victim of Page Six extortioner Jared Paul Stern, Bill Clinton ex-BFF and American Apparel minority shareholder Ronald Wayne Burkle is understood to be in talks to buy the troubled clothier’s debt. American Apparel took on nearly $200 million in debt to expand its retail footprint at what later proved to be the height of a real-estate bubble. (Dov Charney really thought he needed that fourth store in Ann Arbor, Michigan.) Currently, the majority of the company’s debt is held by two entities: Bank of America, which controls AA’s $75 million revolving line of credit (currently maxed out), and private-equity firm Lion Capital, to which AA owes $84 million. Charney’s company has repeatedly had to borrow more from Lion, and then breached its debt agreement. And every time AA is in breach, Lion raises its interest rates. Right now, American Apparel is paying 18% on that $84 million. (We get a better rate on our MasterCard.) Burkle might buy up all this debt, and reduce AA’s interest to 7%. But the company isn’t sure if it wants to get in bed with the Burk: “There’s not a huge amount of urgency to get a deal done right now, because business trends are positive,” says a “source” who is “close to” the talks. Positive business trends, like, oh, one month of same-store sales that weren’t actually negative — after more than two solid years of sales going nowhere but down, down, and down. This is a company that was saved from the brink of bankruptcy just months ago. Dov might not get to pick his dance partner. [NYPost]
• Elderly L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, who has faced a court case brought by her daughter over her soundness of mind to control the family fortune, has signed a petition to French president Nicolas Sarkozy that calls for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy. Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent’s widower, made a similar call last week. [WWD]
• This season, Alexander Wang will do a nail polish collection with Sally Hansen. [Style.com]
• American Eagle Outfitters outdid rivals Aéropostale and Abercrombie & Fitch with its quarterly results — the company turned a $20 million profit, twice what it made during the same period last year, even though same-store sales were flat. But it cut its guidance for the rest of the year, warning that volatile cotton prices will hurt its results. [WWD]
• M.A.C. & Milk, the venue for New York fashion shows that is not Lincoln Center, is getting a new name this season: Made, Presented by M.A.C. This season, 37 shows and presentations will take place at Milk Studios. [WWD]
• The 25 U.S. stores with the highest average receipts were identified, and the store where customers are likely to spend the very most is: Oscar de la Renta‘s New York City flagship, where the average total was $3,217. [Bundle]