Lady Gaga Talks Music And Fashion; Plus-Size Models In French Marie Claire

By Jenna Sauers | June 1, 2010 | 3:30pm

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Lady Gaga spent two hours answering questions live online. “I need fashion for my music, and I need music for my fashion,” she said. [SHOWStudio]
That Gaga: Always destroying her Birkins. [Fashin]
This fall, the Council of Fashion Designers of America will publish a coffee table book of American designers at home. In case you were curious to see how Carolina Herrera and Donna Karan live. [WWD]
Michael Kors: “American designers sometimes feel like the stepchild to Europe, and meanwhile, you travel the world and people are wearing sportswear. I don’t see a lot of people wearing ballgowns in any city. I couldn’t be happier and more proud to be referred to as all-American and a New Yorker.” Kors, 50, will become one of the younger winners of the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award next Monday at the CFDA Awards. [WWD]
It’s by design that Iman, who is set to receive the Fashion Icon award at the CFDAs, doesn’t attend fashion shows. “God help me — I don’t want to go,” she says. “One reason I have lasted this long is I’ve never been overexposed and overstayed my welcome. If I went to fashion shows, people would think, ‘Oh, poor thing.’ That air of mystery is my revenge.” [WWD]
Just to recap: Alexander McQueen will posthumously receive a special award from the CFDA, which will be presented by Sarah Jessica Parker. The accessories designer of the year award nominees are Proenza Schouler and Alexis Bittar. The women’s wear designer of the year award nominees are Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Alexander Wang. The Swarovski award for women’s wear, which rewards emerging talent, will go to either Prabal Gurung, Jason Wu, or Joseph Altuzarra. This is the first year that certain fashion bloggers were invited to vote on the CFDAs as members of the press. [WWD, WWD, WWD]
And Joan Collins, the current face of Alexis Bittar, will attend. [P6]
That’s not the only fashion-related awards gala happening: this year’s AmFAR awards will honor Jean-Paul Gaultier and Ricky Martin. [P6]
Lawyers for accused war criminal Charles Taylor are contesting the prosecution’s motion to subpoena Naomi Campbell, in order to compel her to testify about blood diamonds she received as a gift from Taylor in 1997. Although the prosecution tried to have Mia Farrow‘s statement about the incident, which she witnessed, entered into evidence, the judge ruled it to be hearsay. Since then, new witnesses have come forward, and prosecutors say that a subpoena is their only option as Campbell is not willing to testify voluntarily. Prosecutors are trying to tie Taylor to the trade in conflict diamonds during the late 1990s in order to prove that he both used the diamond proceeds to pay for weapons and training for rebels who fought a bloody war in Sierra Leone, and as payment for his services to the rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front. The defense says that because the prosecution rested its case 15 months ago, no new witnesses should be called. Defense lawyer Courtenay Griffith said calling Campbell to testify would be “an obvious publicity stunt.” [Guardian]
Gisele Bündchen enjoys high-fashion credibility, working for clients like Dior and Versace, but also has amassed a mountain of mass-market endorsements both in the U.S. and Europe, and especially, in her native Brazil. There, she shills lingerie, the C&A chain store, flip-flops, Pantene, digital TV, and dozens of other local apparel brands. [TDB]
Lily Cole celebrated the end of her exams by spending the day by the river with friends at Cambridge. [Vogue UK]
Zara opened a nearly 20,000 sq. ft. outpost in Delhi. It is India’s first. [Independent]
Ex-Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl is stuck in bed healing from a broken foot. So she’s pouring her energies into Tweeting such sub-Basho tidbits as, “Bright, cool shiny day. Mountains blue. Soft pink local liverwurst, rustic bread, homemade mustard, new onions. Perfect late spring lunch.” And, “Misty morning. World wrapped in cotton clouds. Leftover polenta to chase the chill, melting mascarpone, softly fried eggs, crisp bacon.” Lord have mercy. Meanwhile, Vanity Fair sent Maureen Orth to write an Oleg Cassini story. Let’s handle this as Reichl might: Waste of good writer. Cassini mediocre, now in his eternal repose (why always dead ppl, VF?) Never mind what the tags said; it was all Hubert. [WWD]
Matthew Williamson C.E.O. and co-founder Joseph Velosa was studying philosophy when he met Williamson and became interested in the business of fashion. Williamson’s company is introducing a sub-brand called Matthew Williamson Escape, which will focus on swimwear and caftans. Presumably these will be less expensive than the swimwear and caftans Williamson already offers at such exorbitant prices. [Vogue UK]
French Marie Claire published a swimwear editorial featuring plus-size models. And the world did not stop turning, somehow. [ONTD]
T-shirt sloganeer Katherine Hamnett has designed an “eco-friendly” capsule collection of swimwear. [Vogue UK]
Avril Lavigne has a perfume out. It smells of “praline agreement,” whatever that is. (Perhaps Reichl could tell us?) [ONTD]
John Galliano selected the following young designers as semi-finalists in London’s Fashion Fringe competition: Alice Palmer, Charlotte Linton, Cornel Bolt, Corrie Nielsen, Danielle Windsor, Edward Finney, Fjodor Golan Frydman, Ju-Hong Chang, Jade Kang and Silvina Maestro. A discussion between Galliano, Nick Knight, and Amanda Harlech will be live-streamed online on Friday. [Vogue UK]
Iran, which spends around $2 billion a year on cosmetics, is now the second-largest market for beauty products in the Middle East. The first? Saudi Arabia. [AFP]
Accessories designer Brian Atwood likes, among other things: Muji pens, fancy jeans, fancy tequila, fancy sunglasses, and vintage photographs. [GQ

Suzy Menkes and Cathy Horyn disagree about what it means that Alexander McQueen hired Sarah Burton, and Hermès hired Giles Deacon. [The Cut]
Reuters held a Global Luxury Summit and some luxury executives had positive, hopeful-sounding things to say about consumer spending. [Reuters]
Some designers are making insanely expensive dresses that can be worn multiple ways. They call this “value for money.” [ToL]