Victoria's Secret Is Taking the Phthalates Out of Its Panties

Victoria’s Secret has pledged to go chemical-free, and it is going to start by beginning to disclose data on the usage of hazardous chemicals in its supply chain by the end of 2013. The company, which was recently the subject of criticism after independent testing commissioned by Greenpeace found phthalates in Victoria’s Secret underwear for sale in the U.S., as well as a variety of other potentially harmful chemicals in clothing from other top brands. Since those findings were released, Levi’s and Zara have also committed to eliminating dangerous chemicals from their respective supply chains. [Fashionista]

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3.1 Phillip Lim’s new ads, shot by Alessio Bolzoni, feature models Katryn Kruger and Franzi Mueller. [Style.com]

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Olivier Zahm photographed Crystal Renn for the new Agent Provocateur campaign. It’s set in a gas station inspired by those depicted by Ed Ruscha. “The gas station is a fetish, a place to have fun and stretch your legs after hours of driving, a place where you can accidently meet a handsome stranger,” says Zahm, who seems to know something about gas stations that we don’t. [WWD]

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Victoria Beckham is relaunching her Web site; she released this teaser video. [YouTube]

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Kate Hudson is still the face of Ann Taylor, also plans to lend her name to a capsule collection for the brand. [WWD]

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The spring Benetton campaign features a really stunning multi-racial cast, including Alek Wek, Kiera Chaplin, Elettra Wiedemann, Hanaa ben Abdesslem, the trans model Lea T, and male model Mario Galla (who is an amputee). [Models.com]

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Today in news that came unstuck from the calendar sometime in 2002 and somehow landed in the here and now, the band Linkin Park has collaborated on a pair of boots with Sebago. Tomorrow: Pennywise penny loafers and the hotly awaited collection from Limp Bizkit x Pillsbury. [Refinery29]

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Photographer Paul Nathan spent a year taking portraits of a unique subculture: people who dress up their dogs in fancy clothes. “These dogs wear clothes every day. I’m not sure if they enjoy it, but they certainly don’t seem unhappy,” says Nathan, whose book Couture Dogs of New York comes out in February. “As the father of a one-and-a-half year old I can confidently say that it’s easier to dress a dog than it is to dress a small child.” [Fashionista]

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• Most ladymags had positive ad sales growth in their March issues. Harper’s Bazaar grew year-on-year by a whopping 21%, to 330 pages; Marie Claire was up 15%, to 207 ad pages; Cosmopolitan increased 13%, to 130 pages; InStyle rose 14%, to 361 pages; Elle rose 7%, to 338 pages; T grew 23%, to 132.5 pages; WSJ. was up 29%, to 65 pages;
  Vogue saw a relatively small rate of increase, 3.5%, but had a much bigger number of ad pages, 457, than most of its competitors. [WWD]
• Glamour and Lucky, however, saw declines. Glamour‘s March ad pages fell year-on-year by 12%, to 161 pages. Lucky saw a 3% drop, to 103 pages. [AdWeek]
• Gemma Ward — who hasn’t worked as a model since 2008 but has always maintained agency representation — has switched agencies in her home market of Sydney, signing with the IMG branch that opened there last year. The new agency says that Ward, who has spent the past five years concentrating on acting, is planning to return to modeling this year. [The Cut]
• The Missoni family is using a submarine to continue the search for wreckage of the small plane that disappeared while carrying C.E.O. Vittorio Missoni, his wife Maurizia Castiglioni, two friends, and two crew members. [DM]
• Saks will start offering free shipping on online orders to all holders of its store credit card. [WWD]
• Ford has closed its children’s division. Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton, Kirsten Dunst, Ashley Tisdale, and Raven-Symoné are among Ford’s child-model alumni. [P6]
• Coach says its last quarter was marred by Hurricane Sandy. Net income during the quarter just ended rose year-on-year by 1.5%, to $352.8 million. Total sales were up 3.8%, to $1.5 billion, just missing Wall Street’s projections. The company has also hired for a new position: head of women’s design. This might herald a foray into women’s wear. [WWD]
• A Polish cosmetics company has invented breathable nail polish. It uses a polymer used in contact lenses to keep its formula breathable and permeable. This is good news for, among others, devout Muslim women who want to wear nail polish but can’t because of the requirement that they ritually wash five times daily before prayer. [The Cut]
• H&M, which has previously only mounted fashion shows to launch its designer capsule collections, is planning to show during — but not at — Paris Fashion Week. [WWD]
• And now, a moment with Helena Christensen. Helena, any memories of your first modeling job you’d like to share?
• “My first modeling gig was for baby diapers. My mom’s friend was [the] photographer. I was about 9 months old and had so much hair; it was in pig tails. I think I did a great job in displaying those diapers in the best way possible, making them look comfortable and chic. Since that diaper ad, there was no looking back.”
• [The Cut]