When Bryant Park Corporation tried to evict New York Fashion Week in 2006, Anna Wintour wrote to the mayor; the alternative, Lincoln Center, was said too small. Funny how a recession can change things.
• Fashion Week will move from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center beginning next year. [NYT]
• Former frenemies Rachel Zoe and Nicole Richie kissed and made up at a party in LA last week. The hugfest went down in front of a cameraman filming footage for Zoe's reality show, though, so a bit of skepticism may be in order. [WWD]
• Macy's is eliminating 7,000 jobs. [BN]
• Jonathan Adler is launching a Barbie collection in 2009; it will include "designer pottery, pillows, decorative objects." [SW]
• Douglas Hannant tells the WSJ he's traveling the country and hosting events to sell his label. He also shaves five years off his age, but who's counting? [WSJ]
• Last week, Karl Lagerfeld said the recession wasn't having much of an impact on him; today he says he's fully embraced the "New Modesty." As for why he eliminated the VIP section at the Chanel show last week, it was to "create equality in an unfair world." Thanks for doing your part, Karl. [WSJ]
• The hot, new trend from Stockholm Fashion Week? Shaved heads! [Pipeline]
Perhaps your heart didn't bleed much when magazines like Vogue and Elle got skinnier and skinnier—it's all part of the Darwinian decline of print, right? The news that $2,000 dresses are no longer exactly flying off the racks? You can rest assured that truly talented designers will weather the storm. And if you were one of the many people to be cut from Marc Jacobs's guest list this coming Fashion Week, that's a blow, of course, but there's always next season. But you'd have to be made of stone to be unaffected by the plight of the six-foot, preternaturally beautiful young models from Eastern Europe and South America whose fees have been halved as budgets for ad campaigns and shows are cut to the bone.
• The Max Azria dress that Angelina Jolie wore to the SAG Awards? She wore it backwards. [NYM]
• Marc Jacobs is slashing the guest list for his Feb. 16th show. [WWD]
• Target has a temporary McQueen shop planned for next month. [Racked]
• The backstory on why Fabien Baron was pushed out at Interview. [WWD]
• Jane Mayle's store isn't closing; it will be around through April. [Pipeline]
• Two brands doing well despite the recession: H&M and Mango. [WWD]
• Aretha Franklin's inauguration hat is Smithsonian-bound. [SW]
• The star at Jean Paul Gaultier's couture show in Paris this week? Inès de la Fressange, a 51-year-old model and mother of two. [WSJ, SF]
• After six seasons away from Bryant Park, Narciso Rodriguez is returning to the tents this season. [WWD]
• Betsey Johnson says she plans to revive some of her old designs as part of a new line. [Pipeline]
• Sales of luxury goods are expected to fall 3% and 7% this year. [WSJ]
• Five trends from couture week in Paris to keep an eye on. [Pipeline]
• LVMH has confirmed it's helping out Gareth Pugh. [Vogue UK]
• The lookbook for Isaac Mizrahi's Liz Claiborne collection is online. [Racked]
• Fabien Baron is leaving Interview. [WWD]
• A pair of Sarah Palin's shoes sold on Ebay for $2,025. No joke. [NYM]
Remember those controversial Calvin Klein commercials from the early '80s featuring Brooke Shields? The heroin chic ads with Kate Moss from the late '90s? How about last year's commercial for Calvin Klein Secret Obsession starring Eva Mendes, which was censored by the networks? It looks like the brand is returning to the usual tricks. WWD reports the new commercial for Calvin Klein Jeans "is so provocative it initially was banned from even late-night cable TV." Conveniently, the Steven Meisel creation will now be the "main attraction" when the company's new e-commerce site debuts on Friday. You can take a peek at the "banned" commercial below, but don't expect to see anything racier than what you'd find on your run-of-the-mill MTV reality show.
• Is the economy having an impact on spring couture season in Paris? No, says Karl Lagerfeld, it's just having an impact "on the conversation." [NYT]
• Other words to live by, courtesy of Mr. Lagerfeld: "Luxury is for the rich, not the nouveau riche." [SF]
• What's something you might be able to afford? Can we interest you in a $14 sundress by Taylor Swift? [NYM]
• Marc Jacobs disciple Peter Copping is in line to succeed Olivier Theyskens at Nina Ricci. [WWD]
• As you probably guessed, the Times didn't out Jason Wu after all. [J'bel]
• Scenes from Stockholm Fashion Week, in case you skipped it. [Pipeline]
• A report from the Japan Fashion Week in NYC show last night. [Pipeline]
• Copies of Michelle Obama's Jason Wu-designed inaugural dress are on the way. Serial knockoff artist Allen Schwartz says the $300-350 gowns will be in stores by March/April, just in time for prom and bridesmaid season, naturally. [USA Today]
• Alexander Wang is launching a men's collection. [SF]
• Michael Kors has a lawsuit on his hands. [LAT]
• Target is cutting 600 jobs. [WWD]
• Did the Times out Jason Wu last week? [NYM]
• Fashion feud of the day: Anna Wintour and Sienna Miller. [SL]
• Brooke Shields has signed on to be a spokesperson for Coppertone. [SW]
• Surgery to correct "moobs," or man boobs, is now the most popular plastic surgery procedure for men in the UK. And now you know what you get your chubby husband for his birthday. [DM]
Looks like Nina Garcia is getting the last laugh. While Project Runway remains mired in legal dispute between NBC and The Weinstein Company, Garcia's new Marie Claire-centric reality show, Running in Heels, is controversy-free and set to debut on Lifetime in March. Even better: She just scored a bunch of money to publish her third book. Garcia's The Style Strategy: A Less is More Approach to Staying Chic and Shopping Smart, which will be published in August, will feature the editor showing ladies how to "shop smart and save money, while not sacrificing fashionable self expression." [NYO]
Simple patriotic pornographic clothing firm American Apparel is beset by trouble! Now the SEC is investigating the company. Because of fishy leaked emails. Which we have for you, below!
Depending on your perspective, it's either a reassuring indication that the global recession can't be as bad as all that, or the kind of tasteless display of decadence that no longer has any place in the new economy: Couture fashion week in Paris is currently underway with shows as lavish as ever, even though you'd think that dresses costing a quarter of a million dollars might have a slightly shrinking client base. Dior designer John Galliano, who put on a show yesterday that cost around $3 million, points out that his job "is to make women dream. Of course I'm aware of the credit crunch, but it is not a creative crunch—not at the house of Dior, anyway."
• Olivier Theyskens is, in fact, parting ways with Nina Ricci. [Grazia, FWD]
• The couture shows in Paris began today and they're as over-the-top as ever. [NYM]
• Brioni just launched a line of suits that cost as much as $43,000 apiece. "The timing was not fortunate for us," says Brioni's CEO. Go figure. [WSJ]
• Tom Ford has introduced a line of men's jeans that retail for $990. They're the same jeans that Ford wears, and the button is plated with 18-karat gold, though, so it's totally worth it. [WWD]
• Vivienne Westwood's ads featuring Pam Anderson have debuted. [Pipeline]
• Hartmarx, Barack Obama's "favorite tailor," has gone bust. [WWD]
• Saks fashion director Michael Fink has left the company. [NYM]
• What do retail employees do during a recession? Try to look busy. [NYT]
Real estate mogul and Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman had a rep as quite the ladies' man when he was younger. His conquests over the years have included Nora Ephron, Diane von Furstenberg, Gloria Steinem, Arianna Huffington, and Patricia Duff. (And just because he's 71 doesn't mean he's slowing down any; he welcomed a daughter into the world in late December, although he didn't disclose who the mother is.) But it's safe to say that his many paramours haven't been drawn to him for his sense of style. Click here for a look back at a few of Zuckerman's most unfortunate fashion moments over the past three decades.
• Kanye West's very colorful line of Louis Vuitton sneakers made its grand debut in Paris yesterday. [WWD, SW]
• Jason Wu talks about Tuesday night's inauguration ball excitement and what he was eating (a pepperoni and mushroom pizza from Domino's) just before Michelle appeared on stage. [NYT]
• Taiwan is understandably proud of their hometown hero. [WWD]
• Barneys could fetch $300-400 million if it sells, a far cry from the $942 million Istithmar paid for the retailer in 2007. [NYT]
• Been waiting to see Bruno hit the big screen? Wait a little longer. [FWD]
• Posh sucks her thumb on the February cover of Russian Vogue. [VogueUK]
• Sao Paulo Fashion Week ended today; leave it to the Brazilians to power through the grim times with smiles on their faces. [AFP]
• Malia is totally into "pleats and pared-down things," but is not a "huge fan of sparkles." Sasha, on the other hand, totally adores "bright colors and sparkly things." Could America's first daughters be any cuter? [WSJ]
• IMG would really love it if Michelle Obama turned up for Fashion Week next month. [SF]
• The mood was not very cheery at Men's Fashion Week in Milan, reports Guy Trebay, who says designers appeared to be reacting to the downturn "by staging a mass memorial for themselves. [NYT]
• Rumor has it 60 Minutes is planning a story on Anna Wintour. [NYM]
• Is Barneys' parent company putting the retailer up for sale? [BN]
• A sneak peek at Scarlett Johansson's new ads for D&G makeup. [SW]
• Not surprisingly, Jason Wu's website has been flooded with traffic. [FWD]
• Christian Lacroix's fab Paris apartment is up for sale. [Fashionologie]
• Sad and very disturbing: Brazilian model Mariana Bridi had to have her hands and feet amputated due to a life-threatening blood infection. [NYDN]
