• The Obamas headed over to London today on their first trip overseas since Barack took office and the big topic of discussion is Michelle's wardrobe, of course: She was wearing Thakoon as she boarded the plane, but she emerged in a Jason Wu dress when she got off. But tomorrow she meets the Queen, so expect things to really get crazy. [NYM, SW, Style.com]
• Kate Moss will cut the ribbon at the Topshop opening on Thursday, naturally. [WWD]
• Tips on surviving the big opening from your pals across the pond. [Guardian]
• Richard Chai may be the new creative director at Bill Blass. [FWD]
• Agent Provocateur just launched its new swimwear collection. [Pipeline]

• CBS's Morley Safer on following around Anna Wintour from Fashion Week in NYC to Milan and now to Paris: "It's only slightly less dangerous than covering wars... In Milan, it was about the same as covering Vietnam." [NYT]
• Reviews from the Balmain and Balenciaga shows at Paris Fashion Week. [Times UK, Telegraph]
• The end of an era: Olivier Theyskens showed off what was quite likely his last collection for Nina Ricci in Paris this evening. [WWD, WSJ]
• Gareth Pugh is planning to launch a line of shoes and makeup. [WWD]
• Liz Claiborne reported a massive loss for the fourth quarter. [NYP]
• David's Bridal invaded Manhattan today. [Racked]
• Chanel Iman will join Bar Refaeli as host of MTV's new House of Style. [F'gie]

• Jason Wu's Fashion Week show will be the second-hottest ticket in town right behind Marc Jacobs. [NYO]
• Isaac Mizrahi's debut collection for Liz Claiborne is now online and up for sale. [Fashionista]
• Not everyone is excited about Fashion Week moving to Lincoln Center. Like Anna Sui. [NYM]
• Anna Wintour is styling Adele for the Grammys. [NYM]
• Football player Stewart Bradley is interning at Elle. [Fashionista]
• Eric Wilson explains the difference between Hello Kitty and Barbie. [NYT]

• Retail on Madison Avenue is a mess, in case you haven't noticed. More than two dozen spaces are currently on the market. [NYT]
• The plan to move Fashion Week to Lincoln Center beginning in 2010 is a done deal. [WWD]
• Jason Wu has postponed plans to launch a fur collection this fall. The Humane Society is very pleased, unsurprisingly. [WWD, WSJ]
• Liz Claiborne is cutting 725 jobs. [MW]
• Giorgio Armani has stirred up scandal with his comments about Italy's fashion scene, and his suggestion that Paris is where it's at. [Reuters]
• Scandal! Scarlett Johansson is now a brunette. [SW]

• Valentino didn't lose money in a giant Ponzi scheme. He did, however, just lose $39 million to the government of Italy. [NYM]
• Neiman Marcus is laying off 375 staffers. [WWD]
• That giant Forever 21 in Times Square? It's actually going to be a Century 21. [Reuters]
• Disney and Sephora have lots in common. [NYT]
• Liz Claiborne is expected to report big losses for the fourth quarter. Isaac to the rescue! [WSJ]
• Alas, no bar is planned for Topshop. [Racked]
• Annie Leibovitz was spotted at the Hay-Adams in DC yesterday, suggesting Michelle Obama could be on the cover of March's Vogue. [Politico, via]

• Vivienne Westwood may have designed Carrie's wedding dress for the first Sex and the City movie, but she'd like to write the script for the sequel, and she's even written to Sarah Jessica Parker to make her case. [Telegraph]
• Tracy Feith is the latest designer who has been tapped to do a line for Target. [WWD]
• Fern Mallis says IMG has confirmed 52 designers— including Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Michael Kors—for Fashion Week in February. [WSJ]
• Marchesa will be showing, too. [Fashionista]
• Photos of Isaac Mizrahi's new collection for Liz Claiborne. [Pipeline]
• Go alert your mom: Carolina Herrera says long hair after 40 is "out" in her book. "Women need to learn how to age gracefully." [Times UK]

• Both retailers and editors are scaling back plans for the couture shows in Paris in January. Anna Wintour, however, will not be deterred. [The Cut]
• A list of 2008's "ubiquitors." [WWD]
• Designer Ted Lapidus is dead at 79. [Guardian]
• The movie about the Bruni-Sarkozy love affair will only air in France, alas. [Style.com]
• A former YSL makeup artist has slapped the company with a discrimination lawsuit. [WWD]
• Tough times: the CEO of Liz Claiborne is forced to fly commercial. [WSJ]
• Did you miss The City? You didn't miss much, but Whitney Port has posted her very own recap, if you're interested. [Celebuzz]

• This will be the bleakest holiday shopping season for retailers in years, but it's not too late to make a bad situation a little bit better. There's still have time to get out there and shop. Do your part and help keep America the consumerist paradise it was designed to be! [AP, WSJ]
• One spot that doesn't appear to be suffering: The Ugg store in Soho. [Racked]
• Kate Moss will appear in an ad campaign for the jewelry brand Fred. [WWD]
• Rock & Republic is planning to launch a new (and cheaper) denim line. [NYM]
• David Chu is parting ways with Tumi. [WWD]
• More job cuts are expected at Liz Claiborne. [WWD]

♦ The election, the economy, and Madonna and Guy all faded into insignificance last night when MTV aired the first clip of The City, and we saw our girl Whitney stepping inside Diane von Furstenberg HQ and getting ambivalently eyeballed by Olivia Palermo (who seems to have a weirdly strong screen presence). [NYO, NYP]
♦ The sixth season of Project Runway has wrapped: Rebecca Romijn, Eva Longoria and Lindsay Lohan reportedly make guest judge appearances, although regular judges Nina Garcia and Michael Kors earn less airtime than before. Yet due to legal issues we can't wrap our mind around much less summarize, no one knows when or where the show will air. [WWD]

♦ Charlotte Ronson continues with her role as the most respectable (and least annoying) member of Ronson family: She's signed a deal with J.C. Penney to design "a full contemporary sportswear collection" called I ♥ Ronson. [WWD]
♦ Did you sense that the fashion world had turned on its axis? That's because Richie Rich unveiled his first solo collection this past weekend in Miami Beach. [Miami New Times via Paper]
♦ Narciso Rodriguez is parting company with Liz Claiborne after an 18-month partnership; the designer will now have independent ownership of his brand. [WWD]
♦ Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen launched their Elizabeth and James line in London last night with the help of Henry Holland, Dasha Zhukova and Pixie Geldof. [FabSugar]

• Kate Moss has introduced her daughter Lila to the exclusive perks of the fashion A-list: Hanging out with a bronzed, sweaty Marc Jacobs and his gay posse on a yacht in the Balearics. [Pop Sugar]

• Hold the phones: Liz Claiborne has released a glimpse of Isaac Mizrahi's new collection as creative director—the label! It has a different logo and everything. [WWD]

So why did Isaac Mizrahi terminate his massively successful and lucrative collaboration with Target in order to take up with dull old office-wear staple Liz Claiborne, where he's now creative director? He's not telling Meredith Bryan due to being "contractually muzzled," but naturally the loquacious designer has plenty to say on other subjects, from the Xanax he takes before attending the CFDA dinner ("I can't make it though without a tranquilizer, that's just it, I'm sorry,") to vlogging, which he calls "this strange, insatiable desire to keep going on and on and on, to keep expressing yourself, you know?" to his weight: "I'm so fat, I'm so fat, I'm so huge," to his new TV projects: