A great, great story embodying the now-gone boom days: Louis Vuitton teamed up with Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami for an exhibit, with a pricey store. And the "prints" were just leftover scraps! Very fitting:

• And you were thinking Naomi Campbell was devoid of sympathy and compassion. The supermodel has been all over Mumbai's Lakmé Fashion Week, where she's raising money for victims of last year's terrorist attacks. [SF]
• Vera Wang's Lavender label may be in trouble now that Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue appear to be dropping the line for spring. [NYM]
• Sketches of Gwyneth Paltrow's collection with French label ZOEtee—"a mélange of Seventies glamour, rock inspiration and men's casual suiting"—are now available for your viewing pleasure. [WWD]
• Anna Wintour was in Miami to see Roger Federer this past weekend. [FWD]

• Saks has agreed to pick up Christian Siriano's fall line. The collection will be sold at the in-store boutique for up-and-coming designers. [NYM]
• Rachel Zoe is launching a budget clothing line. Because she can. [SW]
• Kira Plastinina, the 16-year-old designer and Russian mogul's daughter who watched her company implode recently, is ready for her next challenge. She's going back to school. Possibly to Parsons, in fact! [FWD]
• The company that bought the rights to the Bill Blass name now has plans to revive it and is currently hunting for a creative director. [Fashionista]
• H&M reported its first drop in quarterly profits in more than five years. [BN]
• Not only does Olivia Palermo shop at Strawberry's (or doesn't), she says she shops at the Strand, too. For, like, books and stuff. [Racked]
• The ever-humble Kanye West would now like to be known as Martin Louis The King Jr. The "Louis" refers to Louis Vuitton, obviously. [NYDN]

• Paris Fashion Week came to a conclusion today with a memorable show by John Galliano and Marc Jacobs' collection for Louis Vuitton, which, shockingly, only started seven minutes late. [NYT, Telegraph, WWD, WSJ]
• Want to see Project Runway return to the air? Heidi Klum suggests demonstrating outside Harvey Weinstein's house. Good idea![MSNBC]
• Retailers are pushing designers to reduce costs in the hopes consumers can be convinced to pay full-price again. [WSJ]
• Heard on the Runway, the Journal's fashion blog, may be over. [NYM]
• The Jonas Brothers are launching a clothing line. Sweet! [Racked]
• Zooey Deschanel has debuted her sunglasses line for Oliver Peoples. [NYDN]
• Shepard Fairey is crafting Saks' new ad campaign. [FWD]
• Need some couture for your dog? Here are some places to start. [Pipeline]

• 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]

• Glamour's list of 2008's style dos and don'ts is now online. We'll leave it to you to guess where this outfit worn by Jodi Marsh landed. [Glamour]
• Marc Jacobs chats about his new Stephen Sprouse-inspired collection for Louis Vuitton. [SF]
• Carmen Marc Valvo has decided against staging a runway show at Fashion Week in February. [WSJ]
• Barack Obama has already picked out his tux for the inauguration, but a few designers share their sketches anyway. [WWD]
• Mayor Michael Bloomberg went holiday shopping on Saturday and picked up Diana Taylor a pair of $29.99 fleece gloves at Modell's Sporting Goods. Times are tough, clearly. [NYT]

♦ A sensational robbery was carried out at Harry Winston in Paris last night. Robbers—dressed in drag, no less—made off with $108 million diamond rings, gem-studded bracelets and other jewelry, making it one of the largest such heists ever. [AP]
♦ Sofia Coppola is in Tokyo this evening to unveil her new line of accessories for Louis Vuitton. [WWD]
♦ Courtney Cox is the new face of Avon's women's fragrance, Spotlight. [WWD]
♦ "Save Anna" t-shirts have materialized, of course. [Racked]
♦ More on the party last night for Vera Wang's new boutique in Soho. [WSJ]

♦ Christian Siriano plans to make it work with Payless: The Project Runway winner is teaming up with the company on a line of footwear and handbags that will launch next fall. [NYP]
♦ Today was Cyber Monday, the day when online retailers kick off the holiday season with super-steep discounts. It didn't turn out to be a great day for Bloomingdale's and J. Crew: both watched their websites crash this morning. [Crain's, USA Today]
♦ In case you forgot to issue your congratulations, Anna Wintour headed off to Buckingham Palace last week to pick up whatever is it you are given when you're named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. [Vogue UK]

Terrible news for sun-worshippers and tanning salon habitués: Mahogany-hued skin is officially a fashion no-no, so drop that bottle of sunless tanner, pull the blinds down, and be grateful we've brought this breaking news to your attention. Make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury—who confesses to being partially culpable for the bronzed craze after she gave Kate Moss a dark tan for a 2002 Vogue shoot, a look that was replicated in the model's campaigns for Roberto Cavalli (himself a walking cheese doodle) and Louis Vuitton—is deadly serious when she warns: "The backlash is going to be huge." Not convinced? Listen to Simon Doonan, whose word on such matters is not to be trifled with: "What once looked healthy and lush now looks cheesy and has baaad connotations... I associate a tanned look with skin cancer." Say no more, we're canceling our Christmas trip to St. Barts as we type.

♦ If you have the nerve to approach Anna Wintour at a public event and ask her an uncomfortable question, don't be the least bit surprised if tells you to get lost. [The Cut]
♦ Madonna's latest fashion faux-pas? A green Louis Vuitton dress by Marc Jacobs, which "looks as if someone poured a wheelbarrow of lawn clippings all over her," bitches fashion critic Hilary Alexander. "Just another horrific hiccup in the wardrobe of a woman of wealth, but no taste." [Telegraph]
♦ Karolina Kurkova is the world's sexiest woman, according to E!, belly button or no belly button. [Reuters]
♦ Yes, it's 30 degrees outside, so why not distract yourself by watching footage of Brazil's Clara Rio Summer event, including Natalia Vodianova and Byrdie Bell showing off on the dance floor? [Vogue UK]

There you were thinking that seeing celebrities with ten-piece sets of Louis Vuitton luggage, or people with more money than style attired in outfits emblazoned with Versace medusa heads, was merely an assault on one's fashion sensibilities. But it turns out that fashion emblems may be worming their way into our consciousness and influencing our behavior without us even knowing about it. Rob Walker reports on a study in which subjects were more likely to choose a certain brand of bottled water after being shown photos of people drinking it, even though they weren't aware of having noticed the brand.

♦ One of the recession's teeny silver linings: In an unprecedented move, luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton are cutting prices for US customers. [WSJ]
♦ Supermodels—they're just like us! Helena Christensen braved the crowds in London yesterday to grab a polka-dot Comme des Garçons cardigan from H&M, and proudly wore it out that night. [Grazia]
♦ Does Agyness Deyn care about the fate of fluffy animals or not? On Wednesday, she DJed at the Humane Society's Cool vs. Cruel ceremony with boyfriend Albert Hammond Jr. But she's apparently not averse to wearing fur on the runway or to non-animal rights events. [Fashionologie]

♦ At yesterday's Fashion Group International panel on fashion retail, Simon Doonan chatted with Sally Singer, Bloomingdale's fashion director Stephanie Solomon, and InStyle's beauty director Amy Synnott about the pervasive doom and gloom in the retail industry. Doonan's take: "It's really terrifying. But I think my job is to sustain the idea that fashion is exciting and glamorous. We really need to do our best even if sales are plunging." [WWD]
♦ When deciding who should front its next campaign, did Louis Vuitton go for someone fresh, edgy, and exciting? Nope, it's supposedly Madonna. [stylefile]
♦ Because now every article on Michelle Obama's person must be identified, priced, and judged: She wore Maria Pinto to the White House, and those dangly earrings she wore on election night? White gold with diamonds, priced at $11,000, and designed by Loree Rodkin. [WSJ, The Cut]

♦ André Leon Talley has joined the chorus of disapproval over Sarah Palin's wardrobe budget: "Wal-Mart hockey moms would never spend $150,000 on clothing." Then again, he's not so unhappy with what he's seen so far: "I thought that she was totally pro-Jackie in that knit suit." [The Cut]
♦ Meanwhile, that Louis Vuitton bag that Palin's daughter, Piper, was spotted with? It was quite likely a fake. [Fashionista]
♦ In tribute to Richard Blackwell, the UK Sun does its own worst-dressed list, honoring Rachel Zoe, Britney Spears, and Sharon Stone. [The Sun]
♦ The "luxury mall" in the basement of the Plaza has opened. [NYO]

That's Piper Palin, Alaskan governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's 7-year-old daughter. In her hand is a $790 monogram Louis Vuitton handbag. That's over a hundred dollars per year of lil' Pipe's life! So maybe part of her mom's $150,000 Neiman Marcus shopping spree was picking up sweet ass designer shit for her chic and worldly seven-year-old. Or maybe Piper just saved her allowance for a real, real long time. Orrr... heh. It's fake. Who knows! [via Deceiver]

♦ If Sarah Palin was on the cover of Elle, what would she look like? "Two words," says Joe Zee: "Blowout and contact lenses." That's actually four words, Joe, but we get the point. [Daily Intel]
♦ Today in bizarre publicity stunts: Wal-Mart is opening a pop-up store in Times Square, and will also have a truck "roving around the city to celebrate the launch of AC/DC's new album." [Reuters via Curbed]
♦ Kelly Cutrone won't be appearing on Whitney Port's new show on MTV: "I didn't really feel like it was a great idea to be on a spinoff of a spinoff of a spinoff." [The Cut]
♦ Sofia Coppola's goal in designing for Louis Vuitton was "to create the perfect bag that doesn't exist." The result is the $2,190 "SC" purse. [IHT]

Design You Trust makes the bold assertion that Louis Vuitton is the "World's Most Counterfeited Fashion Brand." We're not sure. More than Chanel, or Gucci, or those garish knockoff Polo or Tommy Hilfiger shirts you see in street stalls in third-world markets? Finding out would be a good project for a grad student. Do something useful, kid. Regardless, LV certainly has the most creative knockoffs you'll ever see, outside of the seedier parts of Canal St. After the jump, four more of the worst Vuitton brand-jackings of all time:

World's Most Counterfeited Fashion Brand [DesignYouTrust, via Kottke]

• The Obama campaign is marshalling the full power of the fashion industry to get ahead: A long list of designers—definitely including Derek Lam, Isaac Mizrahi, Tracy Reese, and Diane von Furstenberg and possibly including Beyoncé, Russell Simmons, and Vera Wang—will be creating official merchandise like totes and t-shirts. [WaPo]

• Charlotte Ronson, you would think, is the girl who has everything. But no! She didn't like any of the luggage on the market, so she had no choice but to design her own limited-edition range. But if you're just hankering for some C-Ronson clothes (as modeled by her half-sister Annabelle, left), there's a sample sale starting tomorrow at ten. [Nylon/Missbehave]