• Albert Hammond Jr. is coming out with a men's clothing line, news that shouldn't surprise anybody. [NYM]

• Bob Costas and Meredith Vieira are among the many NBC anchors who haven't been pronouncing "Beijing" correctly. (It's Bay-jing, not Bay-zhing.) Bonus points to Brian Williams for getting it right. [AP]
  

New York is stoking a rivalry between Nina Garcia of Project Runway and Marie Claire and Anne Slowey, Garcia's TV stand-in at Elle and star of the forthcoming reality show Stylista. It's hard to imagine either of the two fashion editors terribly minded New York's in-depth article on their differences — which, disclosure here, was written by our own Moe — considering they both have shows to push, Slowey's being brand new and Garcia's in the midst of a controversial jump to Lifetime. But it's hard to imagine Slowey, who desperately needs to put Stylista's embarrassing trailers behind her, is thrilled about the particulars of how she looks.

• Keith Kelly of the Post reports that 14 of the 17 staffers at Fortune Small Business are getting the axe. [NYP]

• The fact that Marc Jacobs is "brazenly gay, has a messy love life and can’t stop posing half-naked in front of people" means that a branch of his store is a perfect fit for Provincetown, Mass, says Mike Albo. [NYT]

Nina Garcia, the erstwhile Project Runway judge and former Elle fashion director, is truly a force of nature. We told you last week that during her final months at Elle, Garcia was getting paid a hefty fee for making public appearances for Anne Klein. But a source tells us that the Anne Klein endorsement, an angry publisher, and Garcia's own strange sense of ethics helped get her booted from Elle in the first place!

It was good to see stalwart judge Nina Garcia on Project Runway last night, especially after all the foofaraw about her fashion director position at Elle magazine. As the show has tie-ins with Elle, if poor Nina got completely muscled out of that job, her PR gig could have disappeared as well. Luckily that didn't happen. She's still "working" for Elle as long as this season is taping, but she's basically dunzo. To that end, she was embarrassingly introduced as an "Editor-at-Large" for Elle on the show , which we all know is a bullshit title. So sad! Poor Nina! Though, don't feel too bad. The woman is getting paid thousands for public "celebrity" appearances.

The fifth season of Project Runway premiered last night—something you might have easily missed, considering a scorned Bravo did everything in their power to sabotage the Lifetime-headed series short of retitling it People Sitting At Sewing Machines Acting Bitchy and burying it after a 4 a.m. Shamwow! infomercial. In any case, despite all the essentials being in place—i.e. Tim, Heidi, Michael, Nina, and even a surprise cameo by Season One breakout fop Austin Scarlett—there was no mistaking it: the bloom is off this rose. Case in point, the designers blatantly solicitous attempts at establishing themselves as this season's Christian Siriano, whose arsenal of Christianisms—we won't even bothering repeating them here, you know the ones—helped propel him to become the breakout sensation of Season Four. "Girlicious?" "Suede is gonna rock it?" Subpar Tim Gunn impressions? Please. Make it stop.

It hit us last night while watching the season premiere of Shear Genius (yes, we watch it): is Bravo trying to drive Project Runway's stock down before it makes the leap to Lifetime in the fall? Though the cable channel is advertising its final season of the show (which premieres July 16), Runway's been unceremoniously bumped to a 9pm timeslot, while Shear Genius will claim Runway's traditional 10pm stomping grounds. In an even clearer sign that Bravo is loathe to give the lame-duck series more attention, the Season 5 ads are recycled clip jobs; though Bravo has always mounted a splashy new ad campaign for each iteration of its reality shows, it's apparently going to send Runway off into the sunset without shooting any new footage. Check out the half-hearted Season 5 clip after the jump.

"Fashion Week Daily has confirmed exclusively with a source involved in the negotiations that the former Elle fashion director has accepted an offer from Marie Claire and will join the title as fashion director in September. " [Fashion Week Daily]

By the end of last week things looked pretty dark in the world of Project Runway. Even setting aside the show's imminent move to Lifetime, the lawsuit between producer Weinstein Co. and former host network Bravo and the defection of Runway's executive producers, there were also alarming reports about Marie Claire maybe partnering with the show and judge Nina Garcia leaving Elle and possibly Runway itself. None of that has yet come to pass, and Women's Wear Daily informs everyone today that it's because Garcia is still negotiating with both Elle and Runway and because neither Elle nor sad Marie Claire have even started negotiations with Runway yet. WWD also reminds everyone that as bad as Elle is, at least the magazine is growing its circulation, while Marie Claire's circ dropped nearly 60,000 copies to 341,000 last year, so maybe the magazine is being used as a pawn by both Elle (in negotiations with Weinstein Co.) and Garcia (in negotiations with Elle). When you throw in the possibility of Bravo developing its own Runway imitation, there are some real opportunities here for groundbreaking research by ambitious game theorists. [WWD]

It is the inevitable coda to the many problems at Hachette — the loss of Elle's Project Runway ties, the layoffs, the pathetic Web traffic — and according to Page Six it has finally begun: Nina Garcia is leaving Elle. According to the gossip page, the Runway judge is following her reality fashion show to Hearst's Marie Claire. Of course everyone saw this coming, literally. Garcia was recently spotted coming out of the Hearst building after ditching a big Elle party a couple of weeks prior. But the likelihood Garcia will remain on the show offers some faint hope to Runway viewers that new host network Lifetime won't be able to wreck it completely. It also raises the question of whether Marie Claire will somehow ruin Garcia completely, but she's survived at one dysfunctional, second-tier fashion title already, so why worry? [Post]

Fashionista spotted the recently ousted Elle editor (and Project Runway judge) "leaving the Hearst building, sprinting across the street before hailing a cab and trying to avoid eye contact with anyone as she left." Maybe she had a job interview! (Hearst publishes lots of ladymags, but not Elle.) [Fashionista]

Things are apparently a mess at fashion magazine Elle. A terrible reality show is has taken over the office, according to Ben Widdicombe. The show is called "Fashionista," it's produced by Tyra, and it will air on The CW later this year. It documents the search for a new assistant for creative director Joe Zee, even though he has an assistant already, one who is by all reports perfectly competent. So the show's contestants are just running around the office, getting in everyone's way with pointless "challenges," competing for a job they won't get. Meanwhile, an email we received from an anonymous tipster seems to suggest that maybe Mr. Zee, with his star-making new reality show on the way, might be helping to publicize the ouster of the mag's last reality show star, former fashion director Nina Garcia.

OK, let's just get it out of the way. Nina Garcia is in! Nina Garcia is Auf'd! She can leave the Runway! She can go to Elle! She looks like the child of Caroline Kennedy and Alf! Well, maybe the last one doesn't count. But you get my drift. Lots of people are jabbering on about Garcia, who has reportedly been yanked from her position as "fashion director" of Elle magazine, raising some uncertainty about her future as a Project Runway judge. Women's Wear Daily (this is their Watergate) says that Elle is trying to find her a phony "Editor-at-Large" masthead position, so she can stay on for the competition series' fifth and final season on Bravo (the show is moving to the Lifetime [Television for Women] network after that).

Oh dear, what a week for Project Runway. First, the show is moving to the cat-lady network and now judge Nina "fashiondirectorforEllemagazine" Garcia is apparently gone as Fashion Director of Elle, according to WWD. Elle threw a party for Simon Doonan and Nina was "notably absent." Garcia was reportedly in the office this morning, but gone by the afternoon. What does it mean? How will Heidi explain who she is next season?

Pop singer and old curmudgeon Madonna is gracing yet another magazine cover. You'd think she was promoting a new album and her directorial film debut or something. This time it's the May issue of Nina Garcia's little 'zine Elle, both the US and UK editions. And the covers are different! The US version (left) is a modestly suggestive fashion pose, while the UK version features a scantily clad Madge using a rope like a stripper pole. The US headline says "Madonna Opens Up," while the UK edition promises an interview that is "intimate" and "outrageous." What does this say about our two nations? Do the Brits simply have a higher tolerance for 50-year-old lady bits? Are we just prudes? Larger image after the jump. [US image via Elle, UK via Stylefrizz]

[Project Runway and Elle magazine fashion director Nina Garcia at A Night to Benefit Rasing Malawi and UNICEF last night; image via Splash]

Best known as a judge on Project Runway, Garcia is the fashion director at Marie Claire.

Nina Garcia, Project Runway judge and alleged 'Elle' editor, has a new book coming out after Labor Day called The Little Black Book of Style. In it, she imparts her wisdom about the world of fashion unto others for the low, low price of $17.95, or just $3.95 more than a year's subscription to 'Elle.' In our final excerpt, from chapter four—"What to Wear When..."—Nina offers insights into what to wear on various occasions. Also, what not to wear. Hint: granny underwear.