Anna Wintour's Make-People-Like-Me-Before-My-Contract-Is-Up Tour 2009 needed a charitable arm. She came up with Fashion's Night Out, a plan to save the industry, the economy, and her job all at once. But it's not a charity, it's a power play.
• John Legend has picked up a new apartment in the East Village. The Grammy-winning singer—who is still looking to unload his former pad on East 3rd Street—has reportedly gone into contract to buy a one-bedroom condo at 52 East 4th Street, where Moby owns an apartment, too. [WSJ]
• SNL's Kristen Wiig has paid $1.5…
• Not to be outdone by Gwyneth Paltrow and her GOOP newsletter, Rachel Zoe is launching a lifestyle e-newsletter of her own tomorrow. [RachelZoe.com]
• Is Kanye West designing a line for the Gap? That's the rumor. [Cut]
• Thom Browne has had a rough time recently, but it looks like that may be all behind him.…
• The Barneys display featuring mannequins being attacked and blood spatter on the windows has been dismantled. Barneys creative director Simon Doonan says they had been put up while he was out of town, but they "clearly crossed the line," and so he ordered them taken down. [NYDN]
• Fashion Week kicks off in just…
Those who toil in the fashion industry may not shape our lives to quite the same extent as some of the luminaries who make it on to Time's "Most Influential" list, like Oprah Winfrey, or Zac Ephron, or the evil doers who invented Twitter. But the fact that the list includes just one fashion world figure is still a…
• 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…
• The City debuts tonight on MTV! New York has details on the goings-on behind the scenes and what Olivia Palermo is hoping to gain from the spotlight: "Like, maybe I'll start a jewelry line,” [NYM]
• Is Christina Aguilera planning to design a collection for Topshop? [Mirror]
• With holiday sales the worst in 40…
• Tim Gunn says he and Heidi Klum are "despondent" over the "horrible, nasty" fight over Project Runway. "We worry that season six will never be seen by anyone," he says. Us, too! [WB]
• Tory Burch's new meatpacking store opened last night with very little fanfare. [WSJ]
• Dolce & Gabbana is launching a makeup line…
♦ Julia Restoin Roitfeld might call herself a designer, but apparently the fat fees from modeling are hard to resist: She's been cast in the new Mango campaign along with celebuspawn Dakota Johnson Griffith. [WWD]
♦ PR maven Kelly Cutrone may play a hard-nosed bitch on The Hills, but in real life she's all heart:…
♦ 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…
Hollywood PrivacyWatch: 11/8 — Saw TOM HANKS, TOM FORD, RITA WILSON and unidentified older man eating dinner together at Giorgio Baldi. Seemed like an unlikely friendship. TF looked like his airbrushed self, TH was looking slimmer and Rita was looking good as well. [Hollywood PrivacyWatch is written by and for Defamer…
♦ The first looks from Thakoon's Target collection are online, and they're very Talitha Getty. [Nylon]
♦ Stay far away from 52nd and Fifth this evening, unless you want to catch the desire to wear candy-colored velour: Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor are throwing a launch party for Juicy Couture's new…
It's been three years since Tom Ford announced plans to
make movies, but it looks like Ford will soon get a chance to take a seat in a canvas (gasp!) director's chair and scream at terrified PAs on the set of a major motion picture. His production company, Fade to Black, is set to start filming A Single Man in Los…
♦ J. Crew is absolutely delighted Michelle Obama mentioned the brand on The Tonight Show last night. It's already the basis of an online ad campaign. [Jezebel, Politico]
♦ The Olsens celebrated the launch of their book at Barneys last night, after which MK celebrated into the night at Bungalow 8 and Lit. Today the…
Promoting his new women's perfume White Patchouli, Tom Ford reflects on his decades in the fashion industry and dismisses suggestions that his success is only made possible by his being an impossible diva: "I don't think I'm a megalomaniac," he starts off. "Do I throw tantrums? Yes. But more with Richard [Buckley, his…
♦ Kate Betts sits down with Tom Ford and Karl Lagerfeld for an interview, which was also filmed if you can cope with seeing Karl's ponytail up close. [Time]
♦ Suzy Menkes celebrates 20 years at the IHT, and fashion stars including Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Alber Elbaz, Anna Wintour, and John…
♦ Tom Ford would like you to know that he has not had any work done to that stubbly face of his: "I haven't had any plastic surgery—despite what people think, this is my nose... I have had Restylane and Botox, but I don't think of that as plastic surgery any more. It's true I can't really frown, but I can move my…
♦ Rihanna appeared in the front row at the Gucci show in Milan yesterday and said she plans to launch a clothing line of her own. [WWD]
♦ Robin Givhan reports on a Tod's dinner in Milan with Gwyneth Paltrow (the face of the brand), Derek Lam, and Thakoon Panichgul, who, reports Givhan, was "still giddy" from…
♦ Samantha Ronson refused to DJ an event at Rubyfruit, allegedly because she doesn't spin at gay or lesbian bars. Her rep, of course, denies this. [P6]
♦ David Spade didn't turn up at Eric Trump's charity golf tournament in New Jersey last week because he thought it was taking place at Trump's LA course. [P6]
♦ …
Fashion designer Tom Ford—he of "perfect stubble, manicured nails, and not an ounce of fat"—turns 47 today. Other less glamorous folks also celebrating today: Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff is turning 55. New School president (and former U.S. senator) Bob Kerrey is 65. Goldman Sachs co-president Gary Cohn is 48.…
