Kloss takes a dip with swimmer – and cover boy – Ryan Lochte, has hoop dreams with Dwayne Wade, gets hurdled by decathlete Ashton Eaton, monkeys around with pint-sized gymnast Jonathan Horton and  juggles some balls with tennis players Bob and Mike Bryan.

Fashion editor Tonne Goodman outfits the model and admitted sports nut  (“you name it, I’ve played it!”) in looks by Victoria Beckham, Atelier Versace, Stella McCartney, Vera Wang, Lanvin, Oscar de la Renta, Haider Ackermann, Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueen because this is Vogue after all — where tracksuits and cleats are never sensible.

- Chanel staged its 2012 Cruise collection at the Palace at Versailles with guests Tilda Swinton, Haider Ackermann and Karl Lagerfeld‘s plaid vest. [Grazia]

- Olympian hotties Hope Solo, Ryan Lochte and Serena Williams grace the June issue of Vogue. [Styleite]

- Aquascutum‘s out of the woods for now and is celebrating with a new CEO in Tim Dally. [Vogue UK]

- The UK’s Royal Mail has come out with some sartorial stamps celebrating post-war British fashion with postage bearing designs by Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Zandra Rhodes. [Style File]

- Jessica Simpson is wasting no time cashing in on little Maxwell Drew with a maternity line in the works. [The Cut]

- Coty celebrated the 10 year anniversary of  Jennifer Lopez ‘s signature fragrance, “Glow,” one of the most successful scents in history with almost $2 billion in sales — or in other terms, more than all of her movies have grossed put together…multiplied by a million. [WWD]

- Isabeli Fontana will walk down the aisle for the third time when she weds Lauryn Hill‘s baby daddy, i.e. Rohan Marley in Ethiopia at some point in time. [Modelinia]

- This is Daphne Guinness singing Jefferson Airplane‘s “White Rabbit.” Just ’cause. [Paper]

Diane von Furstenberg Fall 2012

As the fashion stakes are at their highest during the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s annual fundraiser, La Wintour is leaving nothing to chance. Showcasing the kind of iron-fisted will usually reserved for dictators, despots and other divas, Wintour is said to have required the Voguettes to send her pictures of their outfits along with several different accompanying hairstyles for her approval.

Meanwhile, how great would it be if everyone just showed up in this and called it a day?:

Alexander McQueen Fall 2012

Diane von Furstenberg Fall 2012

Alexander McQueen Fall 2012

- In anticipation of The Costume Institute‘s upcoming “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations” exhibit, Vogue threw some models in Prada collections from spring 1996 to fall 2011. [Vogue]

- Speaking of “Impossible Conversations,” Baz Luhrmann has made a conversation between the two iconoclasts quite possible with a film accompanying the exhibit in which acclaimed Actress with a capital “A” Judy Davis plays Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada as herself. [WSJ]

- Tough-talking TV titan Murphy Brown may make  a temporary comeback to the airwaves during this year’s elections. [TV Guide]

- An industrious 13-year-old is calling for Seventeen Magazine to step its game up and abstain from using Photoshop in at least one spread per month. [Huff Po]

- Beyoncé thought that rumors of her using a surrogate were “crazy,” as were rumors of her and huzz Jay-Z upsetting the hospital with their high list of demands. Apparently “crazy” now means incredibly accurate. [People]

- Yohji Yamamoto is getting his Tom Ford on by directing his “very secret” first feature film that may or may not see the light of day in two years. [WWD]

On May 7, Amazon.com/Fashion, Vogue.com and metmuseum.org/metgala will live stream the red carpet arrivals hosted by model Elettra Wiedemann and Vogue‘s William Norwich from 6:30 to 8:30 (EST).

Expect  interviews with the Gala’s co-chairs Carey Mulligan, Miuccia Prada and Anna Wintour as well as various celebrities as they saunter into the Museum’s newest exhibit, Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.

You can even get in on the action by tweeting questions to Wiedemann and Norwich using #metquestions and you can even spy on the guests as they get ready for the Gala through Facebook.com/celebs.

Ah, one step closer. Next year hopefully we’ll all be donning our Marchesa gowns and stomping down that red carpet together. [Vogue]

CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg, Vogue‘s Anna Wintour, Vanity Fair‘s Graydon Carter and a host of industry professionals including Calvin Klein‘s Francisco Costa, Tory Burch, Zac Posen, Theory’s Andrew Rosen, Nanette Lepore, Derek Lam and Joseph Altuzarra joined Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) at a breakfast yesterday to outline the initiative.

“This is such an opportunity for all of us — as an industry, as New Yorkers, as people who do an extraordinary job in creating economic growth — to join with the NRDC to take on this mission, which I think is unprecedented, and really herald a new era of what social change can be done by industry,” Gillibrand said.

One of Clean by Design’s goals is to get designers, retailers and brands to better understand their chain of supply and promote factory improvements. Those in attendance were shown a video depicting a Chinese river polluted by dyes with the statement that next season’s colors will be dictated by the colors of China’s rivers.

“We have found opportunities to reduce impact, using means that actually save the factories money, with process efficiency improvements that win-win, so to speak,” said Linda Greer, director of NRDC’s health and environment program. “The era of operating without knowledge of your factories abroad is ending, and the curtain is rising above the sorts of problems and aspirations that we have abroad.”

Anna Carter, a trustee of the NRDC, added, “It takes as much as 200 tons of water to produce 1 ton of fabric. Since less than 1 percent of the world’s water is drinkable, and our demand for it is on track to double over the next 40 years, this is an issue we need to address. We would be much more effective if we address it together.”

To that end, the NRDC developed its 10 Best Practices, low-cost solutions to reduce water, electricity and energy usage; from leak detection and maintenance in factories to recovering heat from smoke stacks. For every ton of fabric produced, these 10 practices can cut water usage by up to 23% and fuel usage by up to 32%.

PPR and one of its holdings Stella McCartney have already signed on to Clean by Design, though McCartney totally phoned it in; literally.  While she couldn’t make the breakfast, she sent along a video acknowledging her support. [WWD, sub req'd]

However, don’t expect to see Mario Testino‘s work in the pages of CR. The duo worked together for decades on The Face and later for Vogue Paris, but since he’s contractually obligated to Vogue, Testino is a no no. But that doesn’t mean there’s any shortage of talent. For the first issue’s mock-up, Argentinian photographer Sebastian Faena captured a topless — this is Carine after all — Kati Nescher while Bruce Weber shot Patti Smith in all her Miss Havisham glory.

In addition to scouting new talent, Roitfeld is being more hands-on than ever before, taking meetings with advertisers like Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Cartier for the first time in her career. And according to her they were “very receptive and eager to participate.” Though carrying over 100 ad pages, ads in CR won’t look like other fashion mags since it will reportedly only carry spreads and have no front-of-book content — that will be reserved for the online component.

The fashion book will also only have longer-format articles, published in the writer’s original language — whatever that may be — with translations in the back. In her mock-up, Roitfeld had articles written in Arabic, Japanese and Russian, although CR itself is an English publication with offices located in The Standard hotel.

Carine insists that this new magazine of hers is in no way a form of revenge to her former bosses at Condé Nast, saying, “Vogue is a very beautiful magazine, an institution, and I learned so much working there. You can’t put yourself into competition with a magazine like Vogue; you have to create something new, something different.” She added, “It’s time to find something new, something fresh — for me and for the readers…I find that some people in fashion are so blasé. Fashion has to be fun”

Roitfeld will bring her trademark irreverence to styling photoshoots, which she admits “will always be edgy.” She’s trying to find new ways to push the envelope, not by being “safer” but rather just “different,” explaining, “Maybe it will be more mental than physical.”

CR Fashion Book‘s first issue will have 288 pages at a cover price of $9.95, with a publication of 50,000 copies, mostly in Europe but also including the U.S. and Asia.  And when Carine’s not busy working on that, she’ll have a host of other projects keeping her busy, such as styling campaigns for Max Mara and Chanel, musing for Givenchy‘s Riccardo Tisci and then there’s a full-length documentary on her slated for 2013 by Fabien Constant.

So I think it’s safe to say leaving French Vogue was the best thing to happen to Carine Roitfeld. [WWD]

Mock-up of CR's cover by Sebastian Faena

Patti Smith by Bruce Weber

Carine's Obsession

Another spread mock-up by Faena

See the shoot lensed by Tim Walker its full and glossy glory in the April issue of Vogue.

Balenciaga Spanish Master Exhibit

Banana Republic

W Magazine

Calvin Klein

Chanel

Dolce & Gabbana

Fendi

Marc Jacobs Spring 2010

Nicki Minaj in W

Prada

Marc Jacobs Spring 2008

Marc Jacobs Fall 2007

Joaquín Sorolla and the Glory of Spanish Dress

T Magazine

Vogue Italia

Marc Jacobs Spring 2007

Marc Jacobs Spring 2009

DSquared

-  Noted…Brit dude Piers Morgan thinks Kate Moss is “a vile little creature,” it seems, because she kicks him every time she sees him. Some people are so sensitive. [Telegraph]

- Jennifer Lopez breaks out her best smolder for the April cover of Vogue for the third popstar– is that what we’re calling her these days? —  in a row to be featured this year. [Fashionista]

- Jimmy Choo has dedicated a shoe to nonagenarian fashion icon/sassbot Iris Apfel. [The Cut]

- Speaking of 90-year-olds in heels, Madonna is coming out with a line of “dance-inspired” shoes in a collaboration with bargain basement discount cobbler Aldo. Way to cheapen the brand, Madge. [WWD]

- Carrie Bradshaw‘s iconic apartment — or rather the townhouse used for external shots — is up for sale and you can muse out of its windows while chainsmoking in front of your laptop for only $10 million. [Jezebel]

- Proving that Parisian houses aren’t the only ones who can’t hold onto its creative directors, Derek Lam has left his post at Tod’s. Who wants to officially start a Dior rumor? [WWD, sub req'd]

With backing from Michael Kors co-chairman Silas Chou, the China Exchange program will foster talent from both sides of the globe as the East becomes a larger and more important market. According to CFDA CEO Steven Kolb, this isn’t a one-time thing, either. “We never want to do anything as a one-off. We really like to connect and invest in things that have real meaning and depth,” he told WWD.

Wang will make two visits to the states, first in May and then she’ll return for New York Fashion Week. During her stays, the designer will work with Andrew Rosen‘s Theory as well as with tanned turtlenecked titan Michael Kors and visit Barneys, Google and Xanadu itself, the offices of Vogue. Oh, and she’ll also be put up by W Hotels.

No word yet on what the Proenza kids will be doing but after such an amazing experience, by the time NYFW rolls around Wang will already have Freaky Friday’d one of them. [WWD, sub req'd]

- Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez apparently mistook Vanity Fair‘s photo booth for the room they shoulda gotten for this inappropriate heavy petting.  Paul Rudd and Jason Bateman, however, can take that lovin’ to the streets. [Buzzfeed]

- Joining Nicki Minaj in the pages of Vogue is fellow raptress-cum-fashionista Kanye West. Ye rips off his shirt and reassuringly cups Florence Welch‘s ass to pose with Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, thus squashing any rumors of a feud between West and Anna Wintour. Rumors that I unsuccessfully tried to start. [Fashionista]

- Antonio Darden, New Mexico governor Susana Martinez’s hairstylist, is refusing to do her hair until she changes her staunch opposition to gay marriage. Martinez has reportedly been looking like a hot mess ever since. [Styleite]

- Glee‘s Chris Colfer will make her big film debut in a movie she both wrote and is starring in. Go. Head. Girl. Friend. [Homorazzi]

- Supermodel Kathy Ireland makes Martha Stewart look like a poor slob. Ireland’s home goods business brings in $2 billion a year while Stewart can’t even crack 9 figures. How’s that for a good thing, Mar? [Stylelist]

Step aside Blue Ivy, Auntie Nicki will let you know who really is the baddest bluest bitch.

Perhaps Nicki Minaj wants to abandon her 5 year plan of an autobiography, Grammys and a feature film in exchange for a stint with the Blue Man Group?

Developing her inner Avatar for the impending sequel?

Nicki was just a bit jealous of Katy Perry's role in the Smurfs.

Who's clues? Nicki Minaj.

Or perhaps on her next album, Nicki Minaj might trading in her pop-rap for the blues, brother.

Photos: Vogue.com

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Hudson’s emotional performance was one of several poignant moments during the telecast, including Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt paying tribute to the late Etta James and Amy Winehouse‘s parents accepting their daughter’s trophy with Tony Bennett for their duet, “Body and Soul.”

While Adele had to hitch a U-Haul to her limo to take home her six trophies, the Foo Fighters walked away with five including Best Rock Album for Wasting Light while Kanye West won four, including Best Rap Album for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Best Rap Song for “All of the Lights.”

Last but certainly not least, one Ms. Diana Ross was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, her first Grammy after 800 years in the business. The supreme diva took to the stage in a cloud of hair at the end of the night to present Adele with her Album of the Year award. And while the show featured countless moments that would best be forgotten — I’m looking at you Katy Perry and Taylor Swift — the symbolic passing of the torch from Whitney to Jennifer and Ms. Ross to Adele made this a night to remember.

Check out the full list of winners here.

With big hair, big cleavage, dramatic cheekbones, a pouty lip and an always-welcome cat-eye, Adele brings to mind a young Brigitte Bardot and introduces a more grown-up and sexy side of the Grammy winner. What do you think of Adele’s Vogue debut? [Styleite]

- Karlie Kloss, movie star. Kloss’ rise to superstardom in the world of modeling means that Hollywood will begin knocking on her door, if they haven’t rammed it down already. Karlie may be following in the strides of other model-turned-actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and is eschewing the catwalk for the film studio.

- Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s a beauty contract. While the runway pays well for girls of Karlie’s stature, a beauty campaign can set a model on the catwalk to Easy Street for the rest of her life. Since snagging Estée Lauder, when’s the last time you saw Hilary Rhoda walk a show?

- Karlie Kloss, new creative director at Christian Dior. This may be a bit of a stretch, but the house does love them some Kloss. She hasn’t missed a step in a single Dior show — from couture to resort — in years and Bernard Arnault might want to just keep her around.

- Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it. As everyone knows, models making the cover of Vogue is as rare as a viable Republican candidate for the presidency. So what better reason to cancel on Fashion Week than to jet off to Paris for an exclusive shoot with Mario Testino for a star-making cover?

- Karlie Kloss DiCaprio. After she walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, Leonardo DiCaprio was reportedly smitten with the leggy Ms. Kloss. He’s landed Gisele and Bar Refaeli, why not add the newest bright young thing to his collection of catwalkers?

What do you think — Where in the World if Karlie Kloss?

- Stella McCartney has a new video for PETA that Cathy Horyn thinks is worth watching. Let me know, will ya. [NYT]

- Much like every diffusion line worth its salt, Jason Wu for Target sold out in, like, a day. [Racked]

- But this isn’t Target’s first time at the rodeo and the retailer is restocking their online shelves later this week. [InStyle]

- During the final three minutes of the Super Bowl there was an average of 10,000 tweets per second. That’s a lot of hashtalk. [TechCrunch]

- Vogue and Anna Wintour let Madonna have their logo free of charge for her half time show and as a result had the biggest bang for the smallest advertising buck of any of the big game’s blockbuster commercials. [WWD]

- Gisele can drop as many effing F-bombs as she effin’ likes since she’s the highest effing paid supermodel in the effing world. Dammit. [Modelinia]

- It’s no “The Boy Is Mine” but Brandy and Monica‘s new duet, “It All Belongs to Me,” is here. Sadly there’s no lyrical weave-snatching this time around. [Rap Up]

The major fashion titles were generally up in advertising from last year with W posting the greatest  gain at 25%  or 41 pages — though at a total of 204 pages, it is still only fifth in the rankings. InStyle had its biggest ad count since stomping onto the newsstand 18 years ago with 344 pages — a 13 % (39 pages) increase — bringing it in at number 2. And this is how the rest of the list shakes out:

1. Vogue — 442.74 pages, up 3.7%

2. InStyle — 344 pages, up 13% (39 pages)

3. Elle — 319 pages, up 2% (6 psges)

4. Harper’s Bazaar — 271 pages, up 16% (37 pages)

5. W — 204 pages, up 25% (41 pages)

Meanwhile, what really matters in this story is that the March issue of Vogue will feature one Ms. Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, which — just saying — will be a marked improvement from the current Grammy gal gracing the February issue.

While one could argue that the statement — “Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today she weighs 23% less.” — doesn’t take into account the fact that women 20 years ago probably weighed less than they do now — two decades of fast food will do that to you — one only has to consider who the average fashion model was 20 years ago. Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Fucking Evangelista…these women were Amazons and Glamazons; healthy, gorgeous and glowing with the energy of life and $10,000 a day paychecks. Then Kate Moss came shuffling in and changed the game. Despite the veracity of the facts, if anything the spread stimulates a debate. And more importantly, it offers images of a beautiful woman who is not only clearly proud of her voluptuous body, but also pretty damned flexible to boot. [Buzzfeed]

Ok, wait, I can say one nice thing: her bangs and cheekbones look really good. Wow, that wasn’t so bad…but why does it feel like a part of me has died inside?

The hair is laid and shellacked to one side, decolletage is out and ready for a party and Theron is serving movie star realness for Mario Sorrenti, who shot the cinematic stunner for the mag with styling by the always amazing Edward Enninful.

Photo: Vogue.com

Wintour and Vogue have reportedly been “instrumental” in coercing assembling the 22 designers, including Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Tory Burch, Alexander Wang, Tracy Reese, Joseph Altuzarra, Rachel Roy, Narciso Rodriguez, Rag & Bone and Jason Wu. Wary of alienating Republican voters from their brands, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton initially nixed their labels from participating in Runway to Win, but Marc Jacobs — of which LVMH owns a majority stake — designed his T-shirt anyway, “following pressure from the magazine,” according to WWD.

On the other hand, Donna Karan, also owned by LVMH, did not bow to Wintour and is therefore not participating in the fundraising effort. And therefore won’t be seen in Vogue anytime soon…Kidding!…Not really.

Runway to Win’s e-commerce site, runwaytowin.com, officially launches on Thursday, but Wintour’s re-election campaign is not stopping there. She will also co-host an Obama fundraiser with actress Scarlett Johansson in February — which I’m taking as a sign that ScarJo will be on the cover around that time. See, kids, and you thought fashion and politics had nothing in common. They both require a steely nerve, a willingness to compromise and the ability to turn a blind eye to corruption. The blatant abuse of power doesn’t hurt either. [WWD]

Photo: Vogue.com

If the talks prove succesful, Nicki Minaj would — correct me if I’m wrong — be the first rapper on the cover of Vogue. Although god knows Gwyneth Paltrow‘s been known to drop a hot verse in her day.

What do you think, Indies? Are you excited for a Nicki Minaj Vogue cover or has Anna finally gone over the deep-end?

In a pose strikingly similar to her July Vogue cover, also shot by Testino, Watson nevertheless looks fresh and fabulous. But more than just a pretty face, the enterprising Watson also provided her own input on the “Rouge in Love” line’s 24 shades, which will be hitting stores in February. [Telegraph]

- Eva Hoeke has stepped down from Jackie in the wake of Niggabitch-gate.[Fashionista]

- Brad Goreski denies rumors that he stole clients from Rachel Zoe and accuses the superstar stylist of character assassination. But  in all fairness, Brad’s character was really asking for it. [Styleite]

- Elizabeth Taylor‘s auction brought in a record-breaking $158.8 million —  Liz and Dick Burton are cackling at each other over martinis in hell. [NYT]

- You take the good, you take the bad, you take ‘em both and there you have the facts of Vogue. Here’s the good: Adele probably will be covering Vogue‘s March issue.  And now for the bad: Taylor Swift probably will be covering Vogue‘s February’s issue. [Fashionista]

- Speaking of Swift, her CoverGirl ad has been banned for making unsubstantiated claims, the most egregious being that Taylor Swift is worthy of being a CoverGirl. [The Cut]

- And speaking of cover girls, Justin Bieber is rumored to cover V Magazine‘s “Music Issue” shot by Inez and Vinoodh and dropping January 12. [Page Six]

-  Apparently some ladies  riding the crimson wave have begun to hang ten on a crime wave at Duane Reades around town with a rash of tampon thefts, prompting the NYPD to pull off a sting operation. Because that’s what happens in New York. [Racked]

- Mariah Carey brings out the twins, John Legend and her 90s “Vision of Love” hair for her newest holiday classic music video, “When Christmas Comes”:

It’s been a tough year for women’s fashion magazines across the board, except for Vogue, which has managed to increase its ad pages by 9% and its newsstand sales by 13%, thus earning it the title of Ad Age‘s Magazine of the Year. Conversely, Glamour‘s ad pages and newsstand sales are down – by 7% and 17%, respectively. As Condé Nast‘s biggest seller, it’s imperative that Glamour turn a strong profit for their publishing parent; and so to ensure that, Leive is planning a redesign and overhaul of the mag.

The new Glamour will launch in March with new columns and contributors and an increased focus on pop culture. Michael Angelo, Nylon‘s former art director has also been brought on to assist with the redesign. “The format of many women’s magazines — Glamour included! — hasn’t changed much for a decade,” Leive told WWD, ”but young women are consuming media in totally different ways now. Our team is creating a new Glamour and glamour.com for this new generation of readers….”

Hopefully someone informed Ms. Leive that this  new generation of readers doesn’t actually read. [WWD]

Streep is pretty much a shoe-in for her 17th Academy Award nomination — and that’s no hyperbole — for The Iron Lady, a biopic on English prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

In the film, Meryl plays Margaret from age 49 to 85, an experience that certainly took its toll both physically — ”We were on a tiny budget, we had very long days and there was no rest. Standing for 12 hours at a time was very painful and all I wanted was a great masseur” — and emotionally –  ”With something like It’s Complicated, I really left it at the set. But this I carried with me more, because it was more personal,” Streep said referring to her 2009 romantic comedy starring noted frequent flier, Alec Baldwin.

Meanwhile, in her Vogue story, Streep puts aside her Lady pains to loll in a few jokes about age. Now 62, Meryl claims that she’s the “oldest person” to land the mag’s cover and reminisces about being offered three roles as witches after turning 40. Taking it to mean that women her age were “grotesque on some level,” she then turned to her husband and said, “It’s over.” That Streep’s done some of her best work in those resulting 22 years proved that not only was it not over, but really just beginning. [Telegraph]

Oh, and check out the trailer for The Iron Lady, out in in wide release January 5th:

“I remember getting quite a bit of criticism for my first Madonna cover,” Wintour said of the May 1989 issue. “And you know, ‘She’ll never sell.’ And it was a little bit risky. And it was up something extraordinary, like 40 percent on newsstands. So that was an eye-opener to all of us.”

This was just a year after Wintour had taken over at Vogue, and her word was not yet law. There was even some doubt surrounding her first cover from November 1988, featuring model Michaela Bercu in (a stunning Christian Lacroix top and) a pair of regular old blue jeans, of all things: “To me, it just said, ‘This is something new. This is something different.’ And I remember the printers called us up because they thought we’d made a mistake. Just wanting to check that that actually was the cover.”

Wintour  has always followed her instincts, for better or worse, and claims she doesn’t care much for market research. “Sometimes they’re successful and obviously sometimes they’re not. But you have to, I think, remain true to what you believe in.” Not a bad philosophy to live by. [WWD]

Madonna's first Vogue cover, May 1989

Anna Wintour's first Vogue cover, November 1988

1. Paris Is Burning (1990) Set amidst the backdrop of 80s New York ball culture, Paris Is Burning is an exploration of beauty, race, sexuality, capitalism and the American Dream, all wrapped up in a dragtastic homage to the transformative powers of fashion. Also, where do you think Madonna learned to Vogue? See Also: To Wong Foo -- Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1994) Drag queens, yes; acute social commentary, not so much...but how can you argue with this? Oh, that's right, you can't.

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2. The September Issue (2009) Step inside the hallowed halls of the fashion Bible that is U.S. Vogue. We get a rare glimpse of the woman behind the bob and Chanel sunglasses, as Anna Wintour admits with a palpable hint of regret that the distinguished members of her family think what she does is "quite funny." But it's Grace Coddington's bleeding artistic heart that stays with you throughout. See Also: Bill Cunningham New York (2010) Bill Cunningham, legendary streetstyle photographer for the New York Times has a Puritanical simplicity to his life but a couturier's eye for trends and detail that is documented in this tender portrait, featuring the likes of Wintour, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Anna Piaggi and Michael Kors.

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3. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Though not necessarily a film about fashion, Breakfast at Tiffany's is the quintessential fashion film. Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly continues to teach and inspire girls and certain boys everywhere on how to be chic, how to be urbane and how to live fabulously in New York -- or at least how to pretend. And there has never been a more iconic Little Black Dress ever put on screen. See Also: Darling (1965) Darling's Diana Scott is the British, unapologetically wanton version of Holly Golightly. A morally-suspect fashion model who sleeps her way to the top, Diana still manages to come off as a naïve and sympathetic character -- despite exhibiting behavior to the contrary -- thanks to Julie Christie's Oscar-winning portrayal.

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4. Unzipped (1995) Sure, there are other backstage, behind the curtain, beneath the bustle documentaries of fashion designers, but none are as stylish as Isaac Mizrahi's Unzipped. When Isaac was the new, young It designer on the block; when Naomi, Cindy, Christy and Linda ruled the catwalks; when Eartha Kitt was still alive and purring -- Unzipped documents the height of 90s fashion, right before the balloon went bust. See Also: Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008) Whereas Unzipped follows a designer in the earlier stages of his career, The Last Emperor observes a master -- Valentino Garavani -- as he takes his final bow with his partner of 50 years by his side, Giancarlo Giammetti.

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5. Funny Face (1957) Audrey Hepburn makes a return to the list, but this time she is the unlikely model Jo Stockton, a bookworm with an unconventional look that inspires love in photographer Dick Avery, played by Fred Astaire. A fantastic set of photoshoots and gowns by Hubert de Givenchy are the main attractions, but Kay Thompson as salty editrix Maggie Prescott could give Miranda Priestly a run for her money. See Also: The Women (1939) Though Funny Face features a climactic runway show, The Women spared no expense in shooting its nearly 10-minute fashion show in color, despite the entire film being in black and white. Do not mistake this classic with that awful remake Diane English regurgitated a few years ago.

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6. Mahogany (1975) Arguably Diana Ross's greatest cinematic achievement -- if only for this -- Mahogany chronicles the rise of supermodel Mahogany from the slums of Chicago to the runways of Paris and finally to international acclaim as a designer in her own right, only to give it all up for the man she loves...a move Ms. Ross would openly spit upon, but which she plays with considerable believability. See Also: Gia (1998) While Mahogany is a fictional supermodel who dabbles on the dark side, Gia Carangi was the real thing whose excesses eventually got the best of her. The film is best remembered, however, for launching Angelina Jolie to stardom, thus ensuring Jennifer Aniston's lifelong ire.

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7. Clueless (1995) What can one say about Clueless? The perfect teen movie, it's infinitely quotable -- "You're just a virgin...who can't...DROIVE." -- and is there a character with as enviable a closet as Cher Horowitz? Bonus points for first introducing me and perhaps a majority of the world to Azzedine Alaïa. See Also: The 2nd Season of Gossip Girl (2008-2009) With the possible exception of Mean Girls, there hasn't come along a teen movie as smart or as witty as Clueless. But in terms of style, the second season of Gossip Girl rose to the challenge, making fashion icons of Blair Waldorf and Serena Vanderwoodsen, as well as their real-life counterparts, Leighton Meester and Blake Lively.

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8. Blow-Up (1966) Michelangelo Antonioni captures the mod mood of 60s Swinging London as a hedonistic fashion photographer -- played by David Hemmings -- tries to figure out whether or not he accidentally snapped a murder. In the film's most famous scene, 6'1 supermodel Veruschka writhes around the set of a photoshoot as Hemmings makes love to her with his camera. See Also: La Dolce Vita (1960) If Blow-Up swings, La Dolce Vita sways. Federico Fellini's romantic portrait of Rome is as sleek and stylish as protagonist Marcello Rubini's suits.

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9. The Devil Wears Prada (2006) It's a matter of public record that Lauren Weisberger's roman à clef was based on Anna Wintour -- who famously wore Prada to the film's opening -- but what the film accomplishes (okay, let's be real, what Meryl Streep accomplishes) is creating not only one of the greatest villains, but also one of the greatest fashion icons, in modern cinema. See Also: Sex and the City: The Movie (2008) A completely unnecessary production and by the loosest definitions an actual "movie," Sex and the City also benefited from Pat Field's brilliant styling. But unlike The Devil Wears Prada, there was no Oscar nomination for attiring Carrie and Co.

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10.Zoolander (2001) Everything benefits from a parody -- rather, everything benefits from a good parody, Though Zoolander is far from perfect, it's a fun and funny romp through fashion's ridiculous playground; complete with walk-offs, an evil Galliano-esque designer in Jacobim Mugatu and the introduction of Blue Steel into the cultural lexicon. And lucky for us, there's a sequel in the works thus righting everything with the world. See Also: Brüno (2009) Taking off where Ben Stiller catwalked off, Sacha Baron Cohen's flamboyant character traipsed through America, spreading his questionably fashionable and gratuitously gay, booty-shorted self from sea to shining seaman.

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"His look is an extremely conscious metaphor for his philosophy of fashion and life: Here, watch as I bring together the old, in my tall eighteenth-century collar and bizarre powdered hair, with the new, as seen in my ponytail and $2,500 Agatha leather pants, 'the most expensive leather pants in the world,' he declares, with a laugh exactly like Count Chocula's in its length and ridiculousness."

—on Karl Lagerfeld and how to craft a professional image from Karl Lagerfeld, Boy Prince of Fashion, Vanessa Grigoriadis

"There [at Vogue] Talley will sometimes perform a kind of boss-man theatre—throw papers about, slam telephones down, noisily expel the incompetent. 'This is too much. What story do we need to be working on, children? What story? Let's get cracking, darlings, on fur. Fuh, fuh, fuh. One must set the mood around the fuhand the heels, the hair, the skin, the nipples under the fuh, the hair around the nipples, the fuh clinging to the nipples, sweat, oysters, champagne, régence!' "

—on André Leon Talley and the importance of a strong work ethic from “The Only One,” The New Yorker, Hilton Als

"There's a stir at the entrance of the terminal as a silver Mercedes-Benz pulls up, followed by a minivan. Valentino emerges from the car in a Prince of Wales–plaid suit under a shearling coat, with a flowered scarf around his neck, and enters the terminal, walking slightly ahead of his retinue. His tan is rich and close in color to his chestnut-brown hair, which is blown out to immobile perfection. He has a warm smile and bright, heavy-lidded eyes, which are partially hidden behind rose-colored aviators. After he and Giammetti greet each other with a kiss on each cheek, we proceed to the airplane. Three buses are needed, one to move Valentino, Giammetti, and staff, another for luggage, and a third to transport five of Valentino's six pugs—Milton, Maude, Monty, Margot, and Molly."

—on Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti’s love of economic travel from “So Very Valentino,” Vanity Fair, Matt Tyrnauer

"The morning of this summer's haute-couture show, Galliano put on a pair of carefully distressed bluejeans with perfectly frayed cuffs—which covered his sandals but not the toenails he had recently painted a glossy shade that he calls 'cosmic blue.' Galliano's personal hair-and-makeup team had been briefed in advance on the look he wanted to achieve, which was inspired by the evolution of dance. "I am feeling very Spanish tango dirty creepy with oily black hair," he said. His stylist got the message: he glued a stringy goatee onto Galliano's chin and trimmed it to a neat triangle; after that, he spent half an hour curling Galliano's hair and then applied a thick coat of mascara to the lashes beneath his dark-brown eyes."

—on John Galliano’s morning beauty regimen from "The Fantasist," The New Yorker, Michael Specter

"Balenciaga possibly thought that Dior got too much sheer pleasure out of high fashion, which in his own view was an art on a par with painting, sculpture, and architecture, to be taken with the utmost seriousness. It was not something in which you could faire le ponchinelle, 'do a Picasso' (in those days Picasso often called himself the 'clown of art'). But Balenciaga certainly did not regret the success of the new look. He was a businessman, and a very astute one, and he recognized that it had done wonders for the Parisian fashion industry and that everyone involved in it, himself perhaps most of all, had benefited from the publicity. He certainly did not see Dior as a rival, and he had no fear that his own claims to excellence would be overlooked. Dior dressed the rich, Balenciaga the very rich."

—on the fundamental difference between Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior from "Cut Against the Bias," This Recording, Paul Johnson

Go head, queens!

Link Love: Slate

Starring  as a series of deadly and devilish balloons, the devil has apparently moved on from wearing Prada to rubber.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery, aleXsandro and for another wonderfully inappropriate portrait.

Photo: Fashion Gone Rogue

This is Kloss’ eighth international Vogue cover, though she has yet to score that grand daddy of covers — American Vogue. However, the S.S. Karlie is blasting into outer-space considering her recent strut down the Victoria’s Secret runway.

And then there’s the guaranteed seal of supermodel approval – the not-at-all-creepy attentions of noted supermodelizer Leonardo DiCaprio.  Come 2012 — mark my words —  Anna Wintour will render her in some disappointing cover story shot by default photogs, Mario Testino or Annie Leibovitz.

From there, next stop: world domination.

The Fashion Fund, created by the CFDA and Vogue to aid young and emerging designers, includes a mentorship program and a cash prize. Altuzarra took home $300,000 while runners-up Pamela Love of Pamela Love Jewelry and Shane Gabier and Chris Peters of Creatures of the Wind walked away with $100,000 each.

Those that went home empty-handed were Suno’s Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis; Carlos Campos; Antonio Azzuolo of A.A. Antonio Azzuolo; Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs of Cushnie et Ochs; Ohne Titel’s Alexa Adams and Flora Gill; Fenton/Fallon’s Dana Lorenz, and Soraya Silchenstedt of Finn Jewelry.

This year’s selection committee included Vogue’s editrix-in-chic Anna Wintour, CFDA prez Diane von Furstenberg and CEO Steven Kolb, Theory‘s Andrew Rosen, Coach‘s Reed Krakoff, J. Crew‘s Jenna Lyons, and past Fund winners — Proenza Schouler‘s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. [WWD]

Fashion editor Camilla Nickerson outfits Theron in Alexander McQueen, Marchesa, Christoper Kane and Salvatore Ferragamo for the aquatic-themed shoot. I’m assuming the water represents rebirth and all that jazz — considering Theron’s split from  Stuart Townsend and her new film with director Jason Reitman, Young Adult – but Leibovitz comes up dry once again.*

And what’s happening with the underwater shot? Looks like Leibovitz employed the same Photoshopper from those Kardashian Kollection Sears catalogs.

Photos: Vogue

*Annie, get your pun. Anyone?

Tapping his considerable resources, ALT has secured a gown worn by Oscar-winner Penélope Cruz to a Met Costume Institute Gala from Oscar de la Renta; a black  sequined wrap dress from Diane von Furstenberg; a coat trimmed with feathers and plastic fringe from Prada‘s fall 2007 collection; an evening column — what other kind of column is there? — from Tom Ford‘s first eponymous women’s collection; and a pair of blue satin Manolo Blahnik shoes from Sex and the City: The Movie.

In addition, the exhibit will include a video display showing Blahnik making milkshakes on The Martha Stewart Show, music from 2001: A Space Odyssey in the background and either Oscar de la Renta’s Live in Love or DVF’s Diane “wafting through the ventilation system.” But if you can’t make it down to Georgia for this multi-sensory experience, fret not. In December, Talley’s and de la Renta’s Joaquín Sorolla and the Glory of Spanish Dress will open at Manhattan’s Queen Sofia Spanish Institute.

And of course there’s always next year when you can apply for admission to ALTCADOYPF. [NYT]

To an audience including Vogue‘s own Anna Wintour, no topic was off limits. Growing up in the same Bronx neighborhood as Ralph Lauren, Klein admitted that his childhood was “actually kind of a wonderful experience.” And while he knew Lauren from the “peculiar way” he dressed, they weren’t really friends: “[Lauren] was older than I. I grew up in a very Jewish kind of intellectual environment.”

The designer also tells of his early days in fashion and how he got started, though he only narrowly avoided a career in the supermarket business. His friend and business partner Barry Schwartz had inherited his father’s grocery store and Schwartz wanted he and Klein to “become the next A&P.” Conflicted over his love for fashion and a future of assured security he consulted his parents:

My dad said, “You know, I never knew exactly what you studied all these years, but I have a feeling if you don’t see it through, even though this is a great opportunity your best friend is offering, I think you will be unhappy all your life. You have to go through with it.” I left their apartment on cloud nine. That did it for me. It was the best advice I ever got.

Klein also spoke openly about his struggle with addiciton, referencing a very public meltdown at Madison Square Garden in 2003:

That was really a shameful, horrible moment. It had nothing to do with work. I’ve done enough therapy and enough work on myself. Addiction is not caused by stress on the job, even though lots of people in the fashion industry have suffered from the same problem. It’s not about the work. It has more to do with your childhood and lots of other things. You’re always in recovery. You’re always aware that this is something you don’t want to do, whether it’s drugs, sex, food. There are lots of addictions.

While he was married — twice — to women, Klein revealed that he is happy in his life now, which includes a young man who takes him paragliding.  Through it all, he’s learned that family and friends are really “what completes life.” Of course creating a multi-billion dollar empire couldn’t have hurt either. [WWD, sub req'd]

Gareth Pugh

Prada

Numêro / Models.com

W's "Transformers" by Steven Meisel

Pop Magazine Fall/Winter 2011 by Gillian Wearing / Models.com

Versace x H&M

Versace spring 2011

cK One spring 2011

Balenciaga spring 2011 runway

Barney

Harper's Bazaar Australia November 2011 / Models.com

Models.com

Vogue September 2011 / Fashion Gone Rogue

Users must register on Vogue.it and from there they can suggest article ideas as well as add to and revise already published content. Every article has a byline and all submissions will be reviewed by a Vogue staffer.

“We are trying not to misinterpret your articles, but some must be necessarily edited and you must accept it, not feel criticized and try to understand you are being assisted by an experienced staff,” Sozzani wrote before the launch of Encyclo in her always entertaining blog. So far the editrix is happy with what she sees and has plans to dedicate a page of Vogue Italia to “a recap of the best themes.”

Franca Sozzani, more than any other editor, Vogue or otherwise, always seems to be on the cusp and with Vogue Encyclo she purports to foster a new generation of journalists: “I cannot solve all your problems, but I do believe that through a regular collaboration with this project you may gain experience and demonstrate you are capable of writing for a magazine.” [WWD]

For Gatsby, the iconic jeweler created one-of-a-kind platinum and diamond-encrusted bracelets, rings, headpieces and long pearl necklaces that will hopefully drape down to the floor à la Dorothy Zbornak. The cast — including Mulligan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher and up-and-coming starlet, Gemma Ward – will wear these and other period pieces inspired by the Tiffany archives. [WWD]

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, Audrey Hepburn, 1961

It’s been a banner year for RiRi. Not only did she land one of the worst Vogue covers of all time a cover of Vogue, the pop tart just broke Madonna‘s record — thus wiping out the entirely heavenly host — for the fastest popstar to reach 20 Hot 100 top 10 singles — an awkward record, but a record nonetheless.

Racking up those top 10 hits in six years and four months, Rihanna beats Her Madgesty by a good five months. Luckily, she’s still behind the all-time record holder — The Beatles (duh) — who did it without breaking a sweat in two years and seven months.

Anyway, her musical accomplishments — or lack thereof —  aside, Rihanna gets down and dirty in a sexy photoshoot for Esquire, blah blah blah, she’s not wearing clothes what else is new? Photos and video below. I’m bored. [Esquire]

I don’t know who keeps trying to make Kristen Stewart happen, but whoever they are, they are relentless. If I had to place my bets, though, it’s the same person who’s trying to make Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Katy Perry happen, i.e. Satan…if Satan were a 13-year old girl with dubious taste and a very impressive Rolodex. [Photos: Socialite Life]

Photo: Trendland

Italian designers are forming a united front to decide on their own dates, out of the three following options: 1.) move to July; 2.) show before New York in September; or 3.) leave things the way they are, which could mean an overlap between Milan and London.

Condé Nast, for its part, is not having any of this. In a letter to Mario Boselli, head of the Italian Chamber of Fashion ”obtained”  – *cough* stolen *cough*– by WWD, CEO Jonathan Newhouse writes that Vogue editors “like the schedule the way it is presently organized. We at Condé Nast do not want the schedule to be changed. We very much oppose moving the Milan shows earlier so that they overlap or conflict with the London fashion shows — or with the New York fashion shows or those of any market.”

Newhouse then goes on to basically threaten a boycott by all Vogue editors — American, British, French and Italian — of Milan shows, stating matter-of-factly that “they will not under any circumstances abandon the London or New York shows if the Milan shows are moved earlier.”

The root of the conflict stems from a pact in 2008 when all four cities agreed to kick-off the fashion weeks on the second Thursday of February and September. Boselli claims that the agreement was only for three years while the CFDA‘s Steven Kolb and the British Fashion Council‘s Caroline Rush contend that it was indeed a permanent arrangement.

As for the fromage standing alone, Paris is expected to side with Milan. However, Didier Grumbach, head of the Chambre Syndicale, would rather come to a compromise and wants everyone to just chill the eff out: “When planning our schedules we have to factor in the time constraints of houses such as Jean Paul Gaultier or Givenchy that deliver couture, men’s and women’s shows with one designer. In any case, these things can’t be improvised. We have our locations. To move dates on venues like the Grand Palais cannot be improvised. Those dates are decided months and months in advance. If [anyone wants to] move dates for 2013, why not, we have the time to talk about it, to arrange it.”

Frankly, it’s a little odd that London is siding with New York considering the hubbub over model castings earlier this season, with London designers blaming New York for hogging all the best girls and the general feeling that LFW was being squeezed out. Now it seems Milan is feeling the crunch and are going to have to come to a decision soon or face the wrath of Wintour. [WWD, sub req'd]

Photo: Trendland

Photo: NYT

According to Style File: “The Traina sisters reportedly jumped when they heard the first crack, others found themselves flat on the floor after the benches, supporting the likes of Mario Testino, Catherine Deneuve, Carine Roitfeld, and Style.com’s Nicole Phelps, broke.”

Everyone stood their ground, however — note Vogue‘s Hamish Bowles, Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington dutifully in the front row — and the reaction was favorable with Anna Dello Russo remarking via Twitter that it was an “amazing” show and likening the experience to church.

Amen, fashion. [Style File]

Photo: NYT

Testino has long been a close friend of the royal family and was considered Princess Diana‘s favorite photographer. He shot the late princess with the wee princes William and Harry for their 1994 Christmas portraits and was the last person to photograph her, for Vanity Fair in 1997.

Of course, Testino also shot William and Kate’s official engagement photos, a by-product of which appeared on the July issue of Vanity Fair. Anna is seeking to exploit this relationship to convince the Duchess to sit for Vogue, but she’ll have to go through the Queen first. A source speaking to the New York Post says that “the Palace must approve it, and they are very protective of Kate.”

Vogue UK‘s Alexandra Shulman tried to snag Kate for her cover before the royal wedding, but Middleton declined. Diana herself appeared on the cover of British Vogue three times — in 1981, 1991 and 1994 with a posthumous cover in 1997 — so if Kate does decide to be a cover girl, she might do the nationalistic thing and follow in those iconic footsteps. [Telegraph]

“I am disgusted. I have no other words. I am disgusted and embarrassed: How can Italy tolerate Silvio Berlusconi and his bevy of girls?” Wintour admonished before going on to call Berlusconi a dictator and hoping that women protest against him during Milan Fashion Week.

Anna Wintour, revolutionary. Next thing you know, she and Franca Sozzani will get all Fidel Castro and Che Guevara — respectively — on Berlusconi and overthrow the Italian government themselves, appointing Miuccia Prada as their titular figurehead.

Vogue‘s HBIC also lauded Italy’s incomparable craftsmanship while criticizing its “compromised” political climate and wondering how people can “tolerate all this?” Well, it’s amazing what people can put up with under the iron thumb of a “dictator.” Just ask any Vogue staffer. [WWD]

The idea was that of madame editrix, Anna Wintour, who is secretly hilarious — in that incredibly dry and mocking British way:

I had to read the e-mail from the editor in chief several times to be quite sure. There, buried like a time bomb in a bouquet, was this chilling sentence: “I have signed you up to compete in The X Factor…You can sing,” says Anna…”This will be easy for you.” Her enthusiasm buoys me along, until a moment over dinner at the Metropolitan Opera…when she insouciantly announces that she is, in fact, completely tone deaf.  

Months of vocal training along with a word or two of advice from Liza Miinnelli :

“Just kinda talk through it and then sing the last bit real pretty, so that’s what they’ll remember,” she counseled, doing just that by way of example. “And remember to sing every song as if it’s the last time you are ever going to sing it!”*

And Bowles traveled to Newark, NJ — which was surprisingly the biggest indignity of the entire production — to take the stage.

Under the guise of Leo Mercuré (a character from a Noël Coward play, natch) — a  hairdresser who “once gave Anna Wintour a blow-out” —  Bowles crooned out a “hip-swinging” rendition of  Britney Spears‘ classic ode to lost innocence, “Oops!…I Did It Again” to the delight of the judges and a studio audience of 4,000 vultures.

Sadly, Bowles did not make it to the next stage of competition, but he was at least spared Cowell’s trademark brutality and Paula Abdul even said she wanted to hang out with him. And really, isn’t the prospect of doing karaoke with that glorious train-wreck to “Opposites Attract” reward enough? [Vogue]

*Which for Liza, it very well may be.

- Lindsay Lohan continues to be employable, if only by German fashion houses you’ve never heard of/care about. This can’t go well, particularly considering the first sentence of the press release announcing Lilo’s participation in Philipp Plein‘s spring campaign: “Lindsay is a beautiful, highly acclaimed actress and model.” Who are we lying to Philipp Plein? [Styleite]

- Frida Gustavsson is GORGEOUS on Paolo Roversi‘s cover of Vogue Italia‘s Couture Supplement, giving us a little flapper chic and some serious face. [Fashion Gone Rogue]

- Designer Alice Temperley thinks London Fashion Week is better than New York Fashion Week and should be longer. Meanwhile, preaching to the choir, girlfriend. [Telegraph]

- Girls fall on the runway every season and, honestly, it’s always a highlight. But turns out taking a catwalk misstep could land a girl face down in unemployment. [Daily Mail]

- Which is why they should take a cue from the pros, like Liu Wen and Jourdan Dunn, who reveal how they traveresed the trricky runways of Jason Wu and Alexander Wang, respectively. [The Cut]