Underwear-Clad Zoe Saldana Coming To A Billboard Near You

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  • Zoe Saldana is the latest face of Calvin Klein. The actress’ only other foray into fashion was a clothing line by the name of Arasmaci. Perhaps she didn’t want any other ads to come between her and her Calvins? [People]
  • Mario Testino: “Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of American Vogue, is, you imagine, the most secure person, but she is shy, too. Often people mistake her shyness for coldness.” Kate Moss, too, is shy. This explains so much! [Telegraph]
  • Abercrombie & Fitch‘s South Street Seaport location is set to reopen today after its bed-bug infestation forced it to close on Friday. Sister brand Hollister‘s downtown store was also closed for the same reason. Employees said that the company higher-ups ignored their complaints of bites and sightings of bugs for nearly a month before taking any action. Although the fact that two stores owned by the same company should be affected simultaneously led some to speculate that the problem might be a bed-bug-infested Abercrombie & Fitch warehouse facility, the company denies this. And even though bed bug experts who worked on exterminating the store’s wares advise customers to exercise extreme caution, Abercrombie says the problem is solved and people should shop happily. [WWD]
  • Cathy Horyn on this scaled-back couture season: “For as long as haute couture lasts, it will prove its worth by doing things that can’t be done anywhere else, and by opening dead eyes. In fact, there is a lot to glean from the fall couture shows that is new and useful — and far clearer as a statement than what we have seen recently in ready-to-wear collections. The biggest change is color.” [NYTimes]
  • Dita von Teese performed a strip-tease at Jean-Paul Gaultier‘s couture show to promote the designer’s lingerie line with La Perla. [Guardian]
  • There’s video. [The Cut]
  • Daphne Guinness departed the Chanel couture show on the back of a motorcycle. [On The Runway]
  • Riccardo Tisci, who didn’t have a runway show at Givenchy and instead presented just ten looks on dress forms, downplays the importance of having a show with a celeb-heavy front row. “Many of our customers don’t want to go to fashion shows,” says the Italian. “They like to quietly come and make their orders and then disappear again.” Duh — Blake Lively isn’t dropping $80,000 of her own money on an ugly Chanel dress. Blake Lively does, however, bring the photographers and media who report on the show and broadcast it to the world. That reporting doesn’t sell couture, but it does cement Chanel’s position as a luxury brand, which then entitles Chanel to sell truckloads of $500 wallets at Duty Free (at a 95% margin). Fundamentally, it’s kind of sad to see a talented designer like Tisci forced to justify having a mean little show as something other than a cost-cutting move. (Yes, Givenchy claims the presentation was more expensive than a show. No, we don’t believe that for a New York minute.) [Vogue UK]
  • Going to prison didn’t hurt Nicole Richie‘s, Martha Stewart‘s, or Paris Hilton‘s livelihoods in the long term. So maybe, just maybe, Lindsay will be all right. [WWD]
  • Lohan’s 6126 leggings line has estimated annual sales of $3 million, and 6126’s expansion into handbags is set to hit stores later this year. One retail analyst says: “It’s not necessarily a bad thing. At the end of the day it may not hurt, and it could even help sales in an ironic and twisted way. It would help if she is successful in her recovery and fans get behind her. Then she could use that to her benefit to promote the line.” [WWD]
  • When it was announced that Olivier Zahm was writing a biography of Carine Roitfeld to be published in 2011, some people got really excited. But the book has apparently been postponed. Notes Hint: “It seems the project was a little light on words. So much so that Rizzoli has been enlisting the blogosphere to provide some interview questions for the sultry editrix. Perhaps the Purple lothario was too busy with his other gig as welcome committee for teenage models to churn out copy? Whatever the case, we’ll save our instructional questions for later (tips on how to smudge our eyeliner and master bed head) and comfort ourselves by watching her CNN special on Youtube.” [Hintmag]
  • Mary J. Blige is launching a glasses line in October. [WWD]
  • To anyone considering becoming a model: Never spend $999 on a “modeling camp” with no requirements for its attendees other than “tolerant parents.” Never spend any money on test photos or modeling schools or anything else that scams the vulnerable. There’ll be plenty of time for you to haemorrhage money later, when you’re signed to an agency. [NYPost]
  • Mario Testino shot Lily Donaldson, Nina Porter, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for Burberry‘s first beauty campaign. [WWD]
  • Shu Pei Qin shot the September cover of Chinese Vogue with Peter Lindbergh. [WWD]
  • The “more extreme hand-made pieces” from JWOWW‘s clothing line, Filthy Couture, will cost over $1,000. A word on Ms. WOWW’s inspiration: “When I get inspiration off of other people’s [collections], I turn away. I think if I’m inspired by you, it might look too much alike. That’s why my T-shirts haven’t launched yet. I thought they were too last year. If I see a shirt that I’ve designed and it looks too much like Affliction or Ed Hardy, I think, No — because it’s already been done.” [Stylelist]
  • Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy are planning a new fashion venture together. “It’s really exciting and we cannot wait,” said Nash-Taylor. “I really can’t say any more because I’m still under contract.” The two Juicy Couture founders sold their company to Liz Claiborne in 2003, and earlier this year effectively resigned their positions, becoming “nonoperative creative consultants.” Perhaps that was just a fancy way of referring to a non-compete. [WWD]
  • Roberto Cavalli is dressing Shakira for the closing concert of the World Cup. [Vogue UK]
  • Meanwhile, people in charge of such things are scouring the players’ ranks for the next crossover modeling star, à la Cristiano Ronaldo. [NYTimes]
  • Jade Jagger “designed” a new bottle for Guerlain‘s Shalimar fragrance. [WWD]
  • Visionaire has released a limited-edition book that is a tribute to Alexander McQueen. Photography inspired by McQueen by Nick Knight, Steven Klein, and Mario Testino is printed on pages embedded with wildflower seeds. So if you plant the photos, they will grow and bloom. [Vogue UK]
  • After former employees sued the boutique chain Scoop NYC, claiming they were denied legally required overtime payments and fired when they complained, the store settled the lawsuit. The terms are confidential. [WWD]
  • Apparently, people now need the approval of strangers on the Internet to leave the house. [NYTimes]
  • DKNY Jeans is opening a new store in Singapore. [WWD]
  • Next spring, handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff will launch a men’s collection under the brand Ben Minkoff, after her grandfather. [WWD]
 
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