• Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre, the "architect of fashion" (and favorite designer of Oprah Winfrey) died yesterday at the age of 62 from a brain hemorrhage. In addition to designing his own eponymous label, he created scandal by being [gasp!] an Italian overseeing Dior, from 1989-1996. Nonsensical statement from John Galliano surely TK. [IHT]
  • Who will be Ferre's successor? You know the Italians: They're always soooo clear cut and undramatic about these fashion house leadership questions.. [WSJ]
  • Oscar de la Renta is creating a line of baubles for his beloved ladies who lunch. The jewelry line will run under the kinda-gross name "O Oscar." [WWD, sub req'd]
  • Gisele Bundchen: The highest paid-model of the year! Which proves, dears, that you don't have to be a flagrant cokehead and/or a 14-year old Slovenian girl to make a buck in this industry. [Vogue UK]Wal-Mart continues its ill-fated foray into fashion by ditching its employees' signature blue vest for a more "preppy" uniform. Memo to Wal-Mart: Maybe whenever you have an "instinct" about fashion, you should go ahead and do the opposite. [ABC News]

  • Oh Posh, stop it with the lying: You don't eat. It's ok. We know. [WWD, sub req'd]
  • Apparently if you are a WASP, it is offensive to be called one. [WWD, 3rd item]
  • Pregnant women need not apply for modeling gigs at Calvin Klein. [WWD, 1st item]
  • And yet according to Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld, Cladia Schiffer is more beautiful today than she was during her supermodel heydey because she got married and had babies. [Vogue UK]If we didn't love Al Gore and, y'know, the environment or whatever, we would actually have hurled all over ourselves reading this: Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow, Carine Roitfeld, Marghertia Missoni, and other vaguely conscience-y fashion types are designing limited edition t-shirts to benefit Gore's The Climate Project. [Vogue UK]

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