>> BLOWING THE COVER —Folly or flattery?  It seems the new thing for Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott to do for major March or September covers is to remake another magazine's old cover — in September 2008, they redid Patrick Demarchelier's iconic Harper's Bazaar cover with Nadja Auermann for W using Kate Hudson, and now, for Vogue Paris's March 2009 cover, they've reinterpreted Iris Strubegger from Steven Meisel's 1992 Vogue Italia cover with Kirsten McMenamy. And for those of you who were wondering about the Teen Vogue Paris rumor — Carine Roitfeld says it's just that — a rumor. [Models.com, The Cut]