>> First Look: Anja Rubik for Balmain Fall 2009 —Stylist Emmanuelle Alt has a new go-to girl, and her name is Anja Rubik. Balmain is one of the few major brands who isn't sticking to an ad formula that already works this season, replacing Spring 2009 face Daria Werbowy, posed in front of a country diner, with Balmain stylist Alt's favorite Anja, surrounded by a linear sea of orange and yellow. [Jak & Jil Twitter]
>> Anja Rubik scores Balmain; First Look at Lily Allen for Chanel—It appears that Anja Rubik is increasingly becoming an Emmanuelle Alt favorite — the Vogue Paris fashion director recently styled Anja for her first major Vogue cover, and now Anja is appearing in the new Balmain Fall 2009 ads, as spotted in the brand's Paris boutique (Alt is Balmain's stylist). Meanwhile, Lily Allen's Fall 2009 Chanel handbag ads — for the launch of the new Chanel Coco Cocoon line — don't come out until October, but Chanel posted a photographic peek from the shoot, with Lily in crown. [Jak & Jil Twitter, Chanel]
>> Hannah MacGibbon has a serious fan of her work in Chloe Sevigny, who has been spotted at a number of events in different shades of the same scalloped Chloe shorts suit, but when it comes to her ad campaigns, she sticks with photographer Mikael Jansson. For her second major season campaign, instead of flaxen-haired Anna Maria Jagodzinska and Toni Garrn, MacGibbon went with the darker-haired Kasia Struss, Sigrid Agren, and Karlie Kloss, who contrast against the Spanish fields they were captured against in April, as styled by Marie Amelie Sauve.
>> Louis Vuitton's "Part Deux" Fall 2009 campaign with Madonna started leaking last week, and now three more of the set have appeared. The first image earned a plethora of comments like "the star — captured by Steven Meisel and 23 psychedelic Photoshop layers — sort of looks like a marble statue" and "I think the retoucher might deserve more recognition than the photographer in this instance"; those who agree aren't going to be pleased with the new images, as they are very similar in nature. And there's still no sign of the rumored video.
>> The first images of Heidi Mount and Freja Beha Erichsen in Chanel's Fall 2009 campaign — which Karl Lagerfeld shot at his Vermont house for the second season in a row — have just appeared (see gallery below), with a Little House on the Prairie feel: Karl's barn will be the backdrop for at least one.
But Karl's been busy doing non-Chanel things in the weeks before couture. The Paris premiere of the animated film, Totally Spies, for which he voiced the antagonist Fabu, was yesterday — see a clip of him as Fabu here, at 1:00 — and the designer walked the red carpet with three catsuited women. He also sat front row at the Dior Homme show yesterday as he has a number of times before, where he said of the canvas "Karl Who?" tote he's been carrying: “I find it flattering. Somebody offered one to me and now Colette has picked it up." The bag is designed by Naco-Paris, but not yet available online.
*image: Wenn.com, Bauer-Griffin Online, Getty
>> Ever since Stefano Pilati started working with Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for the Fall 2007 season on Yves Saint Laurent ads, one supermodel has starred each season, starting with Gisele Bundchen, then Kate Moss for Spring 2008, Naomi Campbell for Fall 2008, Claudia Schiffer for Spring 2009, and now Christy Turlington for Fall 2009. Logically, if they keep up their partnership, Linda Evangelista should be up next season . . .
*image: source
>> Lara Stone has developed a devoted cult following — Carine Roitfeld dedicated an entire issue of Vogue Paris to her, Stella McCartney recently gushed about wanted to "celebrate Lara" and her "fantastic breasts" — and as a result Lara's been able to convert more single girl campaigns. For Fall 2009, she picked up lingerie with Eres and the followup to DSquared2's epic Spring 2009 campaign with Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell fighting. Originally, designers Dean and Dan Caten were supposed to join her in the ads shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, but in the images they uploaded, it looks like they went with three male models instead.
>> More Details, First Image of Fall 2009 Madonna for Louis Vuitton Campaign Leak —What is being called "Part Deux" of Madonna's run at Louis Vuitton — for Fall 2009 — was photographed by Steven Meisel on April 24, as confirmed by Madonna's manager, and consists of at least seven images of Madonna in long boots and gloves, a few dresses mainly in blue and magenta, the bunny ears atop her head, holding a different bag in each shot. She leans on a sofa or is seated in an armchair with a curtain in the background, and apparently there's a video, too. [MadonnaTribe, TFS]
>> For Fall 2009, Bally stuck with the same team as Spring 2009 — Mario Sorrenti photographing Christy Turlington and Oriol Elcacho, this time styled by Lori Goldstein in a darker, more sophisticated light — because as Creative Director Brian Atwood put it, "For me Christy is simply the perfect Bally woman; graceful, intelligent, and natural; she exudes a sophisticated ease; her sensual beauty is perfectly complimented by Oriol's strong and confident presence. Both Christy and Oriol are wonderful to work with; consummate professionals who allow the process to flow so seamlessly, it is difficult to call it work." If rumors are to be believed, he'll be sharing Christy with Yves Saint Laurent this season, because Stefano Pilati thought she was the consummate YSL woman.
>> Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been quick with the Internet recently: They just launched e-commerce and uploaded both Fall 2009 Dolce & Gabbana and D&G campaigns over the weekend. The former, shot by Steven Klein, features Mariacarla Boscono, Edita Vilkeviciute, and Heidi Mount — who in one shot takes a simian pose — at a casino, and the latter, shot by Mario Testino, features a younger group: Katie Fogarty, Sara Blomqvist, Stephanie Rad, Hanna Rundolf, and Ragnhild Jevne.
