>> Sasha Pivovarova may have lost Miuccia's vote, but she gained Karl's.  She both opened and closed the Chanel Cruise 2009 show last night, and Karl photographed her along with his favorite Brad Kroenig in the collection against the Miami sunset.  No word on whether the photos are for the lookbook, an editorial, or an ad campaign, but regardless, Sasha's got the grace of the Lagerfeld.
 

>>  Ali Michael recently went on The Today Show to talk about her struggles with weight as a model, and to promote an article on the same subject in the June/July 2008 issue of Teen Vogue, "Extreme Measures."

Within the article, she delves into more explicit detail about her eating habits — during last September's show season, she was eating "oatmeal with water for breakfast, a banana and a few grapes for lunch, and plain lettuce for dinner, maybe with piece of fish."

She lost her period, and "there was concern [her] ovaries had shut down."  Her laxative use caused her digestive system to no longer function as it should, and now she has to take medication indefinitely.  Even when she starting going to a nutritionist to improve her health, she was throwing up after meals in secret.

Finally, Ali "cracked" in January because the client who flew her in for a couture show canceled, saying she didn't have a "couture body."  She focused on getting healthier and "put on a few pounds," but clients casting the February Paris shows told her she had "fat legs" and "huge ankles."  She walked only one show — Yohji Yamamoto.

She says the Wall Street Journal article detailing her February show experience was a shock — she "never planned to go public."  Surprising, since she is quoted in the WSJ article as saying of the Yamamoto show: "This show is special."  But regardless, it will be interesting to see what happens with Ali and how the industry reacts, especially because she was so highly buzzed about before deciding to speak out.

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>> Are guns the new stars?  Just a few days after Freja Beha debuted her new gun tat on the Dior cruise runway, Karl Lagerfeld goes and  uses the motif in the Chanel Cruise 2009 heels.  He was inspired by an image of a gun he saw somewhere, and gave the image to Chanel's shoe designer Laurence Decade, who used plexi to make the "Miami Vice" shoe.  Especially amazing: the shoes aren't just for show — they will be stocked in store.

*images: source

>>  Oh, interns.  Hockey player Sean Avery just started his stint at Vogue on Monday, for which he's earning minimum wage — since when do interns get paid at Conde Nast?  Causing even more waves is the talk that Avery may attend the couture shows next month along with the hardly-intern-status Anna Wintour, Andre Leon Talley, Hamish Bowles, and Sally Singer.  Is he getting super special treatment, or is it for an upcoming Vogue or Men's Vogue feature?

Also on the intern front, Jezebel got a tip about why there are no more high school interns at Teen Vogue:

So last year, one of Teen Vogue's interns crashed the Met Ball in a dress she had borrowed without permission from the Teen Vogue fashion closet, and then [blogged] about all the celebrities she met and exactly what they said to her . . . and then [former Teen Vogue editor] Kimball Hastings lost his sh*t, obviously.

That would do it.

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>> In case you haven't got your fill of Rachel Zoe yet — her Bravo reality show hasn't even debuted — there's more.  She's in the beginning stages of developing a licensed line of apparel, accessories, and undergarments under the Rachel Zoe brand.  You know you love her.  And she loves you, too.

*image: source

>>  The very same gunmetal sequined blazer that Karl Lagerfeld wore to the Costume Institute Gala earlier this month has reappeared in no less than three out of 74 of the Chanel Resort 2009 looks — one female, two male.

*image: source

We are smitten by some of looks in Oscar de la Renta's Resort 09 show. The high waist trousers and undulating chiffon frocks in particular. Because we live in a world wear Resort 09 can be seen straight away and where we can buy our clothing at the click of a button, we think it's possible to have a little Oscar, you know, now-ish. No, the quality will not be the same, nor will the detail. We understand if you prefer to wait for the real thing. Just in case you don't, here are a few looks from the collection that could be riffed on right now.