>> INSIDER WIRE — In the September 2008 Harper's Bazaar, Rachel Zoe throws us for a curve, allowing herself to be retouched from a size 0 to a size 8. Aside from that magazine-selling gimmick, she reveals that she often stays in New York's Mercer Hotel next to Marc Jacobs's suite, so that he can run through their rooms' shared door to inspect her outfits — they're friends, not "'fashion friend[s].'"  [Harper's Bazaar]

»Gareth Pugh was asked to do a range for Topshop, but turned it down because he "hate[s] the idea of being in Grazia" [Dazed Digital]

»Roberto Cavalli compares models to "pieces of wood" [The Cut]

»Vanessa Traina appears out and about in Balmain boots with Nicole Richie [PopSugar]

»Karl Lagerfeld, dressed in white with blue striped bib, and Amanda Harlech, spotted in Saint Tropez [Jezebel]

»Did Ralph Lauren's Olympic opening ceremony uniforms embarrass America? [Gawker]

»A recent Bill Blass alum is about to go solo [Style File]

»Anna Selezneva is the Spring 2009 girl to watch [TI]

»Charlotte Ronson, re-imagined as Eli Cash from The Royal Tenenbaums [FabSugar]

»Rodarte among finalists for prestigious Swiss Textiles Award [FWD]

»According to Richie Rich, Heatherette is just taking a breather [The Cut]
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>> IN PRODUCTION —The first shots of Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garcons designs for H&M are starting to appear, and the collection is "mostly black and with Japanese tomboy airs." There also seem to be lots of polka dots, but my bets are on this "showpiece" coat-dress (left) to be the sell-out, based on what's showed up so far. [Fashionista, SuperFuture]

Today we bumped into a gallery of some outerwear options for Fall 08 and found ourselves daydreaming of the possibilities. Alas, we experience this song and dance every season. First we draw up an ideal fall wardrobe, the coat being an integral part of this scene, and shortly after the beloved purchase is made it finally gets cold. We will acknowledge the fact that some places do not get as cold as others and that some people need not walk fifteen blocks from the subway to their apartment but in New York, we do. That said, the coats we buy in September hardly ever make it past the holiday season and maybe, you know, that's fine. We're just saying. Or maybe, you never know, we could think ahead and skip the chic short-sleeve number in favor of something more substantial. Being chic, in any context, means dressing appropriately and yet having your own sense of style. Maybe this season we'll try to think ahead, and leave those coveted short sleeve numbers for the Californians. Below, our best guesses at what might help you brave a harsh winter in New York. Sigh, and below that, the coats we really wish we could wear as our winter jacket.

>> Here's one good way to guarantee never receiving samples from Stella McCartney ever again: The staunchly vegan, anti-fur designer loaned an unnamed stylist a black lace bra from her lingerie collection on good faith, only to see it appear later under a fur coat in a Hockley advertisement.

The ad has already been printed in the September 2008 issue of Vogue UK, but Hockley has issued an apology and said the image will not be used again.  As a spokesman for the company explained, "Hockley both requested and was told that the item was a vintage piece and apologizes for any embarrassment caused to Stella McCartney." 

As for Stella's feelings on the matter, needless to say she was "furious."  The stylist had borrowed lingerie samples for a magazine editorial in April, and for Stella to instead see the bra in an ad that contradicts her beliefs made the designer go "absolutely ballistic."  No word on whether legal action will be taken, but Stella was overheard saying that she planned to sue.
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While checking up on local New York jewelry designer, Wendy Nichol, we discovered Nichol's daughter modeling in her newest look book. The shoot, a very pretty, very sweet, very Marc Jacobs-inspired gallery of images, shows the leather-covered hearts and pyramid shapes that are prominent in this most recent collection as worn by the youngest of the Nichol's clan. We know Nichol from our days in e-commerce and know that she and her family are more or less the perfect version of 'I'm never moving to the suburbs' and so we only saw it is as very sweet and quirky of the Nichols family. How will other people feel, we wonder? It's hard to say. If anything the shoot will bring some extra-jewelry shopping attention to her brand or, at worst, upset people who misconstrue it as inappropriate or damaging to put a young girl in mascara--it does, in a way, make us feel old and haggard even in our mid-twenties. Look book aside, Wendy Nichol is an amazing jewelry designer. Her rock and roll vibe and balance between costumery and fine jewelry has made her a prominant New York designer. In the end, our headline is 'cute daughter in tough-girl jewelry makes for Marc Jacobsy/quirky look book'. It's a winner.

>> BLOWING THE COVER —Vogue's September 2008 issue is causing waves for two reasons today — first, for the odd, matted hairstyle that Keira Knightley is sporting on the cover, and second, because it is down to 674 ad pages from 725 last year. One full ad page can cost up to $120,000, so losing 51 pages . . . well, that hurts. [BellaSugar, WSJ]

>> There have been many firsts in Du Juan's career: She was the first Asian model to appear on a Vogue Paris cover and graced the first-ever cover of Vogue China. On Friday, she accomplished a big first outside the modeling world, becoming the first Chinese model to bear an Olympic torch by running one leg of the procession in Beijing. It may not hold a candle to the opening ceremony spectacle, but a big honor nonetheless.