>> Billionaire Lakshmi Mittal's 33-year-old daughter-in-law Megha Mittal, who has been looking to make an investment in the fashion industry for the past year and previously expressed interest in Gianfranco Ferre, will acquire Escada for an undisclosed price.  Mittal won the bidding war against Sven Ley, son of Escada founder Wolfgang Ley.

The management board and the new investor "have agreed to cooperate on the basis of the business strategy launched in mid-2008 securing continuity of the operative business," according to a statement released; the previous board of management will stay intact.  Mittal supports Escada CEO Bruno Saelzer's intentions to turn Escada from the eveningwear legacy of its heyday into more affordable daywear.

>> Roberto Cavalli Spring 2010 Ad Cast Revealed; Daisy Lowe for Louis Vuitton? — Spring 2010 campaign cast details continue to flood in.  Isabeli Fontana Tweeted this morning, "Exciting news! I shot the new Cavalli campaign with Carolyn Murphy. The campaign was shot by Steven Meisel." And causing a little campaign confusion: WWD heard Lara Stone is the new face of Louis Vuitton, but now word is Daisy Lowe is shooting in Miami for the brand next week. [@Isabeli_Fontana, @LiveFashionWeek]

UPDATE: Lowe is being photographed by Vuitton for a new beach line press-kit. [WWD]

>> Versace is definitely feeling the economic crunch, completely pulling out of Japan, where it's had a presence since 1981, and announcing impending layoffs of over a quarter of its current workforce.  But Donatella Versace aims to keep up appearances — she sponsored the Whitney Museum Art Gala in New York two weeks ago, jetted off days later to Rio de Janeiro for a Fashion Rocks event, and has just named Georgia May Jagger, Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger's 17-year-old daughter, the face of her Spring 2010 campaign, as photographed by Mario Testino. She also refuses to take off her stilettos, except for at the gym.

The New York Times's Eric Wilson caught up with her when she was in New York, staying under the name "Mrs. Montez" in a suite at the Waldorf Towers.  When she first took over Versace, she says, “it was not easy to believe in myself or the future. Everyone was looking at me like a savior, and I had to have this image of this powerful strong woman, which I am not.”

"You have to face the truth" »

>> Angels Said to Be Reenacting "Freedom! '90" Video for Victoria's Secret Fashion Show —Victoria's Secret just announced five new Angels, but expect Alessandra Ambrosio to take a starring role in this year's fashion show — word is she's driven the most sales for the brand since Gisele Bundchen left. The Angels have supposedly taped a new version of George Michael's iconic supermodel-riddled "Freedom! '90" video for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, with Alessandra reenacting the scene Cindy Crawford originally performed, nude in a bathtub. [RG Vogue, AAOF]

>> Tom Ford is mulling a return to women's fashion as early as next season; he feels like fashion has floundered since he left Gucci in 2004, he told W, and wishes the decade didn't have such a lack of definitive looks: "I don’t mean that that has anything to do with my leaving. I could feel [fashion] starting to flounder before I left, which helped me feel good about getting out at the time.”

But it wasn't all good: Ford had "a pretty intense midlife crisis" two years before leaving Gucci, around his 40th birthday.

“I started to sink emotionally, spiritually. I became a little bit lost. Leaving Gucci, it intensified because I had been able to cling to my job and to my work and to my identity as a successful fashion designer, and all of a sudden that was gone. It forced me to really think, Well, what am I, who am I, what am I about? It took me a bit of time to figure that out. I think this happens to most people in their life if they’re insightful enough to indulge it and to get through to the other side.”

 "I hope I don’t come off sounding too rich and spoiled." »