>> The first image of Blake Lively's Chanel Mademoiselle handbag campaign has appeared; the ads break this week and next, and are set to run through June. So how did Lively end up with a stack of Chanel ads under her belt? “I had other opportunities and I would say, ‘Thank you so much, but I am holding out for Chanel,’” she says. “That’s who I want to be the face of. And people would say, ‘Well, that’s unrealistic, they only hire Europeans,’ and I said: ‘Well, how great. I’ll be the first then.’”

As for all the Vogue attention she's garnered — three covers, including one on a best-dressed special edition magazine in January — Vogue style director Alexander Kotur says it all started when the actress wore a blue Versace gown — slit up the thigh, with a revealing neckline — to the Costume Institute Gala two years ago: “We all just kind of jumped on her. When she came to the Met in that Versace we thought: ‘Who? What? Who’s this?’ She walked up those steps and she had confidence and she wore that dress like nobody else. That was when it all started.”

>> Riccardo Tisci has been fingered as a favorite by many to be the next Dior designer, and this morning, Fashionista reported that sources inside Dior are saying that Tisci "is most definitely in," with Tisci's friend Carine Roitfeld serving as the label's stylist. But Tisci himself said last night of the Dior rumors: "I felt this was a strong, positive season. And I'm happy at Givenchy." [Style.com]

>> Since the John Galliano scandal erupted two weeks ago, plenty of designers have had their say on the matter; in the past couple of days, two more have weighed in.

"As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor," Diane von Furstenberg said on today's Gayle King Show, "I find what he said was absolutely unacceptable. Having said that, I think he was provoked and he was clearly not in a normal state." When asked what she thought about Dior firing Galliano, she replied: "That's not for me to say. I mean, it is an unacceptable comment."

And backstage after his show Saturday, Jean Paul Gaultier said: "It's sad, because he was an enormous talent. Everything he has done has not revealed someone who is racist — quite to the contrary. With recordings, people can be made to say things that they did not say. They pronounce some words, but what is the context? The person [speaking to Galliano in the video] seems very assured, knowing very well what she is doing." He added that he hoped Galliano would return to fashion and "find an inner peace."

>> Stefano Pilati has numerous times over the years been plagued with reports of his imminent demise at Yves Saint Laurent. But despite the house's denial of the latest round of rumors, he says, “You know, it affects me . . . I am a creative person, so I am very vulnerable by nature. When you have the idea for a collection, you are really happy, and when you don’t have the idea, you are upset and down and grumpy. That is your daily life. And that vulnerability . . . it can also be fragility.”

Pilati adds that he has at times wondered if the rumors might be true, and that they have been "an infuriating distraction because he thought that they were driven by jealous colleagues or those who were seeking to unseat him," the New York Times reports.

“I don’t let it go,” he says. “What is it about? I should be here, thinking about how beautiful my job is, and come to the office every day and work with colors and fabrics. But no, you have something that undermines you.”

Yves Saint Laurent just recently posted its first significant profit — of about $15 million — after almost a decade of stunning losses; PPR chairman Francois-Henri Pinault credited Pilati as having played a key role in the turnaround. Nonetheless, Pilati has questioned his place in fashion and whether the pressures are worth it: “I have worked and worked and worked hard again. I have been a monk here [at Yves Saint Laurent].”

But he's staying in the game for now — his contract with the house runs through March 2012, he says, but he will likely start discussing a new contract this Spring — he wants to stay with the brand.

>> It's unclear when Christophe Decarnin, who sat out the Balmain show last week on doctor's orders, will return to work at the brand, according to a house spokesperson, and with no clear direction, apparently several assistants have recently left. The house still has yet to release a statement explaining Decarnin's absence, but a source close to the matter says that any decision about the designer's future is not likely to be made for a couple of weeks. [On the Runway]

>> As if the fates of enough designers aren't already in question, now Hannah MacGibbon's future at Chloe has come up. Sources knowledgeable about the house told the New York Times's Eric Wilson that MacGibbon's contract is up after this season, and the reaction to today's show could determine whether it is renewed. However, Wilson points out: "It’s unusual for a designer to negotiate a new contract so close to the expiration date of his or her last one, and what’s more, Chloe is said to have already interviewed other designers."

Vogue UK reports, on the contrary: "A spokesperson from the label told us a statement will be released later today to confirm there is no truth in the allegations that MacGibbon's contract is up after this season."