>> Italian label Brioni, which just hired Allessandra Dell'Acqua in May 2010 to raise its womenswear profile, is discontinuing the line. Dell'Acqua, who WWD reports was just in talks to extend his yearly contract for three more years — with a clause giving Brioni exclusivity over the designer — will have his contract terminated.

Brioni's change of mind is attributed to ongoing talks between PPR and Brioni about the French luxury conglomerate acquiring the Italian brand. One industry source told WWD: “This was supposed to be a long-term investment for Brioni. The collection was selling very well, and Brioni was planning to open a number of women’s stores, so I can only assume the entrance of a new shareholder was instrumental in determining this new course.”

If PPR does invest in Brioni, the women's line may not be revived, another source cautioned: “PPR may only want to focus on men’s. It already has so many women’s lines.”

>> After much speculation, Style.com has confirmed it will launch its first print magazine on Oct. 31, just a few weeks after the Spring 2012 shows finish. The first issue is "going to be very much focused on Spring/Summer 2012 collections," according to Style.com editor-in-chief Dirk Standen. "We are going to spotlight the most interesting people, places and clothes of the season, but beyond that we are hoping to convey to the reader what the experience of going through that intense four week cycle is like ... Starting today I will be using our Twitter feed to let our readers know what we’re up to as we shoot the photo shoots, meet the designers and models, and rush to put together the first issue."

The magazine's editorial staff — in addition to Standen — centers around Style.com executive editor Nicole Phelps and contributing editor Tim Blanks, while the creative team includes Fairchild Fashion Media editorial director Peter Kaplan and Style.com magazine creative director Lina Kutsovskaya, formerly of Nylon and Teen Vogue.

As for the reason why Style.com is moving into print? Standen explains: "If you look at the big picture I don’t think [media] brands can afford to be tied to one medium anymore. Obviously you see that with magazines paying a lot of attention to their websites now. But even on the web, it’s not enough to just have a website. You have to be on various digital devices. You need to be on the various social media sites. You want your content to be available in as many places as possible. Now that we are within the Fairchild umbrella, which has a lot of experience and a great deal of expertise in publishing, it became a natural extension for Style.com to do a magazine."

The website is also testing e-commerce, concurrent with the magazine launch, Standen says: "We are working with six New York City designers to be announced during fashion week. They are going to make a very limited number of pieces available directly from their Spring [2012] collection, so that people will be able to buy them right away. We are going to coordinate it with the launch of the magazine so, technically end of October. They will be able to buy it and will receive a nice package in the mail within days."

The Style.com magazine is currently available for pre-order and will be available on newsstands in select cities across North America and in Europe.

>> Daphne Guinness, a longtime champion of Alexander McQueen, reveals that originally she was afraid to meet the designer: “I admired him and didn’t want to meet him because I am quite shy, but Isabella [Blow] said I must. But I didn’t want to be a groupie. It had to happen organically. You don’t have to know someone to love their work. One day he saw me walking across the street in his kimono and he ran up to me and said, 'I’m the person you don’t want to meet!' We went to a pub and hit it off. Of course after that I was so irritated not to have known him before!” [W]

>> It has come to light that Steven Robinson, John Galliano's longtime right-hand man at Dior who passed away in 2007 at the age of 38, did not die of a heart attack as it was reported at the time. Instead, according to new reports, his cause of death was a cocaine overdose — he was found in his Paris home with up to 7 grams of the drug in his system.

Robinson was supplied the cocaine by Alassane Seck, a 40-year-old illegal immigrant from Senegal, who was later convicted of manslaughter after Robinson's death. Galliano is said to have testified at Seck's trial in 2008, but no journalists attended proceedings, and no official documents containing Robinson's cause of death were ever released, provoking accusations of a cover-up aimed at protecting Dior's reputation.

During Seck's trial, it emerged that dozens of "big names in the fashion world" were using his services, according to his lawyer, Francois-Henri Blistene. "There is a great deal to this entire case which has never been discussed publicly . . . My client was supplying cocaine to some of the biggest names in Paris, including Mr Robinson. Many other public figures were also using his services."

Seck was jailed for seven years in 2008, but has since been released.