The exact circumstances under which Jil Sander replaced Raf Simons as the creative director of her eponymous fashion house were unclear until today.

According to a new profile in WSJ. Magazine's Winter issue, Sander wasn't called back to the house she founded in 1968 just because Simons was on his way to Dior. In fact, Sander entered talks with Onward Holdings Co., the Japanese private equity firm that owns the label, about coming back over six months prior to Simons's departure. Sander left her job designing the +J capsule collection for Uniqlo in September 2011, and it was announced that she would replace Simons at the end of February 2012.

Simons's departure, it seems, came before he officially accepted the Dior job — though when he left, he had already entered talks with LVMH about becoming the house's creative director. And while Simons's work at Jil Sander was a critical success, the profile notes that during his time there, "the company remained solidly in the red." To turn Jil Sander's fortunes around, the label's chairman Franco Pene said he wanted "to get back to the roots of the company — to its DNA. And there was no one more capable of doing this than the original designer."

Whatever the reasoning for her return to the label, where her first two collections have earned favorable reviews, Sander credits divine intervention with steering her back home.

"With all of my history, I feel it's been more like a journey, and driven by something up there," she says, pointing toward the heavens. "This is actually what it has to be. We learn to never go back, never try to repeat, only look to the future. But in this case, maybe this is an exception."

Photo courtesy of Jil Sander

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Oscar de la Renta's exhibit about the late Spanish artist and designer Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo opens today at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute in New York. The show will be on display until the end of March. [Elle]
  

• "When it comes to plastic surgery, I'm against it," said 57-year-old supermodel Iman when asked about aging well. "I can say that because I don't need it yet." [Into the Gloss]
  

• The iconic cone-shaped bustier Jean Paul Gaultier designed for Madonna was auctioned for a whopping $52,075 — more than twice its presale estimate. [The Daily Mail]
  

• David Walliams says the child he and Lara Stone are expecting will have a "normal" name. "It's a bit of a curse if you're called Apple or Peaches or something like that," he said. [Vogue UK]
  

• Canadian retailer Aritzia is now offering ecommerce. [InStyle]
  

• Here's a quick refresher course in holiday party etiquette, courtesy of Derek Blasberg and two very cool cats. [Fashion Foie Gras]
  

• Fast Retailing — the Japanese company that owns Theory and Uniqlo — has just purchased an 80 percent stake in J Brand Jeans, leading some to believe a denim collaboration with Uniqlo isn't far off. [Racked]
  

• Candice Swanepoel, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Miranda Kerr are among the Angels who lip-synched along to Justin Bieber's "Beauty and a Beat" backstage at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. [Styleite]

At some point within the next 12 months, Net-a-Porter will launch a magazine that lives on real paper, not on an Internet platform.

The online retailer's CEO Mark Sebba pooh-poohed the notion that print operations are decreasing in relevance when he announced plans for the magazine at a recent business leadership conference.

"Traditional publishers always say that we are lucky for being born in a digital age and don't have a legacy of print," he said. "But we still see it as important."

Not only is it important, Sebba said, but it's also been a part of the way Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet (who worked at WWD and Tatler before she got into retail) envisioned the business when she started it. Content — like the site's weekly magazine, mobile apps, and video channel — has allowed Net-a-Porter to sell advertising space to the very brands it sells. And that advertising is what will keep a print product alive.

"Twelve years ago when Natalie launched Net-a-Porter, it wasn't so much about revolutionizing shopping as revolutionizing the magazine industry. It's about understanding the media side of commerce rather than just trying to move products. I don't want to denigrate [the retail] side in any way as it pays the rent, but advertising revenue increasingly pays the rent as well."

Sebba did not say how often the magazine would be published or give any other details about the project. Requests to Net-a-Porter for more information were not returned as of this post.

Photo: A spread from Net-a-Porter's online magazine.

All the news bits fit to print here, in our daily roundup.

One of Cathy Horyn's sources in Paris claims that Alexander Wang is the likely replacement for outgoing Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquière. The house could be ready to announce that it's hired Wang as early as next week, the source said.

Shortly after Ghesquière announced his departure, Balenciaga CEO Isabelle Guichot said that she had a short list of potential candidates, which was rumored to include Wang, Joseph Altuzarra, Bouchra Jarrar, J.W. Anderson, and Christopher Kane, among others. A spokeswoman for Kane said earlier this month that speculation about him joining Balenciaga was "unfounded," but just this week it was reported that Kane has had discussions for possible financing with Balenciaga's parent company, PPR.

Wang, who runs his brand independently, was rumored to be in the running to replace John Galliano at Dior last year. At the time, he said that he would only take on another design challenge if it were "completely different" from what he does with his own label.

"Sometimes you don't get to say all you want to say in your brand," he said. "When the right opportunity comes, it will present itself in a way that I'll be inspired by it. But right now, it's not like, 'Oh I'm after that house, I want to do that.'"

Only time will tell whether Wang is sufficiently inspired by Balenciaga. Ghesquière's last day at the house is Friday, Nov. 30.

Photo: Alexander Wang photographed by David Needleman for the October 2011 issue of Out Magazine.