>> Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Franca Sozzani defended Vogue Italia's recent Haute Mess spread against accusations that it was racist, saying that it was not her intention to cause controversy with images of candy bars pasted into models' hairdos. "A racist image, I really do not understand," she said. "I went through the pages so many times. Like when we did the Black Issue, everybody said that we did that on purpose because Obama was the person chosen to go to the White House, and if you just think one second, not more than one second, you can see that to make a magazine like what we did for the Black Issue, it takes six months [to do]. … What do you answer? They don't know what it means to work at a magazine. That's it." [The Cut]
• Menswear designer Simon Spurr left his eponymous fashion label last week without explanation. "At this moment, I'm not at liberty to say anything about what's gone on," he stated in an email. His unexpected departure came just a week after being nominated for the CFDA's menswear designer of the year award. [WWD]
• Despite a statement from Vogue to the contrary, rumors have persisted that current cover girl Jennifer Lopez will be performing at the Met Gala this May. She's been a regular attendee of the event in the past, and with the added attention of being on the magazine's cover this Spring, the idea that she'll perform makes sense. Wait and see. [Fashion Etc.]

>> Wake up, read, paint, bathe, get a professional hairdo, and have lunch in one of your two houses before heading to the office — such is the daily routine of Chanel couturier Karl Lagerfeld.

The designer explained the quotidian details of his life in the newest issue of Harper's Bazaar, but his days are anything but routine. That's not to say the Kaiser doesn't follow a pattern — it's just an extremely fancy, over-the-top pattern. A few of the highlights below:

On his sleeping pattern: "I sleep seven hours. If I go to bed at two, I wake up at nine. If I go to bed at midnight, I wake up at seven. I don't wake up before — the house can fall apart, but I sleep for seven hours. I wear a long, full-length white shirt, in a material called poplin imperial, made for me by Hilditch & Key in Paris after a design of a 17th-century men's nightshirt I saw at the Victoria and Albert Museum."

On his hair: I have my hair done because I hate to have hair in my face when I sketch. My hair is not really white; it's kind of grayish, and I don't like the color. So I make it totally white with Klorane dry shampoo. That is the best thing to do because my hair is always clean.

On baths: "I don't get dressed and take a bath until lunchtime because I am doing a dirty job, painting with colors. So I wear my long nightshirt; it becomes kind of like a painter's smock, then it goes to the laundry."

On getting to work: "I have two drivers and several cars. I have a driver who in the morning does the shopping for me and brings the newspapers, and another one, Sébastien, who is also my secretary, who is free in the morning and works in the afternoon and late in the evening. On my way to the Chanel studio, I like to look around, I like to look at Paris. I never get tired of Paris. A lot of people are on the phone all the time; they don't see anything anymore. It's true. I like to watch."

On dinner: "Dinner depends on the day. I don't go out that much because I'm always late, and I'm so busy and so pleased with what I'm doing that I'm not really ready for a social evening. That's over — the people I was going out with are dead or don't exist anymore . . . I hate the word routine. What I hate most is when you have to look at your watch and get in a hurry to change for dinner, if you have an important dinner. Every dinner is important; you should never be without a dinner, but this I'm a little tired of. I did a lot of it in my life."

>> The lawsuit accusing Alexander Wang of operating a sweatshop in New York City will soon be discontinued, only to be refiled in federal court in short order.

Wenyu Lu — whose original $50 million suit accused Alexander and his brother Dennis Wang of using exploitative labor practices in their New York workspace — filed a motion to discontinue the suit last Thursday. Lu's lawyer Ming Hai told Page Six that Lu plans to resubmit the suit to federal court, where he'll be represented by another lawyer who has more experience with labor law. Lu's suit claimed that he was forced to work for 25 hours straight without a break. Another former employee, Flor Duarte, filed a suit claiming that she was fired after filing for worker's compensation.

Wang's camp has repeatedly denied the allegations, telling Page Six, "The claims of sweatshop conditions were completely and utterly untrue in every respect."

>> Hedi Slimane's new job as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent was just announced two weeks ago, and he's wasting no time in assembling his new staff.

>Vogue UK reports that Slimane has hired Laurence Kleinknecht as YSL's worldwide press director. Kleinknecht has managed her public relations company for the last 16 years and served as head of PR for Dior Homme when Slimane was its head designer. She also represented him when he left Dior Homme to focus on photography.

Kleinknecht's website says she currently represents DJ Chloe Thevenin and handbag designer Delphine Delafon.

>> Because there wasn't enough speculation about the Dior job already, fashion news minders have honed in on a Haider Ackermann quote that suggests he wants to take over the reins at the storied French fashion house.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Ackermann revealed that he has his eye set on not just one creative director's chair, but two.

"There are two houses I would be interested in," Ackermann said. "Two where I feel there is shared sensibility, and I could bring something else of myself to the house, which isn't expressed in my own line."

Ackermann declined to tell FT which houses he was talking about, but did admit that his dream is to work on a couture collection. He's been rumored to be in the running for the Dior job since the house's last creative director, John Galliano, was fired last March, and Karl Lagerfeld told Numero in 2010 that he wanted Ackermann to succeed him at Chanel.

Ackermann says no matter which job he does next, he's prepared for the pressure. "This is fashion, it's not surgery," he said. "It's a job; a job with a lot of dreams woven in."