Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Former Vogue writer Joan Juliet Buck explains the circumstances of her glowing profile on Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad in the magazine's March 2011 issue — which was published in the midst of the Middle East's Arab Spring revolutions — in a new article. "There was no way of knowing that Assad, the meek ophthalmologist and computer-loving nerd, would kill more of his own people than his father had and torture tens of thousands more, many of them children," she writes. [Newsweek]
  

• Stella McCartney wasn't the only British designer who created clothes for the London Olympics. Michael van der Ham designed performance costumes for Friday's opening ceremony. "In total we worked on 300 costumes, divided into about 35 different styles," he said. [Vogue UK]
  

• Self-avowed cat person Jason Wu says whoever wears his upcoming lower-priced line Miss Wu is probably a feline fan, too. "Cats are chic! It’s called a catwalk, not a dog walk," the designer said. [Fashionista]
  

• An analysis of executive compensation in fashion reveals that JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson is among the best paid people in the industry, making over $53 million in 2011. [Racked]
  

• Writer Suzy Gershman, author of the Born to Shop series of travel guides, died last week of cancer. She was 64. [The New York Times]
  

• Writer Michele Gerber Klein is reportedly working on a biography of American couturier Charles James, who's famous for dressing Marlene Dietrich. [Page Six]

Photo: Asma al-Assad photographed by James Nachtwey for the March 2011 issue of Vogue.

Target and Neiman Marcus have revealed that Karlie Kloss will be the face of the upcoming CFDA Holiday collaboration. According to a spokesperson, the multimedia campaign will be quite "robust" and will span online, print, out of home, TV, and social media, and required Kloss — who was classically trained in ballet — to do a lot of movement. "Her background and familiarity with movement and dance are perfect," the source said.

Kloss isn't the only big name to be involved with the campaign. Quentin Jones — known for his work with Chanel and Victoria Beckham — also worked on the ads, as did photographer Craig McDean, who was responsible for both the still and moving images. Alex White, former fashion director of W, styled the ads, while Orlando Pita was tapped to do hair. "Our goal is to match the unprecedented nature of the collaboration and incredible product being produced to a campaign supporting it," the spokesperson explained. "What's most important is the talent we're putting behind this campaign."

Just weeks after the royal family of Qatar purchased Valentino, Miuccia Prada has voiced the concern that outsourcing Italian fashion brands can only dilute their strength.

"With the sale of our luxury labels to foreigners, our entire system risks falling into second league," said Prada in a rare interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "Because if our brands cross our borders, the credit, glamour, fame, and decision making is in the hands of others, and we are abandoned, downgraded."

While Prada didn't mention the Valentino sale by name, she did say the impression of the Italian fashion industry is that it has "less resources, culture, protagonists, ideas, vitality, and money" than other countries, and that as a result "fashion goes elsewhere, looking for the best." Prada pointed to Raf Simons — who left Prada-owned Jil Sander for the top job at Dior in March — as evidence. For her part, Prada said she shows Miu Miu in Paris because she's "looking for that attraction that is called glamour."

"We live in a weak cultural world," Prada added. "We are a country that has never wanted or known how to protect and promote its immense landscape and artistic patrimony."

Showing in Paris isn't Prada's only connection to the world outside of Italy. When her company went public last Summer, she listed its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange.