>> Wintour Hires Obama Online Campaign Masterminds for Vogue.com —Last week, it came out that Elle pulled ahead of Vogue this year in terms of ad pages — 2,100 to 1,990, respectively — which Vogue SVP and publishing director Tom Florio chalked up to his reluctance to "heavily discount and use our editors to sell ad pages. What we saw happen this year, which we haven’t seen in a while, is the discounts were approaching 70 percent. Some of the deals that were being done were just crazy." This week, meanwhile, Anna Wintour is continuing to beef up Vogue's web presence — a spokesman confirmed that Blue State Digital, which masterminded Barack Obama's online campaign, has been hired to work on Vogue.com business and editorial sides, focusing on reader and subscriber outreach. [WWD, Jezebel]

>> Olivier Zahm, the man who recently described his trademark look as "a disguise" — "five or six years ago, I decided to wear this kind of outfit and behave as if I were a celebrity. It’s not out of narcissism. It’s for the magazine. For an independent magazine to exist, I had to incarnate it personally" — has been busy with projects other than Purple Fashion lately.  He and art director Alex Wiederin have been working together "on Carine Roitfeld's book" — no further details given, and he's also "art directed and designed" the first issue of 31 Rue Cambon, a Chanel magazine — which seems to be in a similar vein as Yves Saint Laurent's Manifesto — to be distributed worldwide in Chanel stores. Featured, of course, are Chanel favorites like Lara Stone, Baptiste Giabiconi, and Freja Beha Erichsen.

>> Adriana Lima Has a Baby Girl —If there was any question of whether Adriana Lima was going to pop up to join Heidi Klum in her hosting duties at Thursday's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show taping, here's your answer: not likely. Lima welcomed her first child, Valentina Lima Jaric, with husband Marko Jaric yesterday in New York City. [People]

>> Soon after Gemma Ward popped up in New York for her 22nd birthday, a spokesperson from her Australian agency Vivens went on record saying of Ward: "Gemma hasn't committed to returning to modelling at any time soon." The comment spurred many to conclude that Ward was permanently done with modeling.

Now, however, Ward herself is speaking out.  She Twittered yesterday: "Thankyou everyone for your support, all i'll say on the subject is im content with my decision but i have said nothing will be permanent."  And she emailed The West Australian to let them know she plans on returning to the catwalk next year: "I have not 'quit modelling' and my fans back home can expect to see me back at work modelling and acting in the new year."

What has she been up to? »

>> Video: More Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Casting Hints —The taping of Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is less than a week away, fittings are well under way — Alessandra Ambrosio has hers today — and twenty models, including the Angels walking, have now been confirmed for the show. According to John Pfeiffer, the show's casting director, there will be about 30 to 35 total models; in the casting video below, Cintia Dicker, Eniko Milhalik, Arlenis Sosa Pena, Bruno Tenorio, Yulia Kharlapanova, and Emina Cunmulaj all make appearances — but who will fill out the rest of the cast? [Victoria's Secret on Facebook]

The video! »

>> Alexander Wang is experiencing quite the winning streak — he was awarded the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund of $200,000 last November, the 2009 CFDA Swarovski Womenswear winner this past June, and now he's taking home the 2009 Swiss Textiles Award, a prize of about $150,000, to go towards international development.  Wang becomes the second American designer in a row to win the Swiss Textiles Award, following after Rodarte, who were the first American winners ever last year.

The jury this year, chaired by Isabel Toledo, apparently had a tough time making a decision — Wang's fellow finalists this year were Peter Pilotto, Erdem, Thakoon, Alexis Mabille, and Ohne Titel, who will each receive a prize of approximately $6,000.

Former winners, Raf Simons, Kate Mulleavy sound off »

>> One week from today, this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will be taping in New York City — so who's stepping foot on the runway?

In addition to nine Angels who are walking (not including Heidi Klum, who just had a baby and is hosting, and Adriana Lima, who is still pregnant), Modelinia has confirmed that Izabel Goulart, Isabeli Fontana, Erin Heatherton, Shannan Click, Caroline Winberg, and Flavia Oliveira are all returning from last year, Caroline Trentini is making her first appearance since the 2006 show, and Lyndsey Scott, Aminata Niaria, Lily Aldridge, Liu Wen (and new Angel Chanel Iman) are all walking for the first time.  Liu's appearance marks the first by an Asian model since Ujjwala Raut walked the 2003 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Also rumored to be filling out the cast are returners Noemie Lenoir, Anne Vyalitsyna, and Ana Beatriz Barros.

>> Bill Blass May Have a New Designer Soon —After the whole Peter Som/bankruptcy debacle which has been ongoing for the past year, Bill Blass may finally be ready to start anew.  Originally, a Spring 2010 collection was supposed to be shown, and Richard Chai's name was thrown around for Blass's new creative director, but neither happened. Now, it sounds like Jeffrey Monteiro, who was design director for Derek Lam before starting his own collection for Fall 2008, may be the man to revive Blass next.  Owner Peacock International Holdings declined comment except to say that news about Blass will come in the next few weeks. [WWD]

>> Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone originally planned on having a very small, two-person wedding at the end of August.  It was never confirmed after the fact, though, and it sounds like that's because it hasn't happened yet.  Jacobs told the Times UK: "We still haven’t fixed the date but Lorenzo and I believe in commitment. We’re quite classic like that. We’ve got the licence, hence the rumours that we’d already got married. So hopefully it will happen in 2010. When it does, it will be very low-key."

Jacobs says that the economy has affected him personally — "I’ve cut back, because my partner Lorenzo and I are buying a house in the West Village in New York" — but it sounds like it hasn't affected Louis Vuitton the way it has Versace, Zac Posen, and Gucci — the former has announced impending layoffs, and cuts are expected to be announced at the latter two. "In terms of what’s selling at Louis Vuitton, the recession hasn’t changed anything . . . our sales are up and I haven’t noticed that people’s tastes have got more subdued. There’s this huge cult following of almost crazy people at Vuitton who just want whatever they buy to be exclusive."

>> Beckham Denies Modeling Agency Plans with Fuller, But Some Aren't Convinced —Earlier this week, British tabloid the Daily Mail was convinced that Victoria Beckham might be involved in Simon Fuller's New York modeling agency plans, but today, her spokesperson says otherwise: "There is absolutely no truth in the story regarding Victoria Beckham and Simon Fuller opening a modelling agency in New York. Victoria is concentrating all her efforts on her fashion line and her family." Deny she may, but some from the London side say that ideas are indeed being batted around between Fuller and Beckham, and model television of some kind is involved . . . he is creator of the Idol franchise, after all. [Vogue UK, The Imagist]