blowing the cover

>> Late last week, Katie Grand previewed LOVE's upcoming Spring 2011 Androgyny Issue, out Feb. 7. The issue's muse, she said, was her "new best friend," transgender model Lea T., and it was apparently love at first sight: "I was by the pool at the Copacabana Palace Hotel when I saw her. At first I didn't notice her gender, just that she was wearing Givenchy couture and looked amazing!" Lea T., Kate Moss, and Justin Bieber are the new issue's cover stars; Bieber was shot by Terry Richardson in a tight 90 minute slot between gigs in Philadelphia, and Lea T. and Kate Moss are shown locked in a kiss, left. [Telegraph UK, SHOWstudio, @THELOVEMAGAZINE]

>> Vogue is known for drawing most of its cover choices from a select group of actresses — think Anne Hathaway, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Blake Lively as of late — but it sounds like they're aiming to switch things up in the upcoming months. Lady Gaga is heavily rumored to be on the magazine's March 2011 cover, there's a rumor that Kristen Stewart is fronting the February 2011 cover, and last night, Rihanna Tweeted (the Tweet has since been taken down): "Just wrapped my first American Vogue cover shoot with Annie Leibovitz...Rah! #SEXY." [@rihanna, @sara_mail]

>> Back at the end of October, Catherine McNeil's agency sent out pictures of her hair cropped and dyed black, but that look is nowhere to be seen on her latest cover turn, for Vogue Australia's February 2011 issue. McNeil is a cover favorite for the magazine — she last appeared on Vogue Australia's September 2010 cover — making this one her second in six months.  [TFS]

>> Vogue got the exclusive on the first photos of Tom Ford's womenswear collection in its December 2010 issue, but Vogue Paris is putting Ford on its December 2010/January 2011 cover. Ford is the magazine's holiday issue guest editor this year — in past years, it's been Sofia Coppola or John Galliano — and it was rumored a couple of months ago that some of the photos Terry Richardson took at Ford's womenswear debut were an exclusive for the issue. This is not the first time Ford has appeared on the cover of an issue he's guest edited — he was flanked by Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson on Vanity Fair's March 2006 cover — and according to Roitfeld, this time, too, Ford will not be solo on the cover. [WWD]

>> Rumors popped up last week that Lady Gaga is set to shoot the March 2011 Vogue cover overseas with Mario Testino later this month, despite the fact that Anna Wintour complained on national television in September that Gaga, who was to perform, held up the Costume Institute Gala. But when asked last night at the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund gala if the cover rumors were true, Wintour replied: "We never talk about our future covers, but I’m a great fan of Lady Gaga’s so ... [changes topic] All the finalists are here!” [The Cut]

>> The power of a Riccardo Tisci plug: after appearing in Givenchy's Fall 2010 campaign, Tisci's longtime personal assistant and former fit model Lea T scored editorial coverage in Vogue Paris, Interview, and Hercules, but that was just the beginning. The transgender model, who is repped by Women Milan, has now graduated to covers: she's on the new Lurve cover, wearing Givenchy couture, and it's rumored that Katie Grand styled her for a Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott-snapped LOVE cover last week. [Models.com, @GB65]

>> Lady Gaga has appeared in Vogue before — in the December 2009 issue, she played the witch in a Hansel and Gretel spread, and Grace Coddington, who styled the shoot, said Gaga arrived on set "stark naked except for her white rubber raincoat and some very, very high heels!” Now, it's rumored that she scored the magazine's cover — for the second biggest issue of the year, March 2011. Will she wear Armani? [Fashionista]

>> Industrie's first cover featured Anna Wintour, and the follow-up issue has Marc Jacobs as "Mrs Jacobs," styled by Katie Grand in her personal archive of his designs and captured by Patrick Demarchelier. At the shoot, Grand says, "Marc pulled on one of the coats, put his hand in the pocket and found a Louis Vuitton Murakami phone charm that I must have been carrying the last time I wore it. He gave me a funny look and said, 'I’m actually wearing your clothes. This feels a bit weird.'” [BOF]

>> Newcomer Daphne Groeneveld was widely reported by a number of reputable sources to have scored Vogue Paris's November 2010 cover, but it seems that Carine Roitfeld changed her mind. Givenchy has long been a favorite at the magazine, so much so that Natasha Poly, who opened Tisci's Spring 2011 lineup, is back in the show's bleached eyebrows and tightly-braided minipigtails on the Vogue Paris November 2010 cover, as captured by Mario Sorrenti. The shoot went down earlier this month — we wonder if it happened right after the show? [Women Management]