Katherine Ross

>> Balenciaga is amping up its presence in the US, an important market for the house, with the hire of Katherine Ross — "known for her brainy approach and art-world ties during stints at Prada and LVMH," WWD reports — as consultant.

While Nicolas Ghesquiere said he and Ross have no concrete plans yet, he hopes to do more events or special projects that could have artistic or historical angles stateside: “I’m questioning if there is a new way of communicating about a fashion brand. It could be an art proposal, it could be a movie. [The scope] is very open, very large.”

Ross echoed: “Balenciaga is poised for significant growth and increased recognition in the U.S.” When prompted on whether that meant Balenciaga might return to the New York runways, Ghesquiere said, "Why not," but stressed that for now, he's staying on the Paris show calendar. Fashionista suggests that he might be more open to showing a Resort collection in New York, like Stefano Pilati did with Yves Saint Laurent last Resort season, than a Spring/Summer or Fall/Winter main collection.

>> The September 2008 issue of Vanity Fair may not have given us the supermodel cover we were hoping for, but in exchange, it does give us the annual International Best-Dressed List.  The fashion industry was well-repped, with designers (Karl Lagerfeld, Stacey Bendet), models (Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Christy Turlington), editors (Carine Roitfeld, Alexandra Kotur), and even a muse or two (Tilda Swinton, Iris Apfel, Fran Lebowitz) all making the cut. 

But perhaps even more fun than perusing the list is browsing the quippy reasons Vanity Fair gave for picking each person.  A choice few, below:

Alexandra Kotur, Vogue style director, "Because [she's a] Kotur de force."

Carine Roitfeld, "Because she's the rogue editor-in-chief."

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy "Because we like her French twist."

Christy Turlington, "Because she put the chic in sirshasana."

Fran Lebowitz, 2008 Hall of Fame inductee.

Iris Apfel, "Because she's the Apfel of our eye."

Karl Lagerfeld, "Because the Kaiser is wiser."

Katherine Ross, Senior VP, communications, for LVMH North America, "Because she turns the heat on in Vuitton."

Lapo Elkann, "Because he's in the Lapo of luxury."

Stacey Bendet, "Because she's Ms. Fancy-Pants."

Tilda Swinton, "Because she's a great Scot."

*image: source