>> INSIDER WIRE —Yesterday, a blind item circulated about a major publication letting their contract with a star photographer near the end without renewal — many drew the conclusion that it might be talking about Steven Meisel, who has photographed every cover of Vogue Italia for almost twenty-one years.  However, a source who seems to know the ins and outs of Meisel — including that he turned down shooting the Missoni, Christian Dior, Max Mara, and DSquared2 campaigns for Fall 2009 because of money, and that he recently shot the Roberto Cavalli campaign in New York with two girls and a boy — says it's not him.  Perhaps it's Annie Leibovitz (Vanity Fair, Vogue) or Mario Testino (Vogue)? [TFS, TFS, TFS]

>> Dan and Dean Caten are in serious self-promotion mode, and seem to be following the Isaac Mizrahi model of radio-TV show one-two punch.  They're following up their supermodel-heavy catfight-themed Spring 2009 ads with a Fall 2009 set, just shot in London, featuring Lara Stone and themselves — “We’re all about self-promotion now; we’re celebrities in our own right,” Dean semi-joked.

The duo just wrapped taping on a new show for Bravo, Launch My Line, a fashion competition series for which they perform hosting and judging duties.  The premise follows 10 fashion designers paired with pop-culture notables who all want to launch their own clothing line.  They told Teen Vogue:

Dan and Dean are getting real in America! We think it's a way for the American market to learn who we are as designers — now, for the first time, they'll be able to see us and hear us. Most people here think DSquared2 is all about jeans and T-shirts. Yes, that's our bread and butter . . . but we can cut a beautiful jacket, too!

They have a new radio show, too »

>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —Take Prada Fall 2008, add a dash of Yves Saint Laurent Fall 2008 and you've got a supermodel cocktail for Dsquared2's Spring 2009 campaign — Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista captured in an epic catfight by Steven Meisel, echoing the supermodel theme Dean and Dan Caten had going for their runway show. [Models.com] 

>> A LITTLE TURN ON THE CATWALK —There have been Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell sightings aplenty in this supermodel revival season, but this morning's Charlie's Angels-themed Dsquared2 Spring 2009 show brought a trio of another kind — Esther Canadas, Fernanda Tavares and Nadege du Bospertus — to open the show together and close one after another. [WWD]

*images: source