>> The shakeups at Elle just keep on coming.  Ever since creative director Joe Zee joined the team in January 2007, former longtime creative director Gilles Bensimon has seen his role at the magazine majorly diminished — his title changed to international creative director, his name moved from top of the masthead to the bottom.

He usually sits with the Elle team during Fashion Month, but during New York Fashion Week, he was a no-show due to a "top-secret project" in Paris.  He also didn't show at Elle's Women in Hollywood Awards Monday, and he has only photographed three out of the eleven Elle cover stories this year — compared to going twelve for twelve last year.

It comes as no surprised that Gilles would want to get out — and Nina Garcia may be just the woman to help him.  His contract with Elle expires at the end of the year, so it's the perfect time for him to make his move.  Rumors started flying when he arrived at the Chanel show last week in a towncar with Nina, his former colleague, who is now trying to increase fashion coverage in her new position as fashion director at Marie Claire.  Is Nina wooing Gilles, who used to be Elle's go-to celebrity photographer, to Marie Claire?  That is the allegation . . .
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>> This week's New York Magazine profile exploring the inner workings of Elle has editor-in-chief Roberta Myers less than pleased.

The article, written by former Jezebel editor and current Gawker employee Maureen "Moe" Tkacik, tends to portray current Elle employees like Myers, international creative director Gilles Bensimon, creative director Joe Zee, and fashion news director Anne Slowey in a less positive light than former fashion director Nina Garcia.  At one point, Tkacik writes that Myers had a "lack of jurisdiction over the fashion department," and at another point she reports on the power struggle between Gilles Bensimon and Myers:

Bensimon wanted little to do with [Myers]. In photos from the rare occasions they would attend shows together, his expression is dour. He saw Myers as ambitious, insecure and overly American; she saw him as an overpaid, out-of-control spendthrift who was losing his touch.

[break]Myers tells WWD what she really thinks about Gilles Bensimon »[/break]

WWD points out that although Tkacik did speak to Myers, none of her quotes were included in the piece, nor were on-the-record comments from Joe Zee, Gilles Bensimon, or a Hachette Filipacchi spokesperson.  The only explanation offered was in the article: "Although numerous principals and insiders were interviewed for this piece, few wanted to have their names associated with a story about the inner workings of their current or former place of employment."

In response to the article, Roberta Myers told WWD that she was disappointed with the quality of reporting:

I strongly believe that if any reporter anywhere is going to write about why somebody did something they should have asked that person. That story is full of quotes about why I did what I did, how could they possibly know why I did anything or what motivated me to do anything in my job, unless they ask me? Even if someone else where to speculate about why I did something, the fact that nobody called me even to fact check it is egregious.

She also said that she had "nothing but admiration and respect" for Gilles Bensimon. 

The story may be slightly skewed towards Nina Garcia, but this is not the first story hinting at power struggles between Roberta Myers and Gilles Bensimon.
*image: source