>> Back in October, Giorgio Armani didn't seem very keen on pulling a Valentino and retiring — especially since he had no heir in line — but at 74, he's still looking into other contigency plans for his privately-owned label.  In fact, odd as it may seem, he explored — unsuccessfully — a merger with Hermes, in hopes to unite the companies’ strengths in clothes and accessories.  If it had gone through, he maintains, the deal “could have been something fantastic. Hermes has such class, such prestige.”  The dealbreaker, according to Armani, was that there were too many Hermes family shareholders to reach an agreement.

The alternatives left include going public with a stock market listing — which Armani ruled out, and acquisition offers from other bigger companies, which Armani has so far turned down.  As for an heir, he's still looking, but without much success: "If I’m no longer the one that takes a bow at the end of the fashion show, then we’ll find another solution, though it’s hard to imagine what that might be.  I keep trying to find people who can do things for me. In the end I am always the one who does them.”  In the meantime, he's giving more responsibility to his relatives — niece Roberta Armani handles celebrity relations for the company, and nephew Andrea Camarena sits on the board and runs marketing and licensing.
*image: source

>> Yves Saint Laurent may have passed and Valentino retired, but of that generation of design masters, Giorgio Armani joins Karl Lagerfeld in the not-going-anywhere category.

On Friday, the 74-year-old designer told Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore he doesn't have a contigency plan in place because he still makes all the decisions: "I have never posed myself the problem, looking at the pros and cons . . . I have not picked my 'heir'. Touch wood, we're not talking about it [but] an organization that is so precise could easily survive me."

If the takeover ever does happen, Armani acknowledges that it will have to be a clean cut: "It is painful but you need to have the courage that — once it is done — not to have any claims over it. In the case of reaching a certain age or the market needing a radical change in style, it is extremely difficult for someone who created a company to detach themselves from it."

The full detachment is necessary, Armani says, because it's hard enough as is for a designer to take over from an "untouchable icon" of fashion: "The founder is linked to the brand and represents its style.  When it comes to replacing the founder there is always a doubt as to whether to change the style.  The young designers have all the talent that is needed but in a system made up of only 'untouchable icons' that cut off all oxygen, you can also die."

Sounds like he doesn't want what happened with Alessandra Facchinetti at Valentino to happen at Armani.
*image: source

»Gemma Ward's movie The Black Balloon is coming to "key US cities" in October [Variety]

»Bee Shaffer works out with a trainer at Equinox Soho [FWD]

»Diane von Furstenberg is using Andy Warhol prints in a capsule collection of swimsuits and coverups [Fashionista]

»Giorgio Armani has set off the animal rights activists in Italy [The Cut]

»Vogue Paris and Vogue UK like to use the same cover models, front and back [Fashionista]

»Derek Lam, Tod's still love Gwyneth Paltrow [PopSugar]

»Grey Ant, Spring & Clifton collaborate with Urban Outfitters [Nylon, Flickr]

»Behati Prinsloo shops where she's paid [FAD]

»Cindy Crawford hung on a yacht with George Clooney, her husband, and Bono in the south of France this weekend [PopSugar]

>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —Carrying on her reign at Giorgio Armani —she appeared in the brand's Pre-Fall 2008 ads — Du Juan is joined by Jessica Stam in a dark, blunt crop for Fall 2008.  The dark, moody photos were shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, but look very inspired by Paolo Roversi, rather than like their normal crisp, color-saturated fare. [TFS]

After receiving his Legion D'Honneur Award; Paris, July 3.

*image: source

»After three days of packing for couture, Sean Avery learned he had to stay put in New York because of contract negotiations with the Rangers [Style File]

»Subliminal message? Agyness Deyn has "food" written on her shoe [Jezebel]

»Hussein Chalayan is producing his first shoe range for Fall 2009 [Vogue UK]

»Videos of Fall 2008 Armani Prive and Chanel Couture [Telegraph UK, Telegraph UK]

»IMG Models has a tribute to Ruslana Korshunova on their homepage [Chic Report]

»Alber Elbaz held a launch party for his Lanvin denim line with Acne Jeans last night [FabSugar, FWD]

»This year's Glastonbury fashion, with Lily Cole and more [Style.com]

»A look at Azzaro Resort 2009 [WWD]

»The hair extension Kate Moss lost a couple of weeks ago is now being auctioned on eBay [BellaSugar]

»Behnaz Sarafpour is celebrating her first wedding anniversary with a trip to Bermuda [Style File]

»Hye Rim Park is rumored to have gotten married last month [TFS]

»Lazaro Hernandez wigged out at his birthday party on Thursday [Style File]

»More previews of Eva Herzigova for Louis Vuitton, Claudia Schiffer for Chanel Fall 2008 campaigns [TFS, TFS]

»More preview pictures of Richard Chai for Target [Nylon]

»Two Yves Saint Laurent documentaries are being shown this weekend on the Sundance Channel [LA Times]

»Full Jill Stuart, Giorgio Armani Resort 2009 collections, previews of John Galliano and Viktor & Rolf Resort 2009 collections [Style.com, Style.com, WWD, WWD]