>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —Hedi Slimane partnered up with Prada to shoot their Spring 2009 menswear campaign, and it sounds like he's been hired again.  He was spotted scouting at Coachella last month — which is a normal practice of his — but now, word is he had a specific client in mind: Prada. [COACD Twitter]

>> Crowds will always flock to Indio for Coachella, and over the weekend, the fashion flock was well-represented. Agyness Deyn was photographed mid-smooch, confirming speculation that she has moved on from ex-fiance Albert Hammond, Jr. with Phantom Planet's Alex Greenwald and cementing her status as another British model with a thing for musicians.  

Henry Holland, in town to pal around with Agy and see the shows, spotted Hedi Slimane "wandering around with a camera in all black."  Yesterday morning, Slimane was still in town, scouting and taking breakfast at the newly-opened Ace Hotel in nearby Palm Springs.  Also going down at the Ace over the weekend, a New York Times fashion shoot with photographer Sebastian Kim, which must be for an upcoming T magazine. 

Alexander Wang, in LA to launch his shop-in-shop for Opening Ceremony that will feature exclusive merchandise involving fur and exotic skins starting in the Fall, hit Coachella in a Land Rover with Zoe Kravitz; Jeremy Scott and Daisy Lowe also made festival appearances.
*image: WENN.com

>> INSIDER WIRE —There's still hope for comebacks — Hedi Slimane, who spends his days curating and photographing now, hasn't ruled a return to fashion out. "It is an interesting time now to observe and see how design — and the rules of the industry around [it] — will evolve and eventually transform."  And although Jil Sander couldn't be reached for comment, rumors of her return have resurfaced, fueled by an appearance at last month's Premiere Vision fabric fair.  Now, what about Helmut Lang? [WWD, WWD]
*image: source

>> In a game of whose-video-profile-will-air-first, Carine Roitfeld has Anna Wintour beat.  The CNN camera crews have been following her around during Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks, and the resulting profile premieres next Wednesday, March 18 at 4:30 am EST (and will re-air at 1:30 pm EST the same day, as well as in the days following).  Even though Paris Fashion Week isn't finished yet, there's already a short, 30-second teaser available, featuring interviews with Karl Lagerfeld, Hedi Slimane, Marc Jacobs, and Mario Testino, plus a taste of a photoshoot Carine directs with Patrick Demarchelier.

Video: first look! »

>> Vogue Paris's most recent issue brought us Terry Richardon's pinup-laden 2009 calendar, and as rumored, come February we will indeed be seeing a whole lotta Lara Stone — 100-plus pages worth.

A couple of weeks ago at the Vogue Paris calendar launch party, Carine Roitfeld spilled all kinds of details about what we have to look forward to: "February is an entire issue with Lara Stone and the cover line is Et Vogue Créa Lara."  The influence is Roger Vadim's 1956 Brigitte Bardot classic Et Dieu . . . créa la femme — Lara has often garned Bardot comparisons — and will include shoots by Inez van Lamsweerde, Peter Lindbergh, Hedi Slimane, Nan Goldin, and Steven Klein.

Granted, Lara is known to be one of Carine's favorite models, but fans are just happy to hear Lara speak, so why an entire issue?  "Lara had almost stopped working so I decided I wanted to make her a star," the VP editor explained.
*image: source

>> Hedi Slimane has been plenty coy about his whereabouts and doings since he left Dior Homme in July 2007, but there's been one constant: his photography.  Until now, he's been working for Vogue Paris, V, and such without representation, but now, confirming last month's rumors, he's been exclusively signed by IMG-owned management agency Art + Commerce.

Such a move indicates that Hedi is moving full-steam ahead with his photography, leaving his designing to be a thing of the past, since Art + Commerce represents photographers, hairstylists, makeup artists, stylists, illustrators, even art directors — but not designers.  Or maybe he's just doing things the Tom Ford way — leaving design on bad terms for another career, only to come back a few years later with his own successful label.  Regardless, what a coup for Art + Commerce — I guess this could have been one of those options he has been so surreptitiously considering.
*image: source

>> INSIDER WIRE —Rumors are circling that Art + Commerce — the agency which represents the likes of Craig McDean, Steven Meisel, and Solve Sundsbo — is making a move to sign Hedi Slimane as a photographer.  Until now, he's worked without representation: Does this mean Hedi has officially traded clothing design for photography as his career of choice? [TI]

>> INSIDER WIRE —Hedi Slimane is still playing coy about his return to fashion designerdom, but he does expects it to happen one of these days: "But it has to be right, the right project." He also confirmed that all the swirling rumors about him "in talks" about starting his own label are true: "I didn't want to deal with that for a while, but now [over the last] six months I'm considering options."  With whom? Again with the coyness: "It's a secret." Sounds like the talks may still be in progress. Intrigue . . . [WWD]

»Is Dior Homme trying to get Hedi Slimane back? [Fashionista]

»Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's boyf Magnus Berger has a new magazine, The Last, out in September [FWD]

»Agyness Deyn recorded her first single, was snapped holding hands with The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. [Chic Report, Just Jared]

»Alana Zimmer, Behati Prinsloo, and Rachel Clark went to an S&M festival last Sunday [Supreme Being]

»Gerard Darel replaced Charlotte Gainsbourg, who has been their face since 2003, with Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer for their Fall 2008 campaign [WWD]

»Naomi Campbell wore the same dress to Nelson Mandela's birthday dinner that Stephanie Seymour wore to the Costume Institute Gala [FabSugar]

»Full Giambattista Valli, Balenciaga Resort 2009 collections [Style.com, Style.com]