>> McKinsey is in its second-to-last week of its three-month examination of the workings of Conde Nast, and the New York Observer reports that in the last few days, Conde executives, under the direction of McKinsey, asked a number of magazines — of which Teen Vogue is believed to be among — to cut their budget next year by roughly 25 percent.  It's unclear if Vogue or W will be similarly instructed.

According to sources, top brass is not being specific about how the cuts should be made, but potential options could be diminishing expenses, doing away with freelance, reducing magazine frequency, or layoffs. Conde CEO Chuck Townsend told the Observer a few weeks ago: “I can boil what I say to editors and publishers down to the simplest statement in the world and that is: You, not me, you have a responsibility to run this business in a responsible way. It’s your responsibility. I want to see your proposal of how you’re going to do it.”

Is folding a possibility? »

>> T's Karla Martinez to Interview; Teen Vogue's Taylor Tomasi to Marie Claire? —Back in July, it was rumored that T editor Stefano Tonchi might be jumping ship to Vogue, but it's his market director, Karla Martinez, who is confirmed to be leaving the recently downsized magazine for a market director position at Interview.  Meanwhile, Teen Vogue's accessories director Taylor Tomasi, who has accumulated a style following, is said to be leaving the magazine for Marie Claire and the magazine's fashion director Nina Garcia, the latter who just happened to film for an episode of the CW's upcoming The Beautiful Life (Zac Posen is in the series premiere). [FWD, Fashionista]

>> Stephanie Seymour is contributing fashion editor at Interview, Cindy Crawford blogged about the environment for Vanity Fair, Naomi Campbell is a contributing editor at British GQ, and now Marie Claire has tapped Christy Turlington as contributing editor — it's funny how supermodels have moved from solely being in editorials to also doing editorial.

Christy, who is currently enrolled at Columbia University for a master's course on public health, will collaborate with the magazine's writers on a column — to appear in the magazine every two to three months — covering such subjects as politics, mothers around the world, and her travels for humanitarian causes.  Her first piece, "Fighting for Mothers," describes her trek to Washington, DC to push for a Senate resolution on maternal health and appears in the December 2008 issue of Marie Claire.

The new gig likely came from all her public support — after Marie Claire ran a piece by Christy in March about mother's health, editor-in-chief Joanna Coles says she got a "ton" of fan letters from readers.
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>> INSIDER WIRE —After juggling four weeks of fashion shows in her new position as Marie Claire fashion director, Nina Garcia was spotted juggling her one year-old son, Lucas Conrod, in LA this week.  Besides trading in fashion for family, she's also switched from staggering heels and tailored dresses to ripped jeans and flats for the occasion. [Perez Hilton]

>> 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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>> It's unofficially official: Nina Garcia will join Marie Claire as fashion director in September, just in time for the Spring 2009 fashion weeks.  This confirms the rumors of a Garcia offer at MC, as well as the departure of former Marie Claire fashion director Tracy Taylor.

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