>> Lily Cole's first film on the major stage, Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which also happens to have been Heath Ledger's last film due to his untimely death, premiered today at the Cannes Film Festival.  So far, the critical reaction has been less than flattering — the Guardian called the film "an awful mess," and Entertainmently Weekly agreed: "The plot's a mess of disconnected episodes, and the circus-y visual style adds to a feeling of . . . quiet desperation."

Some were more hopeful — Variety wrote that Gilliam "made a pretty good thing out of a very bad situation" and the Hollywood Reporter pointed out that "the combined star power involved [Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell] will generate a plentiful box office return but the film is not intelligent enough nor silly or grotesque enough to become a lasting favorite."

As for Cole's performance as 16-year-old love interest Valentina, Variety was positive — "Cole nicely hold necessarily caricatured work in check" and the Times UK effulgent: "The revelation is Lily Cole, who is mesmerising as the teenage siren, Valentina. It's her tangos with the various [men] that keep us focused on the romance."

At a press conference this morning, Lily described working with Depp, Law, and Farrell as replacement actors for Ledger as "weird and difficult. You're mourning somebody but at the same time you're immediately going back to work. It's such an unusual environment where you're presented with actors who are playing reminders of that character and that person."

Natasha Poly and Noemie Lenoir joined Lily at the premiere; The film does not yet have a US release date, but is scheduled to open in European theaters this Fall.

>> This evening's amfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala in Cannes promised the appearances of chairs Donatella Versace and Carine Roitfeld, and it more than delivered.  Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who are hosting their annual blowout tomorrow night, have officially docked their "mirrored floating disco" yacht, according to T's Stefano Tonchi, and joined in on the fun.  Natasha Poly, who needed the help of two women to get into her Cavalli gown yesterday, reappeared in a leopard dress.  Claudia Schiffer made her first red carpet appearance of the festival.  And Carine Roitfeld made the rounds, stopping to chat with Twilight's Robert Pattinson.

>> Last night, editors and models alike gathered at Cipriani to simultaneously launch Fashion Week — officially — and benefit one of fashion's favorite causes: AIDS research foundation amfAR. Anna Wintour presented and Donna Karan received an award for her contribution to amfAR's mission; Lara Stone, Caroline Winberg, Jessica Stam, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Lily Donaldson, and Anja Rubik (with boyfriend Sasha Knezevic) all got gussied up and came along for the ride. Afterward, there was a mass migration to Rose Bar, where they were joined by Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and Giovanna Battaglia for a little enjoyment of the calm before the storm.
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>> After weeks of speculation, we got our answers.  As rumored, Izabel Goulart is no longer a Victoria's Secret Angel — there is speculation that she broke her contract to work for Emporio Armani and Armani Exchange — but she, along with the Angels and 26 other non-Angel models, taped the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Miami on Saturday.  There were a few casting surprises — no Asian models?; some disappointments — no Natasha Poly or Jessica Stam; and lots of newcomers — Arlenis Sosa Pena, Sarah Stephens, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Sessilee Lopez, Clara Alonso, Edita Vilkeviciute, Erin Heatherton, and even Lara Stone made it after all.  Broken glass catwalk aside, Maryna Linchuk had a stellar outing — many have their bets on a Angel contract for her in the future — and Doutzen Kroes cozied up to boyfriend DJ Ruckus at the after-party.  All in all, enough party to hold us over until the show airs Dec. 3.        
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>> As the Victoria's Secret yacht rolled into Miami and the girls had a beach photoshoot today, we got to see of the 30 non-Angel faces that will be participating in this weekend's fashion show — 19 of them, to be exact.  No sign of Lara Stone, Jessica Stam, or Natasha Poly, but after missing yesterday's event, Izabel Goulart is there.  There are plenty of new faces — Abbey Lee Kershaw and Sarah Stephens represent Australia, Arlenis Sosa Pena the Dominican Republic, Maryna Linchuk Belarus, and Erin Heatherton the US.
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>> Good news: that July 2008 Vogue Italia?  It's still resounding — and not just on the covers of other magazines.  Today, one of the Vogue Italia stars, Tyra Banks, taped an episode of The Tyra Banks Show on West 26th Street in New York celebrating black models of the past and present in honor of the Vogue Italia "Black Issue." Joining her and voicing first-hand accounts of their industry experience were Chanel Iman, Beverly Johnson, Noemie Lenoir, and Pat Cleveland.  I'm not usually a big fan of the show, but this episode — which airs Sept. 11 — I will have to watch.
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>> This morning, the July 2008 Vogue Italia hit stands, and we've got the scans to prove it.  The magazine features an 11-page spread, "Elegance as a Form," with Yasmin Warsame and devotes 9 pages to America's Next Top Model alum Toccara Jones in addition to the two editorials we've already seen: Naomi Campbell's 9-page luxe spread and the 25-page ode to new girl Sessilee Lopez.

But I saved the best for last: "Modern Luxe" by Steven Meisel, spanning 15 pages, and featuring everyone from Noemie Lenoir to Kiara Kabukuru to Jourdan Dunn.

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