>> New York Fashion Week is less than a week away, and the tidbits are flowing freely — a compilation of the highlights from the past couple of days:

Double (or Triple) Duty Presentations

• Gareth Pugh confirmed that he will be showing a video directed by Ruth Hogben on Sept. 13 to "set the mood for [his] catwalk show that will take place as usual in Paris." After the private showing, he'll screen the short film in public nearby — get your name on the guest list via MAC's Facebook page. [Style File]
• Temperley London is taking their interactive Spring 2010 multimedia presentation on the road for the second time, starting in New York Sept. 15 before evolving in format for London Fashion Week and then again in Paris, where it will become an exhibit.  The film aspect, plus stills and a behind-the-scenes cut will be readily available online on Temperley's new website.

First look at Yoko Ono for threeASFOUR, and Karl Lagerfeld's attendance status answered »

>> INSIDER WIRE —Carine Roitfeld dedicated the entire February 2009 issue of Vogue Paris to Lara Stone, and now it sounds like an upcoming issue of Vogue Paris will be dedicated to Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin — they are photographing the entire thing, cover to cover.  Recent rumors have placed the duo shooting Jacquetta Wheeler with Shalom Harlow and Sessilee Lopez with "the fastest rising new Asian star on the scene" and a recent VP cover girl for the magazine — perhaps it's all for this issue? [TFS, The Imagist, The Imagist]

>> INSIDER WIRE —Hamish Bowles, who accompanied Marisa Bensen to Monday's Costume Institute Gala, crowned Shalom Harlow his favorite of the night and in the meantime set the record straight on her showstopper of an outfit: "the golden apple would have to be presented to Shalom Harlow, wearing a billowing black taffeta domino created by Bob Mackie in the eighties, over Olivier Theyskens’s black and scarlet beaded catsuit for [Nina] Ricci." [The Hamishsphere]

>> Despite all the drama before and after, the Costume Institute Gala itself furnished plenty of notable and quotable moments; for those who were wondering, Carine Roitfeld did attend, even though it was reported that Julia Restoin-Roitfeld would not.

Gisele Bundchen pulled out of John Galliano's table at the last minute, choosing to ride in with the Versace camp instead; it sounds like she might be returning as the label's Fall 2009 face — the New York Times reports that her custom Versace dress "was conceived while she was modeling for [Donatella’s] next ad campaign." Helena Christensen, meanwhile, joked of her Zac Posen dress, which read "Vogue," the V formed by a plunging neckline: “It’s so I can remember whose party I’m at."

And while Kate Moss was on hostess duty (and presumably her best behavior) for Anna Wintour, she still managed to be herself, pulling a big wad of gum out of her mouth when asked about being a muse: “I’m amused.  I think it’s quite interesting for somebody to go outside of the box and think that a model actually has had some input into fashion. A lot of the time, the models don’t really get a say.”

But they do have a bathroom fascination »

>> INSIDER WIRE —Television's fascination with all things fashion continues — MTV is said to be reviving House of Style, the '90s show that focused on all things fashion and was hosted by Cindy Crawford, Amber Valletta, and Shalom Harlow throughout its 11-year run.  Contracts have gone out to Bar Rafaeli and Chanel Iman — maybe her ChanelImanTV channel was a tryout? — but neither has officially signed on yet.  If one falls through, Coco Rocha would be an entertaining option, as her Style.com videos prove. [Page Six]
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>> Hints at the 2009 Costume Institute Gala theme have been swirling since May — first, it was thought to be an ode to Marc Jacobs, and then an ode to fashion muses.  Now that the official announcement has come out, we learn that both subjects are involved, just not quite in the way that was originally thought: the May 4 gala rings in "The Model as Muse," with Marc Jacobs as honorary chair, and Kate Moss, Anna Wintour, and Justin Timberlake as co-chairs.

The accompanying exhibit, which runs May 6 to Aug. 9, will explore the evolution of models and "their roles in projecting and sometimes inspiring the fashion of their respective eras," with special focus on one of the first publicly known models, Marion Morehouse; the first supermodel, Lisa Fonssagrives; fifties mannequins Suzy Parker, Dovima, Sunny Harnett, and Dorian Leigh; sixties icons Jean Shrimpton, Moffitt, Twiggy, and Veruschka; Seventies faces Jerry Hall, Iman, and Janice Dickinson; the supermodel trinity of Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell; Nineties “It” girls Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Nadja Auermann, and Shalom Harlow; and more recently, Gisele Bundchen.

As Harold Koda, curator of the Costume Institute, explained: "We look at the power of clothing, fashion photography and the model to project the look of an era. With a mere gesture, or the line of her body, a truly stellar model can sum up the attitude of her time, creating an alluring synergy between herself and the clothing to communicate a designer’s message to the wider world."

Seventy haute couture and ready-to-wear looks, plus photography, runway images, and video footage of models, rock stars, socialites and actresses who set the tone for each era will emphasize the theme, but most exciting of all — think of all the models who will be representing at the gala.
*image: source

>> Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren may have nixed their Spring 2009 runway show in favor of an online fashion film, but the new virtual presentation — online now — was quite an ordeal in its own.  As the only model in the seven-minute film, Shalom had to act as fit model and then afterwards walk the 70-foot runway five times in each of the 20 looks, allowing the cameras to capture all the necessary angles.  To compensate for the two 14-hour days in high heels the work required, Viktor & Rolf had a foot masseur on set to keep Shalom on her feet.

The film opens with Shalom running in and proclaiming, in the words of Audrey Hepburn's Funny Face character, that she's late for the show.  But Funny Face theme aside, the collection is pure Viktor & Rolf — theatrical (also perhaps less so than past collections), full of ruffles, and bold — not to mention those three dresses embroidered with 20,000 Swarovski crystals each, which weigh in at about 44 pounds per dress.
*image: source

>> THE MODELIZER —Viktor & Rolf have been longtime fans of Shalom Harlow — they used a huge print of her face as the backdrop for their Spring 2008 show, after all — and now, a year later, they've chosen her to be the one and only star of their online Spring 2009 show Oct. 2.  She is scheduled to shoot all the looks in the Funny Face-themed collection early next week. [WWD]