>> Tom Ford's A Single Man to Premiere Sept. 11 at Venice Film Festival —After much anticipation, Tom Ford's directorial debut, A Single Man, has received a big vote of confidence; it was chosen to compete at the Venice Film Festival, where it will simultaneously have its world premiere on Sept. 11.  The film's costumes were done by Arianne Phillips and its production design by the same group that does Mad Men; Ford called the film's selection to the festival "a great honor." [WWD]

>> BLOWING THE COVER —W Magazine is ringing in the new year with a model on the cover of their January 2009 issue — Christy Turlington — but don't expect it to be a trend.  Arianne Phillips — who just finished costuming Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man — is headed to Rio de Janeiro later this week to shoot an upcoming W cover with Madonna and Steven Klein.  Their last collaboration produced the iconic 2006 Equus-inspired shoot, so hopefully this round will be just as picturesque — and will probably include more Louis Vuitton. [Hint, Made in Brazil, TFS]

>> INSIDER WIRE —Tom Ford has added two more to the Julianne Moore, Colin Firth and Matthew Goode trifecta for his directorial debut A Single Man — Ginnifer Goodwin will play Mrs. Strunk, a suburban mom who doesn't share her husband's dislike of their gay professor neighbor (Firth), and Nicholas Hoult will play Kenny, a sexually ambiguous grad student who shows an unusual interest in Firth's character.  Ford, meanwhile, will not be doing the movies' costumes: Arianne Phillips, Madonna's stylist and Oscar nominee for Walk the Line, will take care of that. [Reuters, Fashionista]
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