>> In February, it was announced that Marc Jacobs was being investigated for allegedly bribing a New York state employee.  It came to light that Jacobs might have been paying and gifting the employee to secure his traditional fashion show spot, the Armory, which he had an exclusive deal with to keep other designers from showing there during Fashion Week.

Today, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says Jacobs's company, Marc Jacobs International, has agreed to pay a $1 million settlement; Neither Jacobs nor his company will face formal charges in the scandal.  As part of the settlement, Marc has agreed to retain a private monitoring agency for two years that will review operations and report to the attorney general.

No word on whether Marc Jacobs's show producers, KCD, who were also being investigated as the intermediaries between Jacobs and the state employee, will also have to settle.
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>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —Louis Vuitton doesn't appear to be hurting — word is they've shelled out $10 million for Madonna to be the face of the Spring 2009 collection, as captured by Steven Meisel.  The shoot appears to have gone down last Friday: Marc Jacobs was spotted in LA last Thursday, reports came that it all went down the next day at Cafe Figaro in LA, and Madonna was photographed Friday looking like she had just come from a photoshoot.  One thing's for sure: all those months of carrying that Richard Prince Louis Vuitton bag have paid off for Madonna big time. [Page Six]

>> INSIDER WIRE —Marc Jacobs doesn't seem the jealous type, but hopefully he's not — his former fling, porn star Erik Rhodes, was spotted chatting with the designer's current boyfriend Lorenzo Martone Friday night at Mr. Black.  Maybe they're all "just friends." [FWD]

>> Intrigue is afoot.  While we wait to see who bagged the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show — and it's not Raquel Zimmermann, who is in Venice, shooting the Marc Jacobs Spring 2009 campaign with Juergen Teller instead — the Angels made a store appearance today in Miami.  Izabel Goulart was noticeably missing, and Behati Prinsloo, who also has a VS contract, but mostly works with the company's PINK line, was there in her stead.  Is Izabel no longer an Angel?  There have been rumors about her leaving . . . And is Behati about to get a promotion?

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>> INSIDER WIRE —Is Louis Vuitton reviving the iconic Stephen Sprouse graffiti bags early next year?  Samples of the originals are being called in from various magazines, and Marc Jacobs is creating a new collection for Louis Vuitton, inspired by the original 2001 Sprouse collaboration, that will coincide with a retrospective Sprouse exhibition and be available when the exhibit opens on Jan. 9, 2009. [Fashionista]

>> Daisy Lowe was recently hailed as a model who could bring the death of size zero, and designers seem to be falling into place — either that, or they're latching onto her it-girl status, and her curvier-than-the normal-model shape has nothing to do with it.

Not only has Marc Jacobs tapped her to be the face of his Spring 2009 Marc by Marc Jacobs campaign — "I think she looks adorable" — but now word is floating around that she has a DKNY campaign in the pipeline, shot by Scott "The Sartorialist" Schuman.  No word on how this falls into place with another it-girl's DKNY campaign — Daisy could have DKNY and Harley Viera-Newton DKNY Jeans, vice versa, or they could be in one of the campaigns together.

Regardless, Daisy's rise from Agent Provocateur and Doc Martens ads to high fashion diffusion campaigns says something — and in these economic times, her "normal girl" customer appeal could be it.
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>> INSIDER WIRE —Last year, camel toe and Aladdin, this year, nothing.  Sadly, there will be no insane "Rock and Roll Circus" Marc Jacobs costume this December — in light of the economic climate, Marc and business partner Robert Duffy have decided to cancel the themed party for the first time in 18 years.  Duffy sent out an email Tuesday reading: "It pains me as this has been a Marc Jacobs tradition . . . Hopefully it will be reinstated next year." [WWD]

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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.
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