Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

♦  One of the recession's teeny silver linings: In an unprecedented move, luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton are cutting prices for US customers. [WSJ]
♦  Supermodels—they're just like us! Helena Christensen braved the crowds in London yesterday to grab a polka-dot Comme des Garçons cardigan from H&M, and proudly wore it out that night. [Grazia]
♦  Does Agyness Deyn care about the fate of fluffy animals or not? On Wednesday, she DJed at the Humane Society's Cool vs. Cruel ceremony with boyfriend Albert Hammond Jr. But she's apparently not averse to wearing fur on the runway or to non-animal rights events. [Fashionologie]More

♦  The first looks from Thakoon's Target collection are online, and they're very Talitha Getty. [Nylon]
♦  Stay far away from 52nd and Fifth this evening, unless you want to catch the desire to wear candy-colored velour: Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor are throwing a launch party for Juicy Couture's new store. [Page Six]
♦  It's not only Lindsay Lohan who has seen the potential in leggings: The spring lines from labels like Rodarte and Threeasfour feature printed, cut-out or slashed leggings. [stylefile]
♦  Fashion designer Lisa Perry, lover of all things '60s (and wife of hedge funder Richard), is opening a store in SoHo tomorrow. [The Daily] More

Tom Ford, Producer at Last | It's been three years since Tom Ford announced plans to
make movies, but it looks like Ford will soon get a chance to take a seat in a canvas (gasp!) director's chair and scream at terrified PAs on the set of a major motion picture. His production company, Fade to Black, is set to start filming A Single Man in Los Angeles early next month, starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode. [WWD]

♦  J. Crew is absolutely delighted Michelle Obama mentioned the brand on The Tonight Show last night. It's already the basis of an online ad campaign. [Jezebel, Politico]
♦  The Olsens celebrated the launch of their book at Barneys last night, after which MK celebrated into the night at Bungalow 8 and Lit. Today the duo signed books at Barnes & Noble, where they were greeted by PETA protesters in masks. [style file, OK!]
♦  Rachel Roy is just like you and me: She relishes going to vintage stores in small towns because "they aren't picked over by designers like New York is." As for whose style she most admires? Lauren Santo Domingo's. [FabSugar]
♦  You may have balked at Tom Ford's $9,240 otter fur boots, but you'll feel silly on the beach at St. Barts this winter without his $475 tanning goggles! [style file]More

Tom Ford, Demanding Boyfriend | Promoting his new women's perfume White Patchouli, Tom Ford reflects on his decades in the fashion industry and dismisses suggestions that his success is only made possible by his being an impossible diva: "I don't think I'm a megalomaniac," he starts off. "Do I throw tantrums? Yes. But more with Richard [Buckley, his boyfriend] at home if he's forgotten to buy milk." [Times UK]

♦  Kate Betts sits down with Tom Ford and Karl Lagerfeld for an interview, which was also filmed if you can cope with seeing Karl's ponytail up close. [Time]
♦  Suzy Menkes celebrates 20 years at the IHT, and fashion stars including Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Alber Elbaz, Anna Wintour, and John Galliano offer their video tributes. [The Moment]
♦  Sofia Coppola is designing a line of handbags and shoes for Louis Vuitton. The company must have searched far and wide to find this unknown talent so deserving of a break. [WWD]More

♦  Tom Ford would like you to know that he has not had any work done to that stubbly face of his: "I haven't had any plastic surgery—despite what people think, this is my nose... I have had Restylane and Botox, but I don't think of that as plastic surgery any more. It's true I can't really frown, but I can move my eyebrows." Not discussed: Ford's Piven-like hairline. [Guardian]
♦  Kate Moss's lipsticked self-portrait went for £33,600 at auction, while her ex Pete Doherty's self-portrait, also for sale, failed to find a buyer. He can soon look forward to her upstaging him musically, too: Moss has announced she's giving up modeling for music. [Holy Moly!, Now]More

♦  Rihanna appeared in the front row at the Gucci show in Milan yesterday and said she plans to launch a clothing line of her own. [WWD]
♦  Robin Givhan reports on a Tod's dinner in Milan with Gwyneth Paltrow (the face of the brand), Derek Lam, and Thakoon Panichgul, who, reports Givhan, was "still giddy" from seeing Michelle Obama in his dress at the convention, especially since she had bought it herself and hadn't been "styled into it." [WaPo]
♦  The Comme des Garçons line for H&M, which is about to hit stores, kind of negates the point of a mass market-designer collaboration: one of the dresses is $350. [Fashionista]
♦  Jonathan Adler's retail empire will expand to Columbus Avenue by the end of the year. [WWD]More

♦  Samantha Ronson refused to DJ an event at Rubyfruit, allegedly because she doesn't spin at gay or lesbian bars. Her rep, of course, denies this. [P6]
♦  David Spade didn't turn up at Eric Trump's charity golf tournament in New Jersey last week because he thought it was taking place at Trump's LA course. [P6]
♦  An Atlantic City monsignor wants his name added to the list of Raffaello Follieri's victims. He says he gave the Italian playboy $110,000 because Raffaello said he needed the funds to pay some nuns. [NYDN]
♦  MTV has finally confirmed Whitney Port's Hills spinoff. It will begin airing in early 2009. [E!]
♦  How exciting! Mike Bloomberg will become an honorary citizen of Tbilisi, Georgia tomorrow night. [P6]More

Happy Birthday | Fashion designer Tom Ford—he of "perfect stubble, manicured nails, and not an ounce of fat"—turns 47 today. Other less glamorous folks also celebrating today: Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff is turning 55. New School president (and former U.S. senator) Bob Kerrey is 65. Goldman Sachs co-president Gary Cohn is 48. Actress Sarah Chalke of Scrubs fame is 32. Pee-wee Herman (aka Paul Reubens) is 56. Disgraced telecom exec Bernie Ebbers will be celebrating his 67th behind bars. Pop star Mario is 22. The rapper Mase is 30. And Olympic skier Jonny Moseley turns 33.

• Lydia Hearst is no longer just a pretty face, says OK mag, now that she's joined the cast of Gossip Girl. We won't attempt to parse that logic, but focus instead on the delightful news that things are going well with Lydia's boyfriend Matt Rains, Heatherette designer Traver's brother. The couple enjoys "bowling, botanical gardens and walking through Central Park together." How wholesome! [OK]
• Naomi Campbell guest-edits the Mirror's showbiz column and vents about Kabbalah: "I knew about Kabbalah before Madonna got involved. Kabbalah is not a religion, it's a program. I don't like to get hooked on things like that. It reminds me of AA but just with different words." Well, anything that reminds Campbell of being told not to drink can't be appealing. [Mirror]

• Tom Ford may or may not adopt a child, but if he decides to do so, he says that the unwashed public will never gaze upon the lucky creature. "No one will see the child and the child won’t be photographed." [FWD]
• Regarding the firing of Marco Zanini from Halston, Cathy Horyn says what everyone else is thinking: "Is it entirely inconceivable that Georgina Chapman, from Marchesa and the wife of Harvey Weinstein, might be the next designer of Halston?" [On the Runway]
• Just in case you had doubts, Anne Slowey, Elle's fashion news director and one of the stars of Stylista, is human! "On the weekends I wear flip-flops and jeans and T-shirts like everyone else." [Broadcasting & Cable via The Cut]
• Behold the stylist who manages to achieve more fame than the stylistee: When America Ferrera and Pat Field meet in the street, "a pair of tourists descends upon Field, asking for her autograph, oblivious to the other pop culture phenomenon in their midst." [BlackBook]
• Diesel has acquired Viktor & Rolf. [WWD]
  

• You would expect a Tom Ford party to be a little dangerous, but in a good way, not a nearly-lose-an-eye way: Some poor guy was at Ford's soiree in Milan when a spotlight fell on his head, sending him to the hospital for stitches. [Fashionista]
• Was Michelle Obama a lucky charm for Isabel Toledo? Mrs. O wore a Toledo dress to the Vogue/Calvin Klein fundraiser last week, and now the designer has won the 2008 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion from The Museum at FIT. Simon Doonan and André Leon Talley will present Toledo with the award on September 3rd at a luncheon at the Rainbow Room. [FWD]
• Johnny Depp's baby mama Vanessa Paradis is the new face of Mui Mui. [BlackBook]

Last night the 26th CFDA Awards were held at the New York Public Library, MC'd by Fran Lebowitz and hosted by CFDA chairman Diane Von Furstenberg, who, like many attendees, wore YSL in tribute to the late designer. The big winners? Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa was presented the award for womenswear by Maggie Gyllenhaal (in Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez's Proenza Schouler), Victoria Beckham (in Marc Jacobs) and Eva Mendes (in Calvin Klein). Kim Cattrall presented the award for menswear to Tom Ford.More