>> The Karl Lagerfeld-Baptiste Giabiconi collaborations keep rolling in: In the new Purple Fashion, Karl captured his male Gisele Bundchen in black stiletto heels as the Helmut Newton woman (left) — including one full-on backside shot (NSFW) that has created quite a stir.  Purple founder Olivier Zahm posted a video of the shoot, in which Baptiste poses with a giraffe while Karl switches from snapping him with a professional camera to with a camera phone.

Lagerfeld was also asked to guest edit a cover and editorial for the October 2009 issue of Wallpaper. For his cover, Lagerfeld photographed a seemingly Dior Homme-clothed Baptiste, but he added a layer of paper to the magazine which can be peeled off to reveal Giabiconi naked. His 27-page editorial inside also focuses on Baptiste — in locales such as the Queen’s Theater in Versailles.

>> Lars Nilsson Said to Have Found a Designing Home —After tempestuous stints as creative director at Nina Ricci and Gianfranco Ferre, respectively, Lars Nilsson was supposedly one of the finalists for the Halston job.  Marios Schwab ended up scoring the gig, and now, it's speculated that Nilsson is finalizing a deal for a signature menswear line with Italian manufacturer Mabro-Antichi Telai.  The line doesn't yet have a name, but is expected in time for Pitti Uomo in Florence next Spring. [WWD]

>> Casting for New York Fashion Week is under way and the last of the Spring 2010 show packages are trickling in.  A few telling tidbits from those pages:

• Is Jourdan Dunn planning on walking while pregnant?  She alluded that she may be out this season, but the presence of her card implies otherwise [Models.com]


• Caroline Trentini, who only walked Yves Saint Laurent last season, is throwing her hat back into the ring [IMG Models Blog]


• Women's package has a candid picture of each model this season. Jamie Bochert took hers with mustache [The Imagist]

Who got her hair cut? »

>> Even designers are shopping the closet when it comes to piecing together their latest collection. Fortune's Peter Gumbel writes in his new profile on Francois-Henri Pinault of PPR: "All the brands have been scouring for ways to save cash. Hiring and salaries have been frozen since last September. Bonuses for this year have been halved too. Inventiveness has become the order of the day."

Robert Polet, CEO of PPR's Gucci Group, illustrates with a story of how he found Tomas Maier on the floor of Bottega Veneta's headquarters in New York City with his shoe manager last November, going through a pile of books filled with leather and skin samples.  Fortune relates: "They were checking how much of each material they had in stock, planning to use it up in the next collections. 'I left the room and thought, Wow,' Polet says. 'Finding ways to manage down inventory has almost become a sport.'"

So how does Pinault feel about YSL's losses? »

>> Alexander McQueen Opens World to Twitterverse —The latest — and perhaps most unexpected — designer to join Twitter: Alexander McQueen. Yesterday, while preparing for his Spring 2010 show, McQueen tweeted: "STRESSED! Microwave head meltdown! sparks flying out of my brain!"  And today, his PR chimed in, adding: "Camilla Nickerson is here from New York, 2nd fittings begin....heads are down in the studio." [Racked, McQueenWorld Twitter, McQueenWorld Twitter]

>> Is Derek Lam this season's Peter Som?  A "fashion industry insider" told Page Six that Lam has been losing $1 million a month, and his label will have lost between $12 million and $15 million by the end of the year: "It's only propped up by money coming from Italian investors."

Cash flow isn't the only issue Lam is reportedly having — according to the source, his CEO Jan Schlottman only showed up to work three times for the whole month of August.  Schlottman, meanwhile, told Page Six that he only had 10 vacation days last month and always had his laptop.  As for the finances, Schlottman says, "Everyone has had difficulty this year, but the actual [monthly] figure is far less than [the purported $1 million]."

UPDATE: Schlottman calls the entire Page Six item "untrue," and says that rumors been fueled because the label spent money on an ad campaign and a new store this year, causing an overall loss. [The Cut]

>> First Look: Alexander Wang Sunglasses —We heard last week that Alexander Wang is adding sunglasses to the mix for Spring 2010 — they'll debut during his runway — and now we've got a peek.  He's collaborating with Linda Farrow on the line, which includes "zipper hardware, catlike shapes, and bronzed resin frames." [Nylon]

UPDATE: The picture has been taken down at the request of Linda Farrow's PR, because it did not accurately "reflect Alex’s glasses’ spirit."

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