>> Stunt casting has really become part of the fashion show DNA in the past couple of seasons, but Anna Sui's runway casts have always boasted at least a few special girls — sometimes even a few supermodels. Though now, she says, "It’s a different time. We are now going through a period of a lot of Eastern European. It’s more about their look than their personalities. It was the most terrifying thing to do fittings with supermodels, because they would come in and look at your Polaroid board and count how many outfits they had, what order they came out in, and who were they next to. They would say things like, 'She is taller than me, and I am not coming out after her,' 'How come she has three outfits, and I only have two,' and 'I want that outfit.' They’d literally pull the Polaroid off the board and say they want to wear this. There was a reason they were supermodels, though. When they put on an outfit, everyone was floored."

That includes Karl Lagerfeld — who took notice of Sui's dresses before she even had her first runway show. As Sui tells it, "Linda [Evangelista] and Naomi [Campbell] went to the couture shows the Summer before my first show, and they were wearing my cotton lace baby-doll dresses. All of a sudden, I started getting phone calls from Paris, and other models like Helena Christensen were asking for the dress. I heard that Karl [Lagerfeld] was complaining. Everyone came into the couture fitting wearing my dresses, and he was like 'Who is this Anna?'"

>> In honor of her 23rd birthday, a little Gemma Ward news. Ward, who recently shot scenes for Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides playing a mermaid, seems to be going after blockbuster roles. There's the Pirates role, a June audition for Mad Max 4: Fury Road, which so far doesn't seem to have panned out, and now, her IMDB profile lists her as a possible cast member of Jack the Giant Killer, which is to be directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men, The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie) and is scheduled to start shooting in the Spring. The film is a remake of the 1962 film of the same name and recounts the story of a boy who rescues a princess from evil sorcerers. Singer is said to be circling Kick-Ass's Aaron Johnson for male lead, and as for Ward, all attempts to reach her LA management were unreturned. [Frockwriter]

>> After suffering in the late '90s and early '00s, 2009 was the best year in his brand's 25-year history, Tommy Hilfiger said yesterday. And he owes at least a bit of that success to Karl Lagerfeld.

When Hilfiger was trying to figure out how to turn the line around, he met with Karl Lagerfeld and asked him how he was able to reinvent Chanel successfully. “He said, ‘It was very simple. I looked at the Chanel archives and decided to modernize what existed already and make it relevant for today.’ As simple as it sounds, that’s exactly what we did,” Hilfiger said.

Now, Hilfiger has Peter Som consulting on the brand and made sure it has returned to what it stood for over the years: “a cool, American classic brand — preppie with a twist. That’s exactly what we were when we started."

But he's not stopping there — Hilfiger said he started the brand "based on what I wanted to wear. I wanted preppy clothes that were easy and relaxed . . . Brooks Brothers was very uptight, Ralph was Ralph . . . and I decided to redefine the classics.” And now he's taking on Ralph Lauren in another capacity — he just launched a new, younger-skewing TOMMY line, with its first concept shop in Manhattan (more are following in US and Canada), which could be seen as Hilfiger's answer to Ralph Lauren's Rugby.

>> Whimsical photographer Tim Walker did his first film, a 20-minute short dubbed The Lost Explorer, together with Mulberry, have screened it in both London and New York, but now he's got his sights set on a longer foray. “We’re working on a feature length now,” Walker said at Monday's New York screening. “We haven’t found our script yet, but we’re looking and it’s going to be the same team. The cinematographer, Robbie Ryan, he’s amazing. He gets the vision. He gets my world.” Back in August he had his sights set on Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory, but it sounds like that might have fallen through. [Style File]

>> Late last month, LVMH stealthily purchased 17.1 percent of Hermes shares, and despite denying any full-on takeover bids, LVMH announced intentions to buy more shares depending on market conditions. Hermes executives are not taking the news lying down.

In a newspaper interview with Le Figaro today, Patrick Thomas, CEO of Hermes International, and Bertrand Puech, who is a fifth-generation heir of Hermes founder, Emile Hermes, and represents the family shareholders, called for LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault to get rid of his newly-acquired stake. They added that they did not see the shares purchase as "friendly," despite Arnault's assurances that he doesn't plan a hostile takeover. "The family is saying clearly and unanimously: ‘If you want to be friendly, Monsieur Arnault, then you must withdraw’,” Puech added.

Arnault phoned to notify Puech of the stake just hours before issuing a statement, causing him “surprise and displeasure,” he said. Thomas and Puech both met with Arnault last week after the announcement, where they told him face-to-face that they don't consider his overture friendly. “There is nothing friendly about this move. It was neither desired nor solicited,” said Thomas, adding: “It is very probable that he will increase his stake, I don’t know his intentions. This culture [of craftsmanship and strong traditions] is hardly compatible with one of a big group. It is not a financial battle, it's a cultural battle."

Hermes family members still control 73 percent of the firm not currently owned by Arnault and are awaiting the French market regulator's decision on whether LVMH's stake purchase happened legally.

>> It's no secret that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are dedicated to their three fashion brands — The Row, Elizabeth and James, and Olsenboye. "Right before [The Row's] show, it’s not unusual for us to be in the office until 4 am,” Ashley says. In fact, the Olsens see their three lines each expanding into full lifestyle brands, and for the Row, which already has branded sunglasses, they're planning to add handbags for Fall 2011, followed by shoes. “It would be a proper American luxury brand, made in America, with retail businesses and maybe collaborations with other brands,” Ashley says. [WWD]