The notoriously straight-shooting and often volatile chief executive of Prada, Patrizio Bertelli, is on the cover of the March issue of WSJ., out this Saturday. He is profiled along with wife Miuccia Prada in an article discussing among many things the couple's 30-year-long relationship, Prada's initial public offering, the company's debt build-up as a result of acquisitions in the 1990s, and the current household controversy over internet strategies and whether or not to dress celebrities.

The article opens with Bertelli shouting at Neiman Marcus' 72-year-old chairman, Burt Tansky, about how the Dallas-based department store displays its Prada merchandise. But thing really get interesting when the interviewer inquires about the brand's internet plans and brings up a recent U.S. newspaper article suggesting Prada was late to the online world compared with brands like Burberry. Miuccia Prada's reaction: 

"I think it's bulls-. Why does showing a photo of someone wearing a trench coat online mean  being open to the world? What's that got to do with anything?"

While Bertelli is trying to convince Prada to interact more online—both with bloggers and fans—she is adimentely opposed to Twitter and feels there something fundamentally wrong with the way other designers "throw random answers out there." Bertelli acknowledges hers is an "elitist response" to a "democratic" medium.

The article goes on to reveal another ongoing dispute over celebrity dressing: "He says that we are snobs and that we don't understand pop culture," Prada says.

When planning for the upcoming year, Bertelli's focus seems to be on store expansions and opening new boutiques in order to lessen Prada's dependance on U.S. wholesale businesses, like that of Mr. Tansky's. The complete article will be on newsstands March 13.

>> After Michael Kors left Celine in 2004, the brand floundered. To rectify the situation, Pierre-Yves Roussel, chief executive of LVMH's fashion division, traveled to London every other week for nearly a year to persuade Phoebe Philo to come on board at the brand.  The company also agreed to build her a design studio in London, where she lives with her young family.  Eighteen months ago, Philo signed on.

For a fresh start, LVMH destroyed all of the inventory left in stores before Philo's first collection.  All but one Celine store was closed in the United States, ties to less exclusive retailers like Bloomingdale's and Net-a-Porter were cut, the accent was restored to the brand's name, and bag production is no longer outsourced to China — each in a bid to elevate the brand.

Eventually, there will be more affordable offerings »

>> Givenchy Reportedly Canceled on Five Exclusives Less Than 24 Hours Before Show —A Givenchy show exclusive is a hot commodity; this year, those ordained included Carla Crombie, Dafne Cejas, Caroline Nielson, Lauren Brown, and Lia Serge.  But apparently the spots come at a price — according to one agent, five models were booked as exclusives and then canceled on less than 24 hours before the show Sunday. "They booked these girls and told them they weren't allowed to walk for other designers. They don't even offer an 'exclusive' fee — just 1,500 euros and press."  Givenchy cancelled over email, claiming that there were "fit issues" with the girls. Says the agent: "We had one girl who flew to Paris all the way from Argentina. It was too late for them to get new gigs, and they had to pay for their own hotels. I've never seen something so unprofessional and arrogant." A Givenchy rep didn't respond to requests for comment. [Page Six]

Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler appear on the April cover of W magazine's first shopping issue, photographed by Steven Klein in the California desert.

Karl Lagerfeld had the thirty-five person team who sculpted The Ice Hotel in Sweden carve a 265-ton iceberg in the middle of the Grand Palais for his fall 2010 Chanel runway show.

Michelle Obama wore Prabal Gurung yesterday to meet Jason Wu at the Smithsonian National Museum, where she donated the Jason Wu dress worn to her husbands inauguration ball.

Tommy Hilfiger created a limited-edition tote to celebrate the just-opened 2010 Whitney Biennial with artist Ari Marcopoulos.

Stella McCartney's show Monday cemented the return to minimalism on international runways for fall 2010.

In the first of a two part series, WWD evaluates the fashion industry system and asks designers if it's time to consider changing the runway shows to coordinate with a retail schedule.