>> Givenchy Muse (and Daughter of Couturier Jean-Louis Scherrer) Leonor Scherrer to Launch Line —When her father, French couturier Jean-Louis Scherrer, asked her to accompany him to Yves Saint Laurent's burial, a thorough tour of the Paris couturiers' offerings turned up no appropriate mourning garb to wear. So Leonor Scherrer decided to build a line of clothing and accessories to outfit the bereaved herself — Leonor Scherrer Funeral Couture — which will recall the time when “a widow’s mourning dress was closely observed.” She cites Claude Montana and Yves Saint Laurent (under both Saint Laurent and Stefano Pilati) as references, and plans to invite a different designer to create pieces for the line each season — Riccardo Tisci, who featured Scherrer in the Fall 2009 Givenchy campaign, has already accepted her request. [The Moment, TFS]

>> In February, Conde Nast announced iPad versions of five of its titles were being prepped, but Vogue and W weren't among the initial group. Interview, however, is taking the plunge. Back in February, a video demo of their iPad app circulated, showing the photography and text of the magazine intermixed with video and audio content.

On April 3 in conjunction with the iPad launch, Interview will debut its April 2010 "iPad Issue" with a digital version designed specifically for the gadget. The application, which promises 330 screens of images and text (think the Jersey Shore editorial with Bar Refaeli by Terry Richardson and features on Ke$ha, Kellen Lutz, Justin Beiber), plus 20 minutes of video and audio content (including a Bruce Weber video), will be available on the iTunes iPad store for a special edition price of 99 cents.  It precedes the print version by over a week — the April issue won't hit newsstands until the week of April 12.

>> Marie-Amelie Sauve Heading to W? —Stylist Marie-Amelie Sauve, who was Vogue Paris fashion director until last year, is rumored to be joining the W masthead.  Sauve has styled for T in the past, which means she has a working relationship with newly-named W editor Stefano Tonchi, and with the confirmed departure of creative director Dennis Freedman and the likely departures of fashion director Alex White and senior contributing fashion editor Camilla Nickerson, there's definitely some space for Sauve to move in. [Fashionista]

>> Lady Gaga may have been Alexander McQueen's "unofficial muse," but that doesn't mean she's designing a collection for his label. Yesterday, Fashionising posted that Gaga was working on a capsule collection for the McQueen label, under the working title "Poisson D'Avril," to come out in Spring 2011.

The news circulated far and wide, but "Poisson D'Avril" is the French term for April Fool's Day, and Fashionising has since confirmed in the post: "This is, after all, an April Fool's joke (our apologies)." The Cut also confirmed with a spokeswoman for the label that the rumor is false.

>> CFDA Popular Award Ballot Now Open for Voting— Last year, the CFDA introduced the Popular Vote Award, allowing the public to vote for its favorite designer.  Ralph Lauren won the inaugural award, and today, balloting opens for the 2010 Award.  See the nominees for 2010 CFDA Awards in other categories here, and then take a crack at voting at the following link — the winner will be announced at the June 7 Awards ceremony. [WWD]

>> Confirming reports from a couple of weeks ago, luxury conglomerate Richemont (parent of brands like Chloe and Cartier) is acquiring Net-a-Porter in a £350 million (approx. $533 million) deal.

Natalie Massenet, who founded Net-a-Porter in 2000, is estimated to pocket £50 million (approx. $76 million) with the sale of her 18 percent stake in the company.  She is expected to stay on as executive chairman of the company after Richemont's takeover and is reportedly preparing to invest £15 million of the sale proceeds back into Net-a-Porter. Mark Sebba, Net-a-Porter's chief executive, is also said to be staying on.

Why the marriage? »

Natalia Vodianova gets the Mert and Marcus technicolor treatment for Vogue Paris.

Changes at W magazine: Dennis Freedman, longtime creative director, is leaving the magazine, and Camilla Nickerson is headed back to Vogue as contributing editor.

Christina Tang and Dasha Zhukova take their Kova & T line to Urban Outfitters with flirty looks available in stores this May.

Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston, a documentary directed by Whitney Sudler-Smith with the help of Andre Leon Talley, will have its world premiere on April 30 at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Carre Otis talks about her new modeling network, riding motorcycles for Calvin, and her runway-crashing ex-husband, Mickey Rourke, with W magazine.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen introduce fine jewelry for Elizabeth and James.

>> Roe Ethridge: The Latest Art Photog Crossing Over into Fashion —Ryan McGinley has led the pack of art photographers breaking into fashion with his shoots for the likes of W, Vogue Paris, Stella McCartney, and Missoni, but Collier Schorr, who's worked with Interview and Vera Wang, and now Roe Ethridge are quick on his heels.  Ethridge, who worked with Marie-Amelie Sauve on a Balenciaga editorial for the new Spring 2010 issue of i-D, is the latest addition to the bunch, and The Imagist reports he's "inches away from another huge blue chip mag commission." [TI]

With two stores in Paris and a fashionable cult following (which includes Kate Moss), brothers Laurent and Arik Bitton are expanding their popular women's label, IRO, to include menswear this fall.

“We have been doing the women’s collection for five years now and we thought it is time to do something for us. We found there is an opportunity to spread our own style — a cool man but not overstyled,” they said.

Scoop and Ron Herman have already picked up the 50-piece men's collection for next season, banking on Iro's soft washed t-shirts as best sellers. The one at left retails for $96, or about $1,500 less than this one.

Source: IRO