>> After reports came out alleging that Style.com editor-at-large Derek Blasberg (who is also Harper's Bazaar editor-at-large and a V contributor) had received compensation for consulting on a Yves Saint Laurent party that he covered for Style.com last week, Eleanor Banco, spokeswoman for Style.com told Jezebel today: "We are reviewing this matter (referring to Derek Blasberg) internally. For the record, it is not our policy to assign writers to cover events if they are receiving any other financial remuneration in connection with that event and we have no further comment on the subject."

Blasberg conceded that he "had a conversation with a senior member of YSL Beauty's corporate office about social networking and building a buzz for the event" and worked with Alison Brod PR on the party's guest list. Before the event, a media alert was sent out asking party attendees "to tweet from the event with the hash tag #YSLparty." And at the event, an Yves Saint Laurent spokeswoman mentioned to the Wall Street Journal that Blasberg "helped start the 'Twitter party,' so to speak."

Payment was discussed »

>> New Creative Director Named for McQ —Just days after new Alexander McQueen creative director debuted her first collection for the brand — menswear in Milan — to a generally encouraging response, a new creative director has been named for McQueen's diffusion brand, McQ. Pina Ferlisi, who was most recently creative director at Generra and previously has experience as EVP of design at Gap and creative director at Marc by Marc Jacobs, is filling the role and will reportedly work under Burton. [Vogue UK]

>> Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli are driving Valentino in a "younger, more contemporary, complete and desirable" direction, according to the brand's CEO Stefano Sassi, and the Fall 2010 Valentino campaign continues that evolution.  Photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott were replaced this season by David Sims, who in what is his first Valentino campaign helped the label with a "radical image change," as WWD put it, capturing Freja Beha Erichsen, Monika Jagaciak, and Tati Cotliar (below) in black and white. Each ad shows the model in two side-by-side images, one of her nude ("shocking," says WWD) and the other fully clothed.

The official word on Valentino's rumored sale »

>> Marc Jacobs's Arm Is In a Sling —The nitty-gritty details of Marc Jacobs's life always seem to make it to public consumption — for example, the fact that he recently got hair plugs — so here's one more update: the designer was snapped last week with his arm in a sling. He said at the end of May that he wasn't able to work out at all because he had a torn rotator cuff on his shoulder and needed surgery, so it appears that he was finally able to it taken care of.  [@MJInternational]

Vionnet creative director Rodolfo Paglialunga presented his fifth collection designing for Madeline Vionnet's namesake house, pairing his distinct shapes with some of the bias cut draping for which the French label is known. Paglialunga, who spent years at Prada before being snatched up by Mateo Marzotto—Vionnet's owner since early 2009—designed a collection of rounded hemmed and asymmetric dresses, some with sheer panels and cutouts at the shoulders. Having recently collaborated on a shoe collection with Giuseppe Zanotti and dressed a number of starlets for award seasons, Vionnet is poised to officially make her comeback, after years of trying, this fall.  

Adriana Lima covers "The Sexy Body Issue" of V Spain. The issue hits newsstands today.

Blow by Blow, a new play about the life of Isabella Blow, will premiere in New York at the 11th Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival next month.

After shuttering Gourmet magazine eight months ago, Conde Nast unveils Gourmet Live, an app that will bring the title’s 70 years worth of archives to the iPad and other digital platforms.

Pina Ferlisi, who has held creative positions at Generra, Gap, and Marc by Marc Jacobs has been named the new creative director of McQ.

On Friday, Stefano Pilati will unveil a short documentary-style film about legendary Los Angeles tattoo artist Mark Mahoney before his men's Yves Saint Laurent show.

With an increasingly obvious directive to attract a younger customer to the house of Valentino, creative directors Maria Grazie Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli tried to up the shock value with their latest advertising campaign. Not exactly explicit when compared to some recent Tom Ford ads or even a naked Marc Jacobs, but nonetheless a change for Valentino, the campaign images feature side-by-side portraits of the same model—one clothed in the fall collection and one nude.

Photographed in black and white by David Sims (who replaced Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott to shoot his first Valentino images), models Freja Beha, Monika Jagaciak, and Tati Cotlar front the campaign photos, which were taken in the house's Parisian headquarters. “The idea is that of an unexpectedly intimate black-and-white portrait with candid shots of unconventional, delicate and individual beauty and a more dangerous undercurrent,” Chiuri said to WWD. “We believe it is a very modern and feminine vision and we wanted to show each woman’s unique personal allure,” added Piccioli. The first photos break this month in the Italian edition of Vogue.