>> John Galliano is going to trial in Paris — and the date is expected to be determined on May 12. One of his three accusers, Philippe Virgiti, meanwhile, seems to be having second thoughts about his allegations — following his mandated meeting on Feb. 28 with Galliano at a Paris police station, he reportedly decided to drop his complaint against the designer . . . before reinstating it again the next morning.

Then, last Thursday, Virgiti gave an interview to Le Parisien, confirming that Galliano did make anti-Semitic comments, but stipulating: "I'm not convinced now that he really meant them. I don't think he is racist or anti-Semitic. I just think he's very ill."

Virgiti continued: “Today, I am convinced that he didn’t really believe what he was saying. Since this all happened, I have enquired about his work and saw that he is somebody who promoted difference and who mixed cultures in his fashion shows. I believe, above all, that he is very sick and was just out to provoke.”

Furthermore: "For me it was a simple bar dispute. We were having a beer when he sat beside us. He got aggressive, turned to my friend [and fellow accuser] and said, 'Your voice is annoying me, you're speaking too loudly.' John Galliano does not deserve this. I do not want him to be destroyed like that. I would like Mr. Galliano to benefit from this unhappy story by drinking a little less and getting back to making the dresses and shows that he did so well."

Virgiti added that he has no choice but to stand by his complaint now that the "legal machine" is in motion.

Galliano's lawyer, Stephane Zerbib, said today that Virgiti's comments signaled a "positive" development for Galliano, but declined to comment on whether the designer still plans to pursue his claim of defamation against Virgiti and Geraldine Bloch.

>> The skeleton details of Grace Coddington's CV are pretty well-established at this point: a long and lustrous tenure as Vogue creative director was achieved after a terrible car accident turned her modeling career into that of a stylist and fashion editor. But a profile of Coddington in The Economist's quarterly supplement More Intelligent Life — by one of Coddington's former assistants — gives us a few less-reported details.

Coddington says of her mentor, the photographer Norman Parkinson, in the '70s: “He taught me the art of travelling, which means never closing your eyes in case you miss something. We’d get up at five and drive round on recces to see what inspired us. The approach is so different now. Photographers don’t look out the window: they want to see a location book, and everything is done on computers.”

She turns 70 in April, and admits that she, too, has changed her approach: “I got really sick last time in Paris [during Fashion Week], and I was on antibiotics for two months. I push my body too hard, and do have to stop myself now from jumping on a plane. It used to be me who got sent to Russia and China while the older editors stayed behind, but I’m one of those older ones now.”

A few more things we learned:

She's lived with Didier Malige since the '80s, but she's also been married twice: The first time was in 1969 to Michael Chow, the owner of the Mr Chow restaurant chain. It lasted six months ("I was useless at being a restaurateur’s wife — much too shy to table-hop," Coddington says). And the second time was in 1976 to a "rangy, rock'n'roll" photographer, Willie Christie, who she mentored at British Vogue. They divorced in 1980 because, Coddington says, “It’s difficult to be employed by your wife.” In between the two marriages she dated Duc, a young, Paris-based Vietnamese photographer, with whom she was in love before, during, and after her first marriage.

Coddington — known for her long, red hair — was once a blonde: In 1980, after her second divorce, Coddington turned herself into "a business-suited, short-haired blonde — what she calls a 'Calvin person.'"

She once quit while working for Anna Wintour: Coddington had been at British Vogue since 1968, but after Anna Wintour joined as editor-in-chief in March 1986, Coddington resigned in December of that year: “Anna was much more into ‘sexy’ than I was.” She rejoined Wintour at Vogue two years later because she missed working at magazines (she had been working as Calvin Klein design director in the interim: "Excitement on 7th Avenue ends with the show. The next day it’s all marketing.").

>> Anna Dello Russo knows her looks — which often see her wearing cocktail dresses at 10 am — can be something. "Sometimes I feel ridiculous," she admits, "but it's in a good way. Like the watermelon [headpiece], I love that. It's such an Italian touch of humor." But, she notes: "It's my first job to make myself up. I style myself like I style a model. You should put your passion on yourself before translating to other people." And although she's "uncharacteristically cagey about consultancy work," the Independent UK notes, Dello Russo does say that her extensive wardrobe isn't the result of gifts — and that her clothes are bought at retail. Why spend so much? "It's a job, but on me. It's like going to the dentist — if you go to the dentist and the dentist doesn't have beautiful white teeth . . . then how good is he?" [Independent UK]

>> Julia Restoin-Roitfeld is now the owner of a lucrative, much-coveted Lancome contract — "I guess it’s any girl’s modeling dream come true," she tells Into The Gloss. But a few years back, she wasn't modeling, period — "not at all hoping for anything or thinking about it." Her chosen career is art direction, and she works with a lot of young designers on small budgets: "I feel that's the whole thing about New York; it's all about supporting each other. Designer, photographer . . .  you don't need to choose anything, which is what I like, just being creative." But the modeling has paid off in more ways than one — when she's on set, she observes the set design and lighting: "I need to know this for my clients. Modelling is like a constant internship because I keep learning."

Speaking of sets, that's where her mother, Carine Roitfeld, first met Julia's current boyfriend, 36-year-old model Robert Konjic: "Maybe 15 years ago for his first job, a Gucci campaign. When she found out we were dating she found it funny. I mean, 15 years ago I was 15, so she would never have expected him to date her daughter." She's been with Konjic two years, but, Restoin-Roitfeld says: "I don't think he wants to get married again — he's done it and it didn't work out for him. I'm really close to my family, and I really want one of my own. But the wedding, it's not necessary for me." (Her parents, who have been together 30 years, have never married.) If it were to happen, she says, "I'd want the dress to be by John Galliano. He makes the most beautiful dresses with a fishtail. I wouldn't mind that in satin with long sleeves — it makes the best silhouette. I have him in mind." (This interview seems to have been conducted pre-Galliano scandal.)

>> Victoria Beckham, who just announced that she's having her first girl in July, has had an uphill climb to prove herself as a fashion designer. Although it seemed lately that she'd made it over the hump, during her Fall 2011 presentation last month — which Beckham narrated to an intimate crowd of top editors — Robin Givhan reports: "There were muffled giggles, knowing glances, and plenty of eye-rolling over the non-stop narration . . . It called to mind the manner in which Tom Ford presented his women’s collection for spring. His rolling monologue drew gushing praise from the industry. Of course, Ford’s presentation dripped in irony. And Ford is the reigning prince of charm. Beckham’s great crime, it seems, was her earnestness. She was not being ironic. She was not being self-consciously hip. And the cool girls turned on her. It wasn’t pretty."

Then, yesterday, an article in the Times UK came out, with fashion insider and heiress Daphne Guinness quoted calling Beckham "an ugly pig ... downbeat miserable and awful. Of course she's going to make money — she's backed by Simon Fuller. I don't have anyone! She annoys the sh*t out of me."

But Guinness now denies that she made such remarks. "I would never make a comment like that about my worst enemy, let alone someone I like," she told Vogue UK. "I think Victoria is brave and fantastic for building up her business like she has. I did not make those comments. They were b*tchy and horrible and just not me."

Guinness says the subject of Beckham arose from a discussion with the Times about financial backing: "I like to make my own things — they're probably not of any commercial worth and it's not always easy to get funding for them. I used Victoria as a reference as someone that had managed to do that. I do things a little differently. I remortgage my house and do it that way [Guinness reportedly paid $15 million in 2008 for her New York apartment]. I really admire the way she has achieved what she has. She makes beautiful clothes — they're really very beautiful."

Guinness also took to Twitter to dispel the firestorm, explaining that she did the interview as a favor: "I am so sad stitched up by the sunday times. I thought [the writer] c. long was a friend. I would never call anyone an ugly cow, not my words . . . the journalist I knew from Issie [Blow], so i thought she would understand things, we had been friends, she has put words in my mouth." She added as further explanation: "And for the record I not only admire Victoria Beckham but know her and like her. My point was that I do most things alone without a backer."

>> Natalia Vodianova walked a couple of shows in Paris last week (Givenchy, Hakaan), sat in a few more front rows (Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Stella McCartney, Christian Dior), and even found the time to run the Paris half marathon for her Naked Heart charity in between. Her three children accompanied her front row to Stella McCartney, but her husband, Justin Portman — to whom Vodianova has been married since 2001 and who usually pops up wherever she is — was nowhere to be seen. The couple has been plagued by rumors of separation recently, and sources tell Page Six they have been spending less time together; Portman was reportedly at their house in Uruguay during the shows. Vodianova's rep, meanwhile, says: "They are still married. She is traveling and very busy with her career." [NY Post]

>> Last month, it was reported that Tyra Banks has been attending Harvard Business School. But she's apparently been enrolled since last year, in the Owner/President Management Program for entrepreneurs, which requires its students to participate in intensive three-week sessions costing $31,000 a year for three years. So why has Banks undertaken the course study, despite her multimillion-dollar empire? "In order for my company to grow and be the best, and to reach these women, and to serve them, I needed the best. So I went to the best," she explains. "It's pretty exclusive. It's quite expensive. But, I feel like it is worth it. I feel like it is so, so worth it."

As for those surprised at her Harvard enrollment, she says: "[When it] got out that I was in school at Harvard . . . it's like, well, oh my God, why is a model going to Harvard? But that's actually a good thing, because when people have low expectations, you're just constantly going, 'Ta-da!' And they're like, 'Wow.' It doesn't take a lot to wow them when they have low expectations."

And tomorrow, she launches her new online magazine, TypeF.com — "her biggest publishing venture to date" promising "thousands of articles containing wardrobe, hair, and makeup tips for women of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities," The Cut reports.

>> Bernard Arnault has been on a buying streak — a week ago, LVMH acquired Bulgari, which returned to profitability in 2010. Through his investment firm Groupe Arnault, Arnault recently purchased Moynat, the 19th-century trunk-maker five years older than Louis Vuitton, with intentions to reinvigorate the brand (which is best known for its lightweight, waterproof automobile trunks). And now, he may be circling Jimmy Choo, as well.

LVMH is reportedly considering a bid on the shoe brand, which kicked off its sale at the beginning of this month to the interest of more than 10 potential bidders — and is expected to go for between £400 million and £500 million (approx. $644 million and $805 million).