PETA

• Kate Moss was shot by Terry Richardson for Matchless's debut fashion ad campaign. [Vogue UK]
  

• Riccardo Tisci will design the costumes for this Spring's production of Boléro at the Opéra de Paris. [WWD]
  

• Jeremy Piven has been tapped to play the title character in Mr Selfridge, a 10-part miniseries chronicling the famed London department store's impact on Britain. The first episode debuts later this month on PBS. [WWD]
  

• Diane von Furstenberg has some advice for dealing with negative energy: "Be honest with yourself, accept who you are. YOU are the solution! Look for the light and build around it." [The Cut]
  

• PETA has teamed with Topshop to campaign against the use of animal skins in clothing. [Racked]
  

• Starting this Spring, Bergdorf Goodman will undergo a series of renovations — 40 in total — to improve its in-store shopping experience. [The Shophound]
  

• Rita Ora is the face of Superga's Spring 2013 campaign. [Elle]
  

• Freja Beha Erichsen is the ethereal beauty in the behind-the-scenes video for Valentino's Spring scent, Valentina Acqua Floreale. [Styleite]
  

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Next week, Coco Rocha will take over the website and social media channels of Sass & Bide, where she'll share self-styled looks as well as pictures shot with her own camera. [Vogue UK]
• Vivienne Westwood lent the English National Ballet some of her most dramatic gowns for dancers to wear in its new ad campaign. [WWD]
• Not to be outdone by Virgin Airlines' partnership with Banana Republic, American Airlines has enlisted Kaufman Franco to design uniforms for its entire staff. [Styleite]
• Bernard Arnault has moved the bulk of his fortune from France to a private foundation based in Belgium in an attempt to prevent LVMH from breaking up if he dies in the next 10 years. [The Financial Times]
• In time for Valentine's Day, Fleur du Mal is offering custom monogrammed lingerie. [Fashionologie Inbox]
• In a cease-and-desist letter, PETA has asked Bebe to uphold its 2008 decision to stop selling fur. The animal rights organization claims the brand still sells items that include animal skins. [Fashionista]
• Henry Holland says his casual attitude toward his Twitter account aligns with his brand's desire to be "open, inclusive, and something people want to buy into." [Refinery29]
• With Fashion Week right around the corner, Fern Mallis revisits how falling plaster helped the industry organize its shows. [ArtInfo]

Photo via Sass & Bide

Nothing mixes like sex and veggies if you ask PETA. They anti-meat group isn't afraid to use sexualized women to promote its message. Not surprisingly, PETA's latest ad relies on sex again, but if you ask me, it makes veganism seem anything but appetizing. It features "Jessica," a pantsless woman wearing a neck brace. Jessica is suffering from "BWVAKTBOOM" (Boyfriend Went Vegan and Knocked the Bottom Out of Me), a "painful condition that occurs when boyfriends go vegan and can suddenly bring it like a tantric porn star." The imaging hints at sexual violence, even though I'd assume PETA is trying to characterize the sex as being consensual and rough. If you go to the website promoted in the video, it touts the "dramatic increase in their wang power and sexual stamina" that it says comes with giving up meat. Sorry, but painful sex that leaves you in a neck brace is not a turn on or funny.

We may be excited for Super Mario 3D Land, but there's one group who certainly isn't. PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says that when Mario dons a Tanooki suit in the game, he's giving the green light to would-be fur wearers.

According to PETA: "Tanooki may be just a "suit" in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur."

Mario's use of Tanooki is nothing new. First introduced in 1988 in Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario used the Tanooki tail to fly and do spin attacks. Since tanukis hold a place in Japanese folklore associated with good fortune, it could be argued that Mario is simply harnessing the spirit of the animal.

PETA's campaign against Mario even includes a (warning) rather gruesome 8-bit online game called Super Tanooki Skin 2D that looks like a variation of the Super Mario Bros. game in which you chase Mario to reclaim Tanooki's fur. What do you think of PETA's claims? Is it another PR stunt or do you agree it encourages fur wearing?

Source: Nintendo

• How do you feel about communal tables? — Inside Scoop SF
• Do you know how much sugar you consume? It could be a lot more than you think. — Eater
• Oprah and her 378 staffers are doing a week-long vegan challenge. — Huffington Post Food
• Learn how Snoop Dogg makes seven-layer dip. — The Feast NY
• Are you interested in Martha Bakes, Martha Stewart's instructional baking show? — Fork in the Road
• Watch Peta's new porn-tastic veggie video. — Grub Street SF
• Why the farm lunch is a necessity. — The Atlantic
• Must make: chocolate cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting and bacon streusel! — Endless Simmer

Source: Flickr User bhamsandwich

"I just wish more animals were gay — people would pay more attention!"

— Joan Rivers in a letter she wrote on behalf of PETA supporting two animal-related bills to City Council President Christine Quinn, who not coincidentally is openly gay. Let's hope Quinn has a sense of humor!

Two things that should never be sexed up are animal rights and airport security, but here we are. PETA's latest aggressive ad is of a woman's body in a bra and underwear, saying "Be proud of your body scan: go vegan." This makes two assumptions: first, deep down we care what TSA employees think of our bodies, and that fear is enough to change dietary habits.

Fortunately, New York's LaGuardia and JFK airports are grounding the idea. They rejected the ad, prohibiting its placement near airport body scanners. JCDecaux North America, the company in charge of the airports' advertising, says the decision is based on the company's policy against "nudity or political ads," not because it's that risqué.

I wouldn't say it's risqué either, but just a gross exploitation of two things that should never meet but have: body image and airport security.

"Someone should whisper in her ear that there are more people who are upset by butchery than who are impressed by it. Meat is the decomposing flesh of a tormented animal who didn't want to die, and after a few hours under the TV lights, it would smell like the rotting flesh it is and likely be crawling in maggots — not too attractive, really."

— PETA's president responds to Lady Gaga's meaty VMA outfit, a look she may have borrowed from a 2008 episode of America's Next Top Model. I don't know what's more predictable: Lady Gaga's outrageous wardrobe choice, or PETA's outrage?