hearst

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• The relaunch of Schiaparelli has been delayed until "June or July" of 2013, according to the brand's spokeswoman Farida Khelfa. The reason? Diego Della Valle, who owns the brand, is still looking for a creative director. [Fashionista]
  

• What's next for Tamara Mellon's life after Jimmy Choo? She's writing what she calls an "entrepreneur story" that will be published next year. "It's not strictly a business book and it's not strictly a memoir," she says. "It's a hybrid." [The New York Times]
  

• Publishers of some of the nation's biggest fashion and lifestyle magazines, including Condé Nast and Hearst, were forced to close their New York offices during Hurricane Sandy. [WWD]
  

• Actor Robert Pattinson will take on a new role as the face of Dior's men's fragrances. His contract with the brand is estimated to be worth $12 million over three years. [E! Online]
  

• Twelv magazine hired ice sculptor Takeo Okamoto to create a dress out of ice inspired by Tilda Swinton's portrayal of the Ice Queen in the movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Photographers only had 30 minutes to shoot the dress before it melted. [Huff Post Style]
  

• Just in time for Halloween, Coco Rocha stars in a decidedly spooky fashion film called Full Moon that Ellen von Unwerth directed for Vs. Magazine. [Styleite]
  

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Artist Mari Kasurinen has created a Karl Lagerfeld doll inspired by My Little Pony. [Racked]
• Yesterday the salaries of Condé Nast's staffers were revealed. Today, it's all about Hearst. [Fashion Etc]
• J.Crew's newest partnership features a pair of jeans from Goldsign. The five-pocket Jenny jean was inspired by a pair Norma Jean Baker wore in the 1940s. [T Magazine]
• Stella McCartney will endow a scholarship at Central Saint Martins. Winners have to avoid using fur and leather during their studies and will be given a one-year contract to work for McCartney after graduation. [Vogue UK]
• The 82-year-old model who Alber Elbaz cast in Lanvin's Fall 2012 ad campaign is a New York native named Jacquie Murdock, who dreamed of working in fashion as a teenager. "From a very young age, I wanted to model [and] to go to Paris. The opportunity was not there at my time for women of color," she says. [Fashionista]
• Leandra Medine of Man Repeller says she's very gradually expanding her blog into a destination website. "I want women to come to Man Repeller and feel smart and get something funny out of it and just feel good," she says. [Teen Vogue]
• Former South African President Nelson Mandela debuted his clothing line 46664 with a party at the South African consulate in New York this week. [Stylelist]
• The commercial for Lady Gaga's upcoming fragrance Fame has been released. [Styleite]

These stories and more — here in our daily news roundup.

>> Speculation is rising that Glenda Bailey may be on her way out at Harper's Bazaar. Carol Smith, the former Elle publisher, officially starts tomorrow as Bazaar's new VP, publisher, and chief revenue officer, and WWD suggests that she "can’t be happy with the magazine’s current numbers and will want to turn the magazine around right off the bat."

Bazaar finished the first half of 2011 down 5.4 percent in ad pages, and circulation numbers so far this year are behind those of 2010. But one Bazaar source tells WWD: “Glenda rumors come all the time, it’s just like the boy who cries wolf. For the past two years, there have been Glenda rumors.”

• Do you prefer your January Jones sexy or demure? — People
• Seven foolproof tights-and-shoes color combinations — Lucky
• FabUK's 10 favorite SAG Awards looks — FabSugar UK
• Jourdan Dunn makes her Burberry appearance — Modelinia
• Soma Intimates wants your old bras — Soma
• Diane von Furstenberg issues model health guidelines for Fashion Week — Vogue UK
• Daisy Lowe wants to see more feminine shapes in magazines — Refinery29
• Hearst has officially bought ELLE Magazine — The Cut
• Forever in blue jeans: Vogue's favorite denim looks for Spring — Vogue Daily
• Alexander McQueen Knuckle-Duster studded suede box clutch — Bag Snob
• It's time to make a statement: check out the season's best watches — The Inside Source

>> Whether it's for the fame or fortune, Hearst has sealed the deal, purchasing Elle from Lagardère for $885.6 million for its international magazine business. Hearst now owns 102 titles and a master license agreement for the Elle trademark in 15 countries. Lagardère, however, will retain ownership of the Elle trademark to oversee brand consistency.

>> Hearst, which has until Jan. 30 to square away their Elle acquisition deal, has been silent on the whole matter — until now. While it may seem that Hearst is interested in joining forces with Elle to up its prestige and respect in the publishing world, the Harper's Bazaar publisher says not so — its executives are more concerned with the big revenue numbers that come with owning the rights to a portion of Elle's 43 international editions. Hearst magazines president David Carey sums it up: “For us, prestige is a business with a healthy bottom line.”

If the deal does go through, however, one source told WWD that Hearst will be challenged with bringing Elle's average ad page rate up to that of Harper's Bazaar (which itself has a going rate of less than Vogue).

>> Harper's Bazaar publisher Hearst could have ownership of all 40-plus foreign editions of Elle (minus the original French one) within the month. After over a year of rumors about the acquisition, and then word that Bauer Media or Meredith Corporation might also be in the running, Elle parent company Lagardere announced on Friday that it is in exclusive talks with Hearst, giving until Jan. 30, for the deal to be struck. Whatever happens, Lagardere still aims to keep full editorial control at Elle, post-sale. [Bloomberg, WWD]

>> The rumors have been flying for well over a year now, but finally, French conglomerate Lagardere, which owns publisher Hachette Filipacchi, and subsequently, Elle, has confirmed that it is exploring options for its international magazine business.

“These are informal discussions, which can result in anything from partnerships to joint ventures to an outright sale," a spokeswoman confirmed. "But at this stage nothing is fixed, and no time limit has been set."

Regardless of what happens, Lagardere plans to hold on to its French magazines — including French Elle — and retain editorial control over the foreign editions of Elle (which includes American Elle). When asked about the rumors that Harper's Bazaar publisher Hearst was interested in buying a controlling stake in American Elle, the spokeswoman replied: “They are certainly one of the possible partners but by no means the only one.”

>> It seems the Derek Blasberg and Style.com saga may have come to a close.  After being accused of taking money from brands in exchange for posts, Blasberg (who was named editor-at-large at Style.com last December), saw his byline quietly drop off the Style.com blog roster. Although he's still listed as a "contributor," his last post for the site was in June, just before the accusations of misconduct (which Blasberg fiercely denies, and which Style.com has never confirmed).

Now comes a memo from the Hearst PR department that Blasberg — who is also editor-at-large at Harper's Bazaar — will be a permanent Fashion Week fixture on Bazaar.com.  According to publicist Michael Volpatt, who handles Hearst Digital PR, "Blasberg takes site visitors front-row, backstage, and into the most exclusive Fashion Week parties, reporting daily on the trends, the faces, the hot spots, what everyone’s wearing and of course, the season's news-making fashion.  This can be found right on the home page."