WSJ Magazine

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Rebecca Minkoff is now moonlighting as a contributing editor for InStyle. She'll write an advice column called Ask a Designer for the magazine over the next six months. [WWD]
  

• Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's label The Row has been named one of WSJ. Magazine's Innovators of the Year. "The twin designers display an eye for nearly monastic classicism that's redefining American luxury," the magazine says. [Fashionologie Inbox]
  

• McDonald's is suing the city of Milan, claiming it was forced out of its location there to make way for a Prada store. [Vogue UK]
  

• The massive $20 million class action suit between models and a variety of New York modeling agencies isn't the industry's only big court case. Ford has sued Women Model Management for "poaching" two of its rising stars, Alana Zimmer and Karolina Waz. [NY Post]
  

• In other courtroom news, a lawsuit has exposed the "Aircraft Standards" to which the male stewards on Abercrombie CEO Michael Jeffries's private jet must adhere. The guys on Jeffries's flight staff must wear flip-flops, pop the collars of their polo shirts, and always respond to requests from the boss with "No problem." [Bloomberg]
  

• A few British tabloids have reported that Ben Stiller offered Lady Gaga some $5 million to appear in the sequel to his seminal '90s modeling comedy Zoolander. [Fashionista]
  

• Lovers of colorful staple pieces, rejoice! Uniqlo will debut its online store next week. [The Cut]

An Italian newswire report suggesting that Giorgio Armani will form a foundation to run his fashion empire after he dies set the press ablaze with speculation that the future of the fashion label has been set in stone.

However, an Armani spokeswoman said today that the report, published by Ansa last week, was incorrect. Instead, the spokeswoman said, Armani, 77, would consider selling his company to a large fashion conglomerate only if he's presented with a good enough offer. And, while he is also considering leaving the brand to a foundation, Armani told WWD last week that it is "only one of the possibilities."

Armani's succession plan has been in focus lately because of a recent WSJ. Magazine profile that explores what will happen to the company after the designer is gone. In the profile, Armani admitted that he hasn't settled on a plan, saying, "As long as I'm here, I'm the boss."

Photo: Giorgio Armani takes a bow after presenting the Giorgio Armani Prive Haute Couture Fall 2011 collection in Paris.

WSJ. Magazine hits newsstands this Saturday in the Journal's weekend paper, and the magazine has offered us an exclusive preview of its September décor feature! This month, in "There's No Place Like (Someone Else's) Home," former Domino editor Rita Konig takes readers around the world to visit five exquisite residences that also double as hotels. "Most of these tranquil home-away-from homes are run by rather remarkable women with wonderful taste, an appreciation for simple, delicious food and a fondness for bringing unique decorating style to a remote setting," says Konig. So if you appreciate the finer things in life and don't need all of the bells and whistles of a resort or traditional hotel, think about planning your next vacation at one of these getaways, which are a lot like, well, paradise.

Casa de Madrid — Madrid, Spain

"Staying at Casa de Madrid is like being put up by a rather grand friend of a friend of your mother's," Konig says. The décor of each room of the seven-room hotel is inspired by a storied place around the world, such as Rome, Japan, and India. While there's no hotel restaurant or even a dining room to speak of, the neighborhood offers plenty of eateries, and Konig says, "in true Spanish style, wine and tapas are laid out in the sitting room before you go out for the evening."

>> Mario Testino photographed Anna Wintour for the April 2011 cover of WSJ. — likely at her request (he often shoots Vogue's covers). Because if there's one thing about Wintour, it's that she does things on her own terms.

Si Newhouse (chairman of Advance Publications, which owns Vogue) attests with an anecdote about a Fashion's Night Out meeting Wintour held in Paris, which had 30 international Vogue editors and publishers in attendance: "It was the first time anybody had gotten them all together. She didn't need my authority to do it — she has a remarkable ability to impose her will. If I had had reservations, she probably would have gone ahead anyway."

Marc Jacobs, too, confirms: "If I get a request for something I don't want to do, first I get an email, then a phone call from someone at Vogue, and now I don't even bother to say no — I know the next call is from her." And New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who Wintour has worked with on a number of initiatives — including Fashion's Night Out — says: "Behind all Anna's grace and poise is some pretty tough resolve. She's not a person you want to say no to."

Even the Costume Institute has bowed to Wintour's requests (she has raised a grand total of $75 million for the organization, after all). For last year's gala, she had a 30-foot hot-air balloon trucked in from South Dakota to float above the museum's Engelhard Court. "When we first saw it, we go, 'Never! We can't have gas in the museum!' " says Met president Emily Rafferty. "Anna's changed our attitude — she's brought us to new levels of thinking of what we can do, but without ever losing sight that we're working in a museum context here."

Needless to say, Wintour's reach extends much further than fashion. Harvey Weinstein, who has known Wintour for 15 years (and more recently married Marchesa's Georgina Chapman), notes: "I'm a streak player, but Anna's there, good or bad. When I wasn't doing so well, Anna would throw a party and put me next to Bernard Arnault." Although he declined to be specific, Weinstein said that he had several business deals come out of that party. And Baz Luhrmann, who just recently cast Wintour favorite Carey Mulligan to star in his upcoming film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, says: "I always talk to Anna about what I'm up to, and I always listen to what she has to say."

Within fashion, too, Wintour is more than just an editor. As Francois-Henri Pinault, head of PPR, says: "She tackles things that are really much bigger than what any other editors take on." Because of Wintour, Pinault is currently discussing how to financially support young designers with the French government. But Wintour never straight-out asks him to do something: "She's much more subtle than that."

She's also something of a matchmaker — whether it's designer to brand (in the case of placing John Galliano at Christian Dior back in 1996; Bernard Arnault — chairman of LVMH, which owns Dior — says of Wintour: "She pointed us towards unexpected choices. I speak very openly to her, and this was quite audacious — it was not about picking the big names of the moment. It took her to see that there was a stylistic closeness between John and Dior. She was the discoverer.") or brand to financier (in the case of Bottega Veneta and Gucci Group or Michael Kors and Sportswear Holdings). "She does this very discreetly, but she's really a kind of consigliere to the entire fashion and retail industry," one former colleague who worked closely with Wintour says. Another former colleague, who attended several corporate matchmaking meetings with Wintour, adds: "I came to realize that she's really the McKinsey of fashion." As for Wintour's word on the matter? "We can suggest," she says, "but in the end, everybody makes up their own minds."

It sounds like Wintour isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Vogue is Conde Nast's most profitable publication, Si Newhouse confirms, adding that he has no successor in mind: "Never. I hope she's here 10 years from now, 20 years from now." Wintour, for her part, says: "With all the new media outlets out there, with all the noise, a voice of authority and calm like Vogue becomes more important than ever. The more eyes on fashion, the more opinions about fashion, the more exploration of fashion around the world, the better it is for Vogue. Vogue is like Nike or Coca-Cola — this huge global brand. I want to enhance it, I want to protect it, and I want it to be part of the conversation."

A few more quotables from the WSJ. profile:

Marc Jacobs on Wintour's cold reputation: "She gets such a bad rap. She stands by the people she believes in, and if you're not one of those people, perhaps you take a different view."

Wintour's take on her reputation: "I care deeply about my friends and my family and they know it, but work is work."

Wintour on cover choice regrets: "I'm not terribly proud of putting the Spice Girls on the cover."

Wintour on the John Galliano scandal: "This is all so tragic."

Wintour on being criticized for using the same people in Vogue: "I try to remain open to new people, but obviously there's a stronger element of trust with people you've known for a long time. I think we have a Vogue vocabulary, and there are certain people we like to have as the backbone of the magazine — Vogue's signposts. We try very hard to integrate the familiar signatures with people we feel are new and up-and-coming, but I would rather err on the side of being a little more familiar than being too . . . What's the right word? . . . Edgy."

WSJ. on Wintour's morning habits: "When I met Wintour in her big, artfully tidy office at Vogue, she had been up since 5 am — her normal waking hour. On most days she goes off to play tennis at 6, but lately she's been nursing a sore elbow and can't play. Which didn't mean no tennis."

The April issue of WSJ. Magazine hits the newsstands this Saturday, March 26, and lucky me, I've been given an exclusive preview of one of its delightful home décor features. To write her article "For the Love of Country," writer, decorator, and former Domino editor Rita Konig took a trip to the 16th century hunting lodge of interior decorator and bon vivant Nicky Haslam in the woodsy, Little Red Riding Hood land of the English countryside. Haslam's home is a Jacobean-revival house that was built for Tudor king Henry VII, and now, as Konig says, it "perfectly encapsulates that terrible phrase, 'English country-house style.'" Haslam has decorated for the likes of Ringo Starr, Oleg Deripaska, and the Saatchi brothers, and he names rock stars, movie stars, royalty, designers, and more famous faces as his friends, but his interiors are far from precious or pretentious. He's perfected the look of worn sophistication, and every room feels well-loved, timeless, and casually chic.

Proof of Haslam's laid-back yet refined attitude towards design comes straight from the horse's mouth. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the story:

On shopping for home décor:

I don’t consciously collect anything drily precious or impersonal; I just seem to have acquired pretty bits over the years and, ofcourse, some of those bits came from now-famous old friends. I tend to look out for things with a resonance to my youth—artists or objects that seemed romantic all those years ago. I never buy anything purely for its value. I like possessions that smile back at me.

On playing host:

When I entertain, I like it to appear as casual as possible, but in fact I will have orchestrated everything quite carefully, by producing surprises for the eye, mouth and ear. I prefer to do it all myself. I’m a pretty good cook and the house is too small to tell the help where things should go.

On his home's miniature grandeur:

The English truly understand the dynamic between buildings and land. On the continent, the country is tamed into submission round a house, while in America homes are statements in that vast landscape. Most English houses, grand or small, nestle in an intimate pastoral setting.

Pick up WSJ. Magazine on newsstands Saturday to read the article!

Photos courtesy of Simon Upton for WSJ. Magazine

After having a house guest visit for a week or so, I always feel I'm due for a vacation myself. It's exhausting to entertain day in and day out, and just the presence of a visitor in my home can make me feel slightly off-key. But a week isn't all that long. Imagine having 100,000 daily visitors in your home in one year.

That is a reality for a young family of six in the English countryside of Lincolnshire. In the March issue of WSJ. magazine, which hits newsstands tomorrow, interior and furniture designer David Netto introduces us to his friend and former co-worker Miranda Rock, who inherited a life at Burghley House, the largest and grandest house of the first Elizabethan age, which is open to the public all year long. When she was appointed by Burghley's preservation trust to assume her mother's role as custodian of the property, where she grew up, Miranda, her husband Orlando, and their four children packed up and left their life and friends in London for the 115-room estate on more than 12,500 acres.

Their new (old) home is filled with treasures that Europe's great museums would most certainly covet. Some of the items that came with the house are the biggest solid silver wine cistern in Europe, weighing 253 pounds; a smattering of jewel-like perfume bottles from India's Mughal Empire; more than 400 paintings; and even a fabulous marble mantel designed by 18th century Italian artist Piranesi. The trade-off for living with so much history in your midst is that you have to share it. Only a staircase divides Burghley House's private and public rooms, so the Rocks are bound to run into DSLR-straddling tourists on their way to breakfast in the family kitchen. What a way to polish up on your hosting skills.

Head over to WSJ to read the full story.

Photo courtesy of WSJ Magazine

When I interviewed former Domino editor in chief Deborah Needleman in August of last year, I, of course, asked her what she was up to in her post-Domino life. She said she'd been spending her time gardening "like mad," consulting, and writing, and conceded that it was "quite a good relief to not be working so hard and to have a break from the pressure." Hopefully, she enjoyed her respite, because now she's back in the grind with a full-time gig as the editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal's news and lifestyle glossy, WSJ.

Needleman's premiere issue debuted in the WSJ Weekend edition on Saturday, and it's apparent that she has not lost her enthusiasm for design. Always a shelter magazine girl at heart, she was sure to sprinkle a delightful dose of interior eye candy in the December issue. In "The City Squire," Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry, who dropped a solo record in October, opened up his London apartment to another Domino alum, writer Rita Konig. The rock star shares his keen collections of British photographs, ceramics, and antique textiles, and reveals a very unrocker penchant for decorating and entertaining at home. "Decorating is so interesting to me," he says. "I like to control my environment. How it looks, feels and sounds. I couldn't imagine asking someone else to decorate it." Ferry's apartment, a puzzle of furniture pieces, has a decidedly bohemian vibe with an upscale British style, layered with worn textiles, stacks of books, and other worldly finds. Check out the article to take a further peek inside Ferry's home, and pick up the issue on newsstands tomorrow!

Photos courtesy of WSJ. Magazine