CHRIS MARCH SUES THIERRY MUGLER OVER BEYONCE COSTUMES

Project Runway alum Chris March is suing Thierry Mugler for allegedly not paying him for work he did on Beyoncé's costumes for her current I AM tour. That sentence was a lot to take in: Chris March, Beyoncé, Thierry Mugler, a lawsuit. We had know idea Chris even worked on costumes for Beyoncé — and her band and her backup dancers — until the suit surfaced. Reached by phone this afternoon, Chris explained he's worked with Thierry for almost seven years on various projects, including Cirque du Soleil costumes. Beyoncé hired Mugler to create her tour costumes in November, and Chris met with Mugler about the project in late December. In January he started work.

CASSIE IS DESIGNING T-SHIRTS & TANK TOPS

After Cassie ordered clothes off sportswear label DimePiece's website, the brand wrote her back and suggested they collaborate. Cassie, in typical celebrity fashion, said yes. Her DimePiece collection will include only black and white clothes. So far she's only designed T-shirts and tank tops. But according to People, "there will be nothing basic" about those. Naturally, Cassie can't do an interview these days without talking about her half-shaven hairstyle. Today she offers, "When I did the hairstyle, I hadn’t seen it on anyone else. It was just crazy, punk, off the wall. After I did it, people sent me photos of other girls doing it. So I wouldn’t say I was the first to do it, but I sort of made it mainstream.

via StyleWatch/People

I-D FIRST FASHION MAGAZINE TO SHOWCASE WOMEN OF COLOR ON SEPTEMBER 2009 ISSUE

The "major surprise cover" and "major moment in fashion" Sessilee Lopez and Chanel Iman both teased in April is finally here: They are joined by Arlenis Sosa Pena and Jourdan Dunn on the September 2009 cover of i-D, photographed by Emma Summerton, styled by Edward Enninful, marking the first (and so far only) major fashion magazine to go with women of color for their September issue this season.

THE VMAN MODEL SEARCH CONTINUES

VMAN congratulates model search finalist D’Marco Jones on his recent shoot with photographer Nick Knight. Because the other selected finalist Daiv Ambrose was unable to make the shoot, the search for our second finalist will continue. Entrants can upload images and videos until the 14 September 2009 deadline when they will be judged by Nick Knight. The overall winner will score a model contract with Ford Models and the prestigious cover slot of the upcoming VMAN 16.

salute me: MONCLER | GAMME BLEU A/W 2009

Moncler continues to impress. Their new Gamme Bleu range with Thom Browne is among the best that has come from them and in our opinion some of the best outerwear this season. The combination of the designers sharp styles and the quality of the brand are a perfect match. Our favorite pieces include the puffy bomber jacket and the puffy camouflage blazer. Several new pieces arrived today at colette.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY'S PHOTOSHOPPED FRAGRANCE CAMPAIGN

Keira Knightley stars in the new campaign for Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle fragrance. But some are wondering if the actress's assets were enhanced in the image.. Hmmm, ya think?!

fly kicks| LANVIN HI TOP TRAINER A/W 2009

The Lanvin High Top Trainer comes for Fall/Winter 2009 in a nice new jersey felt/suede version. They also added a wide ankle strap to it, along with some gold accents on the eyelets. The sneaker are now available from Aloha Rag..

new music: WORDSPIT | "JOYSTICK MADNESS"

My boy Wordspit is back with some more HOT FIRE for yo a**. Check out the first track off of his joint, The Coolest B-Boi Stance, dropping August 24th! And be on the lookout for the official video debuting on August 10th.

DOWNLOAD: “JoyStickMaddness”

www.wordspitwashere.blogspot.com/

www.youtube.com/wordspit

www.abmnewyork.blogspot.com/

www.twitter.com/wordspit1

www.myspace.com/wordspit

cover: KERI HILSON | COMPLEX

THIS YEAR'S VMAs TO BE A DIVA FASHION BATTLE

Beyoncé and Lady Gaga each earned nine nominations, including one for Video of the Year — Bey for "Single Ladies" and Gaga for "Poker Face." It's black leotards and a silver glove versus pleather bodysuits in and a silver face chain. And then there's the sartorial battle to be waged on the red carpet and in any live performances they may do. If Beyoncé wants to top Gaga, she's going to have to do better than strapping a train around her waist.

CHANEL IMAN AND LAUREN CONRAD KEEP TV CAREERS ALIVE WITH AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL

Tyra is bringing in a cast of shorties for the thirteenth season of America's Next Top Model. And if that's not enough to get you to watch, she's got a clan of glitterati scheduled to come in and guest judge them. Troops include Lauren Conrad, Chanel Iman, Kim Kardashian, and others. Tyra needed the boldest of boldface names to join her on the judging panel after she laid off Paulina Porizkova. Likewise, Chanel Iman and Lauren Conrad needed Tyra to keep their television careers alive. Chanel has basically been off the air since MTV stopped rerunning its revived House of Style. And Lauren Conrad is off The Hills and has nothing to do so she may as well go look at a bunch of short girls and give them something to aspire to, since they're about as likely to become real fashion models as Andre Leon Talley is to burn her entire stash of turbans. But what really gets us is that all the accomplished guest judges are on the same playing field as Kim Kardashian, whose incomprehensibly fame-worthy accomplishments include only having a big butt and getting it Photoshopped. But at least she can show the short contestants, that even if they're short and can't be models, they can still make something of themselves, on E! if they're lucky.

fly kicks: SAMANTHA RONSON FOR SUPRA

Sam finally teams up with Supra. Not to be outdone by her brother Mark's sneakers for Gucci. The shoes are a version of the brand's Indy pair but in a new set of colors — distressed black suede with a gold detail and white sole. They're already on sale online for $148 as part of Supra's fall 2009 collection. With such an enthusiastic family of sneakerheads, maybe Charlotte will be up next?

Nice job on the kicks Sam.

cover: KATE MOSS | VOGUE UK

cover: KID CUDI | COMPLEX

NAOMI'S NEW WEAPON OF CHOICE : HER HANDBAG

It's difficult to understand the desire to risk taking pictures of Naomi Campbell on the street without a body of water or Plexiglas wall to act as a shield, whatever monetary reward may result. Emerging unscathed and free of emotional scars is never guaranteed should something go wrong. Italian photographer Gaetano Di Giovanni did just this. He now accuses Naomi of scratching his face and hitting him with a handbag on the Sicilian island of Lipari, where she's vacationing on a yacht with her(married) billionaire Russian boyfriend, Mikhail Prokhorov.

The Daily Mail reports:

Mr. Di Giovanni told the Italian newspaper: 'First she hit with her bag, screaming at me and then she tried to slap me.

'I managed to avoid her - but her nails still got my eye.

'For a few seconds I could not see a thing. I could hear that her bodyguards and her boyfriend were trying to drag her away.'

Police haven't received any complaints about the incident, and Campbell's rep denies the accusations. The photographer was seen following Naomi from a small boat the next day — which is a safer alternative to land, though he still risks bludgeoning by way of projectile cell phone.

KANYE RUMORED TO BE DESIGNING A LINE FOR THE GAP

Us Weekly broke the news a few weeks ago that Kanye West was interning at the Gap, where he pined away until midnight, soaking up knowledge and real-world fashion-industry experience like the good little nonsensical, construction-worker-Timberland-wearing sponge he is. Then a wily public-relations person tore through the media, denying the reports, which was sad, because we had begun to imagine Kanye as a 'design beast' for not just Louis Vuitton customers and sneaker freaks, but the Everyman and the Everyman's chinos. Finally, through Gap, we felt like we could relate to Kanye. But now, the story is back in the Chicago Tribune, which reports that Kanye is interning at Gap's headquarters in Manhattan, working side-by-side with his buddy creative director Patrick Robinson. Friends don't let friends intern for administrative assistants.

FASHION LOSES A LEGEND

We are saddened to announce the untimely passing of Naomi Sims, who has died of cancer at the age of 61. Sims was credited as breaking racial boundaries in modeling, appearing as the first black cover model of Ladies' Home Journal in November 1968. She was also among the first to be represented by Wilhelmina agency and went on to model for designers such as Halston in her career. Two photographs of her are featured in the The Model As Muse exhibit currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.