WHICH fashion business partners and former couple have been mixing work with pleasure despite one of them having a steady boyfriend/girlfriend for a while now?

We’re getting breathless e-mails asking what, exactly, is the deal with this Grazia item reporting an already battered rumor - that Nina Ricci is looking to replace Olivier Theyskens with an unnamed successor - from the front row at Spring 09 couture this week.

But honestly, we’re surprised it’s even come up again. Not only is Olivier’s Fall 09 show in mere weeks, but he just announced a major accessories line with Nina Ricci not even two weeks ago, and Mario Grauso, the president of Nina Ricci’s parent company Puig Fashion, recently made a point of reaffirming his love for Olivier after rumors of disharmony persisted for months.

Unless of course, all these facts are worth nothing, and Olivier is about to face a Facchinetti-style ousting this March (even though his contract with Nina Ricci isn’t up for renegotiation until this October.)

Guess we’ll have to wait until the dust (and front row boredom) settles.

She’s currently the cover girl of British Vogue, has had 19 smash hits with her band - and is now turning her hand to design?

That’s right - The News of the World reports that Cheryl Cole will be designing a new range for Topshop, with the help of new BFF, none other than the lady herself, Kate Moss.

According to backstage reports at the X Factor (American Idol), Cheryl and Kate instantly hit it off, gushing about each other all night:

“When Cheryl said she wanted to get into high street fashion, Kate got very, very animated. It’s very likely to happen next year…Together they could make an amazingly diverse range.”

So, it will basically be something like this:

Rock Chic - Herion Chic + WAG = BIG MONEY

ps. Here’s the horrific cover that was surrounded with so much controversy.

—BR(IT) BOY

Yesterday, a rumor started that Marie Claire needed a new fashion assistant.

It was buoyed along by the website Ed2010 (which all of you searching for an editorial job should absolutely read religiously), and now Hearst HR is getting inundated with calls and emails.

It’s great everyone’s so enthusiastic about working for MC (it’s a great magazine, after all), but there’s one little problem:

There isn’t an opening. Somebody (why?!) made up the rumor and spread it around.

So don’t stress if you’ve already sent your resume and haven’t heard back - it’ll be kept on file in case a position at MC actually does open up, and then, good luck!

Here’s one for you modelizers out there:

We hear DNA Models is absorbing Public Image, the guys’ modeling agency that used to be IMG Men.

The “news” makes sense, considering PI’s primary investor was recently murdered, and - according to one model familiar with the news - “because DNA’s all about pretty boys, and Public Image has tons of them.”

So what does this affect?

Basically nothing, but we thought you’d like to know before WWD told you.

Meanwhile, have you heard the rumor about Nadia, the mysterious fourth founder of Women/Supreme, realizing she actually owns a part of the agency and wanting to sell her shares of the company?

Oh, silly models. The things you tell us…

WHICH hot fashion protégé is getting more than just support from his mentor? He’s also getting “support” - you know, activities so not safe for work!

Those lucky enough to get an invite to Diesel’s huge party on Saturday know it’s going to be a blast:

M.I.A., N.E.R.D, and Joel + Benji Madden all in one big warehouse, in Brooklyn, with tons of fashion kids and a red carpet curated by Starworks (read: lots of famous people).

But even the extravaganza that is a Diesel bash can’t necessarily contain this rumor:

That Britney Spears is one of the night’s surprise performers.

We heard it from an entertainment agent based in the city, and we’re like, “Nooooo!” and they’re like, “I don’t believe it, either, but that’s what the rumor is.”

So, you know, it could be like Kate Winslet for Vivienne Westwood - totally wrong.

Or it could be like Sonic Youth for Marc Jacobs - totally happening.

Fingers crossed, kids.

Overheard in the Vogue halls:

Katie Grand is leaving POP, the vivid British magazine she began, to start a new magazine for Conde Nast.

She offered her job to one of our favorite editors ever, but since POP is also reducing its funding now that Katie’s over and out, the candidate decided it ultimately couldn’t be worth it for her.

Now the magazine’s future is up in the air, and as for Conde Nast starting yet another fashion title, well, WTF.

How much weight this rumor holds remains to be seen - our sources are pretty impeccable, but also so thin, we wouldn’t be surprised if their extreme fashion diets were making them a little delusional.

Less Karl! More Cake! Less Stella! More Stella Artois! Etc.

To: Natalie@fashionista.com

From: MarcMyWords@aol.com

Hi Fashionista!

I heard from very reliable sources that Marc is tying the knot this weekend.

He and his 3-months Brazilian beau chose the most romantic city of the world, toujours Paris!

Check it! Love is in the air!

Xx

(Obviously this is so unconfirmed that all we can do is laugh at this point, but still - interesting email, n’est pas?)

A couple weeks ago, we shared with you guys that Agyness was no longer going to be the Burberry girl starting next season.

Now everyone’s in a tizzy over that Metro UK article where an “insider” spills that Testino has dropped Agyness not because girls are dropped from campaigns all the time, but specifically because he thinks she’s “over-exposed”.

And the girl said to be her replacement? Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, a 21-year old that the British press has been swearing is the next Kate Moss since 2004, and Christopher Bailey’s date to the Met ball earlier this month.

Can a girl best known for modeling underwear replace the quirky Agyness?

It looks like we’re about to find out.

So here’s the most fun/awful rumor of the day -

The reason Kate Moss was missing from Saturday night’s Life Ball in Vienna - the annual runway show/party that raises money for AIDS research, for which Kate was set to be the sort-of-face via Agent Provocateur’s sponsorship - is pretty simple. Apparently, she “just bailed”.

So the Agent people did a last-minute switch, which ended up with Lily Cole taking Kate’s place, which inexplicably involved a leather catsuit (of course, Faran’s made sure we all get to see Lily in it, Vienna or not).

Next logical rumor: Lily for Agent? But what would her Political Geography 401 professors say?!

We all know there’s been a ton of rumors lately that Richie Rich and Traver Rains are walking on separate yellow brick roads these days, but some recent developments might prove otherwise -

First, the glitter boys shot a prom-themed spread for ELLEgirl with Lydia Hearst right after the rumors of their demise swirled Gossip Girl-style all over the internet.

Now, we’ve learned that they’re flying out to LA with Paper Magazine today as special guests at Playboy’s Playmate of the Year Luncheon since they custom designed the winning bunny’s dress - and we were told this by a concerned Heatherette fan that wanted to help “squash the rumors.”

So now the real question is - are these one-time events for the sake of the good old days?

Or can we all expect a blowout show in September?

For those of you checking in on a Saturday, we have something fun to report:

According to an inside source, Sarah Jessica Parker is spending all day with Alexander McQueen at a fitting.

The question, of course, is what for?

Costume Ball? Or… even more fun… Sex and the City movie premiere?

Place your bets, kids - and stay tuned for an even bigger update tomorrow, when we dish what SJP told us at the TimesTalk tonight… which, bien sur, was amazing (see iPhone blur at left…).

WHICH fashion assistant emails big PR companies, complaining about how wretched their own assistants are? We hear her roommate needs a job, and thinks she might like to work at one of them…

We’d bet money or even shoes on the fact that someone at the Costume Ball will arrive wearing Prada, and someone will arrive wearing Lanvin.

The curious thing is, Miuccia Prada and Alber Elbaz may not arrive at all.

We hear from an inside source that, as of today, neither the Prada head nor the Lanvin creative director have made plans to attend the Costume Ball, a curious notion considering both are huge Vogue advertisers and both are also pretty damn cool.

Even more interesting is that Prada most definitely has a table at the ball - they’ve even invited Tilda Swinton, Oscar winning awesomeness, to sit there.

Why are the designers avoiding the “Biggest Party of the Year”?

And is there any way that we could just dress up as them and go instead? Because duh, we’d totally wear glasses and a bow tie or a giant feather hoop skirt, just for the chance to shake George Clooney’s hand and brush up against an Olsen!

So everyone’s in a tizzy over the Daily News’ story today, claiming that the filming of Fashionista’s driving ELLE staffers crazy, and that no one thinks the winning contestant will be given a job.

Weird - we were recently told by someone close to the whole ordeal that the entire show is being filmed in fake offices (so no reason for the people with real jobs to feel like anyone’s getting “under their feet”), and that the winning position is to assist the accessories closet (which, believe it or not, really is a job a million girls would kill for).

Maybe they just mean that staffers are often wrangled away from their desks and into shootings someplace else in town?

Because that would be annoying, though not really real. Surprise!

We were going to call this post, “The Devil Scares Prada,” but instead we’ll get right to the point:

There’s a swirl of agents and casting directors buzzing about a very dire rumor. Some have accused Prada’s longtime casting director, Russell Marsh, of accepting bribes from IMG and Women to put their girls front and center in Prada and Miu Miu’s casting. According to the rumor, Miuccia’s team had no knowledge of the bribes, and according to Style.com, the evidence that IMG and Women girls are usually on Prada’s opening and closing moments (and of course their Sasha Pivovarova campaigns) is quite solid. Although we’ve always believed that those two agencies, collectively, have the best stash of girls anyway. It’s also true that Meghan Sutherland had a Prada moment last year, but you may have noticed she was missing this season from the runways…

Furthermore, there’s an email going around, purportedly from Russell Marsh to his contacts, saying he needs to “go away for a while.” But we remember when the faux Olivia Palermo email got out last year, so we know how easy it is to forge an email address.

So why is this rumor going around and around?

Either it’s true, or a very vicious agency feels violated because their best girls got nixed from the Prada runway or campaign, and they decided to take matters into their own hands.

Also:

We get emails every day from people asking how to get into the fashion business. This is probably a good example of why you may not want to try.

And of course, if you know anything about this, email tips@fashionista.com and fill in the blanks.

One of the weirder rumors we’ve heard this morning is that Cole Haan is pairing with Converse.

The move seems inordinately silly, until you think about the fact that the brand’s spent a lot of time and money in the past few years to get a little hipper.

The evidence so far is a bunch of photos in People and InStyle featuring some cooler celebrities with their bags - like Keira Knightley, at left.

Seeding luxe bags to A-listers certainly doesn’t prove that you’re working with Converse, but since the new Lucien Pellat Finet sneakers - done by Vans - launch today, it may be that anything’s possible.

And John Varvatos hasn’t looked cooler in years…

Reality TV may be the best thing to ever have happened to so many kids in LA -

Not only did Lauren Conrad just show her first collection at LA Fashion Week, but now we hear she’s starting her own accessories line.

Overheard on set of her mark commercial, Lauren gushed that she was so excited about her new, unannounced accessories line.

We can already see polka-dot headbands, bright yellow plastic bangles and patent leather clutches made for posing outside of Les Deux.

We wonder if it’ll be under her own name, or something like “L by Lauren.” Or is she going true socialite style and designing for Samantha Thavasa?

Stay tuned…