robert duffy

The 'Wall Street Journal' vet gives us the backstories on some of her biggest scoops, peppered with advice on sourcing, fact-checking and playing straight.

The Fashionista 50 slideshow. Click through for a short bio on each of our picks.

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In a move that will surely attract potential investors as Marc Jacobs readies its IPO, president Robert Duffy filmed this super weird video.

One of the most renowned fashion houses in the world is in a period of major transition: After 16 years as the creative director of Louis Vuitton, M

Ten days in Paris. Ten days of fashion. Ten days of drinking wine and eating steak frites and shopping probably a little more than I should. Here's what I saw.

"This was never my intention to be the last show."

This morning's Louis Vuitton show was, as rumored, Marc Jacobs' last for the brand recently named the most valuable in the world.

With her crop tops getting more and more cropped and her hot pants getting more and more... hot (yeah, no), it was nearly inevitable that we'd see Miley Cyrus completely naked. After all, the Maxim Hot 100 list-topper has shown time and time again that she's totally OK with revealing her butt crack. Turning around for the cameras was just the next step. Alas, this time it's for a good cause.

82-year-old Carmen Dell'Orefice graces the cover of You magazine. In the accompanying story Dell'Orefice says she's scored more covers in the last 15 years than she had "in all the years before that." YES. {Design Scene} Karl Lagerfeld designed rooms (not furniture) for fast-furniture company, which is apparently like an IKEA-Best Buy hybrid. Is there any industry Karl hasn't touched? {WWD} New York Knick Amar’e Stoudemire blazed through his wedding reception in a custom red Lanvin suit to give his wedding a regal feel. We think he succeeded. {T Magazine}

It's been 16 years since Marc Jacobs took the helm of Louis Vuitton--a period of time that saw the introduction of ready-to-wear at Vuitton, collaborations with artists like Stephen Sprouse and Takashi Murakami, and, not incidentally, sky-rocketing revenues. The partnership has been a success by all accounts--but, according to industry rumors, it could be coming to an end soon.

If you thought that Marc by Marc Jacobs has been looking a little too '70s over the last few seasons, that it's been feeling a little bit, well... meh, you're not the only one. In an interview with WWD, Robert Duffy, president and vice chairman of Marc Jacobs International, admitted that Jacobs' contemporary line was "getting a little stale." So he's made two very exciting hires to liven up the brand: Former Marc Jacobs's accessories designer Katie Hillier has been named creative director and beloved designer Luella Bartley has been named design director of women’s ready-to-wear.

To survive in this business, you've got to have more than talent. You've got to be shrewd, savvy, determined—and a crazy-hard worker.

In an interview with Port Magazine, Marc Jacobs's partner in empire-building Robert Duffy describes their relationship as "a married couple that has weathered so many storms [but] we are happy [and] comfortable with each other now." One of those storms? The hotly-debated Dior job, which Jacobs was offered last year.

Dior's new main man Raf Simons will once again design a menswear collab for Brit heritage brand Fred Perry. {Telegraph} Two of Kate Middleton's old straw hats are expected to fetch up to £1,500 each at a charity auction. {Vogue UK} Artist Tyler Shields' Birkin BurnGate may have raised a lot of eyebrows, but it also raised the alarm at the Purse Blog. Not only are they rejecting the hefty $100k price tag, they don't even think that bag is a real Birkin. {PurseBlog} Tonight, after nine months of work, Barneys New York will finally deliver their window collaboration with the Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art. {WWD, subscription required}

Former Urban Outfitters CEO Took a Pile of Cash When He Left: Glen Senk left Urban Outfitters without collecting his bonus, but he definitely didn't walk away empty-handed. Along with his $942,000 salary, WWD reports that Senk received a "$5,000 bonus, $3,000 in other compensation and $1.6 million in option awards." {WWD subscription required} Franca Sozzani Talks Anorexia and Fashion at Harvard: The editrix talked to Harvard students about the unfortunate role fashion plays in promoting the ideal of extreme thinness, and how it contributes to the anorexia epidemic seen in young women (and men) in several first-world societies. She says, "Why the age of supermodels, who were beautiful and womanly, slowly started decreasing and we now have still undeveloped adolescents with no sign of curves? Why is this considered beautiful?" Franca failed, however, to comment on the fact that these same "undeveloped adolescents" are prominently featured in her magazine from month to month. {Vogue.it} Claire Danes, Sofia Vergara, Michelle Dockery and Julianna Margulies Are Naked in Bed on Vanity Fair: Vanity Fair features the first ladies of primetime television in May's "Special TV Issue." They look mighty comfy in those silk sheets. {TFS}

Even in the midst of the small dramas happening at New York fashion week, the big story is still: Who’s replacing John Galliano at Dior? Although neither Marc Jacobs nor LVMH are talking, it’s been widely reported that they’re in negotiations for Jacobs to take the reins at Dior. And according to WWD, those talks just got a bit complicated. Because of the increased responsibility that comes with the creative director position at Dior--namely two couture shows in addition to regular and pre-season collections--Jacobs and partner Robert Duffy are reportedly asking for a package that will put their salary in the “low eight digits.” That’s over $10 million, people. The financial world is concerned about who the new Dior creative director will be, but maybe not as concerned as those in fashion.

Every season New York fashion week gets bigger and bigger. When Ruth Finley, who is the keeper of the Fashion Calendar (aka your hard copy fashion week bible) started planning and putting out the New York fashion week calendar 65 years ago she estimates there were, at most, five shows a day, no more than one an hour. This Friday alone, on the second day of Fashion Week, there are 34 shows. “When [New York fashion week] started there was only one show an hour and now we have almost 300 in eight days,” Finley says. “There's quite a bit of overlapping and there used to be no overlapping.” While New York fashion week’s exponential growth is undeniably a sign of its health (and that's a good thing!), that “overlapping” of shows that Finley refers to--when you have five or more shows crammed into an hour--can also hurt the designers who’ve put in all that effort and money to show their wares. As more designers flood the New York fashion week schedule, it becomes more challenging for designers to make sure their collections are presented the best they can be. Top models and styling teams go to bigger labels with more pull and more money. Editors and buyers--though they might not always look it--are human, and can only make it to a limited number of shows per day. Designers are feeling frustrated.

While the New York fashion week schedule is not set in stone, Marc Jacobs generally shows on the Monday night of fashion week at 8 p.m. But this year he's making a last minute shift to show on Thursday, September 15 due to hurricane Irene. Jacobs' sample room did not sustain any hurricane damage but the time lost when employees could not work through the weekend was enough to prompt the designer to push back his show. "We lost the weekend with the hurricane," Marc Jacobs CEO Robert Duffy told WWD. "That lost time is impossible to make up without pushing the show back. Our entire sample room – most of the people live outside the city and they couldn’t get in here this weekend, nor would we have wanted them to." Apparently New York's mini-quake also took a toll.

Topshop Pulls Skinny Model from Ads: Model Codie Young caused a ruckus for appearing too skinny in images on Topshop’s website. Some eating disorder activists complained. Codie is pissed and says she’s just naturally skinny. {DailyMail} Christy Turlington Was the Responsible Model and Naomi Campbell Wasn’t. Shocker!: Model agent Carole White talks about the supermodel heyday when she represented Christy, Naomi, and Linda. Carole said, “Christy was a dream, very professional and calm, whereas Naomi was less disciplined and used to get me into trouble.” Why are we not surprised. {Telegraph} Fashion Law Gets Some Attention: Read an interview with Charles Colman, who is an expert in the burgeoning field of fashion law. He represented WTForever21 in that recent hoopla. {AboveTheLaw}

more Marc Jacobs looks to be trying out a viral video marketing approach. For this brand new video, which Fashin brought to our attention, we pose th

Last night's CFDA Awards were a decidedly star-studded affair, what with Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Sofia Coppola, Jessica Alba, Gerard Butler, Naomi Watts, and host Anderson Cooper spending time on the stage. Cooper had to leave early because of "that Weiner thing," or so Diane von Furstenberg said, but otherwise the audience received plenty of face time with their star of choice--there were even a couple of moments when one could forget this was, you know, a fashion industry event. But only a couple.

The former CFO and COO of Marc Jacobs International, Patrice Lataillade, is suing the company, along with president Robert Duffy and parent firm LVMH, according to the NY Post. Marc Jacobs, the designer, was not named in the suit. Lataillade, who was fired in September, is accusing Duffy of using company money to pay for personal expenses, making employees look at gay pornography, and the production of an MJI book comprised of photographs of employees in sexual positions.

Marc Jacobs Intern Goes on Twi-page (that's a Twitter rampage--it sorta works?): Remember how Marc Jacobs was looking to hire someone to manage their Twitter, via Twitter to replace CEO Robert Duffy? Well this intern did not get the job. An MJ intern hijacked the @MarcJacobsIntl twitter handle and tweeted gems like, "'You guys and gals have no idea how difficult Robert is. I am only an intern. My last day is tomorrow. I wouldn't be tweeting this if not!...Good luck! I pray for you all. If you get the job! I'm out of here. See ya! Son't want to be ya! Roberts a tyrant!" Those tweets have obvs been removed. {Daily Mail} How Tommy Ton Makes Bank: Business of Fashion profiled Jak and Jil photoblogger Tommy Ton as part of their "Business of Blogging" series. In it Ton reveals he makes up to $2,000 an image, and would take pay for editorial placement. {BoF} Remember Prince Harry? He's Still Really Hot: What with his upcoming royal wedding to Kate Middleton, Prince William's got a guaranteed hold on the spotlight. A little reminder that the spare is still around? David Bailey shot Prince Harry for the cover of British GQ and he looks good. {British GQ}