Vice

Jacobs says that Nicolas Ghesquière's first show for Louis Vuitton will be a departure from his work for the fashion house.

The Internet went into riot-mode early this week when Vice released a fashion spread entitled "Last Words" (which has since been removed from its website) from its Women in Fiction issue. The theme? Female writers who had committed suicide, depicted at the moment of their demise--while simultaneously showcasing the latest designer clothing. Pure class. Jezebel's Jenna Sauers spoke to Paige Morgan, the model who portrayed beat poet Elise Cowen in the editorial, to find out whether the faces of the controversial shoot knew what they were getting into. The revelations made in their conversation speak as much to Vice's lack of judgment as it does to the treatment of models in the fashion industry as a whole.

First thing's first. I’m a woman, I’m a writer. That said: Let’s talk about Vice, its Women in Fiction issue, and the shocking “fashion” spread of women writers committing suicide. At first glance, the issue features short fiction by a talented, fresh writer, A.L. Major, and famous storytellers like Marilynne Robinson, Mary Gaitskill, and Joyce Carol Oates. Then there’s this spread*, entitled “Last Words”—a photographic essay of sorts—of women writers before they meet death. The beautification of females and death is nothing new--forms of pornography are devoted to it. Most gargantuan billboards in Times Square show dead-eyed models, lounging like corpses à la Tom Petty’s "Last Dance with Mary Jane" music video. What the French call petit mort, or “little death”, is an evocative euphemism for climax. My initial instinct is to attribute any work of art with layers of metaphor and meaning, contextualize it in a way that uncovers some truth I hadn’t seen. I can’t do that with “Last Words.” These writers are completely stripped of their words.

We never thought we'd say this, but it's a pretty good time to be the CEO of American Apparel. As just about every mass-manufacturing apparel company we can think of comes under fire for contributing to the poor working conditions that lead to multiple deadly disasters in Bangladesh factories, one company (which often comes under fire for other reasons) is free from blame: American Apparel, which is just about the only large-scale affordable clothing company that manufactures everything in the U.S. and offers some of the best working conditions in the apparel industry. In a recent podcast, CEO Dov Charney sounded off on fast fashion, international garment industry reform, rich European CEOs and more.

On Mother's Day, Kim Kardashian opened up about how "nervous and anxious" she is about becoming a mom. {US Weekly} Speaking of motherhood, there's a rumor that Beyoncé is pregnant again. She's keeping "mum" for now. {NY Post} Sienna Miller on that Met Ball kiss with Cara Delevingne: "She kissed me!" More interesting? Miller revealed she almost ate a maggot on the set of TV film The Girl. {Metro UK} Victoria Beckham really does smile, OK? She tweeted a picture of herself as proof. {Grazia}

This is absolutely the best gift we could have been given at the tail end of a long New York Fashion Week. Snoop Lion on getting French tips: "It’s about being spooned and groomed, dipped and whipped, suited and booted, gooted and looted, scuttered and buttered." Read on for more highlights.

Vice has purchased i-D magazine, according to a release. Yes, the magazine that once sent a journalist tripping on acid to London Fashion Week and is supposedly footing the bill for Cat Marnell's Thailand rehab is looking to further its fashion presence.

From Mario Testino to Vogue.

One of the many benefits of watching Vice's Fashion Week Internationale web series has been that our breadth of knowledge of international plastic surgery trends has widened tremendously. In Colombia, butt implants are all the rage; in Rio it's gender reassignment (which of course is more than just a trend) and for some South Koreans, it seems no facial feature is safe from surgical enhancement--the primary goal of which is a more western look.

This week, Fashion Week Internationale goes to Kingston, Jamaica to investigate the disturbing trend of illegal skin bleaching. We chatted with host Charlet Duboc over email (she's currently working on upcoming episodes in Tel Aviv and Moscow) about how the show has progressed, what other disturbing beauty trends she's encountered during her travels, and why Jamaica has been her favorite trip thus far (it totally wasn't just because of the abundance of smoke everywhere).

It's days like today, the last day of New York Fashion Week, that we're really glad things like Fashion Week Internationale, Vice's newish web series, exist, to show a different side of the fashion world.

Avoid Falling Into The Fast Fashion Fray: The author of Overdressed schooled us in smart shopping, offering advice on how to steer clear of fast fashion and preaching the value of quality goods. The September Issues: It may only be July, but that hasn't stopped big-name glossies from releasing info on their September cover stars. Check out some of the surprising choices. Critics Weigh In On Kate Upton: Since appearing on the cover of GQ, Kate Upton has created quite a stir among those in the fashion world. She's not rail thin like most models, which has led some to call her fat. Go weigh in on the debate.

Long before Scott and Garance won a CFDA media award and street style became a phenomenon and source of emotional distress, there was Vice Dos and Don'ts. It began as a column in the print magazine (an ASME National Magazine Awards finalist for General Excellence) and evolved into a daily section of their site that I first heard about when I moved to NYC about six years ago and checked often for a frequent dose of hilariously captioned photos of hipsters (and, if I'm being honest, maybe to do my best to make sure I stayed within the "do" category). Vice just launched the second book installment of Dos & Don'ts, described on the back cover as representing "the most incisive and honest commentary on street fashion in the last million years of humans wearing clothes." Which it might very well be. One of the people responsible for that commentary is Dos and Don'ts editor Thomas Morton, who over the phone yesterday told us all we ever wanted to know about the feature and then some. As he more or less speaks in witty, irreverent Dos and Don'ts captions, his answers were entertaining to say the least. From the seamy places those photos come from, to how hangovers factor into caption-writing (heavily), to where he believes style really comes from, read on for our interview with the man who made it all come together.

We've all been there, ladies: That clothing stain far more mortifying than a drunken spill of Merlot. Ruining your glad rags whilst on the rag. Uninte

The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) has just announced the finalists for the 2012 National Magazine Awards, and among the usual suspects (The New Yorker and New York), there were a few surprises. For one, Vice received it's first ASME nom, for General Excellence no less, alongside The New Yorker, New York, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ in the General-Interest Magazine category, which is kind of the equivalent for getting nominated for "Best Picture" at the Oscars. It's certainly a feat for the magazine which started out as an underground publication that prided itself on being anything but mainstream. We'd like to think it's all thanks to the mag's fascinating exploration of canine bondage, or their coverage of London fashion week on acid, but you know, that could be just us. Also of note is that only two fashion titles--Glamour and W--got nods for General Excellence. W received more ASME nominations than any other fashion mag in 2011, and 2012's list confirms that EIC Stefano Tonchi is indeed on a roll--much to the chagrin of competitor Vogue, no doubt.

Dear PETA, Last night, to kick off fashion week in the best way we could have possibly imagined, Vice, whom we love for their unconventional fashion

We always look forward to the latest installment of Vice's Fashion Week Internationale, as the episodes are often as entertaining as they are educati