Charlotte Gainsbourg

>> INSIDER WIRE —Kanye West making bunny ears behind Marc Jacobs as he gets interviewed; Carine Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt sitting together at Armani Prive, wearing the same Alaia stilettos; Charlotte Gainsbourg, front row in Balenciaga, politely refusing interviews . . . just another day at the shows. [Kanye Universecity, FWD]

»Is Dior Homme trying to get Hedi Slimane back? [Fashionista]

»Julia Restoin-Roitfeld's boyf Magnus Berger has a new magazine, The Last, out in September [FWD]

»Agyness Deyn recorded her first single, was snapped holding hands with The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. [Chic Report, Just Jared]

»Alana Zimmer, Behati Prinsloo, and Rachel Clark went to an S&M festival last Sunday [Supreme Being]

»Gerard Darel replaced Charlotte Gainsbourg, who has been their face since 2003, with Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer for their Fall 2008 campaign [WWD]

»Naomi Campbell wore the same dress to Nelson Mandela's birthday dinner that Stephanie Seymour wore to the Costume Institute Gala [FabSugar]

»Full Giambattista Valli, Balenciaga Resort 2009 collections [Style.com, Style.com]

>>  Is Nicholas Ghesquiere getting starstruck?  For the second season in a row, he's chosen to go celebrity: Jennifer Connelly for Spring, and now Charlotte Gainsbourg for Fall. 

Granted, both women embody the Ghesquiere girl — Charlotte is well-known to be his muse, and Jennifer a good friend — but to hear him describe the reasoning behind his choice is striking, considering that he has built Balenciaga to be a true blue fashion-for-the-sake-of-fashion label, rather than a fashion label devoted to upping its star wattage.  Behold, he sounds smitten with actresses:

They are used to playing characters and go deeper into the image.  There's definitely a celebrity effect when you shoot an actress. There's a real frisson.

The Spring 2009 campaign cast will tell us all — three makes a trend.  Until then, enjoy the first look at the Fall 2008 Balenciaga campaign, shot by David Sims and featuring an archly posed Charlotte Gainsbourg, with the new Balenciaga store in LA forming the backdrop.
*image: source

>>  The models may be winning the ad campaign race for Fall — besides a couple of notable exceptions, Charlotte Gainsbourg for Balenciaga and Vanessa Paradis for Miu Miu — but celebrities are taking over at the CFDA Awards on Monday night.

The Womenswear Designer of the Year award will be presented by the trio of Victoria Beckham (representing nominee Marc Jacobs), Eva Mendes (for nominee Calvin Klein), and Maggie Gyllenhaal (fronting nominee Proenza Schouler).  Meanwhile, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are announcing the Accessory Designer of the Year, and Mandy Moore is doing the Swarovski Award honors.  Let's hope there still some models out there in the crowd for posterity . . .

*images: source