Alex White

Target and Neiman Marcus have revealed that Karlie Kloss will be the face of the upcoming CFDA Holiday collaboration. According to a spokesperson, the multimedia campaign will be quite "robust" and will span online, print, out of home, TV, and social media, and required Kloss — who was classically trained in ballet — to do a lot of movement. "Her background and familiarity with movement and dance are perfect," the source said.

Kloss isn't the only big name to be involved with the campaign. Quentin Jones — known for his work with Chanel and Victoria Beckham — also worked on the ads, as did photographer Craig McDean, who was responsible for both the still and moving images. Alex White, former fashion director of W, styled the ads, while Orlando Pita was tapped to do hair. "Our goal is to match the unprecedented nature of the collaboration and incredible product being produced to a campaign supporting it," the spokesperson explained. "What's most important is the talent we're putting behind this campaign."

>> W fashion and style director Alex White, one of the last vestiges of the old guard at the magazine, is to be replaced by Edward Enninful, effective May 1. White, who held the position for 16 years, decided to step down to pursue a range of fashion and lifestyle projects in both digital and social media.

According to W editor Stefano Tonchi, the decision for White to leave was mutual: “Alex is a fantastic stylist and has done incredible work over the years. Everyone at W is grateful to Alex for creating such memorable fashion portfolios, and for the significant mark she has left on the magazine . . . She’s thinking very much about her own brand — the Alex White brand — and at a certain point that’s no longer what W is about.”

White agreed that they were "totally on the same page": “My 16 years at W have been thrilling. I’ve worked with wildly talented people and helped produce a gorgeous magazine. I was delighted to stay and help Stefano through his first, transitional year, and am looking forward new beginnings . . . I helped with getting over the hump. Now it’s time for me to continue my freelance and explore the other things I’m working on, including digital projects." Tonchi indicated that White is thinking about starting her own magazine, possibly online. White had recently been experimenting with her own column online, Alex White Edits, on W's website.

Tonchi and Enninful, meanwhile, hit it off while seated next to each other at a Balenciaga dinner during Paris Fashion Week a couple of months ago, Tonchi says: “I didn’t really think about hiring him, I just thought he was incredibly joyful.” They began discussing a job at W earlier this month and moved quickly from there.

"This is the beginning of a new era at W, and I couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of it,” said Enninful. And Tonchi added: "I'm thrilled that Edward is joining our team, and am confident that he will bring a great deal of creativity, professionalism, and industry knowledge with him."

Enninful, who has been a contributing fashion editor at Vogue since 2005 and at Vogue Italia since 1998, is ending those engagements. “Now I’m going to be focusing my editorial prowess on W,” he explained. “Whenever a relationship ends it’s very sad."

>> Peter Copping was on set for his first Nina Ricci campaign yesterday — shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, styled by Alex White, at the spa of New York's Greenwich Hotel — but he wouldn't disclose who the model was, other than to say she is older and was not on his Spring 2011 runway.

He was more open with his feelings on other subjects, however. While he's in charge, Nina Ricci won't be live streaming its runway show: “I’ve never been into it. It appeals much more to the big brands. Their goal is to reach a huge amount of people. I don’t think it ever seems appropriate for Nina Ricci, because it goes beyond that sense of intimacy that I want to create for the house.”

And he doesn't like for his collection to be called "pretty," he says. “When people write that, I always think . . . I don’t know. I like it when people read something more into [the collection].”

Copping recently mentioned wanting to foray into bridal and lingerie soon, and he also won't rule out a secondary collection. It could happen — Nina Ricci is currently one of the fastest growing designer ready-to-wear businesses at Barneys.

>> W is not looking to fill the creative director position that creative director Jody Quon left empty after only three full issues and six months at the magazine. While Quon couldn't be reached for comment, editor Stefano Tonchi shed some light on why Quon might have exited her position: "I really came back 10 days ago [from the fashion shows in Europe] and there was a lot of tension in the office, much more than before."

He added that he was "very sad, very sad" to see her go, and that Quon's reasons for leaving were "very much that she didn't feel comfortable anymore and kind of agreed that it was maybe not the best match." When asked to elaborate on whether the tension resulted from a culture clash or a personality clash, Tonchi said he couldn't speak for Quon, but surmised: "Probably both." He continued: "From my side, I was very happy with what she has done with the magazine, and I appreciate her professionally, and, more than that, her elegance . . . I respect her decision. I accepted it."

As The Daily points out, "Quon had to contend with Baron & Baron wunderkind Joseph Logan, a skilled design director who appears to favor the austere aesthetic pioneered by Fabien Baron. (He's bringing on a new art director from Baron & Baron in the next few weeks to replace Nathalie Kirsheh, who recently decamped to Details.) And the third party to consider: fashion director Alex White, whose relationships with photographers like Mert & Marcus and Inez & Vinoodh are a valuable asset that Tonchi doesn't take lightly. Widely considered to be among the best stylists in the business, White is not known to take a backseat role in creative decision-making."

>> A number of rumors have swirled around, postulating that Stefano Tonchi asked close friend Anna Dello Russo to take the fashion director position at W — she was even spotted in the magazine's offices recently. But Tonchi denied to Daily Front Row that he had asked Dello Russo to replace current W fashion director Alex White (who remains from the pre-Tonchi era): "I love Anna, but she has a great job at Japanese Vogue that she quite likes, and I don’t have any idea to actually move her to New York. She’s a good friend, but I didn’t really even have a conversation with her about this seriously. She’s a fashion director, but she’s not necessarily the one that’s doing shoots and maybe that’s what I’m looking for. Alex is doing that, and that’s what we need at W."

He is working with new photographers for the magazine, however »

>> Rumor: Anna Dello Russo to W? —Rumors are running around men's fashion week in Milan that Stefano Tonchi may be recruiting Anna Dello Russo for W's fashion director position. Although Tonchi said last week that he "should be set" regarding layoffs at the magazine, he and Dello Russo are longtime friends; plus, current fashion director Alex White is the sole figure still in place on the top of W's masthead from the pre-Tonchi era. Daily Front Row argues, "Dello Russo essentially hires photographers and stylists for Japanese Vogue...which someone's gotta do at W, right? (Without [former creative director] Dennis Freedman, who had twenty-year-old relationships with A-list photogs like Michael Thompson, Mert & Marcus, and Bruce Weber, there's a real void in that category.)" [DFR]