Karl Lagerfeld

If you'd been waiting with bated breath to hear what Karl Lagerfeld thinks about Alexander Wang taking over Balenciaga, you may now exhale.

"Considering how hard it is to replace a man such as Nicolas Ghesquière, the best solution is to choose someone completely different," the Chanel designer wrote in an email to Modmods, the fashion arm of the global daily newspaper Metro. "As the impression we have had so far is that Mr. Pinault very much wants to 'expand' this area of the business, I believe that Alexander Wang is the best man for the job. His fashion is easier, his personality is more open to the world and he has very good contacts. People 'adore' Alexander, I too like him very much and I think he is a good choice in light of the fashion house's future projects. Furthermore, his origins will prove to be very helpful in parts of the world where fashion is most important as well as the luxury industry."

As Fashionista noted in its post about the subject, Lagerfeld guest edited Metro earlier this year. His voice joins a chorus of congratulations for Wang that came from all corners of the fashion industry. Wang himself hasn't said much about his new job but is already hard at work on his debut women's Fall 2013 collection.

All the news bits fit to print here, in our daily roundup.

All the news bits fit to print here, in our daily roundup.

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Overall, Maison Martin Margiela's collection for H&M drew smaller crowds than expected in both the US and Europe. [WWD]
• Karolina Kurkova's latest advice for young models: get on Twitter. "It's important to use Twitter and social media now," she said. "It is no longer enough to just look beautiful and be in shape. You need to be interesting." [The Telegraph]
• A collection of designer Pudsey Bears, featuring some of the last work by Nicholas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga, sold for over £150,000 (or $238,000) at a Christie's auction. [Vogue UK]
• Karl Lagerfeld has shot a photo exhibition for Rolls-Royce. The showcase, titled, "A Different View," will only be on view at the Rolls-Royce headquarters in Goodwood, England, to an exclusive group for five days. [The Cut]
• Joe Zee is lending his eye to Vente-Privee. [Racked]
• Giorgio Armani has announced that after 22 years based at 114 Fifth Ave., he will move his North American headquarters to the Meatpacking District next year. [WWD]
• Ralph Lauren has launched an ecommerce site that offers a curated selection of vintage pieces that match the brand's signature aesthetic. [InStyle]
• Bruce Weber has collaborated with Selfridges to create a holiday film short titled A New-Fashioned Christmas. [Nowness]

Karl Lagerfeld has dubbed President Barack Obama "The Biggest Chef in the World" in a political cartoon he drew for last Thursday's edition of the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "The subject was inspiring," Lagerfeld said of Obama's reelection.

The cartoon, which Lagerfeld colored with Shu Uemura makeup, per his custom, depicts the president wearing chef's whites and holding a cake shaped like the White House. The caption reads, "The Biggest Chef in the World: 10 x 5 Stars."

Lagerfeld told WWD that he woke up early the morning after the election to see the results and draw the cartoon. "I couldn't do it before; I'm superstitious," he said.

The polymath designer has said that he "will never vote," but he hasn't been shy about commenting on politics in the past. In March, he drew a series of cartoons for Elle France in the month leading up to the French presidential elections.

Photo via Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Speculation abounds about what Nicolas Ghesquière will do after he leaves Balenciaga, but Karl Lagerfeld already has an idea for the designer's next move.

"Perhaps Nicolas wants to have his own label, which is not a bad idea," Lagerfeld said at the Paris launch of the Little Black Jacket exhibit. "And it would not be a bad idea if somebody such as Bernard Arnault would invest in a new label because there are so many old labels (within the LVMH group)."

If Arnault backed Ghesquière's line, it would put him and Lagerfeld — who designs LVMH's label Fendi — on the same payroll. Some in the Paris fashion world believe that's exactly what's going to happen. Earlier this week, a source told Suzy Menkes that Arnault has already offered Ghesquière his own house, and another source called the situation "delicate." But while the business team at Balenciaga says it already has a short list of potential replacements, so far there's been no definitive word on what Ghesquière will do next.

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Erin Heatherton and Leonardo DiCaprio have called it quits. "There's no bad blood," the source said. "They still care about each other a lot." In the 10 months they were together, the duo weren't photographed together much, but they did vacation in Australia late last year. [Us Weekly]
  

• French actor Gaspard Ulliel has been cast as Yves Saint Laurent in a biopic that will be directed by Bertrand Bonello. The yet-to-be-named film apparently does not have Pierre Bergé's approval, but another YSL film about Bergé's relationship with Saint Laurent, directed by Jalil Lespert, does. [Vogue UK]
  

• Karl Lagerfeld will release a line of watches, priced between $150 and $595, on Feb. 28. [Design Scene]
  

• Producers for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which is being held in a National Guard building in New York this Wednesday, helped the Guard respond to Hurricane Sandy by letting the guardsmen use their generators and rented space and even setting up an Internet connection. [Fashionista]
  

• British label Ossie Clark is set for a comeback. It's been renamed Ossie Clark London, and its first new collection — with pieces priced between $80 and $300 — will appear in 45 Debenhams stores across the UK starting in February 2013. [Vogue UK]
  

• Amazon is setting up a 40,000-square-foot fashion studio in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, where it will shoot clothing for its main website as well as for online retailers Shopbop and MyHabit, which it also owns. [Racked]

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Grace Coddington's new autobiography doesn't just reveal facts about her life; it also exposes a hidden talent for illustration. A few of her hand-drawn and often comical images will be included in Grace: A Memoir when it goes on sale Nov. 20. [Vogue]
  

• Karl Lagerfeld and Kanye West reportedly had lunch together at New York's Mercer Hotel this week, where they appeared to be discussing the business of fashion. "They were in a deep conversation, then later appeared to be getting devices out to discuss design ideas," a source said. [Page Six]
  

• Valerie Steele will interview Donna Karan about her life and career in fashion on Saturday during the Designers and Books Fair in New York City. The event, which brings together the design, literary, and architecture communities, will be held at the Fashion Institute of Technology. [Designers & Books]
  

• Courtney Love has unveiled the first designs for her new clothing line, Never the Bride. "This is the stuff that I would wear if I was young enough to not look like Bette Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane," Love explained. [Vogue UK]
  

• Stuart Weitzman today released the full version of its short film Walking After Midnight, starring Petra Nemcova and directed by James Franco, after a month of unveiling previews of it online. [YouTube]