Mickey Boardman

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• The company that owns Valentino is selling the Italian fashion house, and the royal family of Qatar is rumored to be the frontrunner in the bidding war. Not true, says Valentino CEO Stefano Sassi. "As previously stated, Valentino has seen increasing interest from a number of potential buyers." [Elle UK]
  

• Sophie Theallet won the US division of the International Woolmark Prize, which honors emerging talent in fashion design. The prize money totals $100,000, and Theallet could win another $100,000 when she competes with other regional winners from around the world in February. [The Cut]
  

• Chloe Moretz has been named the newest brand ambassador for Aéropostale. [Styleite]
  

• Paper editorial director Mickey Boardman says that if he were a rapper, then his name would be Chunky D. [Fashionista]
  

• Lulu Kennedy may have helped start the careers of Gareth Pugh, Roksanda Ilincic, and Jonathan Saunders through her Fashion East initiative, but she would like to clarify that she's not a genie. "I can't grant them wishes," she says of the designers she works with. "They make things happen. They've got to put the work in." [The Guardian]
  

• Karl Lagerfeld's masstige line Karl will be available at Selfridges by the end of the month. [Vogue UK]
  

• The Museum at FIT has relaunched its online platform, the Museum at FIT Online Collections, which allows users to digitally view some 600 pieces in the museum's possession. [UnBeige]

>> Is fashion's minimalist revival going to be over come Spring? In the wake of Paris Fashion Week, a number of insiders seem to think so.

Marc Jacobs is on board with the idea — the campy Spring 2011 Louis Vuitton collection spurred Vogue.com's Sarah Mower to write: "The excitement of stylized, decadent fun, running rampant as a backlash against minimalism [is] an idea that fashion editors will take up." Style.com's Nicole Phelps, too, made note of Jacobs's about-face from last season: "Not unlike his seventies-inflected signature show back in New York more than three weeks ago, this was a flat-out refusal of the minimalism that was all over last season's runways, his own included."

The New York Times's Eric Wilson chimes in: "It was striking to see jarring pink-and-orange combos at a number of shows: Martin Grant, Yves Saint Laurent, Cacharel, Giles Deacon, Christopher Kane and Marc Jacobs. (Not buying it was Karl Lagerfeld, who, at the Chanel show, told Cathy Horyn of The Times: 'I really don’t think women want to go around looking like a Saint Laurent shopping bag.') Regardless, it made last fall’s foray into minimalism feel like just a blip on the fashion radar." Paper's Mickey Boardman adds: “After the Céline-ification of fashion, everything became about good taste and beige. I think we all hungered for hot pink.”

Retailers seem to be feeling similarly. Ed Burstell, managing director at Liberty of London, told WWD: “I think there’s going to be some boredom for minimalism [by Spring]. I’m not sure everyone’s willing to walk away from things that are a little more fun and sexy to [looks more suited to] a Connecticut soccer mom heading for lunch.” Lane Crawford's Sarah Rutson agrees: “The customer has had enough of neutrals from fall. We need to set the sales floor alive with color and print."

>> Advance Copies of Isabella Blow Biography Receiving Raves —This Fall, Isabella Blow is getting her biographical due. There's a picture-based book (with personal letters from fashion figures), put together by Blow's assistant Martina Rink, out in November, an unauthorized biography out in December, and Blow by Blow, a book co-written by Blow's husband, Detmar Blow, and Tom Sykes, out Nov. 9. Review copies of the latter are receiving raves — Paper's Mickey Boardman tweeted: "I'm reading Blow by Blow (an advance copy) and it's amaaaazing." And Euan Rellie, who is married to the author Tom's sister, Lucy Sykes, Tweeted: "Detmar Blow & Tom Sykes's coming book on Issie: Blow by Blow. Salacious, romantic, riveting." [@AskMrMickey, @euanrellie]

>> Last week, Oscar de la Renta drew a lot of heat for his frustrated comments on Michelle Obama's decision to champion small fashion houses, wearing Thakoon and Jason Wu over Donna Karan or Ralph Lauren:

American fashion right now is struggling.  I think I understand what [Obama and her advisers] are doing, but I don’t think that is the right message at this particular point . . . I don’t object to the fact that Mrs. Obama is wearing J.Crew to whatever because the diversity of America is what makes this country great. But there are a lot of great designers out there. I think it’s wrong to go in one direction only.

He got particularly pointed about Obama's choice of an Alaia cardigan to meet Queen Elizabeth: “You don’t go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater.”

Needless to say, fashion community feathers were ruffled — Paper's Mickey Boardman blogged a piece requesting de la Renta to "hush": "It's beneath de la Renta's dignity as an elder statesman of American Fashion to consistently complain and criticize a First Lady who has done so much for American fashion."

But Oscar's sticking to his guns »