The word of the day is: signed. That, at least, is what Hint Mag claims Riccardo Tisci has done on Dior’s dotted line. This has been a week full of rumors, and as far as we’re concerned, it ain’t over till Bernard Arnault sings. But that’s never stopped rumors from flying before… [Hint]Is Paris starting [...]

No surprise to hear that the garment trade is in Ally Hilfiger’s blood. But while, she says, she’d always kept being a designer in the back of her mind, for years it went no further. “The front of my mind was thinking, I want to be my own person, I want to do my own [...]

Didn’t graduate from (or get kicked out of) Andover or Exeter? Never had an au pair, a summer home, or monogrammed luggage? Even so—you’re still welcome in Tommy Hilfiger’s new Prep World. Said world, and the 60-piece collection that bears its name, isn’t merely a figure of speech. It’s a reference to the truly global [...]

Is Proenza getting a new parent? Rumor has it Theory president Andrew Rosen—who, in addition to controlling Theory and Helmut Lang, has invested in Rag & Bone, Alice + Olivia and Gryphon—is mulling a stake in the New York label. Pemira, which owns 45% of the business is looking to sell its share; designers Jack [...]

Jean Paul Gaultier is the latest designer to get the retrospective treatment: A career-long show of his work (a Spring ‘09 couture look is at left) will debut in Montreal in June, before traveling to Dallas and San Francisco. It’ll be broken out by themes—including the tantalizing “Eurotrash/X-Rated”—and be accompanied by a catalog with contributions [...]

Tommy Hilfiger recently celebrated his brand’s 25th anniversary, and he’s marking the occasion with an appeal to his 25-year-old customers—the ones who made Hilfiger a must-buy during his nineties glory days, when you couldn’t turn on MTV without seeing a pair of baggy Tommy jeans or an oversized rugby shirt. The prep staples of the [...]

The Pratt Institute has brought good things to Tommy Hilfiger: his creative director for many years, Stephen Cirona, is an alumnus, as is George Lois, the art director who put Hilfiger on the map in 1985 with an audacious ad campaign. “I thought that they must have really done something right,” Hilfiger said of the [...]

Designers design. Photographers photograph. Models model. That much—in broad strokes, at least—is clear. But what about the artists, technicians, and industry insiders, often unpublicized and underappreciated, who help to get clothes and accessories made and shown? Call them Behind-the-Scenesters: people who shape our experience of fashion but never take a bow on the catwalk or [...]

Madonna will star in Dolce & Gabbana’s ad campaign again this season, inspired by the classic Italian film Mamma Roma. Stefano Gabbana says it showcases “a more human and approachable side” of the star. Like, uh, the one above? [WWD] Meanwhile, Moschino is the latest brand to go to the blog well for its campaign: [...]

Don’t look for Givenchy on the couture calendar this July—Riccardo Tisci will show his Couture collection for the house (shaved down to ten looks to accommodate customization) by private appointment. Apparently, the most devoted couture clients, royals that they are, couldn’t attend the shows for security reasons, anyway. Yeah, we know how that story goes. [...]