• Russell Simmons relaunches his Argyleculture menswear line this fall, with design help from Joseph Abboud. [WWD]
• Leighton Meester walked in the Penshoppe show during Philippine Fashion Week on Saturday. [ONTD]
• Victoria Beckham covers the new issue of Interview Germany and was caught catching up on some light reading during the shoot. [Design Scene]
• Hermès family member Axel Dumas will take over as chief executive officer upon the current CEO’s retiral, the label confirmed this morning. Dumas will also work as co-director from May of next year. [WWD]
• Buoyed by the popularity of its Mad Men collection, Banana Republic posted its highest-ever first-quarter sales figures this year. [Bloomberg]
• Noritaka Tatehana — the designer behind Gaga’s infamous heelless shoes — opened his workshop up to Susie Bubble during the blogger’s recent trip to Tokyo. She got to watch him put the finishing touches on a pair of shoes being custom-made for Daphne Guinness. [Style Bubble]
• Reem Acra launches a new contemporary bridal line, Roses by Reem Acra. [WWD]
• And in other bridal news, Richard Nicoll designed a bridal line for Topshop. [Vogue UK]
• By 2020, American consumers will be spending $7 billion less on clothes and shoes annually than they were in 2010, according to new market projections. In the grander scheme of things, that’s $344 billion down from $351 billion. [WWD]
• Christian Louboutin wants you to know he’s “really not a fascist.” You see, “I don’t hate the idea of comfort,” he says. “I just don’t think it’s important for me as a designer, it’s not in my creative process. Some people say, for instance, they’re in a comfortable relationship. I favour someone who would tell me: ‘I am in a very passionate relationship’. It’s the same thing for shoes. I would rather someone say, ‘Your shoes look passionate and sexy’, than ‘Your shoes look so comfortable’.” [Independent UK]
• Giorgio Armani debuts a new social media initiative later this week, Armani Tweet Talks. The talks will be “a series of moderated live fashion discussions with hand-picked panels of industry notables,” with the first taking place this Thursday from Beijing. Those tweeting along their thoughts include Vogue China’s editor Angelina Cheung, Tommy Ton, and Susie Bubble. [Frockwriter]
• PPR continues plans to develop a luxury e-commerce site with Yoox.com. The two companies signed a “non-binding letter of intent” on Friday, with a view to finalize plans in coming months. [Bloomberg]
• British newspaper the Independent profiles designer Margaret Howell, who “[feels] very outside of the fashion scene … I’ve never really related to it all that much.” [Independent UK]
• Bar Refaeli figures she’ll settle for Tom Cruise — if she’s not able to marry Justin Bieber, that is. (Beliebers, fear not: Us Weekly helpfully clarifies that the model is joking.) [Us]
• For this September’s shows, the British Fashion Council will assume responsibility for Erin O’Connor’s Model Sanctuary backstage at London Fashion Week. [Vogue UK]
