You've probably heard the news by now but, as you can imagine, it's too good not to comment. Carine Roitfeld has officially signed on as the new global fashion director of Harper's Bazaar. Aside from the fact that it means that we can expect to see a lot more Roitfeld-styled shoots (hurrah!), the move is a big middle finger to Condé Nast, who haven't shied away from criticising the former Vogue Paris editor recently.

According to a press release, Roifeld will work with Harper's creative director Stephen Gan (who she also works with on CR Fashion Book) on several fashion stories each year, which will appear acroess the 26 intentional editions of the magazine. 'This collaboration marks the first time anything like this has been done and we're very excited about what Carine will bring to Bazaar editions around the world,' Hearst CEO and president Duncan Edwards said in a statement. 'She is a visionary in the fashion world and we are so happy to be working with her.'

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As you would expect, just about everyone turned up to see Marc Jacobs' Fall 2012 show yesterday. Front row goers included good friend Rachel Zoe who sat next to the designer's former partner Lorenzo Martone, along with editors like Suzy Menkes, Glenda Bailey, Anna Dello Russo and Amy Astley. Celebrity-wise, all eyes were 'Oh Lola!' face Dakota Fanning and Maria Sharapova.

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Earlier on this year US Harper's Bazaar announced that there would be big changes at the magazine. Back in September they confirmed that the magazine is reducing their issues from 12 to 10 pear year after a significant drop in circulation numbers and ad pages and the changes don't stop there.

The magazine is also set to have a creative shake up as Glenda Bailey has hired Robin Derrick, who was the creative director of British Vogue until last June, to add his design input to the magazine along with their creative director Stephen Gan. “After 10 years, it’s time to refresh — Stephen and I are looking forward to evolving Bazaar’s design for the next decade, and we are excited to be collaborating with Robin,” she said.

Image via Vogue UK

Visionaire, the ever beautifully created fashion and art bible have created a tribute to the late Alexander McQueen, fittingly entitled 'Spirit'. Nick Knight, Lady Gaga, Steven Klein and Mario Testino have all contributed to the limited edition book, which features images inspired by McQueen, all printed on paper embedded with wildflower seeds that if planted, watered and given sun would blossom.

"Visionaire first featured the designs of Lee Alexander McQueen in 1996 and since that time, he has been a continuous inspiration and a presence in Visionaire," the magazine's founders Stephen Gan, Cecilia Dean and James Kaliardos explained, "McQueen's special commissions are among our most treasured contributions. His daring and challenging ideas of fashion have consistently excited and provoked us."

It seems that McQueen must have felt a similar respect for the thrice-yearly Visionaire, as he had approached them long before his untimely death. "In 2003, McQueen came to our SoHo office and gallery to discuss collaborating on an issue of Visionaire - an issue that never came to be. This is our tribute to him." The Spirit edition of Visionaire can be bought in Alexander McQueen boutiques, Colette and on the Visionaire website.

Alexandra Shulman of British Vogue once called for 'healthier' models. Her prayers have been answered in the form of plus-size supermodel of the moment Crystal Renn - and her curvy figure and gorgeous bone structure. Since last fashion-week season, Renn has been causing a storm in the industry by defying everything it has ever 'stood' for, proving that models of all shapes and sizes should be allowed to share a piece of the action.

With all her success since she stopped starving herself to be a 'straight-sized' clothes horse, one can hardly believe how far she has come. In an interview with the Eric Wilson of the New York Times yesterday, Renn candidly bares all about life at the start of her career. Reading from her book, Hungry, Wilson shares an excerpt showing the realities of the industry: "By 2002, when she moved to New York at age 15, she weighted 95 pounds and had lost more than 42% of her body weight. On her first day in the city, she landed a shoot for Seventeen."

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It looks like the furore that plus-size models caused in 2009 will follow them into 2010. V magazine, since its launch in 1999, has become known for its eye-catching covers, featuring world-famous models and celebrities, most recently the likes of Mirander Kerr and Natalie Portman. But, perhaps in the spirit of embracing the new, it has decided to feature plus-size models in its January issue. The likes of Crystal Renn will be photographed both clothed and in the nude, by a handful of renowned photographers including Terry Richardson, Bruce Weber and Karl Lagerfeld.

V follows in the footsteps of Glamour magazine, which earlier this year responded to the praise that Lizzie Miller's nude photo (which saw her looking glowing, healthy and happy) received, by featuring more models of Miller's size in subsequent issues, since. V's editor-in-chief, Stephen Gan told Page Six that: "Big, little, pint-size, plus-size - everybody is beautiful. And this issue is out to prove it."

We certainly hope that unlike Italian Vogue's "Black Issue", V will keep up the good work and continue to use a variety of models including plus-size models as covergirls. Lagerfeld himself has said in the past: "No one wants to see curvy women. You've got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly." V is known for being a trend-led magazine as opposed to a lifestyle magazine like Glamour, though, which means that only time will tell if this is simply a one-off occurence.