Life post-Vogue has been good for Carine Roitfeld - and good for us. Her attempt at diplomacy in interviews during her time at the French title has given way to refreshing frank anecdotes that would give Kaiser Karl a runner for his money and that's not an easy feat. Her recent comments in Eric Wilson's profile on her for The New York Times is a case in point. “If I look at the balance, maybe I lost some people I thought were my friends, but I made so many new friends," she explained when asked about the end of her friendship with Emmanuelle Alt. "I am very happy, in the end, because I am the winner.”

And it's true - Roitfeld has certainly come out on top since leaving the magazine. As well as her gig at Barneys and styling work for Chanel's campaigns, WWD confirm that she has guest edited VMan's spring issue, which is set to released on February 14.

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You must have been living under a rock for the past few years if you haven't noticed the affect the current economic slump has had on the luxury goods industry. High end retailers have been hosting sale after sale and continue to work on strategies to pull consumers onto the shop floors. Department stores, in particular, have felt the brunt as the ultra rich have scaled back on their spending - but not anymore it seems. According to The New York Times, the rich aren't shy to spend again.

Need evidence? The Olsen's crocodile backpack priced at a whopping $39,000 has already receieved orders and a Chanel coat retailing at $9,010 has sold out at Nordstrom with a major waiting list. And ithey're not just spending on clothes. Mercedes Benz recently revealed that they sold more cars in the US last month than they did in the last five years.

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Lara Stone's recent campaign for Calvin Klein Jeans has come under fire for playing with themes of violence and gang rape. The Australian Advertising Standards Bureau received many complaints from their workers after many believed that the ads promoted violence. As a result, billboards with the campaign have been taken down across Australia.

"The Board considered that whilst the act depicted could be consensual, the overall impact and most likely takeout is that the scene is suggestive of violence and rape,’’ it said.

"The Board considered that the image was demeaning to women by suggesting that she is a plaything of these men. It also demeans men by implying sexualised violence against women.''

Psychologist Alison Gundy agreed: "If we continue to subject future generations of young men to great barrages of aggressive, misogynist, over-sexualised and violent imagery in pornography, movies, computer games and advertising, we will continue to see the rates of sexual violence against women and children that continue unabated today. Or worse."

Do you think the decision was right, or are we all being too sensitive? Recently, Carine Roitfeld told the New York Times that censoring has become too much. "[W]hat I can see is that now, the censoring is bigger than it was 20, 30 or 40 years ago. I think we have less freedom. Today some pictures would not even be publishable," she explained.

"It’s not just about the nudity, but when you talk about things politically, the military, kids, it would all be politically incorrect and not publishable today...we have to fight to keep this un-politically correct attitude of French Vogue, but it’s more and more difficult to be able [to] do that." She continued, "You cannot smoke, you cannot show arms, you cannot show little girls, because everyone now is very anxious not to have problems with the law. Everything we do now is like walking in high heels on the ice, but we keep trying to do it."

The Met Ball Costume Institute Gala could not have passed without some drama or another could it?

Despite planning to dress seven models for Monday's event including Naomi Campbell and Stephanie Seymour, designer Azzedine Alaia was not invited to the event nor were his designs included in the exhibition. Campbell, who has a close relationship to the designer after living with him in Paris at the beginning of her career, decided to reject her invitation to the ball out of solidarity to the designer she refers to as "Papa". Speaking to The Cut, Campbell's spokesperson explained that, "[S]he feels she doesn’t want to attend unless she can represent his work."

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