Adam Lippes told us recently, "it's rare to find an intern — especially one from a fashion school — that has good style." Last night at RVCA's opening of Nicolas Pol's "Martus Maw" exhibition, the designer revealed that the quote caused a bit of a kerfuffle in his office. "I had so much reverberation. What happened was, first a design assistant told me, then someone else in my business came to say that I should apologize to the interns! I was like, ‘I don’t mean THESE interns!’" he said. "I just meant, like, fashion students." He added that his current interns still seemed skeptical when he attempted to explain this, but then he continued, "Meanwhile, one of them is wearing silver boots up to here and is a guy. ‘Not you! Those boots are great.’ But it was fine." Lippes understands these kids are in a finding-themselves fashion phase. "Hey, everyone who commented on your article thought I looked dressed like shit. And across from the New School, I see how these kids dress — but it’s that time in your life when you should be experimenting, and it’s really a learning process." And, so there is peace in the house of Lippes, he added, "Some of my interns dress fantastically."

Self got itself into kind of a mess this year when editor Lucy Danziger tried to convince the world that Photoshopping Kelly Clarkson skinnier for the September cover was empowering for womankind everywhere. But not only was it not empowering, it was the magazine's worst-selling issue of the year so far, according to WWD, pulling in only 220,000 copies. And September issues are supposed to be some of the top sellers of the year.

However, the magazine is getting back on track. The December cover with Amanda Peet looks lovely. Besides, she's skinny, so they oughtn't have to worry about any more weight-related Photoshopping controversies. Even better for the magazine, the January issue will carry the most ad pages for that month in twenty years. Ads in the beauty and automobile categories (new clients include Chevrolet and Alamo Rent-a-Car) are strong. And Wal-Mart kindly took out an eight-page insert. Sounds like the magazine is really hitting its stride.

BETTER 2010 [WWD]

Carine Roitfeld went sans pants at Nicolas Pol's "The Martus Maw" opening, presented by her son Vladimir Restoin Roitfield and RVCA last night.

If Carine goes without pants, does that make it okay?

Michelle Obama appears on one of five December covers of Glamour, and even sent her regards via video at the magazine’s big Women of the Year awards gala at Carnegie Hall last night. So did Glamour style her for the photo shoot, or did the fashion-forward Michelle Obama insist on choosing her own clothing? Editor Cindi Leive laughed when we asked at the post-awards dinner and said the clothes were all Michelle. "The lucky thing is, she’s pretty good at picking out clothes from her own closet," Leive told us. Leive says Obama knew it was a holiday cover celebrating women of achievement, and that she is savvy enough to pick something camera-appropriate. “This was not a jeans and tank top moment, but beyond that, she chose something that she thought would work for the occasion, and she was, I think, a thousand percent right,” she said. Fashion risk-taker Rihanna, who appears on another of Glamour’s December covers (there are five), also had plenty of input on her shoot. “I don’t think anyone tells Rihanna what to wear,” Leive said.

Jean Paul Gaultier said his new Target collection will still "shock parents, shock teachers," as is his way. "What I am doing [for Target] is still Gaultier, very Jean Paul Gaultier, it's in my style. But it's different — clothes for more people and less expensive and more affordable, but still modern. It's nice. It's an element of surprise they want, so that's good," Gaultier said last night at the opening of artist Nicolas Pol's "Martus Maw" exhibit, curated by Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld. Gaultier is primarily in town to work in the Target offices, but wants to get around town and enjoy himself, too. "I want to see movies — Precious, and the one with Jim Carrey — A Christmas Carol. I want to see that. It looks really funny and with a lot of ideas and quite like dreaming." Jean Paul Gaultier likes Christmas movies? "Well ... yes, I love them," he admitted. His favorite Christmas film, rest assured, is still a melancholy French one: "Who Shot Father Christmas, of course." Gaultier's also been an accidental exhibitionist in New York. "You know, I'm in the hotel, what is the name of it — the Standard. So, I am in the bedroom where it is an exhibitionist event!" he said. "I did not know that, so I did exhibition without knowing what I was doing. I did not know people could see. But, nobody was looking. It's quite hilarious, it's excellent."

British label Luella has ceased trading. Its financial backer, a subsidiary of Club 21, has decided not to invest further in the label. Designer Luella Bartley, who won the British Fashion Council's 2008 Designer of the Year award, said in a statement that she has a "number of options" to consider for future financing. However, her troubles don't stop with Club 21 — orders for her spring 2010 collection won't be shipped after ready-to-wear producer Carla Carini abruptly shuttered last month. "[I]t is upsetting not to be able to protect jobs in this difficult economic climate," added Bartley, whose spring 2010 collection received glowing reviews. In the meantime, Bartley and her team are working as creative consultants to Liberty, helping with Christmas decorations. Just goes to show — one day you're the designer of the year, the next you're trying to figure out how to best drape tinsel. This economy is a real bitch.

Luella Ceases Trading [WWD]

Dana Thomas details in Newsweek how Versace became a bit of a mess after the death of Gianni. It used to rake in over $1 billion in sales, but now makes less than half of that. Run by the family since its inception, Donatella and Santo were reportedly resistant to changes that might have helped them adapt to new times and new economies. Thomas reiterates previous reports about ex-CEO Giancarlo Di Risio leaving the label abruptly earlier this year (after a five-year reign) over disputes with Donatella about cutting back her lavish lifestyle. (He apparently began trying to meddle in the creative side of things, which ultimately was the last straw for Donatella.)

Even when the family was slammed with an inheritance-tax bill that required them to take out a five-year, $100 million bond, the Versaces couldn't let go of their material things.

"There was zero expense control in the company, and the lifestyle was absolutely, positively insane," says the Versace source. "When the earnings went down, the lifestyle didn't."

But with the label bleeding money and readying to lay off 350 workers, the family has made concessions. Last year they sold their Lake Como estate, which is said to have devastated Donatella.