Photo by Michael Thompson / W magazine

While we're on the subject of the Supermodel Comeback - which we think will be in the news for a while yet - it's worth pointing out Christy Turlington's stunning new shoot in the August issue of W magazine, titled "Champion". The 39-year-old knockout, who as we mentioned has been re-signed as the face of German fashion house Escada, poses as a "Greco-Roman warrior-goddess" for photog Michael Thompson in old-school black-and-white. Talk about classical beauty - obviously all that yoga and being married to Ed Burns agrees with her.

Brit fashion brand Burberry has announced that first-quarter revenues have risen by 26 per cent, continuing the upswing we reported on earlier this year. The growth is due to increased business in emerging markets and strong performance in North America, the Times of London reports. The uncertain economy has proved challenging to some luxury brands.

The company, founded in 1856, recently opened new stores have in Cannes, Budapest, Italy, Korea and Spain, and has launched a cool new ad campaign. "Our brand momentum is strong, driven by product innovation and a focused management team," Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts told the paper. "This momentum, together with the diversity and balance we have across products, channels and regions, underpins our confidence for the future."

It appears that Louis Vuitton's love affair with '90s supermodels is a lasting one. The luxury brand has brought back Czech stunner Eva Herzigova, who starred in last season's Richard Prince-themed ads (above), for its new fall campaign. The futuristic new ads, shot by fashion photog duo Mert and Marcus at the Unisphere in Queens, feature the latest line of Vuitton bags including the new Takashi Murakami "Monogramouflage" design. Herzigova, who has starred in LV campaigns in years past, inspired the design house's classic "Eva Clutch" that my colleague Star Sutherland wrote about last month. See the gallery for images from the new campaign and more.

Like the high-end art market, the high-end fashion market continues to remain afloat in difficult times. This week is Paris Fashion Week and as WWD reports couture, the very top of the fashion world, contains to see strong sales. The number of couture clothes available is very small and clothing is in the thousands of dollars per piece.

So far, the couture business for fashion houses like Giorgio Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Lacroix hasn't seen any fall off from the declining U.S. economy. The customers for couture exist at the very highest end of the economic spectrum and are often immune to even fairly dramatic economic shifts. Also new clients from Russia, the Middle East and Asia continue to provide a stream of new customers.

Chanel reports that today's client wants a lot of attention and can be demanding. The Chanel team has flown around the world for fittings and presentations. It seems that today's couture houses have to work harder for their customers than ever before often because today's clients have increasingly busy schedules.

Couture also remains a way to reinforce a brand's image. We can't all afford the gorgeous Galliano gown shown above but the beautiful couture clothing serves as an advertisement for the quality and inventiveness of the designer.

Italian design house Gianfranco Ferre has signed multi-billion dollar deal to develop real estate projects with a fashionable flair. Ferre is partnering with Mideast-based GIO Developments on the deal, and the first project, called "Gianfranco Ferre Stresa," will be a mixed-use highrise in Dubai. The $1.2 billion tower will combine residential, commercial and hospitality spaces, and the partnership has dubbed it the first example of "concrete couture." Other similar projects are planned around the globe. Mr. Ferre himself, who was fittingly known as the "architect of fashion," died last year. The company bearing his name already has a strong presence in the region with existing stores in Dubai, Beirut and Istanbul and new openings planned for Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait within the year. Other design houses currently collaborating on Dubai developments include Versace, Christian Lacroix and Elie Saab.

Johnny Depp's gorgeous longtime girlfriend, French model/singer/actress Vanessa Paradis, has been chosen to replace Kirsten Dunst as the face of Miuccia Prada's sporty Miu Miu diffusion line. Paradis will appear in the label's futuristic Fall/Winter ads (right) shot by sought-after fashion photog duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot in Los Angeles, Vogue UK reports.

"At once a deconstruction and a pure visual composition, the campaign addresses the exploration of beauty in conjunction with intellect, imagination, and divergence," a Miu Miu rep says. Paradis has previously appeared in several ads for Chanel. She and Depp have been together for 10 years and have two children. Last year my colleague Deirdre Woolard reported that Depp had bought her a vineyard near St. Tropez.

Fashion designer Donatella Versace took a timely inspiration for her latest fashion show. The woman who once said she wanted to dress Hillary Clinton in more feminine outfits and less pantsuits has turned her attention to Barack Obama. Versace dedicated her Spring-Summer 2009 collection presented Saturday evening to Obama. Of course she had some fashion tips for the Presidential candidate as well, she urged him to shed the tie and "jazz up the shirt." Her collection was certainly short on ties and long on jazzy colors, offering suit jackets with double lapels or no lapels at all, slim shiny trousers and shirts in summery pastel shades of pale blue, lemon yellow and lavender.

[Thanks, Lana]

We look at lots of photo books in this line of work, but we've rarely been as impressed by one as much as teNeues' massive new Tim Walker monograph. The fact that the Brit fashion photographer's name is not as well known as that of some lesser talents must surely be corrected by the barrage of surreal, sublime images in Tim Walker: Pictures. A former assistant of Richard Avedon's, the 38-year-old obviously learned from the master, but he could hardly be called an Avedon imitator with his flair for elaborate, dreamlike tableaux. An exhibit of Walker's work opened in London last month, but for the $125 this vibrant volume costs you can be transported much further afield. No expense was spared for the extravagant British Vogue holiday shoot pictured above; the magazine even bought the vintage Rolls-Royce in case Walker had to destroy it in order to get the photo just right, as he never uses digital manipulation in his work. See the gallery for more.

[via Men.Style]

Brilliant British designer Sir Paul Smith recently celebrated an important milestone in his colorful career: the 10th anniversary of his incredible flagship store in London's Notting Hill, Westbourne House. The perfect realization of a long term dream of Sir Paul's, the shop is designed to feel like someone's tastefully, quirkily lavish London home, and features a unique range of men's and women's clothes and accessories, housewares and knickknacks alongside a cllection of jewellery, books, art and antiques.

The architecturally-significant establishment is also the center of his exclusive bespoke tailoring operation. Smith says he still gets a thrill every time he walks in the door. To commemorate the anniversary, Smith and friends like shoe maestro Manolo Blahnik have created of limited edition products, available exclusively at Westbourne House, including watercolors, hand-painted plates, jewelry and a retro radio.

Smith, whose known for his signature multicolored stripes, opened his first clothing shop in 1970 and showed his first menswear collection under the Paul Smith label in 1976. Today Westbourne House is one of 14 Paul Smith shops in England; there are also outlets in Paris, Milan, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and others, as well as dozens in Japan, where Sir Paul is something of a cult figure. Today he has 12 different collections including Paul Smith, Paul Smith Women, Paul Smith Jeans, Paul Smith London, Paul Smith Bespoke, Paul Smith Shoes, Paul Smith Fragrance and Paul Smith Spectacles. The company's annual revenue as of 2006 exceeded $600 million.

As beautiful and comfortable as shirt dresses are, at times they can be too casual and subdued lacking a powerful presence within a classic style. Leave it the the designers of Emilio Pucci to take a simple silhouette and combine their colorful signature print to create an unmistakably striking and versatile dress. Pucci's Orchidea Shirt Dress is made of cotton with a stretch satin weave and features slanted side pockets and rolled cuffs for a casual feel, while its belted waist accentuates a woman's curves and creates a dressier aura. Whether you wear it with stilettos or flats, the Orchidea Shirt Dress will make you stand out from the rest. Price: $1535.

Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, and Christian Louboutin - these are just a few of the legendary design houses that are able to make a woman's feet the sexist part of the body. You may just want to add British shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood to that list. Kirkwood's artistic ability to create sculptures of art has enabled him to work with the likes of Phillip Lim and Belstaff for their Spring 2008 Collection. And although he has collaborated with many, his own collection is nothing to shy away from. Kirkwood's collection combines a sense of fashion forward edginess with a sexy majestic quality. Featured here are his silver metallic lizard slingbacks accented with a mirrored butterfly wing detail, open toe, and 3 1/2" heels. Price: $545.

Famous French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent died Sunday in Paris at the age of 71. Laurent will be remembered best perhaps for making menswear sexy for women. His Le Smoking tuxedo for women was considered shocking when it was created in 1966. He was also known for dressing Catherine Deneuve in smart skirts and coats in her turn as a lady of the evening in "Belle de Jour." Laurent retired from designing in 2002 and Gucci bought the YSL brand in 1999. As my colleague Jared Paul Stern mentioned last week, and exhibit of Yves St. Laurent's work is currently on display in Montreal (also see his recent column on Laurent's famed 1962 fashion show). He was also a man of great personal taste as his former New York apartment shows, he will be much missed in a world that often seems short of men of style.

In conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the house of Yves Saint Laurent, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is staging a major retrospective of the designer's creations, the first such show in 25 years. Open as of Thursday, the exhibition "develops the revolutionary nature of a body of work that has marked both the past and the present with a new definition of femininity and left a signature that transcends fashion." Pictured above is one of his most famous designs, the women's tuxedo known as "Le Smoking," as photographed by Helmut Newton in 1975.

The show is divided into four main themes: The Stroke of a Pencil, where "the designer's idea is followed from the original sketch"; The Yves Saint Laurent Revolution, where "feminized versions of men's attire rub shoulders with seductive apparel"; The Palette, which "shows how traditional rules of color harmony were reversed in new contrasts inspired by cross-fertilization"; and our favorite, Lyrical Sources, which "explores the historical, literary -- Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Louis Aragon, Jean Cocteau -- and artistic influences that were interpreted and translated by this genius of couture." The exhibition runs until Sept. 28 and then travels to San Francisco's de Young Museum.

Are they shovels or are they feet?

They're Marlos ten Bhömer's shoe designs, and although they remind me of that song from The Headless Horseman about Icabod Crane, apparently they're gaining critical acclaim from experts around the world.

'Refusing to let functionality get in the way of exploration,' these shoe designs are more about artistic expression than they are about real life footwear -- they've even been displayed in museums. What do you think, a beautiful form of creative expression or ridiculous design that's trying too hard to be different?

The Cannes Film Festival, which began today in the South of France, has always been more focused on artistic merit than the blockbusters of the Academy Awards; that makes for a much more interesting mise-en-scène in our view. The cool crowd has always gravitated to the Riviera for this annual cinematic happening, not to mention the chance to compete for those little gold palm fronds. Along with the Met Costume Institute Gala it's easily one of the year's most stylish events.

As Cannes enters its seventh decade, this seems like the perfect time for a slideshow of some of the most classic style moments in its vivid history, including this rouge carpet scene from 1998. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was nominated for a Palme d'Or that year and its star Johnny Depp sported a midnight blue shawl-collared dinner jacket at the premiere. Meanwhile his co-star Benicio Del Toro (right) stuck to a classic tux, while Depp's date Kate Moss looked kind of like she'd been attacked by an angry emu -- but in a hot way. Click below for the full parade of stylish stars.

Official Selections [Men.Style]