Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• The cuts continue at Time Inc. Fortune Small Business was shuttered today. And as many as 500 employees may lose their jobs when all is said and done. Meanwhile, parent company Time Warner reported a drop in revenues and earnings in the third quarter, as expected. [NYT, WWD, AdAge, NYP]
• Profits were up at News Corp. thanks to its film, cable, and book units. [BN]
• The publisher of Marie Claire has jumped over to Vogue. [NYO]
• Fox News came out on top in the ratings with its election night coverage. CNN performed miserably, dropping down to fourth place. [NYT, Politico]
• WNET is giving employees off between Christmas and New Year's. It's not to be nice; it's designed to cut costs since the days off are unpaid. [Crain's]
• A theory as to why Tom McGeveran quit the Observer. [Daily Intel]
• Highlights from last weekend's Tribeca Film Festival, Doha edition. [Vulture] More

• Some luxury fashion companies think (or are hoping, at least) that the recession has "bottomed out," and the tide is "slowly turning." Let's hope so! [WWD]
• Related: Saks is hoping to now "wean wealthy customers from discounts" and "re-educate" them to pay full-price again. Good luck! [NYP]
• How are fashion mags hoping to remain relevant during the turbulent times? By hitching their titles to TV shows, naturally. Not that the strategy always pays off as editors might have hoped, as Elle (Stylista) and Marie Claire (Running in Heels) have discovered. [AdWeek]
• Homelessness is now "having a fashion moment." Make a note of it. [Cut]More

• Photos of Sacha Baron Cohen (as Brüno) and Alessandra Ambrosio from the new issue of British Marie Claire are now online, if you're interested. Or, if you prefer, you can take a gander at a nude Bar Refaeli on the cover of Esquire. [Marie Claire, Esquire]
• After many months of hemming and hawing, it looks like Roberto Cavalli has finally decided to sell a stake in his company. [WSJ]
• Vogue's André Leon Talley reports Anna Wintour was "thrilled" with how her "fabulous" 60 Minutes profile turned out a couple of weeks ago, you'll ubdoubtedly be pleased to hear. [FBNY]
• It's been a year since Barneys started looking for a CEO, which may be one reason why the company has had so many trouble as of late. [WSJ] More

Anna Wintour has set a mythically high bar of imperious bitchitude for other fashion magazine editors to live up to, but no doubt Joanna Coles—the British editor of Marie Claire now familiar to reality TV viewers thanks to Running in Heels—would love to be talked about in the same tones of fear and awe. The quotes in this weekend's Daily Mail profile, therefore, must be music to her ears (if not actually written by her publicist). Coles, who's "said to make Wintour look like a warm-hearted pushover," apparently presides over an office "often in danger of drowning in a tidal wave of tears." More

• It seems Rihanna and Chris Brown have reunited: The two have been holed up at Diddy's Star Island mansion since late last week and are now "focusing on a reconciliation." Not surprisingly, fans have been a little bit dismayed by the news. [NYDN, People, Reuters]
• Why didn't Katie Holmes walk the red carpet at the Oscars? She's on an "intense detox diet" that has left her "lethargic," poor thing. [NYDN]
• Sumner Redstone is reportedly dating a former flight attendant who is six decades his junior. [R&M]More

• Kelly Cutrone says normally at this time of year she'd be flying in a chef from India to cook for her. But this Fashion Week she's cutting back on account of the recession. Bring us a tissue! [WWD]
• Arnold Scaasi did not like Jason Wu's gown for Michelle Obama: "I don't think the inaugural gown was flattering in any way... She could have looked much better." Yeow. [NYT]
• Despite the rough economy, Justin Timberlake's William Rast label is holding up nicely. [NYM]
• Anna Sui has landed a book deal. [Fashionista]
• The plywood has been removed outside Topshop in Soho! [Racked]
• Marie Claire is giving away taxi rides to promote Running in Heels. [FWD]
• Istithmar may sell Barneys for less than half what they paid for it in '07. [BN]
• Rents are falling in the garment district, duh. [NYT]
• An alcoholic's guide to Fashion Week. [Pipeline]

Yesterday, the Observer shared the news that former Fashion Week Daily reporter Jim Shi had landed a gig at Marie Claire, where he would be "covering Fashion Week shows and working on a new fashion news page on the Marie Claire website." The official response from the magazine was curiously tepid: "He is working on a limited amount of freelance for Marie Claire on the website only, on a trial basis," a spokesperson told the paper. Limited amount? Freelance? Trial basis? That sure doesn't sound like the job description Shi sent out to his colleagues in a mass email. Shi's grand plans to take over a section of the magazine, start a new blog, and coordinate his Fashion Week schedule in concert with Nina Garcia after the jump.More

Nina Garcia Rides the Recession | Looks like Nina Garcia is getting the last laugh. While Project Runway remains mired in legal dispute between NBC and The Weinstein Company, Garcia's new Marie Claire-centric reality show, Running in Heels, is controversy-free and set to debut on Lifetime in March. Even better: She just scored a bunch of money to publish her third book. Garcia's The Style Strategy: A Less is More Approach to Staying Chic and Shopping Smart, which will be published in August, will feature the editor showing ladies how to "shop smart and save money, while not sacrificing fashionable self expression." [NYO]

♦  Kate Moss is joining honorary chair Marc Jacobs as co-chair of the next Costume Institute Gala Benefit at the Met, along with Anna Wintour and Justin Timberlake. [Telegraph]
♦  Jacobs will also be hosting Housing Works Fashion for Action auction on November 13th. And it's not just his karma bank that's overflowing: He just signed a five year deal with Staff International SpA to produce a men's collection. [Fashionista, WWD]
♦  Mark your calendars: On November 25th, Sarah Jessica Parker's familiar voice will be the one you hear when you take the audio tour of the "Costume: The Art of Dress" exhibit at the Costume Institute. [The Pipeline]More

♦  Do Sam Ronson and Lindsay Lohan ever actually stay in one city for more than five minutes? Today they're in Tokyo for Charlotte Ronson's runway show, and to the delight of the audience, LiLo made an appearance. [The Cut]
♦  Don't knock the Real Housewives of Atlanta, pleads Simon Doonan: "Despite the jarringly superficial materialism exhibited throughout this show, Nene and Co. are performing a profound and vital function: It's called consumer confidence." [NYO]
♦  One benefit of the recession? Plentiful sample sales, like Betsey Johnson and Castle Starr. [Missbehave, Fashionista] More

Not that fashion magazine jobs have traditionally attracted shy, retiring types but if you're going to work at a glossy, you should probably bear in mind that it means signing up to be on TV. Since Elle's massively successful collaboration with Project Runway—which saw both circulation and ad sales leap—other publications are viewing TV-tie-ins as integral to future success, reports AdAge. As well as Elle's new show Stylista, next March will bring Running In Heels, a show about the "inner workings" of Marie Claire featuring Nina Garcia. As long they uphold the high standard of no-holds-barred realism set by Whitney and Lauren in the Teen Vogue closet, they're sure to have a hit.

• Catfight! Marie Claire will be launching a reality show on the Style network called Running in Heels. The show will follow staffers like Nina Garcia and is expected to compete with archrival Anne Slowey's Stylista on the CW. [NYO, AdAge]
• A rundown of media winners and losers at the conventions. Fox, CNN, and the Daily Show were all great. MSNBC not so much. [THR]
• Jann Wenner is expanding the Us Weekly franchise by launching a quarterly mag focused on fashion. [WSJ]
• Critical reaction to the premiere of Rachel Maddow's new show on MSNBC last night was generally positive. [TV Newser]
• NBC and Google have cemented a multi-year advertising partnership. [Reuters]

• Keith Kelly of the Post reports that 14 of the 17 staffers at Fortune Small Business are getting the axe. [NYP]
• Nina Garcia doesn't officially start at Marie Claire until September, but she's already rumored to be in her new office conducting "run-throughs" for upcoming photo shoots. [WWD]
• HBO has given the greenlight to How to Make It In America, a new comedy by Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson. [THR]
  
• McDonald's new advertising plan apparently includes throwing parties where Kim Kardashian shows up without a shirt. [AdFreak]