Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Is Barneys headed for bankruptcy? Once again, some are suggesting the retailer may go bust, or at least be forced to partner with another company. And once again, Barneys' owner, Dubai-based Istithmar, is reiterating that it remains "fully committed" to the chain. [BN, AP]
• Every other celebrity has a clothing line. Now news personalities are getting in on the action: Al Roker is reportedly in talks with Weatherproof to start up a line of "rain jackets, coats, footwear and cold weather accessories." [WWD]
• A PR agency staffer is accused of ripping off nearly $100K in jewelry. [NYP]More

• The September issue of Harper's Bazaar features Susan Boyle in her first-ever fashion shoot. More importantly, Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester, who appears on the cover of the issue, shoots down the recent rumors that she took part in a sex tape. [Harper's Bazaar, Us]
• Rodarte's Laura and Kate Mulleavy will be designing a line for Target as part of its Go International series. Sweet. [WWD]
• Roberto Cavalli appears to have changed his mind for about the 20th time and decided against selling a stake in his company. [Reuters]  More

• Not only is Karl Lagerfeld not planning on retiring, he tells Cathy Horyn that he's staying at Chanel until he dies. Also: He says the blogger who started the rumor that he's stepping down "is an idiot." [NYT]
• The Jackson clan all wore Versace to the memorial service today, in case you were wondering. [InStyle]
• Roberto Cavalli is launching a made-to-measure service that will offer handmade dresses at prices starting at $41,000. But only 35 pieces will be produced. Act fast! [WWD]
• There's uncertainty in the world of haute couture these days. Shocker. [NYT]
• W catches up with the Rodarte ladies. [W]
• The super-successful Saks saleswoman who lined her own pockets via fake refunds and store credits was sentenced to three months in prison. [NYP]
• Several ex-employees of Scoop are suing the chain for labor violations. [CNY]
• The Calvin Klein Jeans billboard on Houston is now even less risqué. [BB]

CFDA Winners | The CFDA Awards were handed out last night. The big winners at the Oscars of fashion: Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy (left, with Kirsten Dunst) took home the award for womenswear designer of the year; Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez's Proenza Schouler won in the accessories category; the prize for menswear went to Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders and Italo Zucchelli of Calvin Klein; and Alexander Wang nabbed the award for emerging talent. Fashion's biggest booster won something, too. Thanks to her "meteoric rise as a style icon," Diane von Furstenberg gave Michelle Obama a special award at last night's ceremony, although, sadly, the crowd had to settle for a pre-taped acceptance speech by the First Lady. [WWD, LAT]

A recap of the shows, parties, and gossip you've missed at Fashion Week thus far after the jump.More

• NYC will be the last stop for Chanel's space-like mobile art pavilion. [WSJ]
• DKNY is the latest brand to bow out of Fashion Week in February. [WWD]
• Narciso Rodriguez's second fragrance debuts this spring. [WWD]
• Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy love Pasadena, miss their record collection. [SF]
• Bergdorf Goodman's holiday windows: grotesque or genius? [Racked]

♦  The Condé Nast memo concerning budget cuts seems to have failed to make its way to W. Last week Kate Moss arrived in NYC to do a shoot, only to discover it had been canceled and no one had bothered to tell her before she left. So, after stopping to smoke a cigarette outside JFK, she hopped back on another first class flight home, at the cost of $12,000 to the magazine. [Mirror]
♦  The latest casualties of the recession: Holly Dunlap, whose shoe line is no more, Fred Leighton jewelry, which might be going into liquidation, and even, maybe, expensive fashion shows. [NYP, WWD, WWD]
♦  Fashionistas in Moscow are coping with the plunge in the market the way any good Russian would: They're drinking lots of vodka. [stylefile] More

♦  One of the recession's teeny silver linings: In an unprecedented move, luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton are cutting prices for US customers. [WSJ]
♦  Supermodels—they're just like us! Helena Christensen braved the crowds in London yesterday to grab a polka-dot Comme des Garçons cardigan from H&M, and proudly wore it out that night. [Grazia]
♦  Does Agyness Deyn care about the fate of fluffy animals or not? On Wednesday, she DJed at the Humane Society's Cool vs. Cruel ceremony with boyfriend Albert Hammond Jr. But she's apparently not averse to wearing fur on the runway or to non-animal rights events. [Fashionologie]More

♦  WWD offers a sneak peak at the ads for Charlotte Ronson's Sebastian haircare campaign that debuts in January, and let's just say the Photoshopping was not skimped on. [Fashionista]
♦  Planning to dress up as Rachel Zoe for Halloween? Of course you are. Here's a handy guide. [HuffPo via The Pipeline]
♦  Julie Gilhart of Barneys says that Rodarte's Laura and Kate Mulleavy "are two of the best designers right now." [WWD]More

♦  Milan Fashion Week's climax was yesterday's Dolce and Gabbana show attended by Jennifer Lopez, Dita Von Teese, Petra Nemcova, Eva Herzigova, Claudia Schiffer, and Naomi Campbell, who relapsed slightly from her recent all sweetness to yell at paparazzi: "Leave me alone!" [WWD]
♦  Norma Kamali has designed a collection for Wal-Mart: Nothing will be more than $20 and you can catch an early look at the T-shirts, dresses and skirts at Kamali's West 56th Street store. [NYDN]
♦  The CW has released contestants' bios in advance of the October debut of Stylista. One lucky winner will get an apartment, an editorial job at Elle, and a clothing allowance at H&M. A lifetime of therapy to get over the public humilation? Not provided. [The Cut]More