Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Nicole Kidman isn't as vanilla as she looks, apparently. She tells British GQ that she has experimented with "obsession" and "strange sexual fetish stuff," although it's unclear when all this happened. As for her marriage to Keith Urban? It's "a very extraordinary, adventurous place to be: incredibly raw, incredibly dangerous." [DM, P6]
• The first of Lindsay Lohan's dramatic calls to her dad Michael has been released, and luckily, it comes accompanied by on-screen subtitles although you may need to shower after. At one point, she tells her dad, "Mommy says that I'm worse than you are," and then, between sobs, manages to ramble on, "No one cares about me. They don't, by the way. It's about how they feel, not how I feel. It's not about me. It's never been about me." Sad. [Radar]
• In happier news, Jeremy Piven is feeling much better now that he's added soy milk to his list of food products he will no longer touch. (You may remember his little run-in with sushi last year.) Piven was chugging 12 cups of soy milk a day, but then he realized it contained estrogen and was responsible for giving him man-boobs. "It was a very confusing time," he says. [Us] More

• Tom Ford is expanding. (Or hoping to, at least.) The designer is reportedly looking to raise $50 million in financing to expand into womenswear. [Reuters]
• Rents along Fifth Avenue have been falling, of course. But the situation appears to be particularly bleak at the empty shopping mall (or "retail collection") at the Plaza Hotel. [Bloomberg, NYP]
• The downside of diffusion: According to a new survey, consumers say luxury products are too accessible these days and have become a commodity. [WWD]More

• So how did Jay Leno's new show do? He hit it out of the park ratings-wise, roping in an estimated 18 million viewers. The reviews were all pretty lousy, though, so don't be surprised if it's all downhill from here. [AdAge, LAT, THR]
• The sale of BusinessWeek: Bruce Wasserstein has dropped out as a potential acquirer of the struggling mag. And it's cutting 20% of its staff. [BW, NYT]
• ABC News has apologized to the White House for Nightline anchor Terry Moran's tweet about Obama calling Kanye West a "jackass." [LAT]
• Speaking of the White House, Barack Obama will be David Letterman's guest on Monday night; it's the first time a sitting president has done the show. [NYT]
• Oprah's season premiere scored big thanks to Whitney Houston. [Wrap]
• The House of Harvey has sustained another blow: Harvey Weinstein's 70 percent stake in the home-video distributor Genius Products, once worth as much as $400 million, is now pretty much worthless. [NYP]
• Speaking of the film mogul, The Weinstein Co. picked up the rights to A Single Man, designer Tom Ford's debut film, at the Toronto Film Festival. [THR] More

Below: A recap of Fashion's Night Out and the first two days of Fashion Week.More

Happy Birthday | Designer Tom Ford turns 48 today. Disgraced media columnist Michael Wolff is turning 56. Gary Cohn, the No. 2 man at embattled Goldman Sachs, is 49. Bob Kerrey, the embattled president of the New School, is 66. Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan is turning 40. Actress Sarah Chalke is 33. Grey's Anatomy star Chandra Wilson turns 40. The R&B singer Mario turns 23. Imprisoned telecom CEO Bernie Ebbers is 68. The rapper Mase is turning 31. Olympic ski champ Jonny Moseley is 34. Former MTV VJ Downtown Julie Brown is turning 50. And Pee-wee Herman celebrates his 57th birthday today.

• John Legend has picked up a new apartment in the East Village. The Grammy-winning singer—who is still looking to unload his former pad on East 3rd Street—has reportedly gone into contract to buy a one-bedroom condo at 52 East 4th Street, where Moby owns an apartment, too. [WSJ]
• SNL's Kristen Wiig has paid $1.5 million for a director Alan Taylor's SoHo apartment. The loft at 476 Broadway had been listed for $1.75 million. [NYO]More

• Not to be outdone by Gwyneth Paltrow and her GOOP newsletter, Rachel Zoe is launching a lifestyle e-newsletter of her own tomorrow. [RachelZoe.com]
• Is Kanye West designing a line for the Gap? That's the rumor. [Cut]
• Thom Browne has had a rough time recently, but it looks like that may be all behind him. Japan's Cross Company has taken a stake in his company and plans to help him expand. [Style.com]
• It looks like the fashion set will be dividing its time between the tents in Bryant Park and Milk Studios this coming Fashion Week. [Fashionologie, FWD]
• Gisele Bundchen is lending her voice to a new children's cartoon. She'll play Gigi, "a supermodel by day, environmental superhero by night." [Elle]
• Ready for retailers to start Christmas promotions? No? Too bad! [WSJ]
• Related: Retailers have gone discount-crazy, as you may have noticed. [NYT] More

• The Barneys display featuring mannequins being attacked and blood spatter on the windows has been dismantled. Barneys creative director Simon Doonan says they had been put up while he was out of town, but they "clearly crossed the line," and so he ordered them taken down. [NYDN]
• Fashion Week kicks off in just seven weeks. The good news is that it probably won't be quite as gloomy this time around. [Cut, WWD]
• Anna Wintour didn't produce or direct The September Issue, the new documentary about Vogue. But that doesn't seem to be stopping her from being "completely controlling" about publicity for the movie. [NYDN]
• Breaking! Michelle Obama unveiled a totally new hairdo today. [Cut] More

Those who toil in the fashion industry may not shape our lives to quite the same extent as some of the luminaries who make it on to Time's "Most Influential" list, like Oprah Winfrey, or Zac Ephron, or the evil doers who invented Twitter. But the fact that the list includes just one fashion world figure is still a bit of a surprise. So who is it? Anna Wintour? Tom Ford? Gisele, Naomi, or Kate perhaps? Nope. The people at Time have named Stella McCartney as one of the world's most influential people. But don't worry, they asked Gwyneth Paltrow to account for their controversial decision. Enlighten us, Gwynnie!More

• Olivier Theyskens is, in fact, parting ways with Nina Ricci. [Grazia, FWD]
• The couture shows in Paris began today and they're as over-the-top as ever. [NYM]
• Brioni just launched a line of suits that cost as much as $43,000 apiece. "The timing was not fortunate for us," says Brioni's CEO. Go figure. [WSJ]
• Tom Ford has introduced a line of men's jeans that retail for $990. They're the same jeans that Ford wears, and the button is plated with 18-karat gold, though, so it's totally worth it. [WWD]
• Vivienne Westwood's ads featuring Pam Anderson have debuted. [Pipeline]
• Hartmarx, Barack Obama's "favorite tailor," has gone bust. [WWD]
• Saks fashion director Michael Fink has left the company. [NYM]
• What do retail employees do during a recession? Try to look busy. [NYT]

• The City debuts tonight on MTV! New York has details on the goings-on behind the scenes and what Olivia Palermo is hoping to gain from the spotlight: "Like, maybe I'll start a jewelry line,” [NYM]
• Is Christina Aguilera planning to design a collection for Topshop? [Mirror]
• With holiday sales the worst in 40 years, analysts are predicting 73,000 stores may close in the first half of 2009. [Bloomberg]
• Erin Fetherston may have a hotel project in the works. [HC]
• Tom Ford and Judith Leiber have new Rodeo Drive stores planned. [WWD]
• Chanel is cutting 200 jobs. [Guardian]
• The new parent company of Bill Blass says it's planning to revive the brand's high-end collection within "9 to 12 months." [WSJ]
• Dov Charney's American Apparel has another legal mess on its hands. [WWD]

• Tim Gunn says he and Heidi Klum are "despondent" over the "horrible, nasty" fight over Project Runway. "We worry that season six will never be seen by anyone," he says. Us, too! [WB]
• Tory Burch's new meatpacking store opened last night with very little fanfare. [WSJ]
• Dolce & Gabbana is launching a makeup line early next year. And rumor has it Scarlett Johansson will be the face of the ad campaign. [WWD, SF]
• Matthew Williamson is in expansion mode. He's planning to launch a menswear line. [Vogue UK]
• Depressed? Single? Go get some Botox! Says Tom Ford: "A little bit of it between the brows can make you look less stern and more approachable. Who needs to frown, anyway?" [Details]

♦  Julia Restoin Roitfeld might call herself a designer, but apparently the fat fees from modeling are hard to resist: She's been cast in the new Mango campaign along with celebuspawn Dakota Johnson Griffith. [WWD]
♦  PR maven Kelly Cutrone may play a hard-nosed bitch on The Hills, but in real life she's all heart: After reading about Marie Conde, who fought with three muggers who snatched her purse, Cutrone collected gifts for the 26-year-old nurse's aide, including Longchamp purses, jewelry, and dinner at the SoHo Grand. [NYP]
♦  During an interview conducted, of course, lying down in a hotel room at Claridge's in London, Diane von Furstenberg is expansive on matters personal (such as her first and only female lover), her "naughtiness" during the seventies, and her political opinions: Barack Obama is "so intelligent and very detached... It gives him perspective." [Telegraph] 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

♦  The first looks from Thakoon's Target collection are online, and they're very Talitha Getty. [Nylon]
♦  Stay far away from 52nd and Fifth this evening, unless you want to catch the desire to wear candy-colored velour: Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor are throwing a launch party for Juicy Couture's new store. [Page Six]
♦  It's not only Lindsay Lohan who has seen the potential in leggings: The spring lines from labels like Rodarte and Threeasfour feature printed, cut-out or slashed leggings. [stylefile]
♦  Fashion designer Lisa Perry, lover of all things '60s (and wife of hedge funder Richard), is opening a store in SoHo tomorrow. [The Daily] More