The times, they are a changin’. The California Supreme Court’s support of same-sex marriage prompted Ellen DeGeneres’ announcement that she and girlfriend Portia de Rossi plan to get hitched, while in Switzerland, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (we assume the name doesn’t mean they just argue for the hell of it ) ruled that a double-amputee sprinter from South Africa can compete for a spot on his country’s Olympic team. Jonathan Saunders‘ appointment as Pollini’s new creative director isn’t quite as inspirational a development, but it’s exciting nonetheless, especially considering the dwindling job market. Turns out more would-be employees are getting virtual jobs as online merchants in alterna-realities like Second Life. Maybe the Marc Jacobs employee charged with grand larceny should look online for his next shop-boy gig (why he would take cash and not handbags is beyond us, but we’re not criminally minded). What is criminal? Counterfeit handbags—and not just because they’re tacky. A new ad campaign makes the case that buying faux Chanel is a lose-lose proposition.— Alison Baenen

Some books tell the story of how seemingly insignificant things (salt, codfish) changed the world. Poppy King’s “Lessons of a Lipstick Queen: Finding and Developing the Great Idea that can Change Your Life” (Atria) takes a more micro view: It tells how a minor accessory changed Ms. King herself—and how it could do the same for you. Alongside guidelines to exploring your entrepreneurial potential, King tells the story of how she went from a teenager alienated by the glossy pink fashions of 1980’s Australia to having her own million-dollar makeup line sold at Barneys (and becoming an answer in the Australian edition of Trivial Pursuit in the process). Inspired? That’s just what the author intended. “I wrote this because of the hundreds of people over the years who have asked me how on earth I managed to start a lipstick brand at 18,” King says. “And then they revealed some great ideas of their own that just needed a gentle push to action. I wanted this book to be that gentle push!”—Ana Finel Honigman

At the “Sex and the City” premiere in New York–in case you somehow missed it, it was last night—Style File asked, “What’s your favorite ‘Sex and the City’ episode?”

Candace Bushnell: “I always loved the pilot. It was directed by Susan Seidelman, who did ‘Desperately Seeking Susan.’ It was just so interesting and fabulous. No one had ever seen anything like it before.”

Fergie: “I loved every time Carrie broke up with Big. I wasn’t on Team Mr. Big. I just wouldn’t want to be treated that way. Single girls should play hard to get. It might seem from my songs that I don’t, but I’m more old-fashioned than I come across.”

Kathryn Neale Shaffer: “I don’t know why, but my favorite one was when Carrie told Aidan she wouldn’t marry him outside the fountain. That was the Carrie that I fell in love with, the girl who didn’t get married.”

Andrew Saffir: “The one where Carrie was in a fashion show and went splat on the runway. I just loved the way she bounces up and with her spunk and resilience perseveres and makes it through the rest of the show.”—Evelyn Crowley

Photo: JIMI CELESTE/PatrickMcMullan.com

Good news out there for all you preppy jet-setters: J.Crew just revealed the fruits of their collaboration with storied English suitcase maker Globe-Trotter, and they’re just as understated and classic as you’d imagine. Globe-Trotter is well known for being the baggage of choice for everyone from Winston Churchill to Dita Von Teese, and this undertaking marks the brand’s first collaboration with an American company. The limited-edition, six-piece range is a part of the J.Crew Collection and is available on www.jcrew.com; it will also be available in select J.Crew Collection stores in New York City. The chic black cases, made of the luggage company’s exclusive Vulcan Fibre material, feature natural leather buckles and corners, antique brass locks, and striped grosgrain interior straps, and range from $1,800 to $2,400. As an added bonus, considering the cost of air travel lately, they look even more glamorous when traveling by train.—Kat Thomsen

Photo: Courtesy of J.Crew

Now that Resort’s a full-fledged season, model agents are seizing the opportunity to launch new faces. Here are three that caught our eye this week:

Nineteen-year-old Sam Rayner hails from a tiny town in Saskatchewan. We spotted her at Burberry, but watch out for upcoming appearances in Russian Vogue, V, and Teen Vogue. The fair-haired Canuck, who’s signed with New York Models, has what’s been called one of the best walks in the biz.

Yesterday’s Prada presentation put two fresh faces on our radar: New York Models’ Sigrid and Next’s Myf (for now, both are using their first names only). Sigrid grew up in Martinique and won an Elite modeling contest on the island when she was just 13. Now 16, the ballet dancer is making catwalking her full-time gig.

Myf was discovered just three months ago in her hometown of Cairns, Australia. After walking a full schedule of shows at Australian fashion week last month, the statuesque 17-year-old landed in New York just seven days ago and swiftly booked Prada Resort. Look for her in an upcoming Numéro editorial—and then, we predict, pretty much everywhere come the Spring ‘09 shows.—Romney Leader

Photo: Burberry: Don Ashby. Prada: Kevin Sturman

The party Kai Kuhne gave to celebrate summer at the Central Park Boathouse last night was not just another one of those two-cocktails-leave-before-dessert work dinners. At about 9 p.m. I found myself being rowed around a lake in Central Park by a singing gondolier named Andreas. I shouldn’t have been surprised that it wasn’t a typical Wednesday evening—there’s nothing ordinary about the ebullient Kühne, who, spotting a turtle in the lake, said, “She’s survived all kinds of seasons and like me, she’s here to last.” Kühne’s hardly been moving at a turtle’s pace, though: He just shot his new ad campaign in a rock quarry in Graniteville, Vermont, and he’s soon off to Berlin fashion week, where he’ll show fall looks mixed with classics from his recently launched Emblematic line.—Laird Borrelli-Persson

Photo: Caroline Torem Craig, courtesy of Kai Kühne

Vive l’amour: Uma Thurman is engaged, and apparently her ring is huge.

Who knew? Nelson Mandela’s 90th might just be the party of the summer. Where else can you get feuding icons, Naomi Campbell’s nipple, and no threat of Amy Winehouse?

David Beckham professes surprise that he’s a sex symbol. Apparently Posh is the brains in that operation.—Alison Baenen

Photo: Brian Rasic/Rex USA

“She’s really marking her territory over there, like a dog just pissing all over the Place Vendôme. But it’s working.” Such was the rather graphic observation one fashion editor made after attending Alessandra Facchinetti’s Valentino Haute Couture debut Wednesday night in Paris. According to many, her scaled-down presentation in the company salon was a step in the right direction. This season there were just two rows of seats at the presentation, held in a white-carpeted room with gilded walls for an extremely select group of editors, clients, and celebrities, including Camilla Belle, Riley Keough, and Maria Sharapova. Following the show, harkening back to the intimate couture presentations of eras past, the house’s white coat-clad seamstresses came out and flanked the exit. “I think this is very chic,” said Rachel Zoe, while snapping pictures with her BlackBerry to make more expedient requests for her red-carpet girls. “She’s kept all the glamour, but not the extravagance. I wish all the shows were like this.” Fashion extravagance could be defined by Mr. Valentino’s previous shows. Remember that little party he threw himself in Rome last year? Or the mirrored runways, red-dress finale, and booming soundtrack that accompanied his last-ever show at Couture last season? Only time will tell if Facchinetti’s keeps up this new sense of glamorous but understated decadence. The collection’s last look was a flowing red gown, which says she’s not too afraid to tap into Valentino history.—Derek Blasberg

Photo: Rex USA

Margherita Missoni has been to the Hamptons only twice in her life. Before we pity her lack of Long Island experience, however, she’s quick to point out that she grew up making weekend drives to an Italian coastal town called Forte dei Marmi: “[It] is the Hamptons of Italy, for sure. So I know all about the social rituals of weekend resort towns.” Starting last week, she should have a pretty firm grip on their shopping rituals, too, since the family business just opened an outpost in the downtown center of the seaside village. Because her mother, Angela, is hard at work on her Spring collection, Margherita hosted the celebration, which is the first in a series, including another one in Marbella, Spain, next weekend, then Los Angeles and London by the end of the year. On Saturday, Missoni and friends closed down the Via Montauti for vino, prosecco, local seafood, and what seemed like all the prosciutto under the Tuscan sun. Joining her was much of the Euro-class set, including Matilde Borromeo, Coco Brandolini, Eugenie Niarchos, Micol Sabbadini, and Noor Fares. Later that evening, Sabbadini threw herself a 25th birthday party with a seventies-themed beach rave. “This is the perfect place to find a costume,” said Niarchos of the new Missoni boutique, though she was already in a pair of theme-appropriate floral bell-bottoms. However, she picked up a few dresses just in case, adding with a sigh, “But I like having options. Perhaps I’ll change halfway through.”—Derek Blasberg

Lest you forget, French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is more than just a pretty nude. She’s a chanteuse, too, and her new songs are online. She says she won’t be touring, but we think a John Galliano-designed concert wardrobe might be just the thing to change her Dior-loving mind. Please, Sarko?

With new financial backing from Labelux Group, Derek Lam looks toward global expansion. First stop, Crosby Street.

Dubai’s Isla Moda will have hotels, shops, fashion shows, and Karl. Sounds suspiciously like Paris, non?—Alison Baenen

Photo: ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images