Photo: Melissa Hom

Behold: the pieces of Chanel's Mobile Art Exhibit as they currently lay in Rumsey Playfield in Central Park! Friends, as we type this, construction workers are putting together this structure — the Greatest Handbag Pavilion Known to Man — in earnest. The exhibit, which showcases Chanel-handbag-inspired art, opens to the public on October 20. The structure designed by Zaha Hadid takes three weeks to assemble. As you see, Chanel has provided construction workers with some mighty fine hard hats. Steal one before Chanel starts selling them in stores for thousands of dollars.

Related: Chanel’s Mobile Art Exhibit Finds a New York Home

Now if only we could get those arms...Photo: WireImage

PLASTIC SURGERY
• Plastic-surgery business is down 53 percent. That's not such a downside to the recession. [CNN]

HAIR
• Here's a convincing argument about why mustaches are not sexy and never will be. [Jezebel]

MAKEUP
• Gina Brooke, Madonna's makeup artist on the Sticky & Sweet Tour, explains how to get Madonna's stage look. You know, for your next Madison Square Garden gig. [BellaSugar]

• Stila's talking eye-shadow palettes include four colors and a friendly little voice that tells you how to achieve a smoky eye. New colors come out this week. [Beauty and the Blog/Sephora]

• Elizabeth Hurley hung out in Jersey over the weekend to promote Estée Lauder. Represent. [WWD]

NAILS
• Mix your own nail colors! Here are three brilliant recipes for dark gray, Nordic gray, and dark blue to get you started. Hey, if you want to do it right, do it yourself. [All Lacquered Up]

Spring 2009 looks at Sonia Rykiel, left, and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.Photo: Imaxtree

When it was reported that Donatella Versace's most recent men's collection was inspired by Barack Obama, Donatella was quick to correct the press. Obama himself didn't inspire her, but rather "the type of man Barack Obama represents." However designers showing at Paris Fashion Week conveyed no such reserves about using their runway shows to blatantly support Barack. Sonia Rykiel's spring 2009 collection included sweaters that read "I have a dream" and "Obama." Jean-Charles de Castelbajac put Barack's grinning face on a dress paired with gloves that read "yes" and "no" — probably his way of saying "rock the vote." And at the end of her program notes, Stella McCartney wrote, “P.S. Vote Obama!!” None of this surprises us. What does, however, is that Barack didn't permeate the collections in London, Milan, or New York in this way. Maybe designers in other parts of the world didn't want to add fuel to the whole Obama-is-a-celebrity fire? Like embracing a First Lady who's posed nude, leave it to the French to say, "Yes, we can!"

Zuzana Gregorova (DNA Management) at Ralph LaurenPhoto: Imaxtree

Slovak model Zuzana Gregorova hit the runways in 2006, walking for Diane Von Furstenberg and Derek Lam. But she still flew under the radar for the most part. Until now. The green-eyed stunner was featured on covers of Italian Marie Claire and French L'Officiel last month and became a face of DKNY Jeans alongside Chanel Iman and Alana Zimmer. And in her best runway season yet, despite her five-foot-nine frame (short in the runway-modeling world), she booked Narciso Rodriguez, Dolce & Gabbana, and Versace. But she didn't stop there! She’s also new face of Christian Dior’s upcoming Addict cosmetics campaign and will make her first American Vogue appearance in the November issue. Sounds like this one has made it.

Model Profile: Zuzana Gregorova

Plus: Browse over 450 beauties in our always-growing Model Manual.

Photo-illustration: Getty Images

The red highlights. The lash-skimming bangs. The half–French braid. And of course, that inimitable bouffant. Sarah Palin's hair has become as much of a conversation topic as that kitschy wink. But we all know a working mom with five kids can't get a mini-hive so smooth all on her own. Enter: Angela the hairstylist. W magazine recently learned that Angela has been traveling with Palin. She's based at the Hair Grove in Westlake Village, California, where she won't be available again until November 4.

W wasn't able to confirm Angela's last name since "the Hair Grove stopped answering our questions." But the magazine did find out how Palin found Hair Grove. So who lent a helping hand? Cindy McCain, of course! McCain directed Palin to the salon, which is where she found her own current stylist, Piper. McCain had reportedly inquired at the salon about extensions. Thankfully, she doesn't appear to have gotten them. But we wonder if McCain passed Angela down to Palin and took Piper for herself. McCain did sport a slight bouffant herself a couple of months ago but has recently — and wisely — taken to wearing her hair down. Guess we'll never know.

Where Sarah Palin Got Her Hockey Mom Hair [Editors' Blog/W]

Yves Saint Laurent, spring 2009.Photo: Imaxtree

Paris Fashion Week ended yesterday, but the magic lives on in our new spring 2009 runway slideshows! Don't miss the harem pants at Yves Saint Laurent, leather at Alexander McQueen, and exceptional ball gowns at Giambattista Valli.

Yves Saint Laurent
Alexander McQueen
Haider Ackermann
agnès b.
Giambattista Valli
Chanel
Viktor & Rolf
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac
Valentino
Rue du Mail

Naomi and Stephanie at Hermès.Photo: Getty Images

• Stephanie Seymour and Naomi Campbell opened the Hermès show in cowgirl-inspired threads. [WWD]

• Cathy Horyn thought the John Galliano show was "exceptional" and "came alive with trance-making English colors and a silhouette that looked dashed off with a pencil." [On the Runway/NYT]

• Jessica Stam's working to get a pilot license. Probably a better modeling side gig than, say, singing. [WWD]

• Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen showed up hand in hand at Paris nightclub Regine's for a Fashion Week party and were "inseparable." Maybe their lifestyles aren't so different, after all? [NYP]

• Carine Roitfeld started the dance party at the opening of Ralph Lauren's new Avenue Montaigne boutique. Just another reason to adore her. [WWD]

Alessandra FacchinettiPhoto: Getty Images

After the spring 2009 Valentino show in Paris on Friday, company CEO Stefano Sassi told reporters it was designer Alessandra Facchinetti's last collection for the house. Over the weekend the company confirmed Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, who have designed accessories for Valentino for ages, will take over as creative directors. However, Facchinetti wrote in a public e-mail the media heard of her dismissal before she did:

"It was with deep regret that I learnt from the press that I would no longer be working with Valentino…

"This news came as a great surprise since the company's top management has not yet seen fit to inform me. I would like to thank Valentino s.p.a. for showing their appreciation of my 'creative contribution and my sophisticated talent' although I deeply regret the fact that this talent and contribution do not seem to have been adequately acknowledged."

Hippity hop.Photo: Getty Images

Alexander McQueen's spring 2009 show in Paris ended a few hours ago. And McQueen took his bow in a bunny suit with some animal friends looking on in a fabulous Museum of Natural History–meets–high fashion setup we thought only existed in our wildest (zing!) dreams. (No, seriously — we love that museum.)

On a more somber note, however, the show wasn't all as fun as a trip to the museum. One model fainted as she exited the runway and had to be carried out.

Meh.Photo: Courtesy of peta2.com

If you don't have a Halloween costume picked out just yet, PETA has some suggestions for you. It's part of their latest crusade against the Olsen twins, whom PETA calls "Hairy-Kate and Trashley Trollsen." "After all, only someone as heartless as a troll would wear the skins of dead animals," PETA trumpets. (To hammer their point home in their special PETA way, they've created an interactive feature that allows you to dress up Hairy-Kate and Trashley in dead animals dripping with blood. It's legitimately scary.) They're offering to send free Trollsen masks (pictured above) to anyone who places an order before October 12. Or if you can't wait to get your costume on, you can print out the masks here. You know, PETA, it's a commendable effort, but their hair usually looks way more mussed than that. And Trashley on the left there wouldn't wear red lipstick. When we dress up, we like to be accurate, thank you very much. (That reminds us — holler if you know where we can get Sarah Palin's Alaska earrings.)

Why Not Be a Troll This Halloween? [PETA2.com via MollyGood]

Watch out for cow patties!Photo: Photo-illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images

We shit you not. Karl Lagerfeld told reporters backstage at the Chanel show in Paris today that he bought a six-bedroom "landmark building" dating back to 1840 on Lake Champlain in Vermont. May as well strike while the dollar's down! “I love it. It’s very much Emily Dickinson,” the Kaiser told WWD, adding that it reminds him of northern Europe. Karl also said he'll start shooting the Chanel campaigns there. And, we imagine, fly-fishing.

So … is country the new chic? Do we need to summer in Vermont instead of the Hamptons? Karl — is your house a SHARE? Because we are so in. Ben & Jerry's, here we come!

Lagerfeld Coming to America [WWD]