Gilles Bensimon

It seems that Kelly Killoren Bensimon, the newest addition to Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City cast (the second season, which is now filming, will air sometime in 2009), is at once the most and least qualified woman to be on the show. A longtime fixture on the Manhattan and Hamptons social scenes, the former model used to be married to fashion photographer and longtime Elle creative director Gilles Bensimon and has been a columnist for Hamptons and Page Six magazines. But, as she told the Daily Transom, “I’m not really a housewife. I own a house, but I’m not a wife.  read more »

Gilles Bensimon, the longtime international creative director of Elle, is reportedly being wooed by Marie Claire, the new home of his former colleague Nina Garcia. [FWD] 

Narciso Rodriguez and Liz Clairborne Inc. have confirmed that they are ending their 18-month partnership. [Vogue UK] 

Marco Zanini, the designer who most recently helped revive Halston, will reportedly design a new collection for Rochas. [FWD]  

Actress Mischa Barton on Victoria Beckham's style: "Posh doesn't strike me as particularly stylish. I don't think she's a good example of British style at all. I don't dress for anybody else, and I think the reason people like my style is that I do my own thing." [Sun UK via The Cut]    read more »

Open-access Facebook profiles are totally hot—primarily because they can be viewed without going through the whole ‘friending’ rigmarole. In fact, one needn’t even 'poke' them! And that’s sweet, because 'poking' is completely out of the question.

So we decided to celebrate those peeps with the gumption to announce their, say, religious beliefs to the whole world. And what better way to kick things off than with a profile breakdown of one of our all-time fave New York socials—Kelly Killoren Bensimon!

First, some background info: Ms. Bensimon, founding editor of Elle Accessories, became Ms. Bensimon when she married Gilles Bensimon, the celebrated fashion photographer, whose work for Elle put him at the forefront of the industry. (The 63-year-old shutterbug, also the onetime creative director of the glossy, has appeared a couple times on America’s Next Top Model.) The high-profile couple, who have two children together, split in 2006.

Now, on to the nitty-gritty…Ms. Bensimon, a Taurus who had a column in Page Six Magazine for a spit, is apparently “In a Relationship,” also billing herself as both a conservative and Catholic. Holy moley! She lists only one, rather curious activity—“riding all day long”—though her list of interests is suitably varied: “my kidlets / my horse / cars / watersking / jack russells / whatever peeks my interest.” [Oh, and ‘sic’ on all accounts here.]  read more »