Back in—what?—November, we told you that we expected Valentino to wait a couple of seasons before picking a full-time designer.

Well, turns out we were wrong… ish.

Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

Johnny Depp has come up with some pretty iffy outfits in the past, and yet he’s always managed to do so with a certain panache that saved the day, sartorially. Nonetheless, we far prefer it when he takes a more classic approach, as he did with brilliant results as the premiere of his new movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street this week.

There was just the right touch of Todd in his ensemble »

Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

At Marquee these days where he mans the velvet rope he’s known simply as the “The Hammer,” but anyone who’s frequented NYC hotspots for the past decade recognizes Wass Stevens as one of the most provocatively-dressed dudes wherever he happens to be. An actor by day with a burgeoning CV, the former boxer and assistant district attorney favors the custom creations of Ron & Ron, which combine “class with a hint of rogue”, mixed in with select A-list label pieces.

More on today’s MOTH at Marquee’s Fourth Anniversary bash »

It appears that the “brutal” new James Bond is something of a prima donna. At the cover shoot for GQ’s December Men of the Year issue, deconstructed 007 Daniel Craig refused to wear any of the designer duds the magazine’s fashion mavens picked out for him, insisting instead on a suit of his own. Having caught wind of the clothing contretemps, we asked GQ’s Adam Rapoport, who wrote the Craig cover story, what went down.

His report from the shoot after the jump »

Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

In his capacity as a graphic design demigod, Chip Kidd routinely transforms books into objets d’art. In the course of a celebrated career he’s done dazzling dustjackets for everyone from John Updike to Bret Easton Ellis. Some of his work, like the famous dinosaur skeleton he designed for Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, even takes on a life of its own.

More on today’s MOTH»

Photographed by our fearless lensman, Patrick McMullan.

Here making his second MOTH appearance, the multi-talented André Benjamin (aka André 3000) stole the show at the Met Costume Institute’s gala Monday night.

What won us over was his beautifully-cut cream shawl-collared dinner jacket with a subtle tone-on-tone glen plaid pattern, which could be from his Benjamin Bixby line, though it looks a little on the formal side—perhaps Ralph Lauren or Brioni is a better call—worn with Hollywood-waisted dress trousers, velvet evening slippers and a perfectly-proportioned pointed-end black velvet bowtie. His signature flourishes were apparent in the straw fedora, pearl shirt studs and a somewhat faded-looking but nonetheless brassy boutonniere»

Product placement is nothing new to the James Bond movies, but we were pleased to hear that the new film is going to feature a whole lot of one of America’s most prominent designers.

Of course, Daniel Craig is already on record as being much-impressed with Tom Ford, but apparently he’s got a bit more clout these days, which means we’ll be seeing less Brioni and a lot less of those miniscule swimming trunks from Casino Royale. (Something tells us Roger Moore didn’t have to put up with that sort of thing…)

It’s rare to see a choice like this made by the star and not the marketing or wardrobe department, but it looks like Mr. Craig is moving up in the world. After all, what’s the point in having an acting gig if you can’t use it to score a good suit every now and then?

Let’s just hope he can keep them clean.