BITS AND BOBS

SHE'S A MATERIAL GIRL:

According to Scene, Madonna went through two rails of Julien Macdonald's couture range and selected a simple black dress. How wonderfully minimal, you might say, only said item was not supposed to be there. It was part of the designer's diffusion range for... Marks & Spencer.

AFTER-DINNER MINT?:

Lucky Kate Moss has a website, and it's no mere 'Kate's Fan Club' page. No, it deals with her diet. 'Feed Kate Moss' is its Pythonesque name. Some anorak rake decided it would be fun to give the 'virtual' supermodel enough square meals to make her explode. Get the order of crisps, popcorn, hot-dogs and junk food right, click them on her photo, and Moss morphs into a tree trunk, and can take no more. "Kate eats really well," said a spokeswoman in the Daily Telegraph. "Ask anyone who knows her. This is stupid, not funny." Oh yeah?

SHE'S GOT THE POWER:

Kate made the Sunday Times' list of Britain's most powerful, influential people, but came last in a list of 120 headed by Tony Blair. Two hundred people were quizzed by psychologist Dr Terry Kellard who chose Chris Evans and PM's son Euan Blair before Kate and John. "Fashion people may be very influential on how people dress for a season," averred Dr Kelland, "but they are not going to affect what happens in the next millennium". How does he know? We could all be very slim with pink hair wearing outlandish Henry VIII clothes come New Years Eve 2000...

YSL DITCHES HIS HALO:

Saint Laurent has bowed out of ready-to-wear, and will concentrate on haute couture. He's passing the gauntlet to designer Alber Elbaz.

TURNING JAPANESE:

According to the Daily Telegraph, Honor Fraser wants to go back to university when her modelling days are over. "It does make a difference," quoth she. "I'd study Japanese. It can't fail to be useful."

FASHION CAFF FIASCO:

Fashion Cafe went bust this month because too much money was pumped into refurbishment leaving insufficient cashflow for day-to-day expenses. It's fronted by Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Elle McPherson, but the models won't lose money. "They had a consultancy arrangement," said a spokes-person in the Independent. "They got appearance fees."

HAMNETT TURNS RIGHT:

Katharine Hamnett, who once met Margaret Thatcher in an anti-nuclear T-shirt, is to advise William Hague on how best to win back women voters. "I'm nauseated by Tony Blair's policy on human rights in Tibet," said the 51-year-old Buddhist. "I'm also not a fan of the Millennium Dome."

UNIFORM DISAPPROVAL:

A new London Underground uniform by Philip Treacy and fashion consultant Anne Tyrell has been described as "crap" by a station worker. The tall blue hats and snappy blue uniforms have not gone down a storm. "That's a joke, isn't it?" said another station worker in the Evening Standard.