Anna Wintour Attends the Debate; WSJ Offers Details of New Editor Appointment; Ford Wages War Against Former Models

Anna Wintour gets Political: Now comes another fashion surprise from the last Presidential Debate—and it has nothing to do with matching pink ensembles. The New York Post reports that Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour sat front row at the debate alongside other VIPs. Wintour is a key advocate for the Obama campaign and has hosted fundraising events at her townhouse in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. [NY Post]

More News on Kristina O’Neill’s WSJ Hire: Yesterday Harper’s Bazaar executive editor Kristina O’Neill was named editor of WSJ magazine, replacing Deborah Needleman who decamped toT last month. And while the appointment came as a complete shock (O’Neill wasn’t even rumored to be a possible candidate), now comes additional details about who else was up for the job. ELLE’s fashion news director Anne Slowey and style director Kate Lanphear had both applied for the job as well as Glamour’s executive fashion director Anne Christensen. In return, the New York Times has made big announcements about some changes to expect under Needleman’s new vision forT. The magazine will be reduced to 13 issues per year and will retool itself to become a more general-interest title. [WWD]

Model Behavior: Ford is waging a very expensive war against two of its former models, claiming they broke their contracts and were poached by rival agency, Women. Models Alana Zimmer (former campaign girl for Marc Jacobs and Missoni) and Karolina Waz are each being sued for $1 million, while Women is being charged with a $2 million bounty on their combined heads. Model poaching isn’t anything new though - Karlie Kloss recently abandoned NEXT agency for IMG’s greener pastures, sparking controversy with her mother agency in St. Louis. [Vogue UK]

Rebecca Minkoff to Offer Advice in InStyle: Rebecca Minkoff has been named a contributing editor at InStyle magazine, where she’ll pen a monthly “Ask the Designer” column for six months. Her first contribution appears in the magazine’s November issue. Previous designers to contribute to the column include Tory Burch, Rachel Roy, and Marchesa’s Keren Craig and Georgina Chapman. [WWD]