Sigh.Photo: Patrick McMullan
• An alleged sweatshop was busted in Queens yesterday. It made clothes for Express, Gap, Banana Republic, and Victoria’s Secret, among others. [WWD]
• Lauren Conrad doesn’t really design her clothing line. Her creative director, Sherry Wood, who used to design Tart, does. Conrad reportedly was overheard telling her friends she can’t even sketch. [Fox News]
• Halston just let its head designer go, but it’s expanding anyway with a new “in-store environment” in Harrod’s. They’re also arranging for distribution in Hong Kong and plan to open a retrospective at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco in October. [WWD]
• Armani’s profits are up 66.2 percent since last year. Yowza. [British Vogue]
• Giorgio Armani was seen vacationing off Sardinia in his yacht wearing a Speedo. [Socialite Life]
• Mad Men is for guys what Sex and the City was for women, as far as clothes go. [Valet]
• Scoop plucked Shira Lauter from Bergdorf Goodman to be its general merchandise manager for women’s clothing. [NYP]
• Jessica Simpson will film a Macy’s commercial on a Brooklyn set today. [E!]
• Molly Sims is annoyed the tabloids reported on the time she took her dog to the vet at 3 a.m. wearing her boyfriend’s sweater and a nightgown. [NYP]
• A-Rod spent $50,000 on zip-up hoodie cashmere sweaters at Barneys recently. [NYP]
• Madonna wore a Yankees hat at Nello Summertimes in Southampton, which made Petra Nemcova, who was sitting behind her, laugh. [NYP]