Pierre Berge

A dispute that has ruffled the skirts of French haute couture for nearly six years has come to a head with one of the world's top fashion houses being fined for plagiarism. The firm of Yves Saint Laurent was fined nearly $11,000 in a civil court in June for copying an outfit created by a rival firm.

Anne Hathaway is featured on the cover of Glamour's January issue looking sporty, healthy, happy and as far removed as possible from Fantine, her character in "Les Miserables" -- except for the hair cut. [Glamour] Fashion designer Georgina Chapman of Marchesa and her movie mogul husband, Harvey Weinstein, are expecting their second child. [New York Post] Former Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld's magazine CR Fashion Book has sold all 50,000 newsstand copies, leading to a second printing of 15,000.

Rudolf Nureyev's stormy six-year stint at the Paris Opera Ballet ended today when rising French star Patrick Dupond, 30, was named to succeed him as the troupe's new dance director. But a bitter dispute over the copyright and control of the ballets Nureyev choreographed for the opera house is only just beginning, Pierre Berge, chairman of the Paris Opera, said.

A 14-month battle between Rudolf Nureyev and the president of the Paris Opera Ballet ended today when the Soviet-born dancer resigned as dance director of the company he helped bring to prominence. A statement issued after a meeting between Nureyev and ballet President Pierre Berge said the two "decided mutually that Nureyev should step down as dance director." The break, however, sounded more like a separation than divorce.

Two French documentaries feting the lives of reclusive designers Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld shore up the myths that surround their subjects but shed little light on the men behind the fashions. Fawning celebrities, strutting models and square-jawed assistants featured in Rodolphe Marconi's "Lagerfeld Confidential" lend a dose of glamour to the proceedings at this year's Berlin Film Festival.

Daniel Barenboim, the 46-year-old conductor/pianist fired from Opera de la Bastille in Paris two weeks ago, has been named the next music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Barenboim, who will immediately assume the title of music director designate, takes up the directorship for the 1991-92 season. Sir Georg Solti, the highly acclaimed music director of the Chicago Symphony for the past 20 seasons, will become music director laureate.

Yves Saint Laurent triumphed on his own terms in the fall couture collection he presented here Wednesday. For almost 30 years, from his brief reign at Christian Dior--after Dior died in 1957--to the opening of his own house in 1963, the 51-year-old designer has been considered fashion's king. This season, with Christian Lacroix's entry into couture, Saint Laurent has seen the first serious challenge for his crown. Ironically, the man who has done the most to keep Saint Laurent No. 1, John B.

He's being called Yves Saint Laurent's protege. Robert Merloz, 24, caught the eye of the fashion press last winter with his first collection of furs for Saint Laurent. Now the Paris-born designer says of the attention it brought him: "I'm shy. I can't hide it. It's overwhelming." Merloz, an assistant to Saint Laurent for almost three years, made his debut for the house with the 114-piece collection.

Revlon Group, the nation's biggest beauty company, on Tuesday bought some well-known fragrances and Bain de Soleil tanning products from a unit of Yves Saint Laurent S.A. for $150 million. Revlon turned around and sold Bain de Soleil, the nation's second-biggest tanning products brand with about $17 million in annual sales, to Richardson-Vicks, a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble. The sale price wasn't disclosed.