LEIBOVITZ’S WIDER WORLD: It looks like Annie Leibovitz has found a new, more democratic way to help pay her bills. Word has it that Leibovitz — one of the industry’s highest-paid photographers, best known for her work for Vanity Fair, Vogue and luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton (not to mention the little financial difficulty she got into last year over a $24 million loan) — will be in Grand Central Terminal today to shoot Jessica Stam, Hilary Rhoda, Jacquetta Wheeler and 20 or so other models for the new Jones New York ad campaign. A spokesperson couldn’t be reached Monday to confirm the shoot. — Amy Wicks
SUMMER’S OVER: Magazine editors are already looking beyond the Fourth of July to the covers of their August issues, which they no doubt hope will be fatter than in recent years and a harbinger of the thudding sound of even heavier September books. Titles so far understood to have lined up their August covers include Vanity Fair, which is said to have lured Angelina Jolie; Elle, with Drew Barrymore (back again after a successful cover last May); Lucky, with old reliable Ali Larter, and Marie Claire, which nabbed 16-year-old Dakota Fanning — a recent addition to the cover rotation.
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Meanwhile, while one could argue it’s probably difficult to overhaul a magazine at cruising altitude, Stefano Tonchi has been doing just that since he took the reins at W magazine last month. The past several weeks have seen the Italian editor jetting to Milan, Paris and Cannes, while simultaneously filling out his senior staff and trying to figure out a way to turn W into the more general-interest lifestyle magazine he’s promised interviewers and, likely, skittish advertisers. And the first opportunity to judge his efforts will come with the title’s August issue, which sources say will feature Tonchi’s first cover pick — Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall, co-stars in the Ben Affleck-directed fall crime drama “The Town.” Though the couple cover is oft-trod territory for W, the choice of a heady pair like Hamm and Hall — celebs brimming with indie cred (his from “Mad Men,” hers from theater and films such as “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) and shorter on mass appeal — is not. (In fact, the duo would be more likely to turn up on the cover of Tonchi’s alma mater, T, which just featured Hall on its April 25 women’s summer fashion issue.) — Nick Axelrod
TOUGH CROWD FOR PALIN: If the real estate crowd is any judge, Sarah Palin might have a rough road if she decides to run for president in 2012. The former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor — and now multimillion-dollar-earning author, TV commentator and Tea Party pinup — didn’t exactly light up her audience at the International Council of Shopping Centers gathering in Las Vegas Sunday with her 45-minute message of lower taxes, less government regulation and criticism of President Obama’s health care overhaul and the federal government’s bailout of Wall Street firms.
“Why was she speaking here?” said Chris Murray, president of real estate management and development company Denny Elwell Co., based in Des Moines. “Was she here to be a motivator? Was she here to further her political agenda? The correlation between the industry and her is a tough one.”
Robin Newton, a broker on the retail team of commercial real estate firm Cornish & Carey in Pleasanton, Calif., objected to Palin’s position in favor of offshore oil exploration — a tough sell given the BP disaster in the Gulf. “The cleanup from the [BP] spill could take forever,” she said. “Supposedly, we are at a green-friendly, LED conference, and here we are talking about drilling for oil. It doesn’t make sense.” — Rachel Brown