Actor and model Godfrey Gao fortuitously lands the Spring/Summer 2011 campaign for Louis Vuitton. Along with Shu Pei‘s contract with global cosmetics giant Maybelline, the Taiwan-via-Vancouver-based Gao is gaining e-traction for being part of the recent “Asian Invasion” [ED. NOTE: Their words, not TD's] in fashion advertising. All that aside, let’s applaud the images for simply being beautiful and selling, well, stuff.

[PHOTO: Louis Vuitton; Maybelline]

The W London premieres a film series, Away We Stay, starring Helena Christensen and David Gandy as gloriously gorgeous folk who act melancholy throughout the handsome Leicester Square hotel. Director Edoardo Ponti also scribed the romance-tinged shorts, which will be released in spurts. So decadent and restrained, your concierge couldn’t offer a more delicious treat.

Away We Stay runs on YouTube now and the W London opens in early 2011. Watch the short below:

[PHOTO: via YouTube/W London]

Alphie the Robot, the top dog toy of yesteryear, is back with a major reboot. The new ‘bot still helps tikes learn numbers, letters, and cause and effect, but this Version 2.0 enjoys some body work and an interactive LCD “face,” making for one handsome piece of A.I. that will look at home next to mom and dad’s iMac.

Alphie the Robot from Hasbro is available in stores now.

[PHOTO: via hasbro.com]

In bed, “sleeping tight” is a good thing. But when money’s tight as well — and the urge to redecorate the boudoir beckons — there’s a rest-assured solution. Blik’s new line of decal headboards, designed by Mina Javid, are a charming option to jazzing up the bedroom on the cheap. (Prices start at $40 and up, depending on your mattress size.) And with removal that won’t mar the wall beneath, these Blick decals will only “stick” around as long as you wish. Downright dreamy! … Though TD can’t promise your irrational bedbug nightmares will cease.

Mina Javid’s Headboards for Blik are available via the company’s website, and come in four different designs and a multitude of colors.

[PHOTO: via WhatisBlik.com]

The sultry André Ziehe (FORD) may want to register for a restraining order from paparazzi, as the Brazilian super is relentless tailed in 2(x)ist‘s new video, “Watching.” The  surveillance-style spot is in support of the innerwear brand’s new collection SLIQ, which features low-rises and sexy silhouettes. In other words, the perfect thing to wear in case there’s a peeping tom in the area.

Watch the full video below. SLIQ is available in stores and online now.

[PHOTO: 2(x)ist]

Kylie Minogue‘s latest video for “Get Outta My Way” trips the light fantastic, courtesy of an engineer named Frieder Weiss. The “interactive systems designer” creates computer programs that interact with real-time movement, creating the lighting effect seen in GOMY and a variety of art installations and performances. Says Mr. Weiss via his website: “The software I write doesn’t do anything useful, in the best of all cases it is used for something aesthetical.” Um, which is plenty useful enough for us.

Above, watch the full video of Kylie’s “Get Outta My Way,” plus another video from Australian dance company Chunky Move entitled “Mortal Engine,” which no doubt inspired Ms. Minogue to pick up the phone and shed some light on the amazing Weiss.

[PHOTO: Parlophone]

Those who worship la dolce vita can now genuflect at New York’s Eataly, a virtual mecca of gastronomic delights. The 50,000 square foot food hall, where foodies can eat, pray, and love all things italiano, will boast a pizzeria, gelateria, cheese shop, meats counter, rooftop bar, and plenty of proper restaurants to boot (count ‘em, 12!). The venture is spearheaded by culinary royalty Mario Batali and Joe and Lidia Bastianich, who will also reside over an on-site cooking school.

Eataly New York is an off-shoot of the flagship in Turino, Italy. The megastore opens today in Manhattan’s Flatiron District (200 Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street, New York, NY). Below, the site of Eataly, also known as the International Toy Center Building.

[PHOTO: via www.eataly.it; Google Maps]

GQ serves up a fashion ace by casting tennis star Fernando Verdasco as a sharp-suited jetsetter. The story, “Travel Light, Fly High,” was shot by Nathaniel Goldberg at Madrid’s Barajas Airport and captures the dashing Spaniard as he terminal-hops whilst sporting pack-ready attire and tugging the perfect wheelie luggage. Let’s just hope Mr. Verdasco won’t be needing those travel togs anytime soon. As the 8th seed in this year’s US Open (which starts tomorrow in New York), oddsmakers are betting he won’t be departing for JFK until well after the later rounds.

Fernando Verdasco appears in the September issue of GQ, on newsstands now.

[PHOTO: Nathaniel Goldberg for GQ]

While scads of 18-year-olds works themselves up to a rash trying to get into a coveted Ivy League school, the majority of us are more than happy to just look the part. Photographer Teruyoshi Hayashida traveled from his native Japan to New England during the 1960s and captured co-eds on campus for the photobook Take Ivy. Featuring sartorially-sound young gentlemen (and nary a flip-flop, cargo short, or lanyard in sight), the book has since become a primer for all things preppy fashion.

Take Ivy received a limited reprint in 2006, but now publisher powerHouse reprises the slender volume for the knit-tie and boat-shoe set. The photobook hits bookstores on August 31. Below, a video tour of the original imprint.

[PHOTO: powerHouse / Teruyoshi Hayashida]