Updates

Off the Runway There's no shortage of drama at Liz Claiborne ("Project Rehab," April 2008). On election night, Michelle Obama wore a black-and-red dress by Narciso Rodriguez. Unfortunately for Liz CEO William McComb, he had just ended the company's relationship with the designer. But Liz will have a moment in the limelight this month, when Isaac Mizrahi unveils his first line for the brand. Think "color therapy," McComb says. -- Danielle Sacks

The Next Pixar?

"What we're doing will blow people away," predicted Travis Knight when we visited the set of Coraline at Laika Entertainment, the father-and-son studio owned by Nike cofounder Phil Knight ("The Knights' Tale," July/August 2007). Travis could be right. The film's 3-D stop-motion animation, an industry first, is dazzling -- and time-consuming. "Dear God, it's hard," Travis told the audience at a New York screening in November. When the nearly $70 million movie opens nationwide on February 6, we'll see if Laika, now with more than a dozen films in development, is a worthy challenger to Pixar. -- Chuck Salter