BY REQUEST: The media rumor making the rounds is that Michelle Williams was slated to appear on the April cover of Elle. In light of the death of Heath Ledger, with whom she had a daughter, Williams requested the cover be pulled — and it was. She has been replaced by Natalie Portman.

RADAR'S FASHION WORLD: Who's more influential in today's fashion world: Vogue or Us Weekly? Well, it depends on who's answering. Radar — you remember, that monthly magazine that has sometimes been unfavorably compared to Spy — has just come out with its Fashion Influence List and, not surprisingly, goes the celeb tabloid route. It ranks "The Hills" star Lauren Conrad as the industry's top trendsetter, puts celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe at number seven and Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour at 17th. While some might view Radar's fashion-themed issue as a way to create buzz in advance of New York Fashion Week (it didn't gain that much advertising — the issue is a slim 90 pages), the title's editor, Maer Roshan insisted the list is completely valid. "It'd be undeniable that today's mass market has changed the balance of power in the fashion community," said Roshan. "A picture in Us Weekly of an outfit on a celebrity will gain them much more traction than a folio in Vogue, and that's saying a lot. It's a new celebrity culture that has affected even high fashion, and fashion has had to adjust to it." So we guess Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren will next be getting their inspirations from the tiny tube.

Meanwhile, Radar has tapped two new artists to help tweak its look again — Pentagram's Luke Hayman, who redesigned Time last year and helped redesign New York with editor in chief Adam Moss (an effort that won him a 2006 National Magazine Award for excellence in magazine design from the American Society of Magazine Editors), and former New York art director Kate Elazegui. Radar's fresh look will be unveiled this spring. — Stephanie D. Smith

MORE T AT THE TIMES: The New York Times' public editor might not be a fan of its fashion and lifestyle supplement, T, but the newspaper's advertising executives clearly love it. The New York Times Co.'s president and chief executive officer, Janet Robinson, revealed Thursday that the newspaper is considering more spin-offs ahead. The company, Robinson said, will continue to develop the "T franchise."