AOL, ‘Chic Simple’ Connect for Catalog

America Online is moving full force into the interactive shopping arena. The company has entered into a content partnership with the creators of “Chic Simple,” the bestselling series of lifestyle and fashion books from Alfred A. Knopf.

Under the agreement, “Chic Simple” creators Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone, who also write a monthly column for InStyle magazine, are designing a series of online catalogs to offer women answers to wardrobe questions.

Launched this week, the “Chic Simple Wardrobe” summer catalog has information about how to renew a summer wardrobe and create individual style. Users can view outfits, then click on a piece to buy it. A new catalog will follow every season. Log on to https://www.aol.com and look for the shopping banner.

Return of a ‘70s Fashion Icon: Funky British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, at the forefront of the international fashion scene in the 1970s, stopped in Beverly Hills Tuesday to be the featured speaker at a community millennium forum.

The standing-room-only crowd at the Museum of Television and Radio included Vidal Sassoon and at least one woman sporting vintage Rhodes. “Oohs” and “aahs” filled the air as the pink-haired designer showed slides.

She has outfitted rock stars and royalty (including the late Princess Diana), and continues to design, splitting her time among New York, London and Del Mar, Calif. She recently founded the Zandra Rhodes Foundation to raise funds for a British fashion and textile museum, which will open next year.

Feminine Denim: In denim news, L.A.-based Juicy, famous for its sexy T-shirts in, well, juicy colors, is moving into jeans. “We’ve been thinking about doing denim for a long time. We already do one style of pants, but this is the first time we are really making a commitment to it. This collection will be more than just jeans.

Southland Jaunt: Like father, like son. Emmanuele Della Valle, son of J.P. Tod’s founder Diego Della Valle, helped celebrate the opening of a new Tod’s boutique in South Coast Plaza at a charity event this week. The handsome 22-year-old was happy for the mini-vacation to Southern California, where he spent a few days soaking up rays in a rented Mitsubishi convertible.

Booth Moore can be reached by e-mail at booth.moore@latimes.com.