Fashion couple in splitsville

Golden couple James and Whitney Fairchild have called it quits. The power couple, who were likened to a modern-day “Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald,” have filed for divorce after 17 years of marriage. James, a scion of the Fairchild Publications empire, wed Whitney in 1994 while they were working as designers at Ralph Lauren. (“Many people cite [James and Whitney] . . . as proof that style is not yet dead in New York City. Guests in their colorful clothes and hats held their parasols . . . The entire scene looked like a Monet painting,” cooed a Times wedding announcement). The couple, who have two sons, left Lauren a few years ago to live in Bridgehampton, and Whitney has since become a real estate broker. “All that matters to me is that my children get through this OK,” Whitney told us yesterday. The couple have only recently begun telling friends, with Whitney going back to using her maiden name St. John.