Fashion Industry News

[Lea 0]

Falling Dumbasses!

 

 

The Daily Mail featured these truly stupid $3,600 shoes that are quickly becoming all the rage with celebrities. The shoes were designed by Briton Antonio Berardi and Gwyneth Paltrow, Uma Thurman and Posh have already picked up a pair.

 

Briton Berardi said this about the shoes, "When you walk, it is almost on tiptoe. You look really dainty." No, you look like an idiot.

 

Fishsticks, Uma and Posh should save themselves the embarrassment of being photographed falling on their heads and give me the $3,600 instead. In exchange I will gladly slap the shit out of them in private. Same effect without the public shame! It's a win-win.

 

http://www.dlisted.com/

[ElleDriver 0]

Bag mania rules at Hermes

By JOELLE DIDERICH, Associated Press

 

 

PARIS - What would you do for a Birkin bag?

 

Even the world's richest women beg, steal or borrow to lay their hands on the elusive handbag made by Hermes, which officially has a waiting list of two to three years.

 

No doubt they will be salivating over the new creations the French fashion house unveiled on Saturday in its autumn-winter ready-to-wear show, held in a tent beside the Eiffel Tower.

 

They included the So Kelly, an oblong variation on the classic Kelly bag, and the Gypsy, a unisex shoulder bag modeled by Hermes designer Jean Paul Gaultier himself.

 

Models with glossy manes paraded in belted fringed shawls and knee-high suede boots that gave them the superior carriage of high-class thoroughbreds.

 

"That Birkin on your arm tells other women your place in society," said Michael Tonello, who recounts his adventures buying and selling Birkin bags in his forthcoming memoir "Bringing Home the Birkin" (William Morrow).

 

"It sort of suggests to them that you are successful, that you have money, that you are someone, or else Hermes wouldn't be selling you this bag," he added.

 

Celebrities that have adopted the handbag, named after British actress Jane Birkin, include Eva Longoria and Katie Holmes. Victoria Beckham is said to own 100.

 

Though prices start at more than $8,000, hundreds more women languish on the waiting list. So when Tonello found a way of bypassing the wait, he rocketed to the top of every socialite's Rolodex.

 

"I began to feel like I was a drug dealer," he told The Associated Press. "You know, there are people that will do almost anything to get one of these bags."

 

Tonello spent nearly a decade traveling the world snapping up Birkins — he says he once purchased 140 in three months — and reselling them on eBay for a tidy profit. He said he stopped because the activity was taking over his life.

 

Officials at Hermes declined to comment on the book, due to be published in the United States in April, and on the thriving secondary market for its high-end goods.

 

Women looking for an immediate fix can always turn to Kenzo, which showed a Japanese-themed collection featuring some of the most appealing accessories seen in Paris this season.

 

These included a rectangular pink enameled purse dangling off a thick strap and fish scale-effect green suede ankle boots.

 

Kenzo designer Antonio Marras drew inspiration from Sayoko Yamaguchi, a model and Kenzo muse who died last year, for his stunning collection of silk tunics with graphic calligraphy patterns and kimono-style dresses featuring delicate blossom prints.

 

British designer John Galliano turned his fashion show into a full-blown happening, conjuring a fictional Hollywood production of "Xanadu".

 

Mingling on a spectacular Oriental pleasure dome set were actresses Lucy Liu and Mary-Kate Olsen and singers Kanye West and Rihanna, alongside costumed extras including a Marilyn Monroe look-alike.

 

Gold lame harem trousers and a fruity palette of burnt orange, raspberry and plum added to the Eastern vibe.

[hedda_louella 1]

"It sort of suggests to them that you are successful, that you have money, that you are someone, or else Hermes wouldn't be selling you this bag," he added.

 

Celebrities that have adopted the handbag, named after British actress Jane Birkin, include Eva Longoria and Katie Holmes. Victoria Beckham is said to own 100.

Hmmm... I love a nice Hermes bag but he could have come up with a better list than those slags.

 

British designer John Galliano turned his fashion show into a full-blown happening, conjuring a fictional Hollywood production of "Xanadu".

 

Mingling on a spectacular Oriental pleasure dome set were actresses Lucy Liu and Mary-Kate Olsen and singers Kanye West and Rihanna, alongside costumed extras including a Marilyn Monroe look-alike.

 

Gold lame harem trousers and a fruity palette of burnt orange, raspberry and plum added to the Eastern vibe.

Oh my god, what a fucking nightmare. Although with that guest list, I'm sure the coke flowed freely.

[DoTell 0]

Those Don't Look Like Million Dollar Shoes

 

It looks like Diablo Cody changed her mind about wearing Stuart Weitzman's million dollar shoes! She blogged about it the other day, "I'm actually really pissed about this, now that I think about it. They're using me to publicize their stupid shoes and nobody asked me. I would never consent to a lame publicity stunt at a time when I already want to hide. I'm sorry if I sound like a party-pooper, but Jeebus."

I'm sorry, but did she roll off the turnip truck yesterday?! OF COURSE THEY WERE GOING TO PUBLICIZE THE SHOES. Why the hell else would they have her wear a million-dollar pair of shoes? It's not like this would be the first time some jeweler has done up something extravagantly expensive for an awards show -- doesn't this happen nearly every year, in fact? And, duh, they do it to promote their brands.

 

Who doesn't understand that? WTF did she expect when she agreed to wear them in the first place?

[daq 0]

 

Those Don't Look Like Million Dollar Shoes

 

It looks like Diablo Cody changed her mind about wearing Stuart Weitzman's million dollar shoes! She blogged about it the other day, "I'm actually really pissed about this, now that I think about it. They're using me to publicize their stupid shoes and nobody asked me. I would never consent to a lame publicity stunt at a time when I already want to hide. I'm sorry if I sound like a party-pooper, but Jeebus."

I'm sorry, but did she roll off the turnip truck yesterday?! OF COURSE THEY WERE GOING TO PUBLICIZE THE SHOES. Why the hell else would they have her wear a million-dollar pair of shoes? It's not like this would be the first time some jeweler has done up something extravagantly expensive for an awards show -- doesn't this happen nearly every year, in fact? And, duh, they do it to promote their brands.

 

Who doesn't understand that? WTF did she expect when she agreed to wear them in the first place?

 

I think she just saw how freaking ugly they are and it was her way of getting out of wearing them. Edited March 3, 2008 by daq

[sanlee 49]

DEATH OF A BLACK SUPERMODEL:

 

Rewind: Nicknamed the "black princess", the 47-year-old Katoucha Niane went missing from her home on a central stretch of the river on the night of February 1.

 

The mother-of-three disappeared after being dropped off from a party and her handbag was later recovered near her houseboat.

 

Born in Conakry, Katoucha worked with the greatest couture stars at the height of her career in the 1980s including Saint Laurent.

 

Katoucha left the catwalk for good in 1994, but in recent years she made headlines as an outspoken campaigner against female circumcision, launching a foundation against the practice.

 

Excised at the age of nine, in her home country Guinea, Katoucha recounted the ordeal in a recent book entitled "In My Flesh".

 

She said she saw her career as a top model as a form of "revenge" for the horror of excision.

 

"I embodied the most arrogant and admired kind of femininity, I who was supposed to be diminished," she wrote.

 

Fast Forward: Paris judicial police say the body of former top model Katoucha Niane has been found in the River Seine.

 

 

Police say the body was found Thursday and that a subsequent autopsy confirmed it as the model's.

 

 

Police say the body showed no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that she may have fallen accidentally in the river.

 

 

The former model went missing in February.

 

Panachereport.com

[ElleDriver 0]

West Understands Fashion Show Rejection

 

 

Kanye West and his fiance at the Stella McCartney show in Paris.

Rap superstar Kanye West has defended the Spanish fashion house Balenciaga for denying him a seat at its exclusive Parisian show.

 

The star failed to gain access to the designer's catwalk event during Paris Fashion Week, which closed on Sunday, because the designers didn't feel his hip-hop image was right for the show.

 

But West -- who created his own fashion label, Pastelle Clothing, in 2006 -- has accepted the rejection gracefully, insisting he wasn't offended by the haute couturier's snub.

 

In a bizarre twist, the music mogul even stated that he is so passionate about fashion, he places higher importance on it than his music, branding the design world his first love.

 

He writes on his blog, "My first love is for fashion and I appreciate just being in a position to afford to be able to spend a week in Paris visiting shows.

 

"I totally love and respect any designer that won't let me come to their show. It's their show. They don't owe me anything.

 

"I just love the clothes! Lex (his fiancee Alexis Phifer) and I are not there to take pictures. I don't have an album about to drop. My tour is sold out. I love fashion and this is one of the funnest things we can make time for.

 

"Balenciaga is one of the illest lines right now and I don't feel any type of way about not getting in! There's always a catch 22 in being a celeb -- your motives are always questioned -- but only time will show my true love."

[ElleDriver 0]

Stones guitarist is new frontman for Louis Vuitton

 

Rolling Stones guitarist and rock-and-roll bad boy Keith Richards is to become the new public face of Louis Vuitton, the French luxury fashion house said on Tuesday.

 

For his first ever ad campaign, the 64-year-old Richards -- who has a rocky history of drug use -- is seen cradling his guitar on a hotel-room bed, the lights part obscured by skull-print black drapes.

 

"Some journeys cannot be put into words. New York. 3 am. Blues in C," runs the slogal of the ad, shot by US photographer Annie Leibovitz and due to appear in the magazine press next month.

 

Richards plans to donate the fee for the ad to the Climate Project, launched by Nobel-winning former US vice-president Al Gore and backed by Louis Vuitton.

 

Famous faces stars to have represented Vuitton in the past include former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev, French screen icon Catherine Deneuve, and US actresses Scarlett Johansson and Uma Thurman.

[Lea 0]

Adriana Lima and Karolina Kurkova Unleash New Bra, Cuddle

 

 

Here's Adriana Lima and Karolina Kurkova unveiling the Victoria's Secret BioFit Uplift bra at the Grove in LA. Unveiling a bra means you rub up on each other and act like naughty girls in tight t-shirts. Because everyone loves the idea that supermodels make out with each other when they're bored and it probably sells a lot of lingerie.

 

"Biofit" sounds way too sciency to me. If I was a lady (no comments from the peanut gallery, please), I'd be alarmed. I don't want my bra knowing too much about me. It could take over. I've seen "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles". I know what goes on. The future ain't pretty when the bras are mechanized and given free reign.

 

 

http://socialitelife.buzznet.com/

[Lea 0]

Matthew McConaughey Surfs Into The World Of Fashion Design

 

 

For a man who seems most comfortable completely nude, it's kind of ironic that Matthew McConaughey's decided to start designing his own line of beach apparel. OK, maybe it's not because when Matthew actually is clothed, it's usually in beachwear. Yes, we know what you're thinking and yes, his clothing line will include t-shirts, but it's probably meant for the individual who isn't lucky enough to be sporting "Hollywood's Hottest Chest."

 

According to the actor's rep, the line will be "a one-stop shop for every-thing you need for the beach," including frisbees, swimsuits and, like we said, t-shirts. Also, the name of the line is "j.k. livin," after Matthew's personal motto for life, "Just Keep Livin'."

 

 

http://socialitelife.buzznet.com/

[BobbyD 2]

Vogue's LeBron Cover Breaks Barriers ... But Not All of Them

March 14, 2008 12:45 PM

 

Rail-thin models, high-priced couture, two pounds worth of ads: that's generally what you expect from Vogue.

 

Not a hulking, screaming LeBron James dribbling a basketball.

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers' superstar graces the April 2008 cover of the magazine, clad in clothing and kicks from his own Nike line, beefy bicep slung around Gisele Bundchen. They're the bodies of Vogue's eighth annual shape issue.

 

"Because of the upcoming Olympics, we wanted to take a look at athletes, athletic prowess, and healthy bodies," said Vogue spokesperson Patrick O’Connell. "LeBron is 6’8, Gisele’s 5’11 -- they really say size and shape in a beautiful way."

 

LeBron's the first male athlete to grace the high-fashion mag's cover. He's only the third man to ever appear on the cover (apparently, Gisele looks good on the arm of Vogue's guys -- she posed with George Clooney in 2000. Richard Gere broke the estrogen barrier in 1992).

 

LeBron's also the first black man to land on Vogue's front page, but O'Connell said race had nothing to do with it.

 

"He’s an amazing person and an amazing athlete," he said. "And the only two other men who have been on the cover were there in a sort of zeitgeist moment. As a women's magazine, we rarely have men on the cover, period. "

 

So the basketball star has broken some barriers. But wouldn't it make sense for a women's magazine to feature a female athlete on its Olympic-centered shape issue? (How 'bout them Williams sisters?)

 

"They’re replete through the issue," O'Connell said. "One of our primary features is pairing models with athletes. Female issues are the center of the focus of the magazine. Obviously, we can’t put everyone on the cover."

 

Vogue does spotlight female athletes inside -- runner Allyson Felix, archer Jennifer Nichols and swimmer Kate Ziegler among them. And because it's the shape issue, O'Connell said it covers "all shapes and all sizes … from sizes 0 to 16."

 

But looking at the cover, Vogue's female ideal is clear -- lanky, leggy, linked to a hot guy, last name: Bundchen. So maybe the cover of the shape issue is exactly what you'd expect.

 

Sheila Marikar

 

*uhhh...yay...progress...*

[BobbyD 2]

Eva Mendes Takes It Off for Calvin Klein

 

After a birthday shopping spree at their Madison Avenue boutique, Calvin Klein has invited Eva Mendes to come back — and take off her clothes this time! The sexy actress has signed on to be the new face and body of Calvin Klein underwear, including their new “Seductive Comfort” collection. In a statement, Mendes says “The company has such an incredible creative legacy. I’m honored to be associated with such an iconic, world-class brand like Calvin Klein Underwear.” And for their part, Calvin Klein is thrilled to have the Ghost Rider star bring her talent to their ads. “We’re very pleased that Calvin Klein, Inc. will be able to capitalize on the benefits of having a beautiful and talented actress like Eva Mendes featured in two campaigns running this fall. She really embodies the essence of the Calvin Klein brand”, said Tom Murry, President & COO, Calvin Klein, Inc.

[ElleDriver 0]

Katie Holmes to Unveil Clothing Line

OK!

 

OK! was the first to reveal that Katie Holmes was working on her own clothing label, with hopes to introduce it by year's end.

 

Now, OK! can confirm that Mrs. Tom Cruise has indeed closed the deal for her first line, to be called: Katie Holmes for Armani. It's a first and rather unheard of marriage — never before has such a high-fashion house had a label affiliation with a non-professional designer. "Right now this is Katie's life," a source close to the Cruises tells OK!. "She is extremely excited about it."

 

Katie's muse in her new endeavor is none other than her daughter, Suri, who turns 2 next month. As OK! previously reported, Katie, 29, designed the adorable polka-dot dress the toddler was photographed wearing in Paris last year. "The first clothes will all be things she could imagine Suri wearing," confirms the source.

 

The line will roll out over the course of the next two years, starting with a collection aimed at toddlers for spring 2009. A collection for older children will follow that fall, followed by a handbag line and a women's collection by fall of 2010.

 

 

"The Katie Holmes for Armani collection will be comparable in price to the Armani ready-to-wear line," the source says. "It will be sold in stores like Saks, Barneys New York and Neiman Marcus. We're talking very upscale: less expensive than Armani Privé but more than Armani Exchange. These are going to be very high-quality clothes. We're not talking cheesy Jessica Simpson stuff."

 

And where does hubby Tom fit into the project? "He is her number-one fan," the source says, adding that Katie still intends to continue acting. "Katie's dedication to fashion does not mean she's given up her acting career," the source says. "She definitely wants to continue with that too, but right now this is her priority.

 

For the entire scoop on Katie's new clothing line, pick up the new issue of OK! — on sale everywhere on Thursday!

[ElleDriver 0]

Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent dies at 71

 

 

 

Yves Saint Laurent, one of the most influential and enduring designers of the 20th century, empowered women by reinventing pants as a sleek, elegant staple of the female wardrobe.

 

Saint Laurent, 71, died Sunday night at his Paris home after a yearlong battle with brain cancer, said Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent's close friend and business partner for four decades.

 

"Chanel gave women freedom," and Saint Laurent "gave them power," Berge said on France-Info radio. He called Saint Laurent a "true creator" who went beyond the aesthetic to make a social statement.

 

"In this sense, he was a libertarian, an anarchist and he threw bombs at the legs of society," he said. "That's how he transformed society and that's how he transformed women."

 

The Gucci Group, which acquired the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house in 1999, said the designer's death "leaves a great emptiness but also a sublime inheritance."

 

"This genius of creation shattered the codes to create French elegance which today makes Paris a grand capital of fashion," Gucci said.

 

Berge, speaking Monday on the France-2 TV station, stressed Saint Laurent's "profound love" for women. He used fashion to "serve women" and not "use them," said Berge, who collaborated with the designer for four decades and was his former romantic partner.

 

In his own words, Saint Laurent once said he felt "fashion was not only supposed to make women beautiful, but to reassure them, to give them confidence, to allow them to come to terms with themselves."

 

Saint Laurent widely was considered the last of a generation that included Christian Dior and Coco Chanel and made Paris the fashion capital of the world, with the Rive Gauche, or Left Bank, as its elegant headquarters.

 

The designer raised the stature of fashion while making it more accessible, it is widely agreed.

 

President Nicolas Sarkozy praised Saint Laurent for "putting his mark on a half-century of creation, in luxury as well as ready-to-wear."

 

For Culture Minister Christine Albanel, the designer personally touched women's lives.

 

"This brilliant idea that a woman could be the most feminine possible while dressing like a man ... it seems to me decisive," she told Associated Press Television News. "Little by little, women get rid of their corset and then they live differently."

 

From the first YSL tuxedo and his trim pantsuits to see-through blouses, safari jackets and glamorous gowns, Saint Laurent created instant classics that remain stylish decades later.

 

"Mr. Saint Laurent revolutionized modern fashion with his understanding of youth, sophistication and relevance. His legacy will always be remembered," said Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa.

 

Saint Laurent was born Aug. 1, 1936, in Oran, Algeria, where his father worked as a shipping executive. He first emerged as a promising designer at age 17, winning first prize in a contest sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat for a cocktail dress design.

 

A year later, in 1954, he enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale school of haute couture, but student life lasted only three months. He was introduced to Christian Dior, then regarded as the greatest creator of his day, and Dior was so impressed with Saint Laurent's talent that he hired him on the spot.

 

When Dior died suddenly in 1957, Saint Laurent was named head of the House of Dior at age 21.

 

He opened his own haute couture fashion house with Berge in 1962. The pair later started a chain of Rive Gauche ready-to-wear boutiques.

 

Saint Laurent's simple navy blue pea coat over white pants, which the designer first showed in 1962, was one of his hallmarks. His "smoking," or tuxedo jacket, of 1966 remade the tux as a high fashion statement for both sexes. It remained the designer's trademark item and was updated yearly until he retired.

 

Also from the 60s came Beatnik chic — a black leather jacket and knit turtleneck with high boots — and sleek pantsuits that underlined Saint Laurent's statement on equality of the sexes. He showed that women could wear "men's clothes," which when tailored to the female form became an emblem of elegant femininity.

 

Some of his revolutionary style was met with resistance. There are famous stories of women wearing Saint Laurent pantsuits who were turned away from hotels and restaurants in London and New York.

 

Saint Laurent's rising star was eternalized in 1983, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted a show to his work, the first ever to a living designer. He was awarded the Legion d'Honneur in 1985.

 

But bouts of depression marked his career. Berge, who lived with the designer for years, was quoted as saying that Saint Laurent was born with a nervous breakdown.

 

When Saint Laurent announced his retirement in 2002 at age 65 and the closure of the Paris-based haute couture house, it was mourned in the fashion world as the end of an era. His ready-to-wear label, Rive Gauche, which was sold to Gucci in 1999 for $70 million cash and royalties, still has boutiques around the world.

 

Saint Laurent had long been rumored to be ill, and Berge said on RTL radio Monday that he had been afflicted with brain cancer for the past year.

 

"He no longer liked the world of today's fashion ... he said it didn't understand him," Berge said.

 

"He had a great, immense love affair with fashion. It's true that he left the profession, but in a couple you can split up because you must do so ... and still be very unhappy," he said. "That was his case."

 

After retirement, Saint Laurent spoke of his battles with depression, drugs and loneliness, though he gave no indication that those problems were directly tied to his decision to stop working.

 

"I've known fear and terrible solitude," he said. "Tranquilizers and drugs, those phony friends. The prison of depression and hospitals. I've emerged from all this, dazzled but sober."

 

A funeral ceremony was scheduled for Thursday at the Saint Roch Church in central Paris, Berge said, moving the date announced earlier forward by a day.

 

___

 

Associated Press

[BobbyD 2]

Obama, by Versace: candidate inspires Donatella's new style

By Leonard Doyle in Washington

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

 

Independent.co.uk Web

 

The fashion world is falling head-over-heels for Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. Donatella Versace has called the Democratic candidate "the man of the moment", and dedicated her entire spring-summer 2009 menswear collection to him. The Italian designer said she was creating a style for "a relaxed man who doesn't need to flex muscles to show he has power".

 

She even had some fashion tips for Mr Obama, saying: "I would get rid of the tie and jazz up the shirt." Whether Mr Obama will be daring enough to take to the campaign trail attired in shiny suits with skinny lapels teamed with beige leather flip-flops remains to be seen. The collection he inspired was shown in Milan at the weekend and featured no ties, while conventional shirts were replaced with silk scoop-neck T-shirts.

 

Mr Obama has described his dress sense as "fairly standard" and said that he owned only five suits and four pairs of shoes. But designers are hoping the stylish couple win in November and that the rather middle-aged style of the Bush White House is consigned to history. Laura Bush likes the well-coiffed matronly look while her husband is happiest as an urban cowboy.

 

It is the poised and statuesque Michelle Obama who has really set the fashion world aflutter, however. Last week when she mentioned on the daytime TV show The View that she bought her striking summer dress at White House/ Black Market, her admirers were instantly on the phone looking for the $148 (£74) dress: "Women literally were snatching it up," said Jessica Wells, spokeswoman for White House/ Black Market.

 

The dress was designed by Donna Ricco, 51, who is the designer of choice for some of Chicago's most prominent women, including Oprah Winfrey. The black-and-white dress was sold out within a day of Mrs Obama's TV appearance.

 

"Her clothes really capture the strength and grace of women," Mrs Obama says of Ricco's designs.

 

Just four years ago Ricco was bankrupt, thanks to embezzlement by one of her staff and a fragile US economy. She relaunched her company in 2004.

 

Orders for her entire line are up more than 35 per cent this year and, if history is a judge, overnight international fame awaits, should Barack Obama become president. The designer Oleg Cassini shot to fame when his client Jacqueline Kennedy moved into the White House in 1961 and everyone wanted to look like her.

 

Ricco's ready-to-wear collection is on sale in some of the top outlets including Takashimaya in New York, and Barneys and Saks Fifth Avenue sell her silk wraps.

 

"My clients aren't into all the Gucci hoo-ha," she told The Wall Street Journal, explaining that her designs appeal to women who eschew the status of labels in favour of style and fit. Business is so hot that she and her staff of 18 are moving to a new 2,200-square-foot boutique complete with bamboo floors and marble-clad Italian columns, which opens in July.

 

Ricco is already dreaming up designs for next January's inaugural ball. But the role of White House couturier can be tricky. Oscar de la Renta discovered this in 2006 when Laura Bush showed up at one of the biggest social events of the year in one of his $8,500 red numbers. Unfortunately, three other women were wearing the same designer gowns.

[ElleDriver 0]

SUPERMODEL'S DEATH PLUNGE

9-STORY 'SUICIDE' LEAP

By MELISSA JANE KRONFELD, TATIANA DELIGIANNAKIS and TOM LIDDY

 

 

 

 

A gorgeous supermodel fell from her swank downtown apartment to her death yesterday in an apparent suicide, officials said.

 

Ruslana Korshunova, 20, whose face graced the cover of French Elle and Russian Vogue, apparently jumped from her ninth-floor apartment in her Water Street building in the Financial District at 2:30 p.m.

 

"I heard what sounded like a gunshot or a bomb or an explosion," said a stunned Con Ed worker talking to a cop nearby.

 

"I looked down the street, and I say to the cop, 'Did that person just get hit by a car?' " said the worker, who identified himself only as Patrick, 32, of Brooklyn.

 

The two men raced over. "Her arms were crushed," Patrick said. "Her head was on the left side and blood was coming out in a pool."

 

Cops said there were no signs of a struggle in the one-bedroom apartment, where she lived for only two months. And the balcony from which she plunged had construction netting around it that appeared to have been deliberately ripped.

 

Korshunova, a green-eyed beauty, known as "The Russian Rapunzel" for her long, flowing chestnut locks, worked with the elite modeling agency IMG, which boasts top models Heidi Klum and Kate Moss.

 

"Our hearts are with her family," said IMG's representative, Zach Eichman.

 

The 5-foot-8 head-turner - just days from her 21st birthday - has been featured in ads for Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Vera Wang and Christian Dior. She was discovered in 2003 when a booker from London-based Models 1, Debbie Jones, noticed her in a feature about the model's hometown of Almaty, Kazakhstan.

 

"She looked like something out of a fairytale!" Jones told British Vogue. Soon after, the 17-year-old beauty was hailed as the next big thing, gracing runways at Fashion Week wearing Jill Stuart, Betsey Johnson and other designers.

 

Her distraught ex-boyfriend, Artem Perchenok, 24, said that he dropped the model at her apartment at 5 a.m. after they watched the movie "Ghost."

 

"She was a good person," he told The Post, still reeling from the shock.

 

Friends broke the tragic news to Korshunova's mom, Valentina and brother Ruslan, who still live in Kazakhstan.

 

"[The mom] didn't believe it was real," one close friend told the Post via phone from Moscow, Russia.

 

"She started to cry. She wanted to fly to the states."

 

Korshunova's best friend, Kira Titeneva broke down when she arrived at her pal's apartment late last night.

 

"We were talking on the phone last night," she said. "She loved life so much. She was an angel."

 

Titeneva, who grew up in her pal's hometown, said Korshunova "wasn't wild. She was never on drugs or anything."

 

Another friend said that Korshunova seemed to be "on top of the world."

 

"There were no signs," said the pal who did not want to be named. "That's what's driving me crazy. I don't see one reason why she would do that.

[BobbyD 2]

BREAKING NEWS: ANAND JON CONVICTED - LIFE IN PRISON

 

Anand Jon, the 34-year-old fashion designer accused of raping nine models, has been convicted of 16 of the 23 counts of rape and sexual assault against him in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

 

A jury deliberated for about five days before finding Jon guilty of 14 felony and two misdemeanor counts against seven women. The jury found Alexander not guilty of four counts of sexual assault, and was deadlocked on three counts, including one count of rape.

 

Judge David Wesley declared a mistrial on those three counts.

 

Because this case involves special circumstances of including multiple victims, the penalty is a mandatory life sentence. Jon will be eligible for parole in 67 years. Jon’s attorney Leonard Levine said he would appeal the verdict.

 

In a trial that lasted the better part of two months, a parade of former models emerged to accuse the Indian-born designer of luring them to his apartments in New York and Los Angeles, and raping them, sometimes within minutes of their arrival. Some of the models were young teenagers at the time.

 

But the case was complicated because with one exception, none of the models complained to police at the time. Many of them stayed with Jon after the assault or followed him to other cities.

 

Moreover, there was no physical evidence of sexual assault presented at trial.

 

While Jon maintained his innocence throughout, he never took the stand to defend himself, believing that the prosecution had not proved its case.

 

As the jury foreman read the verdict, Jon looked down without emotion, but his mother Shashi Abraham and sister Sanjana Jon began to shake uncontrollably.

 

The jury declined to speak to the press, and thus would shed no light on their deliberations.

 

Despite inconsistencies in some of the victims’ stories, the jury appeared to agree that Jon’s behavior amounted to rape and sexual assault. They convicted him of rape, lewd acts; sexual penetration by a foreign object; using a minor for sex; possessing child pornography; attempted oral copulation; sexual battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

 

The jury threw out all four accusations of Britney O., including one of rape. Her testimony described outrageous behavior by Jon, including forcing her to give him oral sex while two friends sat on an adjacent couch.

 

And the jury deadlocked on three counts, 11-1, according to a court official, involving the accusations of a victim called Candace. The judge declared a mistrial on those counts. The deadlock was due to a lone holdout on those counts, juror 12, a man who appeared to be in his 40s, said one trial observer.

 

Other witnesses gave testimony that was uneven, or could not fully explain why they had never complained to police before last year. But jurors were clearly outraged by images of underaged (though not pre-pubescent) pornography on Jon’s computer, and a log he kept of every sexual encounter in which he praised his victims for their performance with comments like “swallows very well.”

 

Jon faces still more charges in New York and Texas. A spokeswoman for the district attorney said Jon is likely to be extradited to New York first.

 

“The victims who came forward were courageous,” said spokeswoman Jane Robison. “The jury sent a message that our communities will not tolerate serial rapists and child molesters like Anand Jon.”

 

Jon will be sentenced on January 13.

[annabeast 24]

The sadest part of this story: the scores and scores of models who never came forward. This man is a pig.

[WiLdFiRe 0]

Falling Dumbasses!

 

 

The Daily Mail featured these truly stupid $3,600 shoes that are quickly becoming all the rage with celebrities. The shoes were designed by Briton Antonio Berardi and Gwyneth Paltrow, Uma Thurman and Posh have already picked up a pair.

 

Briton Berardi said this about the shoes, "When you walk, it is almost on tiptoe. You look really dainty." No, you look like an idiot.

 

Fishsticks, Uma and Posh should save themselves the embarrassment of being photographed falling on their heads and give me the $3,600 instead. In exchange I will gladly slap the shit out of them in private. Same effect without the public shame! It's a win-win.

 

http://www.dlisted.com/

 

OUCH! Two of those names do not surprise me.

Edited November 23, 2008 by WiLdFiRe

[BobbyD 2]

Young, white and super skinny? We don't buy it, women tell advertisersReal women prefer brands whose ads mirror their own identities, survey shows

Peter Walker

The Guardian, Saturday 10 January 2009

 

 

The advertising world's perennial reliance on young, white and extremely thin models has long faced criticism from feminists and health campaigners. Now, new research at a leading UK business school suggests it might be doing something else: harming companies' balance sheets.

 

In what is believed to be the first such global survey of female consumers' attitudes, the research says women respond more favourably to a brand if the models it uses somehow mirror their own identities.

 

Advertisers cannot, however, simply enlist a few fuller-figured models, says Ben Barry, who is carrying out the research at Cambridge University's Judge business school: "In general, people have a more favourable reaction to brands that show models who represent people's age, size and background.

 

"It's not necessarily enough to show one component which is similar - people really wanted to see someone who represents them in all three factors."

 

Such an approach has been used by a handful of brands in recent years, notably the Dove skincare range, which made a deliberate virtue of using older and larger models in its award-winning Campaign for Real Beauty.

 

But elsewhere, particularly in the fashion and luxury goods industries, the traditional reliance on so-called aspirational advertising has limited change, despite high-profile campaigns against perceived racism and the encouragement of unhealthy female physiques within modelling.

 

The study, which is still being completed, canvasses the opinions of 2,000 women in the UK, US, China, India, Canada, Brazil, Kenya and Jordan.

 

Barry commissioned advertising agencies to produce a number of realistic print campaigns for products, including consumer and luxury goods. Half were made using what the study termed "traditionally attractive models" - aged 16 to 24, white and around US size zero, the equivalent of a UK size four - while the remainder pictured "realistically attractive models" of a range of ages, races and shapes.

 

The findings were marked. Aside from women aged under 25, who were less likely to object to an abundance of young, white, ultra-slim models, and Chinese consumers, who actively preferred them, most of those surveyed felt positive towards the brands that used the more diverse models.

 

A small number of earlier studies, mainly carried out by psychologists, have suggested that the use of excessively slim models can create a bad impression with female consumers. But Barry's work goes further: as well as looking at the issue from a business and marketing viewpoint, it additionally considers race and age.

 

The latter is a particular factor for companies to take note of given the relatively high spending power of older women.

 

The study quotes the reaction of one 50-plus participant to a mocked-up ad for a luxury product using a very youthful model: "It's a slap in the face to show this young woman because she'd never have the money to shop there whereas I do."

 

Another key finding was that while women preferred to see attainable images of beauty, this did not mean they were against glamour.

 

"The women wanted models who looked like they were part of the fashion industry but also looked like them," Barry says.

 

"It made them feel that they, too, were included in the industry and were considered beautiful. It's not just about taking a plain mugshot of a real woman."

 

Barry, who previously set up an agency for non-traditional models in his native Canada, says businesses needed to take note: "It's clear that in order to unleash new economic potential you need to represent your consumer physically.

 

"If you're a big fashion retailer and you're going to hire 10 models, you should make sure that each one of them represents a different aspect of your consumers."

 

While alluring for those who believe the promotion of unrealistic body images is inherently wrong, advertising experts warn that such studies are treated with extreme caution in the commercial world.

 

"This kind of research may have some interesting insights, but it's insights into the way consumers talk and think about the adverts when you prompt them," said Paddy Barwise, professor of marketing at the London Business School.

 

"There is a gap between what they say, particularly in the presence of other women, and what they would do actually at the point of sale, and that's a big gap, not a small gap."

 

But he added: "I think that we will see a trend away from very, very skinny models, because there is a social trend against it."

 

Closed door

While "real" models have made their way into campaigns for a range of products in recent years, when it comes to the luxury sector the door remains shut. A flick through the advertisements in the latest UK issue of Vogue brings no sign of anyone who would have to even breathe in to fit into a size eight dress, while there is one non-white face, actor Halle Berry

 

A recent craze has been the return of the supermodels prominent in the 1980s, such as Linda Evangelista and Claudia Schiffer, but even in their late 30s and 40s there is not a wrinkle or grey hair. Most of the fuss about excessive skinniness is now absorbed by the haute couture fashion shows; the last equivalent furore in advertising was over the Kate Moss "heroin chic" campaign for Calvin Klein 15 years ago.

 

More recently, the cosmetics giant L'Oréal was accused of lightening the skin tone of the singer Beyoncé Knowles for a press advert. Nonetheless, black faces - Naomi Campbell apart - remain extremely rare and size 14s unknown. Such luxury brands tend to be "very conventional in the way they communicate", said Neil Dawson, a leading advertising executive who heads the judging panel for the industry's IPA Effectiveness Awards. "This has meant that their campaigns have historically become a bit samey."

[sanlee 49]

Lima Weds Sports Star Jaric

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supermodel ADRIANA LIMA has revealed she wed in secret on St. Valentine's Day (14Feb09).

 

The Brazilian beauty eloped with basketball star Marko Jaric and the couple exchanged vows in a small civil ceremony in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

 

Lima says, "We are so excited about our future together."

 

The couple is now planning a romantic wedding ceremony this summer (09).

Serbian Jaric plays for U.S. team the Memphis Grizzlies.

 

Source: contactmusic

[Jerrica Benton 60]

jackson hole? WOW.

 

i remember of it as a child but of dirt and desert. but how sweet and nice for it to be so humble and simple.

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

I remember Jackson Hole as a GREAT place to ski. And this time of year, I imagine that is what most people there are doing. Especially as Valentine's Day was also during President's Day long weekend and that's the 2nd busiest time of year for ski resorts....

[happycanadian 1]

Karolina Kurkova has opted not to renew her Angel contract with Victoria's Secret. She's in the up-coming G.I. Joe movie, and she's hoping that she'll be able to make the transition into acting.

[sanlee 49]

Helena Christensen: 'I Eat Like a Pig'

 

How's this for supermodel justice?

 

"I eat more than anyone I know," says Helena Christensen. "I'm obsessed! [Food] takes up about 75 percent of my brain. I eat like a pig."

 

But don't show up at her doorstep with flaming torches just yet: Christensen, who first found fame in Chris Isaak's steamy Wicked Game video, admits she's had to step up her workouts to make up for her eating habits.

 

"I'm super lucky with my metabolism," she tells InStyle U.K. in the new April issue. Still, she adds, "I have to be realistic – that might not always be the situation. That's why I chose really intense training."

 

As for turning the big 4-0: "Age in itself doesn't freak me out," she tells the magazine. "I'm in better shape than I was at 25 because I'm actually doing something physical."

 

Her training, though, takes a back seat to her son Mingus, 9, with her ex, model/actor Norman Reedus. She adds that Mingus is truly the only man in her life – or at least her house. "I've never lived with any [man] except my son," she says. "I'm used to my own place, my own things. But if I met the right person, I'm sure I'd be like, 'Move in tomorrow, put your things everywhere.' "

 

She'd also be willing to have a second child – if the right guy comes along. "I look at my child and think: if me and his father could create this, what else could you create?"

 

Source: People