Sunday, August 31, 2008

Meet Tatiana Krohina - Winner of Russia's Next Top Model





Tatiana Krohina images courtesy of Russia's
Next Top Model

Here is Tatiana Krohina, the winner of Russia's Next Top Model Cycle 4. She is 18 years old, 5'10, dark blue hair and green eyes.

The program is also known as "You are a Supermodel" in their country. You can view the show's website via this link but note that it is in Russian.

WHAT EVER HAPPEND TO ALTYN BAEKENOVA?


Altyn Baekenova image courtesy of Kazakhstan's
Next Top Model

What ever happened to Altyn Baekenova, the winner of Kazakhstan's Next Top Model 2005?

GRENDEL ALVARADO - WINNER OF PHILIPPINES NEXT TOP MODEL


Grendel Alvarado for Lancome "Miracle Forever" courtesy of Lancome

Meet Grendel Alvarado, the winner of Philippines Next Top Model Cycle 1. She is a 22 year old nursing student from Bacolod. She is 5'8", black hair and brown eyes.

Her prize package consists of:

1. Modeling representation with Starz Modeling Agency in Hong Kong
2. Half a million pesos in cash, courtesy of Mane and Tail Shampoo
3. An 8-page fashion editorial in Summit Media’s Preview magazine
4. A Php150K modeling contract with Saga Events
5. An one-year endorsement contract from Celine group of companies
6. Local advertorials campaign for L’Oreal Paris for one year
7. A one-year body countouring program from Marie France
8. A one-year complimentary treatment from Facial Care Center
9. A natural golden South Sea pearl necklace from Jewelmer,
10. The title of “Jewelmer’s Pearl Ambassador to the World.”

Saturday, August 30, 2008

GOT TO HAVE IT!!!! KARL LAGEFELD'S STEIF TEDDY BEAR




Karl Lagerfeld and Steif KL Teddy Bear image and
illustration courtesy of Karl Lagerfeld and Steif

This is the limited edition Steiff teddy bear designed by Karl Lagerfeld. The bear is modeled after the design master himself, outfitted with a black suit, high collar shirt, tie, dark sunglasses and belt buckle with the initials "KL".

Colette of Paris says "When the famous toy brand, Margarete Steiff, allows itself to produce the first ever "couture" teddy bear, it 's with the master of today's luxury Karl Lagerfeld. "

"A unique and unusual collaboration that shows us, one more time, how Lagerfeld is always on the avant garde. Steiff keeps on the innovation and brings you the first teddy bear made for older kids."

The "KL" bear will be available at Neiman Marcus starting September 2008. Because of it's limited run of only 2500, expect to pay $1500 for each bear.

ZAC EFFRON FOR TEEN VOGUE OCTOBER 2008


Zac Efron for Teen Vogue October 2008 courtesy
of Just Jared and Teen Vogue

Here is the new cover of Teen Vogue October 2008 featuring actor Zac Efron. The "Young Hollwyood" issue goes on sale Sept. 9, 2008.

AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL WINNER WHITNEY THOMSON FOR REVLON

America's Next Top Model winner Whitney Thompson riding a bike during a photo-shoot in the West Village

Here is a shot of America's Next Top Model Season 10 winner Whitney Thompson riding a bike in N.Y.'s West Village for a Revlon shoot. Ms. Thompson was signed by Elite Models NY as a part of her prize package for winning last season's competition. Fellow competitors Anya Kop a.k.a. Anya Rozova and Katarzyna Dolinska were both signed by Elite as well.

I wonder if shooting Revlon isn't a direct conflict with Whitney's Cover Girl spokesmodel deal which she received through America's Next Top Model.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

IVANKA TRUMP FOR PAGE 6 MAGAZINE






Ivanka Trump photographed by Vicki Forshee images
courtesy of Page 6 Magazine

Here are the images from Ivanka Trump's Page 6 Magazine cover and inside editorial. The editorial was photographed by Vicki Forshee and features jewelry from the Ivanka Trump Collection. You can read the full interview, by Joshua David Stein, on the Page 6 Magazine website via this link.

BLACKMAILED - NAOMI CAMPBELL



Naomi Campbell circa 1986 image courtesy of The Model Archives
of Marlowe Press
and Synchro Models




Naomi Cambell circa 1987 courtesy of The Model
Archive of Marlowe Press
and Elite NY




Naomi Campbell circa 1988 image courtesy of The Model Archives
of Marlowe Press
and Elite NY



Naomi Campbell circa 1990 courtesy of The Model Archives of
Marlowe Press
and Elite NY

Naomi Campbell circa 1990 courtesy of The
Marlowe Archives of Marlowe Press
and
Elite London

Blackmailed - Naomi Campbell in her earliest years as a model. If you look carefully, you'll see that Ms. Campbell had already started her long relationships with top photographers such as Albert Watson, Ellen Von Unwerth, Martin Brading, Patrick Demarchelier and Steven Meisel.

Compare these old model cards compared to her most recent pictures from IMG Models which I've posted below. Included are her i-D Magazine August 2008 cover with Stefano Pilati and her cover for the infamous "Black Issue" of Italian Vogue photographed by Steven Meisel.




Naomi Campbell and Stefan Pilati circa August
2008 image courtesy of i-D Magazine








Naomi Campbell photographed for the "Black Issue" image
courtesy of Vogue Italia and IMG Models

ART ATTACK - BANSKY COMMEMORATES 3RD ANNIVERSARY OF HURRICANE KATRINA







Bansky Art images courtesy of Gawker.com and Bansky

Here are the images of artist Bansky's commemorative works recently created on the streets of New Orleans recently. Not only does the artist make poignant statements on the aftermath of Hurricane Katina,.

He connects these works with that of Fred Ratke, also known as the "Grey Ghost", Ratke was known as a graffiti crusader who would paint over any graffiti with standard issue grey paint, no matter what color the background original color of the wall.

I wonder if Brad Pitt had any inspiration in Bansky's choice in New Orleans? Mr. Pitt and Ms. Angelina Jolie were photographed in Los Angeles last year at an exihibition of Bansky's work. Madonna received a commissioned portrait of herself given by her husband Guy Ritchie on her 50th birthday. The portrait reportedly cost $50,000.

You can see the images and original posting through Gawker via this link.

NAOMI CAMPBELL TO "SETTLE DOWN" IN BRAZIL


Naomi Cambell and Vladimir Doronin image courtesy of The Bosh

According to Page 6, Naomi Campbell is looking to "settle down" in Sao Paolo Brazil. It looks like that's a big possibility now that her boyfriend, multimillionaire Russian businessman Vladamir Doronin, just bought an apartment for $18.5 million.

The apartment is located in swanky Jardin area of Sao Paolo. According to reports, Mr. Doronin gave the apartment to Naomi as a "gift". Afterwards they traveled on to Bahia where they rented a $50,000 a day beach house.

Ms. Campbell and Mr. Doronin met at the Cannes Film Festival. "Vlad" is one of the top real estate developers in Russia and is called the "Donald Trump" of Russia.

They are so smitten by each other that Vladimir threw her a party on his yacht to celebrate the outcome of Ms. Campbell's recent court appearance in England related to her British Airlines "air rage" episode. Ms. Campbell was given 350 hours of community service.

Below are some videos of Ms. Campbell with Mr. Doronin on the French Riviera and of Ms. Campbell celebrating her most recent birthday in Cannes.


Video courtesy of x17video.com



Video courtesy of x17video.com

BEN BARNES FOR INTERVIEW SEPTEMBER 2008


1st edition cover of The Picture of Dorian
Grey courtesy of Wikipedia.org


Here are the images of Ben Barnes, including the cover and inside editorial, for Interview Magazine September 2008 issue. Mr. Barnes has just been cast as Dorian Grey in the new production based on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey.




Ben Barnes image courtesy of Interview Magazine
and Just Jared

The complete article by Kaleem Aftab is as follows:

It's hard to believe when looking at him, but Ben Barnes's first stab at fame came in front of a microphone, and not a movie camera. Barnes was 17 and living with his folks in Wimbledon, England, when Pop Idol talent-spotter Simon Fuller signed the young man up to his label, 19 Management. Barnes was dubbed the next teen heartthrob, but all too soon his singing career sank into a sorry sequence of dead notes that ended in 2003, when the band he teamed up with failed to qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest. He retreated to Kingston University, in London, where he studied English and drama. He didn't know it at the time, but the loss of his crooner ambition would set him on course for a spot among cinematic royalty.

Barnes's turn as the hero Prince Caspian in the second Chronicles of Narnia film, released this past spring, has turned the 27-year-old actor into a global poster boy. Hollywood usually casts young male Brits as villains or rebels, but Barnes comes equipped with way too much of that other clichéd English trait—charm—to be convincing in those dark roles. Nope, the kid was cursed to be a valiant hero in a multi-million-dollar fantasy-adventure movie. Just look at his first big break, in Matthew Vaughn's fairy-tale epic Stardust, where he was given the small but pivotal role of Young Dunstan, which in retrospect seems like an elaborate audition for Caspian. Not to say Barnes is a walking, talking typecast: He played a broke Russian immigrant in Suzie Halewood's independent movie Bigga Than Ben and the cocky straight-A student Dakin onstage in Alan Bennett's The History Boys.

Today, living in central London, Barnes has signed on for the third chapter of Narnia and recently took on the role as the son of Colin Firth's and Kristin Scott Thomas's characters in the film version of Noel Coward's tragic comedy Easy Virtue. He's also currently filling the shoes of a very different male fantasy character, Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde's handsome protagonist who sells his soul to the devil to stay looking very much like Ben Barnes does today. In real life, Barnes sees himself as more of an accidental sex symbol.

KALEEM AFTAB: The last time that we say each other was a year ago. You were still acting onstage in The History Boys and were excited that Bigga Than Ben was nearly completed. What a difference a year makes.
BEN BARNES: It's so funny, last time I saw you this change in fortune was just happening.
KA:Yeah. You'd just been to—or were about to go to—the audition for Prince Caspian.
BB: And then it wall went a bit mental.
KA: You stopped making $200,000 movies.
BB: Exactly. But Bigga Than Ben played at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It never came out! Now it's getting released in a few cinemas in the U.K. They've cut it together with really cool music and got the likes of Pete Doherty on the soundtrack.


Ben Barnes image courtesy of Interview Magazine
and Just Jared

KA: Has all the attention you've been receiving come as a shock?
BB: Yeah, but I've been working steadily at it since I left school, moving up the ranks, as it were. When I first came out of university, I had my obligatory six months out of work and was pulling my hair out, wondering what the next step was. It was such a miserable state of affairs for me in London. There just didn't seem to be any work. I saved up some money and headed over to the States and bashed on a few doors and got a few meetings and took some auditions to play L.A. lifeguards and all sorts of things I was entirely inappropriate for. I managed to get a pilot, but it wasn't picked up. Then the work in London started slowly coming.
KA: Did you have any trepidation about playing a fantasy hero?
BB: Luckily for me, Caspian is supposed to be scared and running for his life most of the time. When I got to the set, I was fairly intimidated by the size and scope of the film. I wasn't really prepared for it. I found myself having to learn all thes enew skills—horseback riding, sword-fighting, and accents. There was sort of this Narnia boot camp that I had to throw myself into for a few weeks before we even started shooting.
KA: There was a period earlier this year when you couldn't walk a block without seeing your face on a poster.
BB: When they first showed me the publicity campaign, I said, "Is that sensible?" They said, "It's called Prince Caspian, so we've got to have the prince on the poster." It was a little disconcerting, yo know, when I went over to the States to publicize the film, seeing myself 15 stories high. When you're driving down Sunset Boulevard and you see Harrison Ford and then Will Smith and then Robert Downey Jr. and then yourself, you think, What am I doing up there?
KA: At least your new higher profile ensures that you won't be scrambling for parts in tiny independent films.
BB: I still do independent work. In two weeks I start shooting a version of The Picture of Dorian Gray that is obviously much darker, much grittier—it's more of a gothic horror story.


Ben Barnes image courtesy of Interview Magazine
and Just Jared

KA: Looking at 15-story-high posters of yourself seems like the perfect grounding for playing a character like Dorian Gray.
BB: There have been some very interesting parallels. I don't really see the point in making a film unless yo can think of a good reason to do it. We live in this celebrity-obsessed, youth-obsessed culture, and it just seems to make a lot of sense to make this Dorian Gray film right now. Especially for me, as somebody who's... I don't know if "on the brink" is the right term, but sort of at the beginning of getting attention from the media and from other people. Dorian Gray is also somebody who, at the beginning, doesn't want to be looked at, doesn't really want to be noticed, but then begins to realize the power of youth and the power of people wanting to be around him. Obviously it goes very dark, which I'm hoping in real life my part won't. I suppose you have to be aware, on some level, of the attention being focused on yourself even to accept a part like Dorian Gray.
KA: But being cast as Dorian Gray is like being told you are the ultimate in beauty, that people should sell their grandmothers to look like you. That must give you so much confidence.
BB: I don't know. You still get these waves of doubt that come over you, for example, when you get a bad review or you accept a part and think, "Oh, God, what have I just accepted? I can't do that." I don't think that's something that will ever go away in me.
KA: I've never taken you for a fragile soul.
BB: I hide it well. It's in private. You should doubt in private.
KA: Is there anything you're scared of doing?
BB: My brother is organizing a half marathon in London called Run to the Beat. You run to music. They wanted me to do it to help promote the charity, but I can't because I've got such terrible knees. I can't run. I start getting twinges. If I were filmed running, it would be awful.
KA: You're really going for the iconic gay writers, aren't you? Alan Bennett, Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde...
BB: Sexuality is a topic that has huge shifts in society. Attitudes toward different sexualities change, but the actual sexuality of a human being is something that's consistent, and it's consistently interesting, and so people write about it. But having said that, I think that for all the characters I've played—obviously Caspian—sexuality hasn't been the most interesting thing about them.
KA: Then what was it like playing the husband of Jessica Biel in Easy Virtue?
BB: Actually, we were in the recording studio together just this morning. We were singing some songs together in this sort of '20s jazz vibe, and it was so much fun. My character has to be in love with Jessica's character like a puppy, which is not a very difficult thing to act.


Ben Barnes image courtesy of Interview Magazine
and Just Jared


KA: How are you finding being called a sex symbol?
BB: I honestly find it slightly cringey and embarrassing. [Laughs] I don't really believe it, to be honest.
KA: Do you find yourself playing it up? I've seen you quoted as saying something really cheesy like, "I'm single and looking for a normal gal."
BB: Oh, no! They always just make it sound ridiculous. I was asked, "Have you got a girlfriend?" I said no. Then I said, "But I think having a big film coming out will probably help that"—as a joke! The dryness of the delivery was entirely sucked out. It was obviously supposed to be a joke, but when I read it, it was like I was looking for the babes. I've never said "babes" in my entire life! I find it really just embarrassing. Even the words film star make me feel awkward. I don't know how you're supposed to respond when people say things like that. Certainly I don't get any more attention on the street or in bars than I ever did.
KA: You think you've been waylaid with a lot of pressure lately as a rising star?
BB: When you're doing a film, people are always telling you exactly what to do. Literally, your own decisions are taken away from you. After three months of publicity, you'll get a menu and think, I don't know what I want. You have to ask other people what they are having to cover up this inability to make a decision.
KA: Will you ever return to singing?
BB: Never say never, but I highly doubt it. I love music and I love singing. I just feel that musicians have a harder time than actors do.
KA: But a lot of actors are in bands.
BB: I like the ones who just kind of do it for fun. The Johnny Depps and the Russell Crowes. It's great if you're not trying to pimp it out and exploit it for all it's worth.
KA: What do you sing in the bath?
BB: Well, I was in Japan a few times recently, doing karaoke, and there were a lot of Beatles songs flying around.
KA: Favorite tune?
BB: "Twist and Shout." What I love is that they'd done two solid days of recording, and it was late in the evening on the second day, and John Lennon's voice was completely shot, and he just completely went for it, ruining his voice for a week.

Ben Barnes image courtesy of Interview Magazine
and Just Jared

You can read the article and see the images through the Interview website.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

YMRE STIEKEMA PART II


Ymre Stiekema image courtesy of Elite Paris


Polaroid courtesy of One Model Management
and the Clotheshorse

One Model Management scores a major coup with Ymre Stiekema being signed onto their roster. A runner up with Elite Europe's Look of the Year contest from last year, she's now the newest muse of Steven Meisel, hand picked to be the face for Prada's Linea Rossa campaign. She will be the face to watch during the S/S 2009 collections as well as the editorials and campaigns to follow.

REQUIRED VIEWING - AUDREY TAUTOU FOR THE MOVIE "COCO AVANT CHANEL "


Audrey Tautou for Coco Avant Chanel Promotional
Poster courtesy of Warner Bros.

Here is the promo poster for the new movie Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) starring Audrey Tautou. The film is being released by Warner Bros., directed by Anne Fontaine, screen play by Anne Fontaine and Camille Fontaine.

The screenplay is based on the Coco Chanel biography "L'Irreguliere" (The Nonconformist) by Edmonde Charles-Roux. The production will begin filming starting Sept. 15th 2008 in Paris.

Karl Lagerfeld, the head designer and art director for Chanel, Fendi and his Lagerlfeld lines will consult in regards to the costuming and wardrobe.