Vogue Australia's Model Series is an IMG Models exclusive

The competition in Australia's modelling market was already heating up before IMG Models rolled into town last July. Sydney agency Chic Management was accused of "undercutting" the competition at last year's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia via the agency's "Chic Exclusive" shows featuring only Chic models. Frockwriter understands that the Chic Exclusives will continue at this year's event, which officially starts on Monday, but has kicked off already with a few off-schedule shows around town this week. Tomorrow morning's Carla Zampatti show in the Sydney CBD will feature only Chic girls. Meanwhile, IMG Models Australia has returned fire by stitching up its own big exclusive - with no less than Vogue Australia. And the other agencies are fuming. 

If the shoe fits

andrej pejic models chris benz SS12 via sight management studio

We all talk – a great deal – about the sizes of the bodies of fashion models. The sizes of their feet, however, rarely come up for discussion. What an interesting topic of conversation it proved to be when we puffed this week's Anmari Botha post on both frockwriter’s and my personal Facebook pages, using one of Botha’s IMG Models showcards as an illustration – and her published shoe size, "7.5", sparked a raft of comments. “How does a 5’11” woman have such small feet?!” asked Sydney-based media trainer Shauna Stafford. Another noted, “Most women that size would have size nine or ten feet”. While a former magazine maven chimed in, “Your basic nightmare. Perfect” – referring, we assume, to the dearth of “unusual” shoe sizes in the fashion cupboard of a typical magazine.

Lara Stone rocks it out with Myles Crosby and Steven Klein for Calvin Klein Jeans FW1213

The US might be in the grips of a record heatwave but the Fall/Winter campaigns keep on rolling out. Today, American sportswear icon Calvin Klein unveils five new campaigns for the upcoming winter season. Here is a first look at the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign that was shot by Steven Klein and stars world number one model, Lara Stone - the face of Calvin Klein for the past two years - alongside American Myles Crosby, in his second season with the company. All the campaigns were shot in New York under the creative direction of CRK, Calvin Klein Inc's in-house ad agency, in tandem with consultant creative director Fabien Baron. Go the metallics.  

Calvin Klein gets back into the movie business ahead of the Golden Globes

Tom Ford isn’t the only American luxury brand going gung ho in the leadup to this Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony in Los Angeles. Following the unveiling of a supersite billboard of Ford together with Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, comes a 20 second television commercial produced by Calvin Klein to run during the Globes broadcast on NBC. No this is not Calvin Klein's first tvc. Founder Calvin Klein made an impact with a series of highly provocative television spots in the 1980s and 1990s starring, among others, Brooke Shields and Kate Moss in the company's jeans, underwear and fragrances (here is a backgrounder). But this tvc, the company claims, represents the first time it has ever produced a branded tv campaign advertising Calvin Klein's designer collections (with accessories and homewares also getting a lookin). Starring world number 1 Lara Stone and Tyson Ballou, the commercial was shot on location in La Jolla, California and directed by Fabien Baron. Here is a first look.

Did the then "almost unemployed" Lara Stone neglect to stitch up a nude Greg Lotus photoshoot in 2008?

celebrity69  via fashionising

Last week frockwriter revealed that the spectacular onyx and crystal corset and cuff worn by Lara Stone in the June edition of Playboy France were originally designed by Australian jeweller Jenny Mercian for the 2008 Victoria's Secret show. We also noted that some mystery surrounded the origin of the photos. Although some images had already been widely circulated online in late 2009, with only the website of photographer Greg Lotus cited as a source, it appeared to be the first time the shots had made it to print. Now comes news that Stone is is taking legal action against both Playboy France and Lotus, in order to "protect" her "reputation", claiming the publication of the shots was unauthorised and that she would never have posed for Playboy. Given the volume of nude work that Stone has pumped into the public domain in recent years, the claim that her reputation has been sullied by a nude Playboy spread seems a little frivolous. The far bigger issues, surely, are did Stone not have the right to consultation before the photos were sold to Playboy and is she entitled to remuneration?  

Jenny Mercian dresses Lara Stone for French Playboy

celebrity69 via fashionising

Jenny Mercian has made a career out of bejewelling bombshells. Since she first set foot on the fashion stage in May 2005, displaying her spectacular crystal body jewellery at a trade show stand at Australian Fashion Week, the Sydney-based jeweller has been a principal supplier to five Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows, outfitting the likes of Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Alessandra Ambrosio in increasingly elaborate showpieces (and on Friday, winning the Catwalk Jewels of the Year Award at the UK Jewellery Awards for her runway efforts). Well now Mercian can add Lara Stone to that list. In the June/July issue of Playboy France, the world number one wears Mercian’s dramatic onyx/crystal corset and cuff – and not much else (NSFW). Here is a clearer image of the cuff, below, although it must be said, it’s not one of Stone’s better shots.

World number #1 Lara Stone lands triple Calvin Klein exclusive (just don't call her fat)

wwd

Well Lara Stone is certainly having a moment. Womens Wear Daily reports today that Stone has booked a triple exclusive with Calvin Klein, as the advertising and runway face of Calvin Klein Collection, ck Calvin Klein and Calvin Klein Jeans for the upcoming Fall 2010/2011 season. The Dutch native isn’t the only model in the campaigns (Australia’s Abbey Lee Kershaw is one of several others who feature, in Kershaw’s case, in cK Calvin Klein). But according to WWD it’s the first time “in years” that the company has used one model across three brands – and the newspaper suggests this could propel Stone’s career “into the stratosphere”, given that Calvin Klein contracts were pivotal in launching the careers of several other models, including Christy Turlington and Kate Moss. But Stone is already the world number 1 on models.com, having just dethroned Brazil’s Raquel Zimmermann from the top spot. Her success and in particular, the Calvin Klein coup, are interesting for several reasons.

In March (although not screened until early April), in talking about his decision to cast several 30 and 40 plus models in his Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show, Calvin Klein Collection creative director Francisco Costa told Australian current affairs television program Today Tonight that “the 16 year olds are fantastic, they’re fresh...” but that older women “represent some kind of truth”.

Later that month, a New York modelling agent hinted that “Calvin Klein has discontinued their use of the Size 0-2 Models and trade them in for a 2-4 … a sign of the times indeed”.

This must presumably have been around the same time that busty, size 4 Stone was being earmarked for the campaigns.

Where does that leave 16 year old Monika Jagaciak, who had previously booked two back-to-back Calvin Klein campaigns? Without a Calvin Klein campaign this season, that's where. Although Jagaciak did in fact open the FW1011 Calvin Klein womens runway show, which featured plenty of other teenagers, notably Australia’s Julia Nobis, who was booked as a runway exclusive.

So is it a victory for the "older, curvier" woman?

Forty year-old Emma Balfour, who recently returned to modelling after a long break, is tipped as a new face of Céline.

Stone is still just 27. But she has hit the top of her game after being in the business for at least 12 years - perhaps longer. Stone was reportedly scouted at the age of 12.

And her curves do look to have proven problematic in the past.

In the January edition of US Vogue, she spoke of her battles with her weight, which saw her resort at one point to popping pills, which made her "heart race". Stone also talked about a 2009 stint in rehab for alcoholism, but apparently places no blame on the fashion industry.

Stone told the magazine:

“What they say is ‘curvy,’ but you know they mean fat...It’s depressing when the clothes don’t fit and you are always the odd one out....I was on a shoot just last week and the stylist took out this tight corset dress and said, ‘Here, put it on,’ and I was like, ‘Who are you kidding?’ There was no way, so that was very rude of her. It’s like, come on, she’s a woman; whether you’re buying jeans at the mall or wearing couture, you know what it’s like for clothes not to fit. It’s not an easy kind of rejection, because it’s very personal. It’s you, your body. You take it to heart.”

With lucrative advertising contracts piling up and recently wed to Little Britain star David Walliams, who’s having the last laugh now?

Prada's curve ball: Fall/Winter 2010/2011 video

Frockwriter talked about the unusual casting this morning. Here is Prada’s video of the Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show if you haven't seen it already, or missed the live stream. And on closer inspection, with all the full-skirted dresses, A-line skirts and Princess line coats – the wardrobe staples of many fuller-figured women (you only have to check the best-selling merchandise of antipodian brands Easton Pearson and Trelise Cooper, which cater specifically to the mature customer) - the brand’s casting strategy makes a whole lot of sense.

Not that there is anything remotely middle aged about the Victoria’s Secret Angels.

But their hyper “sexy” figures, which have placed them at the top of the modelling industry by way of earnings, as distinct to high fashion cachet, make them a little closer to regular women, with breasts and bottoms. As distinct from the androgynous, barely pubescent teenagers who have dominated the runways for the past decade.

Indeed, Dutch bombshell Doutzen Kroes, one of Prada's Victoria's Secret Angels, is one of several high profile models who have dominated fashion coverage over the past fortnight - over the fact they have been excluded from the runways due to issues of weight. On the eve of New York Fashion Week, at a CFDA body image initiative, Kroes told reporters that she rarely does shows because, although she might have done so when she was "11 or 12", she doesn't fit the current runway sample size.

Also on the eve of New York Fashion Week, the well documented weight struggles of Australia's own Gemma Ward were the focus of a 2500 word feature in The New York Post. And Canadian Coco Rocha was on the record with The New York Times saying:

“I’m not in demand for the shows anymore”

Although she was quoted directly in the NYT, on her blog, Rocha later claimed the story was a beatup. Only further confusing matters by admitting:

"in another parallel universe I'm considered "fat"

Presumably, that parallel universe is fashion.

Backstage, Prada talked about going back to the brand’s heritage (there’s that word again). The sexy secretary vibe and Sixties homewares graphics certainly did that.

The braided beehives seemed inspired by both Mad Men (although Miuccia Prda reportedly claims she's never watched it) and the stylish Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko (a connection previously noted by Bryanboy after Prada’s FW0809 collection).

But it also reminded frockwriter of Prada’s SS08 show, which we clocked in person.

Much was made at the time about the casting of full-bosomed Lara Stone, who also hails from the Netherlands, with many outlets heralding a return of curves to the runway.

Stone seemed somewhat larger two years ago than she is now. To wit, we distinctly recall overhearing backstage model gossip about the first casting she attended in Milan that season. “Jaws dropped” we were told, when Stone entered the room, such was her relative bulk compared to the other ectomorphs.

It is well worth noting that, two years down the track, Stone has just graduated to world number #1 on models.com.

Tiah Eckhardt to replace Lara Stone for Eres?

warwick saint/S magazine via TFS

As in Eres, the high profile French luxury lingerie brand. Well these are the whispers coming out of Paris where, as already mentioned by Eckhardt on her blog, she is currently on assignment for five days - having left three month old daughter Finley Victoria in the care of her mother back home. It’s not so inconceivable – and not just because Eckhardt's rates would be lower than those now commanded by Stone, who has emerged as one of the world's most in demand models over the past twelve months (and is presumably now a little too expensive for some). A fashion model who, her friends say, once dabbled in burlesque in Sydney, Eckhardt has clocked up quite a body, pardon the pun, of nude work since leaving Australia. The publications include no less than French Playboy. And Eckhardt's best-known ad campaign to date just happens to have been for cult British lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. You may recall her role as a French maid in this video for Agent Provocateur's Fall/Winter 07/08 'Lady of The Manor' campaign shot by David Bailey, co-starring Catherine Bailey and Daisy Lowe.

The making of Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2010 campaign

And unless I'm mistaken, a quick check of Tokyo Dandy's blog shows that they were among the very first to track down this YouTube of the making of Louis Vuitton's new S/S 2010 campaign starring Lara Stone. So here's this as well.

Lara Stone's bloody Valentine

steven klein via tfs

Ah the fashion business. One minute a woman's arms are being pinned to the floor in what looks alarmingly like a faux pack rape scene for Dolce e Gabbana, the next another female model is simulating fellatio with a cow's udder for Sisley. Following much controversy over the depiction of violence against, and the sexualisation of, women in fashion imagery, it now seems that the men are starting to be on the receiving end of what some feminazis might consider to be their just desserts. Two weeks ago frockwriter shared ponystep.com's disturbing Calvin Klein homage, which depicted some teenage male models in subjugated poses. The words "FUCK ME" were scrawled in lipstick on the inner thighs of Brit Josh Blount - who may, or may not, have been required to expose his erect phallus in one shot. In spite of a denial from Blount's agency (and an additional denial from someone claiming to be Blount's mother, in a comment subsequently left on that post), it's just not clear. The story caught the eye of BlackBook and Jezebel, among others. Now comes a curious editorial spread shot by Steven Klein for the February edition of Paris Vogue, an issue completely dedicated to the Dutch model Lara Stone.

In the spread, which is reportedly called "Lara fiction noire", Stone is portrayed as a lingerie-clad femme fatale, who interacts with three men in a violent S&M fantasy.

In one shot Stone is lying manacled to a bed, with a young shirtless male cowering behind her in a cage.

In another, Stone looks to be pinned to the ground, her mouth streaked with black makeup. Faux "blood", fashioned from what looks to be sequins and other jewellery components, pours from its corners. There is a very strong inference that she has been hit.

As Stone lies prostrated, she is being groped by a sinister-looking hand, whose claw-like, armour-plated fingers are reminiscent of Freddie Kruger or Wolverine, take your pick.

In other shots a male model wearing a blue shirt emblazoned with New York Police Department badges mimes holding a gun to Stone and another shirtless male.

But the most disturbing image of all depicts Stone and one man inside a car.

Stone smokes a cigarette, her hands smeared with the man's blood.

The man looks towards Stone - his face and neck completely covered in blood.

Gunshot wound to the head? Burns victim? Extra on a Dario Argento splatter flick?

It is unclear at this stage whether the latter shot made it into the magazine proper - or if it is merely an outtake that was considered too controversial for publication.

The shot features on Klein's website as part of the Paris Vogue editorial.


steven klein via tfs