Model genes seem to run in certain families. Everyone sat up and took notice when Kate Moss' younger sister Lottie was unveiled in the model's wedding spread in Vogue; Cindy Crawford's 10 year-old daughter recently launched her modelling career with a Versace campaign and 90s supermodel Kristen McMenamy's daughter is doing the same.
18 year-old Lily McMenamy is already represented by Next Models but this season marks the first time that her model card has been used in the agency's Paris show package. Already, people are reporting that the model has snapped up a big exclusive for Yves Saint LaurentSaint Laurent Paris. Securing such a big show is a big deal on a normal day but since its the first women's ready to wear collection from Hedi Slimane, this upcoming collection is even more special and means that all eyes will be on the line-up.
Karl Lagerfeld's collaboration with Carine Roitfeld on 'The Little Black Jacket: Chanel's Classic Revisted' is the partnership that we've all been excited for. So far the brand have teased us by taking us behind-the-scenes of the shoot for the book, as well as making us a fly on the wall at the recent exhibition for the book in Tokyo in that video that they released earlier this week.
Yesterday they launched thelittleblackjacket.chanel.com, an 'e-exhibition', which showcases everyone from Georgia May Jagger to Olivier Theyskens wearing the iconic black Chanel tweed jacket styled by Roitfeld. The concept really works. The diverse cast for the book is illustrative of the timeless quality of the piece and its ability to transcend generations and styles. The book is available online on Amazon for only $39 but in the meantime, have a glimpse at some of my favourite images from the book.
LOVE are really teasing us with the covers for their latest issue. First to hit the web was Elle Fanning's cover, followed by Chloe Moretz yesterday and now Hailee Steinfeld's has been released so there's only three more to go.
Last night Derek Blasberg confirmed that the other cover stars are Lara Stone, Mariacarala Boscono and Kristen McMenamy.
For Fall 2011, Riccardo Tisci served up a series of panther prints at Givenchy and with the brand's latest campaign, he continues to channel all things feline. Shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Naomi Campbell, Kristen McMenamy, Natalia Vodianova and Tisci favourite, Mariacarla Boscono all appear individually doing their best cat impressions.
The freelance world has been treating Carine Roitfeld kindly since her departure from Vogue Paris. She's already styled the Barneys catalogue and windows, and now she's turned her hand to the latest Chanel campaign. For Fall 2011, the brand's ads will feature Freja Beha Erichsen, and Karl Lagerfeld told WWD that "the mix with Freja was genius."
What's next for Karl? Shooting the new Fendi ads with Anja Rubik and making a movie with Erichsen, Lady Amanda Harlech, Kristen McMenamy and Anna Mouglalis for his cruise-collection show in Antibes on May 9. Not a bad lineup for his projects either.
Francisco Costa, womenswear designer at Calvin Klein is rethinking the way he casts models, and although he doesn't have a system - "We have no rules really, you know" - he is now aiming to move away from the waif style so synonymous with CK in the nineties, to a look more realistic to their current consumer. “We do what we feel is right for the brand. And I just feel that my customer is a real woman. She’s not 14 years old, she’s not 16 years old, so what I’m trying to do is cast models who are a little bit closer to my reality, a person who goes to my store. The reaction is really to emphasize the customer, the need for the clothes to have that immediate sort of emotion to those who would buy it.”
As for bringing back Stella Tennant and Kristen McMenamy, famous CK models from the nineties, Costa revealed they were "happy and amused" to be back on the catwalk, and the reunion just felt natural.“It felt like a family getting back together, so it felt really wonderful. And it wasn’t really a statement, in the sense of, ‘Let’s just bring these models for the press.’ It was a natural feel. I felt it was right for the time." That said, the return to a curvier Calvin girl doesn't mean Costa will stop designing for the thinner fans, though. "I don't think we can ignore anyone," he explained "[The waif look] is just historically what Calvin did. And we're just in different times and we don't want to change what was done; what was done was perfect. Calvin is genius. I just want to bring a little bit of newness to today."
Laetitia Casta for Louis Vuitton; Stella Tennant for Calvin Klein
The Fall '10 round of fashion shows got press for a few things, in terms of models: First, "older" models were cast a good deal more than typical, along with relatively curvy girls, like Victoria's Secret models. For example, Calvin Klein booked Stella Tennant, Kirsty Hume and Kristen McMenamy for its runway, and Prada - always one to set the current - booked Angels Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Klein designer Francisco Costa said he picked a more seasoned set because he wanted his runway to represent his customers - who aren't 16-year-olds. Ironically, a 16-year-old you might know as Jac opened his show.
But according to Nian Fish, creative director at fashion powerhouse producer KCD, it seems designers, model agents and casting agents are making strides to project a healthier image for model body types. Fish said in an interview: "This is fashion coupled with compassion. But I think the compassion came first, and then the fashion suited these bodies. I loved seeing these bodies in Prada. We're always looking for trends at Prada, and seeing Victoria's Secret girls on the Prada runway woke up a lot of people about what a women should look like."
We agree that there were more mainstream-beautiful bodies on the runways than normal, but from being at the shows, we also know that the old aesthetic - very thin, very young girls - was out in full force. It'll take a few more seasons before anyone can make a call on this one.
It seems that Katie Grand's intentions when thinking of the new covers for Love magazine were good. The first issue started as it meant to go on, promoting beauty in all shapes and sizes with The Gossip's Beth Ditto barely covered on the front cover. Ever the advocate for a healthy body image, Grand aimed to draw focus to the difference between eight supermodels on the latest covers, by shooting them in the same nude pose and publishing their measurements.
"[W]e took eight women who are generally acknowledged as the most beautiful in the world, got them to show off their bodies — widely regarded as the most perfect in the world — and photographed them all in exactly the same position for the cover. We did this to show how much they differed physically from one another, which is why we also printed their measurements." Grand explained. "The point is that 'perfection' is not fixed, timeless or transcendent. It varies, as the measurements of our cover girls show." We see where she's going, but when the model's sizes range roughly two inches, the point is somewhat missed. Good job that the covers are stunning, then. Now, which one to buy: Kate, Lara or Daria...
When Katie Grand left the pastures of POP magazine to start LOVE magazine, we knew her new venture wouldn't be like any other glossy. And when it came to the grand unveiling of the debut issue, we were faced with a naked Beth Ditto in all her plus-size glory. This resulted in unimaginable amounts of attention, and so for the dual cover follow-up issue, Grand maintained the nudity featuring Alex Hartley, a previously unknown bass player dressed in nothing but skin-tight frayed trousers - flashing his 19-year-old bare chest.
We guess LOVE felt the need to have a hat trick of nude covers, as the next issue will bring more of the same. With three different covers featuring full-frontal shots of newly-engaged Lara Stone, leggy Jamaican model Jeneil Williams and verteran model Kristen McMenamy, we can't help but secretly hope this will be the last of the naked covers for some time. We miss the clothes and colour.
