Miss Kathy's Supermodels

Linda Evangelista's Jeans

I have seen paprazzi pics of Linda wearing these jeans in several magazines. I would follow Linda anywhere, she is a fashion icon and my own personal Jesus. She died her hair for your sins. Have youa accepted her as your personal saviour? Although I will not be seen at Scoop. I am a Bergdorf Goodman kind of lady.

from WWD:
Thursday March 25, 2004
Notify Jeans Getting Noticed

PARIS — Maurice Ohayon aims to make jeans that get noticed.

After creating and later selling the Fetish, Western Passion and Seven7 denim lines, the French designer’s latest project, Notify, debuted exclusively in the Bon Marche flagship store here in November. The new line boasts details like adjustable seams and strategic gathers in the fabric for a flattering fit.

“Women’s bodies have evolved and certain fits for women no longer correspond with their bodies today,” said Ohayon, who grew up watching his mother sew made-to-measure men’s suits. “I wanted to make a classy jean that was sexy just by its fit and not by a vulgar wash.”

Handmade touches are emblematic of the Notify line. The label, for example, is hand-stitched on every waistline, an idea Ohayon picked up from seeing his mother stich her client’s names into the hems of suits. The jeans, which retail between $180 and $220, are also washed and brushed by hand without the use of acid or bleach.

“The hardest part of denim design is mastering the fabric’s wash and shrinkage characteristics,” said Ohayon. To do this, Ohayon supervises production of the fabric in Belgium to the jeans’ assembly in Italy. Pocket placement is an obsession for Ohayon.

“Women are always looking at the pockets’ placement,” he said. Notify’s 45-degree style, which uses fabric cut on a 45-degree bias, caught the eye of Linda Evangelista, who has since become a fan of the brand.

While Notify is growing, Ohayon is determined to maintain a niche approach for his Paris-based company, Crystal Denim. Only 2,000 pieces were exported to the U.S. last season, though waiting lists are growing. U.S. stores that carry the line include Scoop, a New York specialty chain, and Bergdorf Goodman. Ohayon said he plans to limit production of Nymphea, a best-selling style, figuring that having only “one successful model can be the rise and fall of a brand.”

Looking ahead, Ohayon plans to take Notify to the next level by making jeans for women that can be selected by not only the waist size, but the curve of the buttocks and the degree of arch to the back. In June, he will also ship his first limited-edition collection for men to Luisa Via Roma in Florence.

— Emilie Marsh

Fabulous. Drew Barymore vs. Vanessa Lorenzo's head on top of Emma Heming's body. Guess who won? Drew Barrymore. I love Drew's hair. So glad she is done with those daisies.


from reuters:
By Martha Graybow
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Watch out supermodels! One of the biggest U.S. women's magazines is putting fewer top fashion models on its covers in favor of beautiful and popular - yet maybe not quite so flawless - Hollywood celebrities.

Conde Nast's Glamour magazine in recent months has focused heavily on cover images of celebrities like Drew Barrymore, who has been through divorce, battled childhood drug addiction and seen her weight fluctuations documented by the paparazzi, or singer Britney Spears, another tabloid favorite whose two-day marriage in Las Vegas to a friend was annulled earlier this year.

The trend is likely to continue, said Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive, because readers of the young women's magazine identify more with stars -- who despite their multimillion-dollar bank accounts and lavish homes -- still are generally seen as more down to earth than gorgeous models.

"Models seem to them like unreal creatures - six feet tall, 95 pounds, genetically blessed," Leive told Reuters after an appearance at an industry conference in Washington focused on magazine marketing. But readers "know that Drew (Barrymore) has had her weight struggles or that J. Lo's had her failed marriages. All of these things make these women seem more real and more realistic than models."

The choice of cover models, as well as the cover lines that promote the stories inside a magazine, is big business in the publishing world, particularly in the universe of women's magazines where many readers buy a title on impulse at the checkout counter. Magazine editors are competing for customers with myriad other titles, as well as television and the Internet.

NEWSSTAND APPEAL

Glamour relies heavily on newsstand sales for its circulation, and overall was the ninth best-selling U.S. consumer magazine in total single-copy sales in the second half of 2003, according to data from the Audit Bureau of Circulation, an industry group that tracks sales data.

Glamour's average single-copy sales per issue was 963,813, compared with 995,439 for O, The Oprah Magazine or 1.12 million for Woman's Day. Overall, Glamour's total paid circulation averages about 2.33 million.

When Glamour picks a celebrity to be a cover model, the magazine works from the premise that "flawed is better" than perfect, Leive said. She said early sales trends for the March issue, which featured Barrymore on the cover, show sales were "way, way up on the newsstand" compared with the year-earlier issue.

Glamour also recently scrapped a column focused on entertainment reviews in favor of a feature in which stars talk openly about the struggles they've faced, Leive said.

Abe Peck, a journalism professor at Northwestern University, said he thinks the celebrity focus of many women's magazines is here to stay. Other magazines, like Vogue, also frequently feature celebrities instead of models on their covers.

"Readers want someone who will share everything with us," he said.

Barrymore, for example, "radiates likability, and good humor and warmth and I think readers feel she has survived something and learned from it and is fundamentally a good person," Leive told the industry gathering, which was sponsored by the Magazine Publishers of America.

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

The last issue of The Face will go on sale April 8.
Gee-Whiz! That's crazy talk. Well , POP is better than The Face. The Face lost it for me when they used that vulgar picture of Gisele by David La Chapelle to promote their twentieth anniversary.

On the lighter side, I am glad to see that US Vogue will be covering the entire social scene that is the United States of America.
from WWD:
Tuesday March 23, 2004
Memo Pad: The Party's Over ... Losing Face ... Gimme Shelter ...

THE PARTY’S OVER: The New York Times Magazine’s brain drain continues. First Adam Moss left, he then enticed features editor Hugo Lindgren to join him at New York Magazine, and now Style & Entertaining editor William Norwich has been poached by Vogue’s editor in chief Anna Wintour.

Norwich worked for Vogue (which, like WWD, is owned by Advance Magazines) for most of the Nineties before joining the Times and starting the Style & Entertaining supplement in 2000 with late Style editor Amy Spindler. He’ll rejoin Vogue as a contributing editor, writing a first-person “social diary” 10 times a year for the front of the book’s “Talking Fashion” section. He’ll also deliver an entertaining column several times a year and write features as needed. “I’m off to discover the social life of America,” Norwich said on Monday. “It will not be New York-centric. I hope to pay attention to national [and international] affairs.”

His last Style & Entertaining issue will be bundled with this Sunday’s paper, featuring on the cover Calvin Klein model Natalia Vodianova, “who gives a 1920s-style party at her apartment,” Norwich said.

Times readers have not necessarily seen the last of him. Norwich’s byline might occasionally appear in the Sunday Styles section, “with Anna’s blessing,” he said. — Greg Lindsay

LOSING FACE: Emap has suspended publication of The Face, and is in early conversations with possible buyers for the 24-year-old title. The London-based publisher said in a statement Monday that it would now be focusing its energies on the other style titles in its portfolio: Pop, Arena and Arena Homme Plus.

The last issue of The Face will go on sale April 8.

“Reluctantly, we are suspending The Face with immediate effect from the May issue,” said Dharmash Mistry, managing director of Emap East. “Over the coming weeks and months, we will be exploring opportunities to radically reinvent the title; however we will also be considering its sale or closure.”

Meanwhile, the company also said it was closing J17, which was launched in 1983 under the title Just Seventeen. The last issue of J17 will also be May’s.

One source close to Emap said the company is already in preliminary conversations with possible buyers for The Face, but declined to name names. However, in the event that Emap does hang on to the ailing title, it is unlikely it will return to the newsstands on a monthly basis, or in a similar format, the source added.

“It’s sad. The Face is a great magazine, and I’m surprised Emap couldn’t make it work,” said Terry Jones, founder, editor and publisher of i-D, which launched around the same time as The Face. “I think big publishing houses can do well with special interest publications, although, in the end, it always depends on who is driving the title.”

On the contrary, Nick Walker, a managing partner at the London-based planning and buying agency Walker Media, said he’s not surprised at all by the news.

“The men’s magazine market has been struggling for a while: Circulation is dropping off — or being propped up by the publishers of the big titles — and advertisers’ budgets are tight. They’re sticking to what they know works.”

Emap said last week that the future of The Face was being subject to review. It has been struggling on the newsstand, and sources believe circulation has dipped to 25,000, although the latest ABC figures put The Face’s monthly circulation at just over 40,000.

The suspension will not affect the advertising staff, as they all work on other Emap titles in addition to The Face. — Samantha Conti

Discovery stories are sometimes amusing for models. Tilda Swinton is a genius. I loved seeing all the Victor and Rolf models made up to imitate her. Th odd thiong is,all of the models personalities showed thru the hair and makeup. It was refreshing to see a modern fashion icon honored, instead of a dead one. I have had it with John Galliano's resurection of Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford. Mercedes McAmbridge died yesterday. Patty Hearsts daughter for the cover of Italian Vogue! I wonder if that is the April issue? I was obsessed with the story of Patty Hearst as a teenager.

from WWD:
RIDING WITH FORD: Ford Models has signed Tilda Swinton — she of the stunning cheekbones and current Viktor & Rolf muse. Turns out, the actress and Neal Hamil, Ford’s executive vice president, share the same personal attorney, who suggested she find proper representation outside the Hollywood circle. Hamil, meanwhile, is a big fan and signing her was a no-brainer. “I’m kind of infatuated with her,” he said. He’ll filter the proper advertising, endorsements and editorial gigs for her. “I’m looking for Tilda to do a beauty or some really groovy fashion campaign,” he says. “With those shoulders, long neck and gorgeous legs, she’s a natural clothes hanger.” Outside of the modeling world, Ford now reps model-turned-heartthrob Trent Ford, Olympic skier Jeremy Bloom and publishing heiress Lydia Hearst-Shaw, who just shot a cover and 16 inside pages with Steven Meisel for Italian Vogue.

Q: How to respond to Miss Kathy's Supermodels?
A: I am just getting started. So for now, you can email me responses and designer jeans at:
anaclaudia_michels@yahoo.com

I must say I am amazed. I am completely obsessed with denim. I cannot tell you how many pairs of jeans I have. Today I am wearing a pair of Big E Levis, reproductions. Now that Levi's are not made in the USA anymore, I will no longer buy them. My new fave pair is my "Sorority Girl" jeans by Chip + Pepper-Kate Moss is wearing them in a special paparazzi style page devoted to her in the April US Vogue. I wonder what it would take to be a brand rep for Carpé Denim? I'd do it in a heartbeat. In other denim news, I hear a rumour that Paris Hilton will be the Guess? jeans model for fall. Apparantly some hope that this will return Guess to fashion relevance. Yawn. The only way Guess? can get fashion relevance is to increase their casting budget and dump Ellen Von Unwerth. I'd love to see what Inez & Vinoodh could do for Guess?. They did something very interesting with Jessica for CK 2 years ago. The CK jeans product is poor, but the images were smoking. And Van Heusen bought it, even if I didn't.
from WWD:
Seize the Jeans

A trio of former fraternity brothers who got their start in the fashion world by souping up friends’ jeans during their college years, are trying to turn that business into a brand.

Carpé Denim jeans made their debut earlier this year at Atlanta’s women’s apparel market. The line is the creation of James Costa, the 26-year-old chief executive officer of the Atlanta-based design and manufacturing company, and partners chief operations officer Matthew Klein, 22, and chief marketing officer, Gregory Mensching, 21.

The trio got started during their years at Florida State University in Tallahassee, when they decided they were dissatisfied with the jeans business.

“We looked at the market and saw a saturation of finishes and designs — super-distressed, faded, whiskered and super-holey jeans — and it got under our skin,” said Costa.

Costa, a biochemistry major, began experimenting with new denim finishes and taught himself to sew by downloading instructions from the Internet. Along with Klein, a business and pre-law major, and Mensching, a graphic design major, he started a “denim customization” service for FSU students in 2001. After restyling and refinishing about 500 pairs of jeans, they decided to “seize the day” — that’s the English translation of the Latin maxim “carpe diem” that inspired the brand’s name — and begin designing and manufacturing their own line of men’s and women’s jeans.

The company’s first batch, Collectibles, was a limited edition of 1,000 pairs of jeans, hand-finished and numbered, which launched in October 2003. The partners said the jeans, wholesaling for $60 and up, sold out in two months. The new Basics collection is produced and finished in China.

Made of ring-spun cotton and available in five vintage finishes, the jeans wholesale for $60 to $65, depending on color and complexity of the finish. Women’s styles are named after Atlanta streets and landmarks — Crescent, Phipps, Lenox, LaVista and Pharr, in honor of Carpé Denim’s new hometown.

The company moved headquarters there in December, running design, graphics and public relations out of a two-story house in Buckhead, where the three partners all live together. Greg Ereckson, the company’s new chief financial officer, lives in Florida.

Building the brand means playing to “style junkies,” described by Mensching as those who “go out of their way to be exceptionally fashion-forward. They’re seizing life through their clothing — not following trends, but creating them.”

Carpé Denim’s partners seek out “style scouts” to serve as brand representatives, both on their travels and through the Web. Style scouts get Carpé Denim business cards and free products.

“All they’ve got to do is wear the products, and tell people about them when they ask,” said Mensching.

With women’s product now 60 percent of sales and growing, the company plans to introduce denim miniskirts and jackets, along with midrise jeans next month at Atlanta’s AmericasMart.

Two logo T-shirts, a “girly gym T” and a cap-sleeve style, retail for $40, with the word “Carpé” centered on the signature brown-and-white ribbon.

The partners are hoping the line will bring in $600,000 in sales this year.

“Marketing accounts for 75 percent of our success,” said Costa. “Anybody can have a great jean, but marketing is so important. If you don’t properly and effectively market your product and look for longevity, you can become a flash in the pan.”

— Faye Musselman

I am deeply commited to living in the present. Tommorow is a season I have been storing up for the past few weeks, analyzing the contents of my wardrobe. All I need are some of those Italian tourist/Super Nintendo outfits, a Sophia Petrillo perm, and a Libra man. Just kidding about the Sophia Petrillo perm.

from NY Times:
Designers Who Don't Look Back

PLENTY of designers show insight into their times, but which ones possess that rarer quality of foresight? Tom Ford does, and only time will tell if his successors at Gucci have that ability to look ahead, rather than merely to preserve the brand's heritage. This season, though, two other designers made that leap of faith: Miuccia Prada and Alexander McQueen.

Both Ms. Prada and Mr. McQueen conveyed a sense of history in their collection, Ms. Prada more so with her references to 19th-century German Romantic paintings. Yet her print work was all future shock, as she toyed with the idea of what's real and what's virtual. Her most accomplished design was a slim dress printed with vaguely skeletal lines, making you think, when the model first appeared, that she was nude underneath. It was just a mirage. Such a dress would cause heads to turn and brains to whir. A new sack for the social X-ray? Or a sly commentary on elusive beauty? Store buyers deemed the dress tricky, but don't dismiss it on that basis. Diana Vreeland used to ask designers to show her "the lemons" — the stuff that didn't sell — suspecting that tomorrow's ideas were lodged in the rejects.

There were so many alien overtones in Mr. McQueen's show — from crop-circle patterns on leather to the models' whitened faces — that many observers saw only the spacey components without questioning what he was up to. But skip the "galactic" nonsense and concentrate on Mr. McQueen's line: you won't find another like it in fashion. The clothes, often cut on the round and in a bisque-to-beige palette, have a seamless quality that jibes (not incidentally) with the designer's new molded shoes and boots. The handsomest dress is in beige double-faced cashmere with a silk slip underneath. It's different — and you don't know why.

But don't take our word for it. The collection will be at the McQueen store in New York next Monday and Tuesday.

CATHY HORYN

If Andre Leon Talley were my partner I would show "Chinatown" starring the unforgettable Faye Dunaway.


from WWD:
CINEMA SCOPE: Fashion designers have taken enough inspiration from the silver screen, so now it’s time to give back. As part of a benefit for the American Film Institute, Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs are planning to present some of their favorite films, along with editors from Vogue, during a series of screenings at Soho House with Indyssey Entertainment. The new series, Grand Classics: Films With Style, kicks off March 23 with Hamish Bowles and Kors presenting “Shampoo,” the 1975 Warren Beatty and Julie Christie classic that played a big part in Kors’ fall collection. Jacobs and Sally Singer are planning to show “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant” in May, while André Leon Talley is still working out his designer partner and selection.

I am very excited by the positive reaction I have received about my new blog. Miss Kathy's Supermodels
was created as a reaction to the biases and predjudice found on the web about fashion, and fashion models. Being a fashion winner is my goal, never a victim. A certain blogger who shall remain nameless has taken information that I have provided to fill the space on his blog. Miss Kathy's Supermodels is here to provide info thru my filter. Another modelling website posts a top 50 list of models. many have debated the veracity of this list. Yet so far, no one has offered an alternative. Now I will.

There are two roads this blog can take-Celebrate only the good things about fashion and models, like US Vogue, or highlight the good and bad, like WWD.

Fashion is a reflection of the times-Yves Saint Laurent

Some say the golden era of supermodels is over. I disagree. We only get the models, magazines and designers we deserve. How can the supermodel era be over when Linda is on the cover of V, i-D, and in a Fendi campaign?

How can fashion be boring when my Murakami bag still makes me lose control?

Here is a list of the top 10 fashion models currently working:
1)Linda Evangelista /DNA(V, i-D)
2)Naomi Campbell /One (Valentino)
2)Nadja Auerman/DNA (Chanel runway)
3)Stella Tennant /MARILYN (Burberry)
3)Natalia Vodianova /DNA(Calvin)
4)Daria Werbowy /IMG(Prada)
5)Gemma Ward /IMG(Prada, W, Vogue UK & Vogue Italia covers)
6)Amber Valetta /DNA(Louis Vuitton, Calvin)
7)Karen Elson/DNA (Louis Vuitton)
8)Hannelore / Vision (Prada)
9)Hana S./DNA (Gucci)
10)Lily Cole / Storm (Hermes)
11)Jacquetta Wheeler / IMG (Ellen Tracy)
12)Filipa / Next (Ralph Lauren)
13)Jaunel / Supreme (US Vogue)
14)Anne-Catherine / Vision (Balenciaga runway)
15)Caroline Trentini / Marilyn (Vogue Italia)
16)Isabeli / Women (Self Service cover, MaxMara)
17)Louise / Women
18)Elise / DNA (Jil Sander)
19)Danielle Z./Women (V)
20)Carmen Kass (Liz Claiborne)
21)Liya Kebede /IMG (Estee Lauder
22)Chandra North/Women (Oil of Olay)
23)Carolyn Murphy/IMG (Estee Lauder
24)Missy Rayder /ELITE (Prada)
25)Morgan Quinn /IMG (Balenciaga + Helmut Lang runway)
26)Theodora Richards/? (Burberry)
27)Roos van Bosstreaten /FORD (Balenciaga runway)
28)Dasha Tchernova /MARILYN (Balenciaga runway)
29)Marcelle Bittar /Ford (Liz CLaiborne, Balenciaga runway)
30)Raquel Zimmermann /VIVA (opened Prada show, Miu Miu/Balenciaga runway)
31)Natasha Pola /WOMEN (Balenciaga runway)
32)Polina Kouklina /City(Marc Jacobs runway)
33)Eugenia Volodina /DNA (Dolce & Gabanna)
34)Jessica Stam /IMG (Vogue Italia)
35)Shelly Zander (Marc Jacobs runway)
36)Tiiu Kuik /Major (J'adore)
37)Heather Marks /Women (Vogue Italia)
38)Anouck Lepère /IMG (Shiseido)
39)Anna J. /NEXT (Paris Vogue,Louis Vuitton runway)
40)Lily Donaldson /MARILYN ( Louis Vuitton runway)
41)Valentina (Calvin Klein runway)
42)Romina Lanaro (Prada/Miu Miu runway)
43)Madeleine Blomberg /IMG(Self Service ed)
44)Diana Dondoe (V ed )
45)Lisa Cant /T (Vogue Italia cover)
46)Ciara Nugent/Marilyn (Anna Sui runway)
47)Vika (Anna Sui runway)
48)Gerren/NY Models (Marc by Marc Jacobs campaign)
49)Dewi Driegen /Elite (Oscar de la Renta)
50)Jessica Miller/Next (Marc by Marc Jacobs runway)

Hi!

I am Miss Kathy. Welcome to my blog. I've got something to say! I will be a beacon of reason in a sea of insanity.

from WWD:
Memo Pad: Going Glossy ...

GOING GLOSSY: What’s suddenly gotten into Nylon? It appears that founder and editor in chief Marvin Scott Jarrett has started steps two and three in what looks like a master plan to take the consummate fashion magazine for art school students a bit more mainstream.

Step one was a more accessible redesign, now two issues old, by National Magazine Award winner Patrick Mitchell, and Andrea Fella. Step two is hiring a new editor in chief, and sources inside and close to the magazine said Jarrett is talking to former Seventeen and YM editor Annemarie Iverson about the position. Discussions are still in the early stages and may fall through, the sources said, but Jarrett is apparently serious about passing editorial control to a strong, name-brand editor fluent in the languages of both fashion and young women. “I can’t comment on Annemarie,” said Jarrett. “There are a lot of exciting things going on at Nylon.” Iverson could not be reached for comment.

Step three is perhaps the most shocking of all: Nylon has begun paying some of its longer-suffering contributors. (Nylon was once sued by its former p.r. firm over non-payment, and Milk Studios once threatened to do the same.) Former freelancers who had long since given up on receiving compensation are suddenly receiving calls from the magazine’s accountant, who is offering only 20 cents on the dollar but is finding takers because that’s 20 cents more than they expected. “He said they were trying to refinance because they owed so much money,” said one former contributor recalling his conversation with Nylon’s accountant. “He said they owe several million dollars — he went into it in detail.”

And the goal of this flurry of changes? The successful completion of Jarrett’s long-rumored endgame: a sale. “If they bring Annemarie in, they’re more likely to sell it to a big company,” said one source close to the magazine. Jarrett declined comment on his intentions.

Several people familiar with both Nylon and Iverson expressed surprise that the latter, who has a very refined personal style, would entertain the idea of editing a cash-strapped magazine devoted to scruffy chic and that’s housed in even scruffier offices. “Last year at Nylon, there were times when they ran out of tissue in the bathroom and had to use back issues,” said one former staffer. “This is a woman with six Birkins!” referring to Iverson’s collection of Hermès Birkin bags.

But there are connections. A pair of former Nylon executive editors — James Servin and Emily Dougherty — worked with Iverson at Harper’s Bazaar at the end of the Liz Tilberis era, and a source close to Gruner + Jahr USA said the company had approached Jarrett several years ago, during then-ceo Dan Brewster’s drive to expand the publisher’s portfolio, and that Iverson had been consulted during the process. (A G+J spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.)

Teaming up could be a win-win for both; Iverson, who’s been keeping a low profile working on custom publishing projects for Hearst since her ouster from Seventeen in 2002, would get to make a splash again, and her presence would make advertisers pay attention again — not to mention everyone else. — Greg Lindsay

I am superjazzed about any magazine that aspires to have the elegance of the Liz Tilberis era Harpers Bazaar.

Linda Evangelista interviewed JPG in the new V (with Miss Jackson on the cover). She revealed that years ago Hermes wanted to name a bag after her, like they did for Grace Kelly and Jane Birkin. However she did not have enough time to make the appointment. Her ambition is to achive that delayed goal. God bless her, she is THE fashion icon, and having an Hermes bag willexted her immortality.