>> Gisele Bundchen has turned up in another Spring 2011 campaign to pair with her only-girl Balenciaga: Isabel Marant. A first peek at that, plus new images of Bundchen for Balenciaga, a Chanel ad of Stella Tennant spraying a nude Freja Beha Erichsen with a hose — and more — in the gallery (NSFW).
>> Alber Elbaz and the Lanvin team descended on New York's Pierre Hotel Thursday evening, transforming it with palm fronds, caged parakeets, models in French maid outfits, and little old men offering up champagne, scotch, crustless tea sandwiches, and macaroons, to show off their H&M collaboration.
At the runway's entrance, a rose-filled arch set with "Lanvin Hearts H&M" in fluorescent lights; to the side of that, a salsa band played live music. And above the runway, there were 20 crystal chandeliers. The venue was packed, to say the least — Sofia Coppola, Patrick Demarchelier, Shala Monroque, Sally Singer, and Grace Coddington were all there, plus more than a handful of other designers sitting front row: Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Tory Burch, Alexander Wang, Anna Sui.
Katie Grand styled the show — and the models were told to engage with the audience — so Siri Tollerod, as veiled bride, tossed her bouquet; Pixie Geldof strutted down in her gender-bending suit; Anna Dello Russo, walked with a gray standard poodle at her side; and Julia Frakes made her runway debut. The clothes were couture riffs on the Lanvin for H&M collection — on sale to benefit Unicef now — but afterward, there was a frenzy for the Lanvin for H&M collection pop-up shop set up downstairs. Many editors walked away with multiple bags, Coppola bought the tulle jacket, and even Wang did a little shopping of his own.
A video of the show can be seen here.
Oh to be dubbed "Little Cindy," (i.e. Cindy Crawford). Thanks to the perfectly placed mole on her upper lip and her gorgeous looks, 21-year-old model Kendra Spears was given that nickname by her family when she was young. And so, the Seattle-born Spears was destined to become a model. She was discovered by Ford on MySpace, then became a finalist in the agency's Supermodel of the World competition. She is currently one of the faces of Prada's Fall ad campaign and can be seen on many a catwalk when she's not working towards her BA in sociology from the University of Washington. Beauty and brains? Sounds just like Cindy!
To see more of Kendra, read more
When it comes to ads, we've almost seen it all: beaches, desert sand, wheat fields, sidewalks — you get the picture. But Miuccia Prada has managed to give us something we haven't yet seen for Prada's Fall campaign: models sitting in a puddle of oil. Juxtapositions are common in fashion and this is one of the slickest yet. Here we have delicate models Kendra Spears, Julia Hafstrom, Prada favorite Ymre Stiekema, and Anna de Rijk, in equally delicate gowns, dipping their feet in something not so delicate. Of course, their handy rubber Prada boots make this possible. Such moodiness wouldn't fly for Spring, but for Fall, it's perfect. What do you think — are you as captivated as I am?
>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —The first photo from Prada's Fall 2009 campaign has leaked, and instead of horses involved as previously reported, the setting is four girls — Prada favorite Ymre Stiekema, Katlin Aas, Julia Hafstrom, and Kendra Spears, who is said to be the main focus — in a boat, surrounded by water; this particular image is supposedly one of the "most interesting," according to someone who claims to have seen the full set by Steven Meisel. The Miu Miu Fall 2009 campaign, which has yet to appear, will reportedly have a strong androgynous theme. [TFS, TFS]
Ford Models filed a suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against model Kendra Spears.
Despite rumors, Oliver Theyskens will not be taking the creative director position at Halston.
Marc Jacobs will launch a new fragrance, called Lola, this August.
Anna Wintour was photographed walking home from work yesterday evening.
>> Kendra Spears, the promising 20-year-old Seattle-born model talent who is rumored to be one of the upcoming Fall 2009 Prada faces and has been called "one of the most supermodel-esque new faces to emerge in a long while" by Models.com — she has a mole above her lip, causing her to be billed "the next Cindy Crawford" — is now at the center of a lawsuit.
Kendra, who was discovered by Ford Models on MySpace last year and was then a finalist in the agency's Supermodel of the World competition, recently jumped ship to Next, spurring Ford to sue both Next and Spears (the former for poaching the model, the latter for breaching her contract — which was supposed to span three years).
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, reads:
Kendra Spears is one of the shining stars of the Ford development system. Signed as a prospect while still a teenager in braces, for more than a year, Ford has painstakingly cultivated Spears — literally, taught her how to be an international fashion model. She was not a high-fashion model. In fact, she was an unknown — a teenager with braces, with no modeling experience to speak of.
She is a beautiful, fresh, all-American 'face' who, having been discovered by Ford, trained by Ford, and professionally developed by Ford, is at the precipice of a breakthrough. She is about to become one of a handful of the world's most sought-after high fashion models.
A look at some of her recent work, below.
*image: source
>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —While a horse of Steven Klein's caused Madonna injury over the weekend, another Steven — Steven Meisel — worked with a horse last week for one setting of the "marathon" four day Prada Fall 2009 campaign shoot at Pier 59 Studios in New York. No confirmation on which models were involved, but a number of unconfirmed sources are indicating four girls — Kendra Spears, Anna De Rijk, Katlin Aas, and Miuccia Prada's current favorite, Ymre Stiekema. [Chic Report, TFS, TFS, TFS]
