Liya Kebede

>> INSIDER WIRE —Barneys has been seeing a lot of camera time lately: Liya Kebede shops there in Proenza Schouler's Cruise 2010 video, and yesterday, Terry Richardson was photographing Catherine McNeil, in black Lanvin dress, bird on her shoulder, on the main floor in New York. [The Shophound]

>> Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are showing their Cruise 2010 collection on June 18 in Florence as part of the Pitti W pre-collection event — their first time presenting abroad — and instead of a runway, they've invited three performance artists to interpret their collection. Interview has details from the designers on one of the interpretations — gender-bending performance artist Kalip Linzy's video guest-starring Chloe Sevigny and Liya Kebede, who will be wearing wigs: "He cast several characters that are in real life important collaborators of Proenza Schouler. The merging of all these worlds, we believe, is a more interesting format to showcase the collection." The Imagist got his hands on a couple of stills from the film — one below, the other here.

>> INSIDER WIRE —Bruce Weber popped up Tuesday to be honored alongside Liya Kebede at a gala in memory of former Vogue photographer Gordon Parks, marking his first time in New York after an extended absence. “I’ve been traveling on the road a lot and this is my first time back in the city, so I’m a little in shock. I have six dogs so we’re traveling and I’ve met some real American characters.”  He was apparently in a jovial mood, and expressed his adoration for Kate Moss: “I photographed her when she first came here. It was her first job, and we’ve traveled a lot together. I really love her as a friend.” [Modelinia]

>> While Jack McCollough is recovering from surgery and the accompanying drama, his Proenza Schouler design partner Lazaro Hernandez announced this afternoon that they have been chosen as the special guest of the Pitti W precollection event, which takes place in Florence June 16-19, and will show their Pre-Spring 2010 collection June 18 at a sixteenth-century Medici villa. This marks the duo's first time to show a collection in Europe.

The show won't involve a runway — “Two runways a year are enough for us,” Hernandez explained. "We didn't want to do a traditional runway show." Instead, they've invited three performance artists to react to their clothes: the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black will perform, Haim Steinbach plans an installation, and Kalip Linzy has directed a video guest-starring Chloe Sevigny and Liya Kebede, among others.

>> THE MODELIZER —Liya Kebede just took Paris Fashion Week by storm — and landed opening Balenciaga spot — and now she's owning in another area.  She's becoming the first model to be the exclusive face of a J.Crew catalog, and the retailer is picking up pieces from her handmade children's clothing line, Lemlem, to sell in stores and online as part of their children's Crewcuts line starting in April. [FWD]

>> THE MODELIZER —More names have come up for the model-centric May 2009 Vogue cover: Anna Maria Jagodzinska and Lara Stone, the latter of which supposedly fulfills the "unexpected choice" hint indicating a model who's never before appeared in Vogue.  Together with the seven names that have already come up — Caroline Trentini, Jourdan Dunn, Raquel Zimmermann, Natasha Poly, Isabeli Fontana, Liya Kebede, and Natalia Vodianova, the rumored nine spots have been fulfilled. The only problem is, the last two — Liya and Natalia — who were identified by RG Vogue, conflict with another source, who won't name names but say two models, one with the first initial K, and the other with the first initial A, were supposedly involved.  Perhaps there are eleven models?  Or maybe the list was edited somewhere along the way. [TFS, TFS, ONTD_FF]
*image: source