mert alas

>> Sasha Pivovarova has been a busy girl — in 2008 alone, she took 168 flights, such was the demand for her trademark stony expression, which the model describes as "cold and unreachable, like the stare of a sniper."  The latest subscriber to her work?  Giorgio Armani, who cast Sasha for his Spring 2009 mainline campaign, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott in eery, ambient black and white.  But Armani isn't Sasha's only alliance — when she's not in the air or posing for the camera, she's working in her artist's loft in Brooklyn — her primary residence — on a book for Prada, which she hopes to have done this year: "It will be in the form of a scrapbook and include drawings, photography, and collages."
*image: source, source

>> Kate Moss is the long-term face of Longchamp — Spring 2006 and counting — but in recent seasons, she's gone from solo act to one of a duo.  For Fall 2008, she was paired with French actor Gaspard Ulliel, and for Spring 2009, she shares face time with fellow floppy-banged, blonde-haired, kohl-eyed model Sasha Pivovarova.  Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott did the honors again, this time going for a much more color-saturated campaign than last season's study in black and white, and showcasing the brand's new foray into ready-to-wear.
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>> For Fall 2008, three of the big campaigns that every model wants to catch — Prada, Balenciaga, and Miu Miu — all went with one big name — Linda Evangelista, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Vanessa Paradis, respectively.

Come Spring 2009, all three labels have decided to switch things up by using a large number of new faces — Prada is using eight models (Anna Jagodzinska, Giedre Dukauskaite, Katrin Thormann, Nimue Smit, Sigrid Agren, Toni Garrn, Viktoriya Sasonkina, Ymre Stiekema); Miu Miu is using eight models as "accessories" to campaign star Katie Holmes (Darya Kurovska, Elena Lomkova, Imogen Morris-Clarke, Katie Fogarty, Myf Shepherd, Sophie Srej, Tilda Lindstam, Yulia Leontieva); and Balenciaga is going with ten models (Amanda Laine, Anabela Belikova, Anna Jagodzinska, Anya Kazakova, Diana Farkhullina, Elsa Sylvan, Hanne-Gaby Odiele, Iris Strubegger, Katie Fogarty, Kinga Rajzak).

Surprisingly, there are only two girls overlapping between the campaigns: Anna Jagodzinska in Balenciaga and Prada and Katie Fogarty in Miu Miu and Balenciaga, and especially in Miu Miu's cast, some girls — Tilda Lindstam, Yulia Leontieva — are very new faces. Although some are skeptical, especially in the case of Miu Miu, that all the models cast will make it into the final shots, it's notable that all three labels, which usually go with one face, have all decided that power comes in numbers this season.  Get to know the chosen faces in the gallery below.
*image: source, source, source

>> Need more proof that Anna Selezneva is Carine Roitfeld's new favorite? Check out "Hor la Loi" ("Outlaw"), the September 2008 Vogue Paris editorial in which Carine styled Anna as herself, complete with sky-high heels, leopard print, and of course, lots of the requisite black.
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>> Remember back in June when Kate Moss was shooting an editorial in Istanbul for W magazine?  The "Hammam" photos appear in the September 2008 issue, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, with a sultry Kate against the backdrop of a Turkish bath.  It's classic exotic Kate — and there's even a chain-link bikini involved.

Full gallery below (NSFW).
*image: source