mario testino

Always innovative and apparently optimistic, V Magazine’s Spring '09 issue hits NYC newsstands today. You can't miss the cover — even you vampires out there — because it glows in the dark! A special UV gloss causes the V and the words “V GLOW IN THE DARK” to actually glow. Woah. The issue has an electric/neon theme, thus Natalia Vodianova and up-and-comer hottie Luke Grimes also glow on the cover. Mario Testino shot the cover and Natalia's inside spread "Lights of Spring." Cofounder and editor-in-chief Stephen Gan explains the idea, "Because V needed to lighten up and brighten this Spring, we're in dark times!"

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>> Paris Fashion Week starts tomorrow, but fashion folk couldn't leave Milan without hitting up the Palazzo della Ragione last night for one last Milanese shindig, courtesy of Anna Wintour, Domenico Dolce, and Stefano Gabbana.  The launch for the "Extreme Beauty in Vogue" exhibition — which Anna selected 89 images for — the party was likened to the Milanese equivalent of the Costume Institute Gala; in other words, the week's hottest ticket.  Karl Lagerfeld made a beeline for the photos after mugging for a few cameras, while Anna was trailed by 60 Minutes's Morley Safer and Carine Roitfeld by CNN: “I am being followed round all the shows, and they are doing lots of interviews.  But you won’t be seeing me naked.”  Miuccia Prada sported one of her new Fall 2009 gladiatorial dresses, and rounding out the fashion wattage a troika of supermodels: two we see quite a bit of (Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova) and one we do not (Nadja Auermann).
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>> Last night marked the opening of Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld's Louis Vuitton-sponsored, curated exhibit of three photographers and close friends of his — PC Valmorbida (boyfriend of Theodora Richards), David Mushegain and Salim Langatta.  Both the party and after-party at Indochine (a Roitfeld favorite) were super crowded — the latter hit capacity and saw Carine Roitfeld dancing on the restaurant's banquettes.  Sister Julia, girlfriend Lily Donaldson, and godfather Mario Testino were all in attendance, as were a number of other fashion folk — Lara Stone, Erin Wasson, Gisele Bundchen.  And Carine was proud of her son's current career choice — according to Vladimir, it was his parents who pushed him to move to the US — "I don't know if he will do more shows or film, but when you try to produce things, it's a hard hard job, and I'm very proud of him.  I'll be very happy if he becomes successful."
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>> The predictions that Spring 2009 ads would be all about commercial models that can sell product are indeed coming to pass; Versace pulled out not one, but two big guns for their campaign — Gisele Bundchen and Kate Moss, shot by Mario Testino against the never-can-fail beachy blue background.  Desperate times call for desperate measures; Donatella must not mind that she's sharing Gisele with Dior and Kate with Stella McCartney.
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>> You know Burberry is worried when their Spring 2009 campaign comes out looking like a catalogue.  Mario Testino did the honors at Petersham Nurseries outside London, and Christopher Bailey carried on his all-British cast tradition with returner Lily Donaldson and newcomers Eden Clarke and Alexina Graham, but gone are the days of Fall 2008's moody black-and-white ads and Spring 2008's edgy, colorful group shots.  These new Spring 2009 ads seem aimed much more for the mainstream, with their prominent placement of denim, the top-selling trenches, and the new, trademark plaid-covered Gardener Bag.  Everyone's going for the money shot this season — and with Burberry, those intentions are quite transparent.
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