It came as news to everyone here, but in England some supermarkets have models that represent them in advertising. In America, the closest thing you’re get is a tall and thin asparagus stalk, though the supermarkets are under pressure here with anorexic vegetables and are looking to make a more representative statement by switching to pears and tomatoes. I digress. In England, land of amazing food, the supermarket chain Asda is looking to replace their recently dumped model, Coleen McLoughlin, with, Carla Bruni. You know, Carla Bruni, the model, Carla Bruni the French citizen, Carla Bruni the woman that married that French leader that just divorced another woman and remarried her before the bed was cold…Oh that Carla Bruni… yeah, that one.

The poetic thing about Bruni is that were the supermarket chain to get their wish and actually have her fill in as a replacement, she would become the face of George and other family friendly fashions from the chain. There is irony somewhere in there.

online: The Telegraph

Peruse through the Washington Post today and you’ll see an image of a model who almost looks dead. She was in Guy Laroche’s 2006 Paris showing and there’s basically no way to describe her besides emaciated. She looks so emaciated that if someone in Haiti saw her they might offer her food. The French are wrangling with the issue of bone thin models right now and it is all over the wires. It may be hard to change the fashion culture when someone like Lagerfeld says the problem is not with models who are too thin but women who have bad eating habits and are too fat. That’s a paraphrase and I’ll link to the actual quote when I find it.

While the topic has been done to exhaustion, seeing a photo like this reinforces the the belief that this has gotten out of hand. A quick glance at older fashion shows (and even something like the Pirelli Calendar) will illustrate that models actually had some sort of form long ago. Models today look like they died last week. So will the French take a hard look at the subject and put protections in place to prevent someone like skeletor from walking the runway? The question remains open.

Original article is here

E! Online calls him the brooding actor turned model. Many women (and men) call him just hot. Whatever you want to call him will only matter if you append model to the end of the actor title. See, Bobby is now a full fledged model. The jury is still out on how one goes about receiving the title of model. There could be some sort of initiation rite or if there’s not one, there should be some sort of model certification. Walking a straight line with a stack of books on one’s head. Whatever the case is, the Hills star recently did a spread for men’s fashion line Orthodox. He is being repped by uber PR firm People’s Revolution. The firm has it’s hands in practically everything. If only George Bush was repped by Kelly Cutrone, his approval ratings would probably be in the area of 40% instead of 28% (she can work wonders, not miracles).

Read the full (albeit brief) story here on E!

Although one commenter is stating at Showstudio that he is tired of the chin up pose for Kate Moss, Nick Knight doesn’t care and neither does Kate Moss. Nor should they. Although this was shot for V Magazine, the duo has teamed up again reports Vogue UK. This time they are taking their show on the road for none other than… wait for it… Agent Provacateur. That’s right, Moss is now the face of Agent Provateur’s bridal collection. The twist here is that although the collection is for those thinking of taking the matrimonial plunge, her position in the ad is of a woman who is having cold feet. Should she or shouldn’t she? We’ll find out when the ads debut later this year. Until then, feast your eyes on Flower’s for Kate.

photo: Nick Knight

How young is too young? According to the folks at Australia fashion week 14 is just about the age when using young models becomes a little obscene. iPapier looks at that today regarding the banning of young models at Australia fashion week. One of the primary concerns according to the folks at Australia Fashion Week is not only that it’s exploitative, it also affects older women and their own body images. So the question now becomes when is the line drawn? 14? 15? 16? 17? Australia fashion week says 18 is just about right. Some tennis stars go pro at 17, is modeling any different? The model that caused this brouhaha in case you’re wondering is 14 year old Monika Jagaciak. She’s been in Calvin Klein ads, Hermes ads, Harper’s Bazaar. Word is Dov Charney is dying to get his camera on her.