Racks of Burberry trenches hit our shores each year - now Christopher Bailey wants us to return the favor.
The checked designer was in Chicago last week for a Burberry fashion show, and the local models used on his runway made quite an impression -
According to Time Out Chicago, Bailey booked several of them for his Milan runway next month.
Stranger discoveries have certainly happened, and remember that Cindy Crawford developed in Chicago 20 years ago - it's also Erin Heatherton's hometown.
Who's next?
Maybe Shaletta Porterfield from Ford - Andre Leon Talley reportedly called the Vogue home office about her, and today, WWD runs a photo of her storming the Burberry show.
The boutique agency has a small stack of sex bombs whom they call their muses - yes - which includes Nylon favorite Holly Hayden and also Kemp, who may be best known in the States for her Young Love video with Terry Richardson, but also has a huge Maybelline campaign in France.
Now they've got Cory "by special arrangement," which we think is code for "we must bring her Mochaccinos whenever she's on set."
Whether she's signed in time to walk a runway is something, of course, we'll keep investigating...
We're not allowed to say how we know this, but we can promise that Angela Lindvall is back at IMG Models.
After working with the agency for 10 years, she briefly decamped to One in 2005.
It's worth noting that Angela is one of the rare American models right now, and also that she's (gasp) 27 and a mother of two boys - both things that make her something of a mannequin rock star in our book.
Angela is the current face of Zara, but we expect she'll score. even bigger campaigns for Spring '08...
After all, IMG is sending her out on the runways with the rest of their pretty posse next week, and she's too gorgeous not to get booked... and booked... and booked.
There's Freja, Jessica Stam, and Tanya D. all looking gorgeous.
There's also some incredible new "talent" - and by "talent," we mean "gene pools" - and our hearts actually stopped when we saw Heidi Mount, a blonde who looks like Tommy Hilfiger built her specifically. And though The Casting Director picked some gorgeous girls for ELLE, we also wouldn't discount IMG's Hannah Davis, the beachy beauty who booked some Ralph Lauren ads last year, and now is here to stay.
Meanwhile, Gemma is not in the New York package, and neither is Lily Cole.
BUT.
We hear from a casting assistant that Lily is being quietly allowed as an option for a few select designers.
The Strangers was originally slated for a Fall release date, but now it won't hit cinemas until winter.
That's never a great sign for a film - remember Factory Girl's continued delay?
And yet, we have faith in this horror flick - it does star Liv Tyler, whom we love in pretty much anything - even jeans and a worn out flannel shirt. It resurrects Scott Speedman, whom we've missed since Felicity. And it brings us the big screen debut of Gemma Ward, who can be seen here...
Whispering "You're Gonna Die" in a vaguely American accent.
Thanks Gemma. We sort of feel that way every time you come down the Chloe runway, wearing something usually reserved for a liquid diet devotee.
WHICH model is caught between two bickering agencies - one in Europe, one here? Because her US bookers get her more jobs, the ones in Europe dyed her hair to make her almost unrecognizable. The result? Her new American photos - and increasing portfolio - is now almost obsolete.
We hear she's been shot for The Gap, with ads premiering later this winter.
The California native, born Chanel Iman Robinson, was styled by Marie-Amelie Sauve, the Balenciaga stylist and muse who recently took a creative consulting job with the company.
Meanwhile in the States, we're all eagerly awaiting the new Gap crop from designer Patrick Robinson, who headed Paco Rabanne and married Vogue's Virginia Smith before doing a Target collection sweet enough to catch the eye of the San Francisco denim empire.
Of course, the coolest thing would be for Chanel and Patrick to do an ad together, because then it could be called Mr. and Ms. Robinson, and then the soundtrack could be Simon & Garfunkle, and...
Anyway.
Well done, Chanel, for a lucrative ad campaign that's actually age appropriate. You'll look amazing.
It would be naive to say models are getting younger:
Gemma's first Prada ad came at fifteen; Gisele's been booking since junior high.
Still, with the renewed talk model health and the restrictions of teenage girls on the runway, it's amusing to see how many huge girls are still taking algebra.
The most obvious example is Tanya D., who was allowed to walk at fifteen because she had a chaperone backstage (and who, let's face it, was born for this). Likewise to Chanel Iman, who finally turned seventeen this season.
But in September, there will be some new kids in the hall - sorry, we mean tents.
Anabela Belikova (left) just turned sixteen - and just got promoted from IMG Development to their Women's Board. Her work has earned it, since she snagged a Balenciaga campaign and a Marc Jacobs crush - not bad for a beautiful girl born on the '90s.
Also promoted to IMG Women: Irina K, the waify cutie that British Vogue weirdly called out to signal The Return of the Woman. Not quite - especially since Irina is also still prom-aged.
Stay tuned for them on the catwalk next month, and if you see them backstage, maybe offer to help them with their homework?
We weren't watching A Model Life on TLC until a few weeks ago, when a certain casting director whispered it could be the one model show where girls actually book jobs.
Shocked and cynical, we set our TiVO and eventually started watching.
Apparently you did too, since every week we get a flood of emails:
"Is Anjelika really that ignorant?"
"Why is Michelle there?"
"Lucia did a movie in Czech!"
We get it; you're obsessed.
As for us, yes we're definitely impressed: The girls are mostly 16, when real models start out. And we like Petra Nemcova as the hostess, especially during her "modeling lessons," striking "swimsuit" poses on a cement floor to demonstrate the right way to sell a bikini. We'll be sure to try that on Martha's Vineyard next week.
But what about the girls?
It's no secret that Brazilian Beatriz will get sent home - she's so pretty, and so inept in front of the camera.
And while Angelika may have too much attitude for the Next new faces board, we know one girl with a definite spot:
While we were out shooting Streetwalker, we ran across Broadway to get a photo of Lisette:
Her red dress, black heels, and white bag looked great even from across the street.
But when we got closer, we saw it wasn't her outfit that was stunning, it was the girl - a model from Holland who's new to NYC.
We'll have this experience again, since Fashion Week Castings have started, and girls will be roaming the streets in search of jobs for the next month.
But though the streets are teeming with pretty girls, they won't be part of Streetwalker (pesky models look good in everything, so we don't feature them).
But even if Lisette's more of a catwalker than a Streetwalker, she can take consolation in having just come from Nylon, where she'd booked her first editorial!
Thanks to reader Keisha for this video, which seems to be an IMG promotion of their biggest star.
It's fun to see Gemma wink and wave to the camera, but we don't really get it:
She's already the most successful model in her age group, and major designers don't need a commercial of their occasional muse in order to cast her again.
Meanwhile, if this is for movies, we're depressed for Hollywood starlets everywhere - Gemma doesn't even talk in this reel.
Maybe she wants to be a music video girl, like Alicia Silverstone and Aerosmith?
We love Style.com's story on models and buzz - apparently, agencies are panicking when new girls get press, worried that the hype will kill their careers too early. Says Romney:
"Call it the Catherine McNeil effect. In the spring, the much-buzzed-about McNeil was an up-and-comer with a promising career ahead of her and Paris Vogue's Juin/Juillet cover to her credit—only to subsequently drop off the radar, eclipsed by new It girl Irina Kulikova."
Now Supreme and other agencies are keeping their girls in hiding, letting them emerge only for fashion week castings.
But there may be a flaw in the theory:
Catherine McNeil stopped booking when magazines realized that the girl only makes one face. It's beautiful, but so far, it hasn't changed.
Compare Catherine with Agyness, the It Girl of the Spring '07 runways - when casting directors realized her versatility matched her buzz, they kept on going. Irina and Coco had similar stories.
And as for this season, we expect Catherine to still hit some major runways, along with Irina K, but our two watch-out girls are Suvi K and Anabela, the girl pictured here.
They're both teen willows, they've both booked the new Balenciaga campaign, and they're both on the must-have list of several casting boards.
When last we left our heroine Agyness Deyn, she was posing for Nick Knight and topping the Voguebest dressed list.
Now she's got a new adventure:
Her very own rock band - slash - DJ collective - slash - spoof.
Check out the new MySpace page AGGY + JACKY, a music space that puts Agyness with downtown scenester Jackson Pollis in a series of nutty photos.
Agyness fans may remember Ms. Deyn was once part of another fledgling rock band called The Tyger Picks, but this one might get more steam:
Though Agyness and Jackson have never performed together, they DJed at the Annex on Friday night, and seem to be booked for more parties through summer (yay!)
Will we see them behind the decks at a Fashion Week party?
We get Sarah Silverman and Selma Blair in Gap photos; London gets Coco Rocha and Elettra Wiedemann.
While you ponder the fashion injustices of American ads, check out this new campaign running in British fall magazines - and previewing in the Times UK, where James Collard declares the brand to have a "more fashion forward twist" than in America.
Behold the power of Marie Amelie Sauve, Balenciaga's creative babe who agreed to consult for Gap this fall. She followed a brief (but unconfirmed, but we have two sources - one British, one American, who've assured us she was, but whatever...) stint by Phoebe Philo at the brand.
Marie-Amelie brings major heft - besides scoring Ms. Rocha for the campaign, she's also got a coup with Lady Amanda Harlech, the official Chanel muse who's gamely posing in a Gap trench coat. We wonder if Karl owns the same one in black.
Meanwhile in America, The Gap gives us Patrick Robinson, the former Paco Rabanne designer who recently stinted at Target.
He may not give us jodhpurs (see post below), but hopefully he'll give us Coco... or Lily Cole, if we're really lucky.
Internet homecoming queen Cory Kennedy snags this month's cover of Jalouse, but her photo poses an odd question:
Are there some people who look better dressed down?
Though Cory's beauty is hotly debated on various blogs, we've always thought she was stunning - in part due to her shards of makeup, slivers of designer accessories, and shreds of denim that she pulls into an outfit.
Add professional hair, makeup, and wardrobe into the mix, and Cory just looks like another gorgeous girl.
But it's the personality she infuses into her runny eyeliner and scorched skin that makes it really magical.
Take that away, and the cover line - which translates into, "Who Knows Cory Kennedy?" - means something totally different - in that photo, we didn't recognize her at all.
Months ago, we heard from Mrs. Fashion that Johnny Borell, the lead singer of Razorlight, was holding up a British Vogue cover because he kept vetoing the models.
Apparently, Johnny's an actual rock star in London and not just a Nylon crush like here, and he can do that sort of thing. Eventually, the honor of standing next to him went to Natalia Vodianova.
This month, we catch a glimpse of the crooner in Fashion Rocks, as photographed with Jessica Stam.
There are no scary reports from that shoot, but Jessica looks like a total pro, photographed in the June heat outside while wearing Winter '08 knits.
We also think Jessica shares a similar glass-eyed stare as Kirsten Dunst, Johnny's girlfriend.
It's no secret that Rihanna is our favorite pop star, so we were thrilled to hear that she's close to signing with IMG Models.
If true, it means Rihanna will join a women's board that boasts Gemma, Sasha, both Lilies, plus celebs like Drew Barrymore, Liv Tyler, and Hilary Duff.
So what happens when a star gets a modeling contract?
Rihanna would still work with Island Def Jam on all her artistic projects, but her magazine covers, makeup campaigns, future clothing collections, and general prettiness would be in the hands of the mega agency.
Something we saw last night that fuels the gossip:
Rihanna dining with Mischa Barton, another IMG face, at the Paper Magazine party last night at Amalia. They were joined by Rihanna's publicist, plus Mischa's superagent at IMG, Ivan Bart.
For Russian model Irina K, it's been quite a year:
A spread in Teen Vogue that seemed like a fashion world birth announcement.
The Marc ads, for both his collection and fragrance.
The Prada show opening slot, given to Gemma, Sasha, and Daria when they were new.
Nobody doubts Irina K is pretty, but with her spindly frame and teen face, she fits the current trend of hungry-eyed Eastern girls whose willowy bodies and winsome faces seem at once fragile and filled with scrappy grit.
Which is why we were a little shocked to read this in British Vogue today:
"With her long-limbed, feline grace, Irina embodies fashion's "new look" - youthful, groomed and healthy. "Fashion is heralding the return of the 'woman'," agrees Storm Models founder Sarah Doukas. "The waif is no longer in vogue."
One look at Irina K - or Sasha, for that matter, who graces British Vogue's September cover, or Coco, who has a giant spread inside - and we have to ask:
Usually we temper our jealousy of models by rationalizing that it's their sole job to look good.
But Aussie model Jacqui Alexander isn't just this year's face of Melbourne fashion week. At 18, she's also the youngest designer ever to be picked up by Harvey Nichols.
Yet, before we put her on our list of girls to envy, we have to wonder:
If a model works with the texture and fit of high fashion clothes all day, isn't she inherently bred to be a good designer? Or is it foolish to assume that a model's mere proximity to Zac, Marc, and Karl will give her talent by osmosis? And can anything replace years of design school and internships?
There's another issue: A model's job is to look good in her clothing. So can someone with a "perfect" body understand how clothes can fit "real" girls?
Jacqui's clothes kind of look like regurgitated Alice + Olivia. But since Jacqui's modeling them on the site, they look wonderful-- and we kind of want them.
Other models-turned-designers have a similar appeal - Carmen and Milla for Jovovich-Hawk, Jayne Mayle, and Georgina Chapman of Marchesa all look like their own ad campaigns. But will you get the same effect in their clothes?
Perhaps Kate Moss's "design" adventure was actually the best compromise: She recreated her own clothes for TopShop, in more sizes, vaguely affordable pricing, and a team of seasoned designers behind her.
Maybe Jacqui should meet up with H&M...
-- NATALIE MATTHEWS
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Add one more girl to the stack of Fashion Week casting cards:
It would be naive to say models are getting younger:
We weren't watching A Model Life on TLC until a few weeks ago, when a certain casting director whispered it could be 
The ultimate insult from ANTM judges is that a contestant might be “too catalog�, as if the catalog and runway worlds don’t mix.
We get Sarah Silverman and Selma Blair in Gap photos; London gets Coco Rocha and Elettra Wiedemann.
It's no secret that Rihanna is our favorite pop star, so we were thrilled to hear that she's close to signing with IMG Models.
