Lady Lafayette - Numero April 2009 - Jamie Bochert, Photo: Greg Kadel

Numero April 2009 Editorial
Model: Jamie Bochert
Photographer: Greg Kadel

Special thanks to Pénélope Heim from Fashion Does It Better & Lexposure for scanning & emailing me this editorial.

Japanese Vogue May 2009 - Carmen Kass, photo: Glen Luchford

Glen Luchford photographed Carmen Kass for Japanese Vogue with stylist Anastasia Barbieri on January 31st, 2009 in Paris

Japanese Vogue May 2009 Editorial
Model: Carmen Kass
Photographer: Glen Luchford
Stylist: Anastasia Barbieri
Makeup: Karim Rahman
Hair: Shon

Dusan Reljin exhibit at ION Studio

Our neighbor, Dusan Reljin, has an exhibition, NUDES, currently showing at Ion Studio, an eco-friendly salon by day as well as a gallery featuring photographers and up and coming artists.

One of Dusan Reljin's nudes:


Dusan currently is working with such magazines as Elle, Vogue, Numero Korea, GQ, he has shot campaigns for Lancome, Cover Girl and Rimmel.

Ion Studio
41 Wooster St. (Grand Street x Broome Street)
New York, NY 10013
(212)343-9060
Tuesday - Saturday, 10am-8pm

NUDES runs thu May 1st

Rianne Ten Haken for Numero Tokyo, ph: Dusan Reljin:

i-D Magazine: Hannelore Knuts and Jamie Bochert, Photo: Daniel Jackson

Dan Jackson photographed Jamie Bochert and Hannelore Knuts for i-D Magazine on November 10, 2008 at Fast Ashley's Studio, 95 North 10th Street, Brooklyn.

i-D Magazine Editorial
Models: Jamie Bochert & Hannlore Knuts
Photographer: Daniel Jackson
Stylist: David Vandewal
Makeup Artist: Peter Philips
Hair: Rita Marmor

Take me out tonight where there's music and there's people and they're young and alive

Morrissey is playing tonight at Carnegie Hall - I have been waiting for this moment for my entire life. Tonight will be my first time seeing him perform.

Oscillate Wildly is my favorite Smiths song - there is something about the melody that instantly brings me back to a certain spring and summer. This instrumental track says so much, without any words. This lack of obvious meaning or lyrical context make it about whatever I want it to be about.

My friend Evelyn introduced me to The Smiths music. I don't have any older brothers or sisters, and my local "Alternative" radio station WDRE 92.7 rarely played The Smiths or Morrissey. The most peaceful place for me was walking , listening to my Smiths tape in my walkman. The Smiths are literally are the soundtrack to my teen years.

I for one couldnt be happier that Morrissey's music has lately been embraced by a wider demographic. My experience with the music has always been solitary, so I am elated to be in a hall full of people who all have their own personal relationship with Morrissey.

The Smiths used a still photograph of Joe Dallesandro, from the film Flesh as the cover of their eponymous debut album:

Izabel Goulart is the International Ambassador for The Diabetes Research Institute (DRI)

Izabel Goulart now serves as the International Ambassador for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund the cure-focused research at the world-renowned Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) at the University of Miami.

Izabel’s brother was diagnosed with type 1 during infancy, and she has been actively involved in charitable work, helping hospitals in her native Brazil raise money to provide free insulin for children with diabetes. Now, Izabel has turned her focus toward a cure and recently toured the Institute to meet the researchers and witness their work for herself.

“I am so excited and proud to be working with the Diabetes Research Institute. Nothing is more important to me than finding a cure for my brother,” said Izabel.

“If I can raise awareness in the course of my travels, and bring attention to the Diabetes Research Institute, I will be helping my brother and millions like him who are living with this disease.”

In her role as International Ambassador, Izabel will be rallying support and raising awareness for type 1 diabetes and for the DRI’s research, which is focused on curing all children and adults living with diabetes.

Some of the activities she will be participating in include serving as a spokesperson or honorary chair at DRI Foundation fundraising events and appearing in public service announcements, among others.

“When I first met Izabel, I was immediately taken in by her warmth and her passion and on her recent tour of the Institute, she exhibited a strong desire to understand the current state and direction of our research. She wants nothing more than a cure for her brother, and she knows firsthand how diabetes can affect the entire family,” said DRI Foundation President and CEO Robert A. Pearlman.

“The Diabetes Research Institute is located in Miami, but we collaborate with leading researchers around the globe to ensure that the finest minds are working to cure this disease as quickly as possible. We’re honored to have an international figure like Izabel joining in our mission.”

Izabel exploded onto the international modeling scene in 2005, photographed by David Sims for French Vogue. In 2006 Izabel walked in the Fall 2006 Balenciaga shows was well as walking as an “Angel” at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. In 2007, she also appeared in the show’s CBS television broadcast.

French Vogue, ph: David Sims

French Vogue, ph: David Sims


Balenciaga:


Balenciaga:


She has modeled for designers such as Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Valentino, and Chanel. Most recently, she has been the Spokesmodel and face of Armani Exchange.

About the Diabetes Research Institute and Foundation:

The mission of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation is to provide the Diabetes Research Institute with the funding necessary to cure diabetes now. The Diabetes Research Institute, a center of excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is a recognized world leader in cure-focused research. Since its inception in the early 1970s, the DRI has made significant contributions to the field of diabetes research, pioneering many of the techniques used in islet transplantation. The DRI is now building upon these achievements by bridging cell-based therapies with emerging technologies to restore insulin production. For the millions of families already affected by diabetes, the Diabetes Research Institute is the best hope for a cure.


Robert A. Pearlman, president and CEO of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, congratulates Izabel Goulart on her new role as International Ambassador.


In the lab with Dr. Antonello Pileggi, Izabel learns about the DRI's collaborations with scientists all over the world, including those in her native Brazil.


On her tour of the Diabetes Research Institute, Izabel met Dr. Cherie Stabler, head of the tissue engineering program

Watch the video of Izabel touring the DRI: here.

Georgina Stojiljković, Photo: Magnus Unnar

Magnus Unnar photographed Georgina Stojiljković for Muse Magazine on December 3rd, 2008.

Muse Magazine Cover & Editorial
Model: Georgina Stojiljković
Photographer: Magnus Unnar
Stylist: Karina Givargisoff
Makeup: Maxine
Hair: Dennis Lanni

Naive Melody - This Must Be The Place

I had some great photos I wanted to upload to the blog today....and had some technical difficulties.

But today is the first Monday of Spring, and I don't want to waste it.

"This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" is a song by Talking Heads, from their fifth album Speaking in Tongues. The lyrics were written by David Byrne, and the music was written by Byrne and the other members of the band, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison. In the "Self Interview" on the DVD of the concert film Stop Making Sense, Byrne admits that it is a love song, a topic he tends to avoid because it is "kinda big". Throughout the Stop Making Sense version, Byrne and his bandmates perform by a standard lamp, while close-up images of various body parts are projected onto a screen behind them. When the song reaches a bridge, the musicians step back and Byrne dances with the lamp, a reference to Fred Astaire's similar dance with a coat-rack in Royal Wedding.

According to the Stop Making Sense commentary track, the title "Naive Melody" refers to the music. On the track, the guitar part and the bass part are doing the same thing throughout the whole song. According to David Byrne, many professional musicians would not play a song written in that fashion, and that is what makes the melody naive. Byrne played the lead keyboard solo.

The song was covered by the Montreal-based band Arcade Fire as a B-side to their single Neighborhood #3 (Power Out). The version on the single is live, with David Byrne on guest vocals. It has also been recorded by Shawn Colvin, and covered by Perpetual Groove, MGMT, Mysteries of Life, Animal Liberation Orchestra, String Cheese Incident, and the Ryan Montbleau Band.

This song is also featured twice in the Oliver Stone movie Wall Street, playing over a scene in which Bud Fox, the protagonist, decorates his upscale apartment as well as over the closing credits. Shawn Colvin's version was featured on the movie Wordplay (2006). The song also appeared in TV series Northern Exposure, and appears in the 2007 film Lars and the Real Girl.

Stop Making Sense (1984) is a highly acclaimed concert movie featuring Talking Heads live on stage. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over three nights in December 1983, as the group was touring to promote their new album Speaking in Tongues. The movie is notable for being the first made entirely utilizing digital audio techniques.

Talking Heads were augmented by several additional musicians, most of whom had extensive experience in funk: back-up singers Edna Holt and Lynn Mabry (a.k.a. The Brides of Funkenstein), keyboardist Bernie Worrell (formerly of Parliament-Funkadelic), percussionist Steve Scales, and guitarist Alex Weir (of The Brothers Johnson).

The movie is also notable for Byrne's "big suit", an absurdly oversized business suit he dons late in the concert for the song "Girlfriend is Better" (which gave the movie its title from one of its lyrics). The suit was partly inspired by Noh theatre styles, and became an icon not only of the film – as it appears on the DVD cover, for instance – but of Byrne himself. Pauline Kael stated in her review: "When he comes on wearing a boxlike 'big suit' — his body lost inside this form that sticks out around him like the costumes in Noh plays, or like Beuys' large suit of felt that hangs of a wall — it's a perfect psychological fit."

Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb - born with a weak heart
I guess I must be having fun
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It's ok I know nothing's wrong . . nothing

Hi yo I got plenty of time
Hi yo you got light in your eyes
And you're standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money
Always for love
Cover up and say goodnight . . . say goodnight

Home - is where I want to be
But I guess I'm already there
I come home - she lifted up her wings
Guess that this must be the place
I can't tell one from another
Did I find you, or you find me?
There was a time Before we were born
If someone asks, this is where I'll be . . . where I'll be

Hi yo We drift in and out
Hi yo sing into my mouth
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I'm just an animal looking for a home
Share the same space for a minute or two
And you love me till my heart stops
Love me till I'm dead
Eyes that light up, eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots
Hit me on the head Ah ooh

I love this song.

The meaning of the song is ambiguous - it makes me happy when I'm sad - and happier when I'm happy. For me, it is about the search for a genuine love connection with someone, finding a comfort zone, in this mad world, even if it's just for a brief moment.

Youtube is also having some technical issues - I can't find the original video of "Naive Melody". Also, there used to be a version sung by Phen, on her Trookieness Channel. She has the voice of an angel, and really captured the nostalgic yearning quality of the song. Hopefully, Youtube will work it out.

The live version of Naive Melody is amazing - the monochromatic costumes are major - I can't figure out exactly what the name of that color is: mushroom, bone, beige, tan.....its very Margiela.

Talking Heads - Performed live in their concert film 'Stop Making Sense' directed by Jonathan Demme:


Arcade Fire cover - performed live on March 13, 2005 at Le Nouveaux Casino in Paris, France:


MGMT cover - filmed 4/20/03 on Zonker Harris day at Wesleyan University:

Valentino on The View

I love The View.

I work during the day, when The View airs @ 11 am on channel 7. And I don't do Tivo. So I catch up on The View by going to Watching The View (So You Don't Have To). Winnie McCarthy writes the best recaps, and usually posts YouTube links to the "Hot Topics" section.

Hot Topics are the cream in an Oreo cookie. Joy Behar uses her freedom of speech to speak truth to power.Occasionally Barbara Walters uses her freedom of the press to speak her mind- but she retains her tenuous ties to journalism, and can't compromise her professional ethics by stating her actual opinions. When her attention is engaged, Whoopi Goldberg keeps it real. Rarely, Sherri Shepherd uses her life experiences to show me how to see things in a different light. Elizabeth Hasselbeck habitually utilizes mendacity and hubris to pee on my leg and tell me its raining.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck makes Debbie Matenopoulos look like Noam Chomsky.

Joy Behar is the new Edward R Murrow. She alone had the integrity to give John McCain and his mealy mouthed wife a beat down with tough, hard hitting questions- to their face!

The day Meredith Viera left The View was almost as bad as the day Jil Sander left Jil Sander.

The day Rosie O'Donnell quit the View was almost as bad as the day Helmut Lang shut down.

The day Lisa Ling moved on from The View to work on travel documentaries was almost as bad as when Tom Ford left Gucci. Worse actually, because Lisa's departure led to Elizabeth Hasselbeck voicing her intolerance, bigotry, homophobia and misogyny into my living room.

For me, the years when Meredith Viera was moderator, Joy was the funny one, Star was the legal expert and Lisa Ling was the voice of Young America were a Golden Age. Pre-9/11, was a more innocent time, and I treasure my memories of The View from those years the way I treasure my Liz Tilberis/Fabien Baron Harper's Bazaar complete collection.

Worlds collided when Valentino appeared as a guest on The View on Wed to promote the documentary: The Last Emperor.

Obviously, Elizabeth Hasselbeck had to embarrass herself by asking Valentino if he would design a line for Target. As if! Valentino designed Jacqueline Kennedy's wedding dress to Aristotle Onassis. He is now retired, and has said goodbye to all that. Why would he design a sportswear capsule collection for Target? Lets not push it.

I for one cannot wait until the weather gets warm enough to wear my Thakoon for Target windbreaker & trench.

Check out this clip of Valentino on The View, and this weekend take a little time to enjoy The View:

Women Loves Rony Shram

Rony Shram knows how to make beautiful women look even more beautiful. Using shadows and light he knows exactly how to bring out the sparkle in a woman's eye, the shine in her hair and the sheen of her skin.

I love working with Rony. He has the talent to focus his lens to reveal only the qualities in a woman that as a whole give pleasure to the senses - in other words, gorgeousness.

Yulia Kharlapanova


Yulia Kharlapanova


Alexa Yudina


Alexa Yudina


Toma Barkova


Toma Barkova


Valeria Sokolova


Valeria Sokolova


Katarina Ivanovska

Katarina Ivanovska

Olya Ivanisevic


Olya Ivanisevic


Ana Mihajlovic

Ana Mihajlovic

Rony was interviewed in a German photo magazine a few months ago. It was mostly about technique, but there were a few non-technical questions in there that showed me who the modest man behind the camera is:

1. Can you say some about the training/ photographic education you received? What were the most valuable lessons you learned on the way up?

I have had almost no formal education in photography. When I decided I wanted to shoot professionally, I took two lighting courses at night. Other than that, I took some photo classes in high school. I never really imaged this would be a career.

When Istarted, I really didn't know the first thing about this business--including the fact that most photographers start as assistants (which is a great idea, by the way). As such, I have never assisted. I don't think I've ever been to a photo shoot where I wasn't the photographer. It's both a blessing and a curse. My style has definitely been defined by the fact that I am almost exclusively self-taught.

By the way, I wouldn't exactly say I am "up"--maybe up and coming, at best. I still have a long way to go.

2. So how did you get into fashion photography?

Good question. I came to New York to study political science at Columbia. I graduated and worked in consulting for a couple of years before deciding I wanted to go to law school. And then one day I realized it was all a bad idea. I just couldn't imagine continuing on that path anymore. A good friend told me to follow my dreams. I naively went out and bought a camera. And I struggled for a while until someone decided to take a chance on me.

3. What inspires you?

As far as ideas... those come from pretty much anywhere. But as far as motivation and interest are concerned, I would have to say my inspiration comes from the models. My work is mostly about the women in the images (and women in general), above anything else. It's about the energy and beauty they emanate. I'm not trying to challenge or subvert any of the established notions of femininity (or at least as they exist in my mind). I honor and celebrate them.

Rony's work can be seen at: www.RonyShram.com

Interview New York: Our Cities, Our Videos, Our Voices

Cameron Russell and her boyfriend Andrew Elliott (also a good friend of WOMEN) are working on an interactive public art project: Interview New York


Photo: Andrew Elliott

The basic idea of Interview New York is to interview everyone in New York City (and expand to other cities if successful) with the same three questions.

1.What are you proud of? (A question that allows us to introduce ourselves)

2.What are you scared of? (This could take on a social aspect or just be interesting across different demographics)

3.And finally, what gives you hope? (So the interview ends on an upbeat note!)

The interviews will be user generated videos (like youtube) except for the first thousand or so which they will do to seed the website. They will be tagged by geography (neighborhood) as well as whatever the poster decides to tag them with.

Though they won't be launching until the summer we are shooting portraits for a book we will publish in conjunction with the website. So if you're interested in being part of the book contact us and send us your interview video. We are looking for New Yorkers of all ages, genders, professions, and lives who have a voice they want heard. Email Cameron@interviewnewyork.com.

To see the work of Interview New York's photographer, Andrew Elliott, go to his website: AndrewElliott.com.

Factory Worker / Cameron at the Factory, ph:Andrew Elliott

I was kissin' Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream

Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream
But I can't be late
'Cause then I guess I just won't get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my funday
My I don't have to runday
It's just another manic Monday

Have to catch an early train
Got to be to work by nine
And if I had an air-o-plane
I still couldn't make it on time
'Cause it takes me so long
Just to figure out what I'm gonna wear
Blame it on the train
But the boss is already there

All of the nights
Why did my lover have to pick last night
To get down
Doesn't it matter
That I have to feed the both of us
Employment's down
He tells me in his bedroom voice
C'mon honey, let's go make some noise
Time it goes so fast
When you're having fun

Actress Anne Hathaway kissin' Valentino at the premiere of the film "Valentino: The Last Emperor" in New York March 17, 2009:


"Manic Monday" (1986) was the first hit single from The Bangles. It was written by Prince in 1984 and recorded as a duet for the Apollonia 6 album, but the song was eventually pulled.

Two years later, as he was attempting to "court" singer Susanna Hoffs of the band The Bangles, Prince, using the pseudonym Christopher, [2] offered the song to them to record their version. The song reached #2 in both the UK and US record charts, coincidentally behind Prince's own song "Kiss", which reached #1 in the US.

The lyrics tell of someone waking from a romantic dream at 6 o'clock on Monday morning, and facing a hectic journey to work when she would prefer to still be enjoying relaxing on Sunday—her "I-don't-have-to-run day". Actor Rudolph Valentino is referred to in some of the lyrics in the song.



I am so envious of Susanna Hoffs....I can't imagine a more romantic gesture than having Prince offer you one of his songs.

Hobo Magazine: Shannan Click, Photo: Dan Martensen

Dan Martensen photographed Shannan Click for Hobo Magazine in Woodstock, NY:









Interview with Dan Martensen on The Coveted:

The Coveted: Do you remember the first photo you took? Your first camera?
Was it love or apathy?

Dan Martensen: Yes, actually I do. Ha, speaking of nature, I was on a camping trip with my dad. I think he gave me the camera to keep me busy while he did all the work getting the barbecue or the tent ready or something. I must've been about 12. We were right by a lake I was wandering around and took a picture of the sunset under a tree with the water bouncing flare into the camera and light into the leaves of the trees. I still kind of shoot pictures like this, I remember looking in the camera and wanting to shoot everything. I think I shot through most or all of our film on that trip. Instead of having traditional pictures of me catching a big fish or portraits of my dad and I by a campfire, we had a lot of pictures of rocks and bugs and stuff. I still have that camera, I don't shoot with it anymore because I've abused it so much since, but I'd say it was love from that day on.

The Coveted: I get the impression that you have done a lot of traveling in the States.... your America series, and the Yurman Down-Country Rally... where is the most interesting, or uninteresting spot in America? Why does it inspire you?

Dan Martensen: Yea, funny thing though, I've been in probably 40 states, but never made the trip across country in one drive. My favorite thing to do is shoot on my own, document life, a place, or a person. Not fashion at all. When I find a place un-shot, a candid moment with someone, or a voyeuristic one, a piece of time or a setting, I try and snatch it up, as if it were virgin in some way. It seems almost impossible at this point, but I think this is why shooting America has been so exciting for me. Photographers like William Eggelston, Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Irving Penn, I mean, the list goes on and on, they're like pioneers to me, they all shot America and defined it. Its like I showed up to San Francisco for the gold rush about 30 years late, but I am still looking for gold dust in the gravel.

What inspires me to shoot America? I have a hard time answering that… It's weird, because I am one of millions of Americans trying to figure out how to remain patriotic in such a fucked up place. I mean, my generation is really lost. I think the reason I shoot America the way I do is to try and identify what it is I still understand about this country, like a sort of misguided nostalgia. Coming from New York it is easy to feel like a foreigner in America, and the only parts that I have any real sympathy for are the places that seem to have fallen apart… Oklahoma was so poor and beaten down. Really gritty, real people, I had a lot of love for them. The old Vegas strip, 3 or 4 miles off the main strip that we see on TV, it's a relic of what Vegas used be, rundown and shitty, yet there are still lives and buildings left over, old time hustlers and hookers, 50 year old hookers!! I mean, c'mon, if that's not inspiring…

The Coveted:: Is Graceland really worth the trip to Memphis?

Dan Martensen: Um, YES. And stick around for the barbeque.

Jil Sander for Uniqlo

I am so excited that Jil Sander is making clothes again. Clothes I can afford.

This is good news - almost as good as a new Joan Didion novel.

From: WWD:

TOKYO - Jil Sander is making her long-awaited comeback - but in a fast-fashion way.

The German designer has just signed a "design consulting agreement" to oversee the men's and women's apparel at Japanese retail giant Uniqlo. Sander and executives from Uniqlo's parent company Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., held a press conference here Tuesday to outline the terms of the deal.

"Some of you [have known] me since I have been engaged in fashion but I'm not interested in the past. Let us talk today about the future" the designer, clad in a black knee-length coat, told journalists assembled at the Four Seasons Hotel. "I'm here in Tokyo for something completely different. The challenge for me is to establish a premium quality in a democratically-priced range."

Although Sander will not receive an official title at the company, the designer will take over the creative reins for all the retailer’s products excluding accessories and children’s wear. The Japanese brand and Sander are also working to develop a special Uniqlo collection, bearing the designer’s minimalist look, set to bow for the fall season. Details regarding the collection have not yet been disclosed.

As reported in WWD last week, Sander was spotted at the Première Vision textile trade show in Paris in February, which reignited ongoing speculation she planned to return to the fashion world. Sander famously left her namesake label for the second time in 2004 after clashing with the brand’s former owner, Prada Group, and its chief executive officer, Patrizio Bertelli, over creative and control issues.

In a coincidental twist of fate, her old fashion house ended up in Japanese hands when Onward Holdings Co. Ltd. bought it last September from Change Capital Partners for 167 million euros, or $244 million. Change Capital had acquired the brand from Prada in February 2006 for about 100 million euros, or $146 million. Raf Simons, the brand’s current creative director, had been put in place by Prada the previous year.

While Uniqlo has collaborated with a number of designers such as Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang and Alice Roi through its Designers Invitation Project, this is the first time the company has established a continuous relationship with a marquee name. The company’s design team has lived a relatively anonymous existence churning out colorful basics. Like Sander, Uniqlo has always put a strong emphasis on fabric innovation in its products, such as machine-washable sweaters that keep their shape and hooded sweatshirts that retain heat.

Uniqlo is one of the few retailers succeeding in recessionary Japan. The brand’s affordable line up of fashion basics has propelled months of same-store sales growth and earned chairman Tadashi Yanai the honor of Japan’s richest man, according to Forbes magazine, with a fortune estimated at $6.1 billion.

Uniqlo said earlier this month that February’s same-store sales were up 4.2 percent, advancing for the fourth consecutive month. However, the February figures represented a slowdown from the double-digit sales growth the retailer saw at the end of 2008. The retailer has been experimenting with formats in recent months, recently opening its first concept store targeting young female shoppers in their late teens and early 20s. It also has opened a concept store in Selfridges in London.

While at a fast-fashion price point, Uniqlo’s aesthetic mirrors Sander’s signature minimalism. Talk of when the designer would return to fashion began almost the moment she left Prada five years ago — with the rumor mill speculating she was consulting to Gap in Europe, looking to introduce a home furnishings collection, or simply leading a quiet life in her native Hamburg and working on her garden. Her return to her signature label for the second time in May 2003 was filled with hope that she and Bertelli could find common ground. “We’re taking the patience and the time to learn about each other,” she said at the time. “We are two strong characters and two entrepreneurs and different cultures.”

But a year later, Sander exited again. Now the designer, 65, is back in fashion in a segment of the market that is increasingly linking with major designers. H&M has teamed up with a string of well-known fashion names, including Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli and, most recently, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons.

Jil Sander and Fast Retailing chairman Tadashi Yanai:

V Magazine Spring 2009 - Jourdan Dunn, ph: Jean Fancois Campos

Jean Francois Campos photographed Jourdan Dunn for V Magazine on January 25, 2009.

V Magazine Spring 2009
Model: Jourdan Dunn
Photographer: Jean Francois Campos
Stylist: Jay Massacret
Producer: Rachel Stein
Makeup: Francelle
Hair: Holli Smith

Jacques Olivar photographed Alison Nix for Italian Marie Claire, with stylist Elisbetta Massari on December 6-9 2008 in Los Angeles, California.

Italian Marie Claire March 2009 Editorial
Model: Alison Nix
Photographer: Jacques Olivar
Stylist: Elisbetta Massari

WSJ Magazine - Valerie Avdeyeva, Photo: Tesh, Stylist: Sarajane Hoare

Tesh photographed Valerie Avdeyeva for WSJ magazine, with stylist Sarjane Hoare on February 3rd, 2009 at Milk Studios.

WSJ magazine
Model: Valerie Avdeyeva
Photographer: Tesh
Stylist: Sarajane Hoare
Makeup: Sil Bruinsma
Hair: Dennis Lanni
Date: February 3rd, 2009
Location: Milk Studios, 450 West 15th Street, 8th floor.

Christina Kruse on Purple Diary

From Purple Diary:



Christina Kruse’s New York solo show

Christina Kruse is perhaps best known for her work as an international supermodel throughout the nineties. This exhibition launches the publication of Reisebuch 1-5, Kruse’s limited edition artist’s book, and will feature other significant recent work by Kruse including photographs, photo collages illuminated in watercolor and other media, and a series of photograms.

Text and photo by Gavin Doyle

At Steven Kashner Gallery, 521 West 23rd Street 2nd Floor New York, NY 10011 through March 28th, 2009.

Check out Christina Kruse in Purple Naked, Purple Fashion magazine #11

W Magazine - Jamie Bochert, Hannelore Knuts & Christina Kruse, ph: Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin, stylist: Camilla Nickerson

Photographers Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin, with stylist Camilla Nickerson, photographed Jamie Bochert, Christina Kruse and Hannelore Knuts for W Magazine on December 11 & 12, 2008 at Pier 59 Studios, Studio #1.

W Magazine April 2009 - Editorial
Models:Jamie Bochert, Christina Kruse and Hannelore Knuts
Photographers: Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin
Stylist: Camilla Nickerson
Makeup: Lisa Butler
Hair: Eugene Souleiman

Jamie Bochert


Jamie Bochert


Jamie Bochert


Christina Kruse


Christina Kruse

Hannelore Knuts

Hannelore Knuts

Hannelore Knuts

Hannelore Knuts

German Vogue - Kasia Struss, ph: Jan Welters

Jan Welters photographed Kasia Struss for German Vogue on February 5, 2009 at Daylight Studio in Paris.

German Vogue Editorial
Model: Kasia Struss
Photographer: Jan Welters
Stylist: Lynn Schmidt
Location: Daylight Studios, Studio #2
30, Rue Moret
F-75011 Paris

Toni Garrn and Anne Vyalitsyna at the Fendi party

Toni Garrn & Anne Vyalitsyna at the Fendi party, featuring a performance with Beth Ditto and The Gossip:


Beth Ditto performing with her band the Gossip at Karl Lagerfeld's Fendi party:

Miu Miu Fall 2009 Show -Backstage & Details

Miu Miu Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 12, 2009 at 5:30pm
Location: Hôtel Westin - 3 rue de Castiglione, 1er
Designer: Miuccia Prada
Casting Director: Russell Marsh

Nimue Smit


Nimue Smit


Vlada Roslyakova

Vlada Roslyakova

Kasia Struss

Ginta Lapina

Ginta Lapina

Jourdan Dunn

Jourdan Dunn

Natasha Poly

Natasha Poly

Mina Cvetkovic

Mina Cvetkovic

Mina Cvetkovic

Miu Miu Fall 2009 Show

Miu Miu Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 12, 2009 at 5:30pm
Location: Hôtel Westin - 3 rue de Castiglione, 1er
Designer: Miuccia Prada
Casting Director: Russell Marsh

Vlada Roslyakova


Kasia Struss


Ginta Lapina


Jourdan Dunn

Natasha Poly

Mina Cvetkovic

Miu Miu Fall 2009 Show Preview

Miu Miu Fall 2009 Show Preview:
Time: March 12, 2009 at 5:30pm
Location: Hôtel Westin - 3 rue de Castiglione, 1er
Designer: Miuccia Prada
Casting Director: Russell Marsh

Ginta Lapina:

Louis Vuitton Fall 2009 Show

Louis Vuitton Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 12, 2009 at 2:30pm
Location: Le Carrousel du Louvre
Designer: Marc Jacobs
Stylist: Katie Grand

Jourdan Dunn


Bruna Tenorio


Vlada Roslyakova


Natasha Poly


Yulia Kharlapanova


Nimue Smit


Olga Sherer


Heloise Guerin


Kasia Struss

Russian Vogue March 2009 Cover + Editorial - Natasha Poly, ph: Alasdair McLellan

Alasdair McLellan photographed Natasha Poly for the cover of March 2009 Russian Vogue & an edtorial on November 16, 2008 at Sun West Studios (450 West 31st Street,10th floor), South Studio.

Russian Vogue March 2009 Cover + Editorial
Model: Natasha Poly
Photographer: Alasdair McLellan
Stylist: Panos Yiapanis
Makeup: Karim Rahman
Hair: Kevin Ryan

W Korea March 2009 Cover + Editorial - Agyness Deyn, ph: David Byun

W Magazine Korea Cover & Editorial
Model: Agyness Deyn
Photographer: David Byun
Stylist: Yahaira Familia
Makeup: Yasuo
Hair: John Ruidant

W Korea March 2009 Cover + Editorial - Kasia Struss, ph: David Byun

W Magazine Korea Cover & Editorial
Model: Kasia Struss
Photographer: David Byun
Stylist: Yahaira Familia
Hair Stylist: Deycke Heidorn

W Korea March 2009 Cover + Editorial - Vlada Roslyakova, ph: David Byun

W Magazine Korea Cover & Editorial
Model: Vlada Roslyakova
Photographer: David Byun
Stylist: Yahaira Familia
Makeup: Shannah Pryatel
Hair: Marcelino

W Korea March 2009 Cover + Editorial - Mariacarla Boscono, ph: David Byun

W Magazine Korea Cover & Editorial
Model: Mariacarla Boscono
Photographer: David Byun
Stylist: Yahaira Familia
Makeup: Yasuo
Hair: John Ruidant

Breck Girl

The hair & makeup for the Chlow Fall 2009 show was inspired by vintage Breck Shampoo advertising, specifically the era of the "Breck Girl".

Breck Shampoo is an American brand of shampoo that is also known for its Breck Girls advertising campaign.

In 1930 Dr. John H. Breck, Sr. (June 5, 1877 – February 1965) of Springfield, Massachusetts founded Breck Shampoo. In 1936, son Edward J. Breck (1907 - 1993) assumed management of Breck Shampoo and hired commercial artist Charles Gates Sheldon (1889 – 1961) to draw women for their advertisements. Sheldon's early portraits for Breck were done in pastels, with a soft focus and halos of light and color surrounding them. He created romantic images of feminine beauty and purity. He preferred to draw "real women" as opposed to professional models.

In 1957 Ralph William Williams succeeded Sheldon as the Breck artist. Unlike Sheldon, he often used professional women. Breck advertisements ran regularly in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Woman's Home Companion, Seventeen, Vogue, Glamour, and Harper's Bazaar. They were most often on the back cover of the magazine. During these years, Breck Girls were identified through the company's sponsorship of America's Junior Miss contests. After Williams' death in 1976, the advertising tradition stopped.

Breck Girls
1937 Roma Whitney Armstrong at age 17, first Breck Girl
1937 Anya Taranda (1915-1970)
1948 Marylin Skelton
1968 Cheryl Tiegs
1968 Cybill Shepherd
1971, 1973 Jaclyn Smith
1972, 1974 Kim Basinger
1974 Brooke Shields
1976 Erin Gray

Brooke Shields for Breck:


Cheryl Tiegs for Breck:

Chloe Fall 2009 Show

Chloe Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 11, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Location: Espace Ephémère Tuileries - Jardin des Tuileries - Paris 1er

Kasia Struss


Natasha Poly


Nimue Smit


Kasia Struss

Gareth Pugh Fall 2009 Film starring Natasa Vojnovic/Women Direct

Launched in tandem with Gareth Pugh's show during Paris Fashion Week, this film created in collaboration with Ruth Hogben, showcases the designer's Autmn/Winter 2009 collection.





Fashion shows are always best when submerged in a murky miasma of subtefuge. Confidentiality agreements are signed, toiles closely guarded, materials hidden, sketches are talismans: in short, everything must remain an absolute secret until it is broadcast, worldwide, for its mindboggling fifteen minutes of fame. This season, the big secret was what Gareth Pugh was going to show - or rather, how. Rumblings had emerged beforehand that Pugh's presentation would be a 'show' without the catwalk - namely that he was another designer making a brave foray into fashion film. For Pugh, this move seems quite natural - a designer who has cited 'The Wizard of Oz meets Predator' as design influences is bound to have a certain cinematic bent to their vision. Accordingly, this season Pugh teamed with filmmaker Ruth Hogben, alongside established stalwarts Katie Shillingford, Matthew Stone, Simon Costin and Alex Box, to craft the latest addition to his catalogue of triumphs.



Against a backdrop of dry ice ('Think Pan's People' said Pugh before the show), his entire collection was projected larger-than-life on the equally arresting free-flowing form of Natasa V. Since moving to Paris, it seems Pugh has upped his ante (perhaps quite naturally enough) and seems to be creating clothes people could - and would - actually wear. This collection, he said, was something of a 180-degree twist: turning that inverted triangle silhouette he has been working since Fashion East in 2005 (the self-same one everyone else seems to be cottoning onto) right-way up again. In place of leggings, we had billowing, aggressive gypsy skirts - think Romany Matrix and you'd be halfway there - and on top, body-cleaving stretch sweaters and anatomically shredded leather. Moving away from his earlier puffed-up and pumped-out abstraction, Pugh's latest collections seem to have a new affinity with the body and nature as a whole - soft, slipstream silk chiffons billowed, bubbled and melted across the screen like a sinister (but beautiful) Rorschach inkblot. Aesthetically arresting, yes, but equally they seemed eminently saleable: ditto Pugh's strong statement for long in floor-length pleated skirts, ankle-grazing coats and wide trousers, all of which he assured us are rendered in the finest leather, Italian wool and cashmere suiting. For those who feel this has all got too haute luxe for the master of high concept, a series of simple seperates studded with Hellraiser-style nails were a perfect example of the short, sharp shock treatments Pugh so loves.





Graphic, dramatic and emphatic: like a perfume ad, this film was all about the dark, concentrated essence absolue of Pugh's vision, and the cinematic treatment did his equally blockbuster imagination ample justice.



Gareth Pugh's Fall 2009 Collection Film starring Natasa Vojnovic/Women Direct can be seen at ShowStudio.com.

Leigh Bowery

Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 - 31 December 1994) was an Australian-born, London-based performance artist, club promoter, actor, aspiring pop star, model and fashion designer. Bowery is considered one of the more influential figures in the 1980s and 1990s London and New York art and fashion circles influencing a generation of artists and designers. His influence reached through the fashion, club and art worlds to impact, amongst others, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Boy George, Antony and the Johnsons, John Galliano, the Scissor Sisters, David LaChapelle, and Lady Bunny.

This historical archive footage was shot by Brenda A. Go-Go for the public access cable program "On Patrol". Featured are cable show hostess Brandy Wine speaking with the legendary performance artist Leigh Bowery prior to his performance at Wigstock 1993:


Videotaped by Steve Lafreniere, the amazing Leigh Bowery gives birth - live, on stage. Introduced by Lady Bunny:


Michael Alig, James St. James, Amanda Lepore, Leigh Bowery, Ernie Glam on the Joan Rivers Show:


Leigh Bowery was one of Freud's favorite models between 1990 and 1994:


Painting: Leigh Bowery 1991,Oil on canvas.
Etching: Large Head (state II) 1993

Alexander McQueen Fall 2009 Finale Soundtrack: "Ben" by Michael Jackson

"Ben" is a number-one hit song recorded by the teenaged Michael Jackson for the Motown label in 1972. The song, the theme of a 1972 film of the same name (the sequel to the 1971 killer rat movie Willard), spent one week at the top of the U.S. pop chart.



The song was originally written for Donny Osmond, but he was on tour and unavailable when it was time to record the single, so the song was offered to Michael Jackson.

The band Pearl Jam makes a reference to the song "Ben" on their 1993 album Vs. on the song "Rats", with the line "Ben, the two of us need look no more" repeated several times at the end the track.

The song was covered in 2003 by Crispin Glover, for the remake of the prequel to the film Ben, Willard.

Alexander McQueen Fall 2009 Show

Alexander McQueen Fall 2009 Show
Times: March 10, 2009 at 8:00pm
Location: POPB - salle Marcel Cerdan - porte 28 - 8 boulevard de Bercy - Paris 12e

Yulia Kharlapanova


Yulia Kharlapanova

Hannelore Knuts

Hannelore Knuts

Georgina Stojiljković

Georgina Stojiljković

Olga Sherer

Olga Sherer

Olga Sherer

Kasia Struss

Jamie Bochert

Vlada Roslyakova

Vlada Roslyakova

Christina Kruse:Reisebuch 1-5 on Models.Com

Janelle Okwodu of models.com covered Christina Kruse' rception at the Steven Kashner Gallery.


Christina Kruse with hairstylist Bob Recine. All photos Rebecca Richard for MDC.

Art and fashion are intrinsically linked- their shared spirit of creativity and inventiveness draws an eclectic mix of people together. Christina Kruse, one of the most legendary faces of the 90s is back in a big way. In addition to reemerging in the pages of Pop and Purple and strutting down the catwalk for Alexander Wang, Kruse has yet another project on her hands. For the past 13 years she has been actively engaged in creating art. Combining collage and photography Kruse’s unique self portraits are currently on display at the Steven Kasher gallery. Naturally some of her high fashion friends stopped by to pay homage to the artistic beauty on the night of her opening - guests at her opening included Agyness Deyn, Cameron Russell and many more. (On exhibit at the Steven Kasher gallery through March 28th)

- Betty Sze at models.com

V Magazine Spring 2009 - Carmen Kass, ph: Jean Francois Campos

Jean Francois Campos photographed Carmen Kass for V Magazine on December 19, 2008 in New York City.

V Magazine Spring 2009
Model: Carmen Kass
Photographer: Jean Francois Campos
Stylist: Jay Massacret
Producer: Rachel Stein
Makeup: Francelle
Hair: Holli Smith

Yves Saint Laurent Fall 2009 Show Preview

Versace Fall 2009 Show Soundtrack

1. In Flagranti "Convolution"

2. In Flagranti "Futile Attempt"

3. In Flagranti "We Make Love in a House Made of Glass"

4. Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" mixed with Punk Division's "Seven Nation"



Punk Division's "Seven Nation":

Versace Fall 2009 Show

Versace Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 2, at 7:30 & 8:30pm
Location: Piazza Vetra, 7
Designer: Donatella Versace
Stylist: Brana Wolf

Natasha Poly


Natasha Poly


Carmen Kass


Viktoriya Sasonkina



Viktoriya Sasonkina

Toni Garrn

Snejana Onopka

Snejana Onopka

Georgina Stojiljković

Georgina Stojiljković

Vlada Roslyakova

Vlada Roslyakova

Yulia Kharlapanova

Isabeli Fontana

Jourdan Dunn

Mariacarla Boscono

Carmen Kass

Snejana Onopka

Bruna Tenorio

Vlada Roslyakova

Viktoriya Sasonkina

Natasha Poly

Toni Garrn

Georgina Stojiljković

Jourdan Dunn

Isabeli Fontana

Carmen Kass

Mariacarla Boscono

Yulia Kharlanpanova

Dries Van Noten Fall 2009 Show

Dries Van Noten Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 8, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Location: Lycée Carnot - 145 boulevard Malesherbes - Paris 17e
Casting Director: Russell Marsh

Yulia Kharlapanova


Nimue Smit


Vlada Roslyakova

Kasia Struss

Toni Garrn

Yulia Kharlapanova

Nimue Smit

Vlada Roslyakova

Kasia Struss

Kasia Struss

Valentino Fall 2009 Show

Valentino Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 10, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Location: Cité de l'Architecture - Galerie des Moulages - 1 place du Trocadéro - Paris 16e

Jourdan Dunn


Nimue Smit


Vlada Roslyakova

Natasha Poly

Toni Garrn

Kasia Struss

Hussein Chalayan Fall 2009 Show

Hussein Chalayan Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 8, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Location: Couvent des Cordeliers - 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e

Anne Vyalitsyna


Anne Vyalitsyna


Sheila Marquez


Sheila Marquez

Jourdan Dunn

Sheila Marquez

Sheila Marquez

Anne Vyalitsyna

Anne Vyalitsyna

Anne Vyalitsyna (closed)

Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2009 Show

Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 7, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Location: 325 rue Saint-Martin - Paris 3e

Natasha Poly


Anne Vyalitsyna


Yulia Kharlapanova


Jourdan Dunn

Natasha Poly

Georgina Stojiljković

Anne Vyalitsyna

Jourdan Dunn

Yulia Kharlapanova

Hannelore Knuts

Anne Demeulemeester Fall 2009 Show

Anne Demeulemeester Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 7, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Location: Couvent des Cordeliers - 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine - Paris 6e

Jamie Bochert


Carmen Maria Hillestad


Anna Kuchkina


Georgina Stojiljković

Chanel Fall 2009 Show

Chanel Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 10, 2009 at 10:30 am
Location: Grand Palais - avenue du Général Eisenhower, 8e
Designer: Karl Lagerfeld

Karen Elson (opened)


Nimue Smit


Inguna Butane


Natasha Poly

Jourdan Dunn

Toni Garrn

Vlada Roslyakova

Karen Elson

Viktor and Rolf Fall 2009 Show

Viktor and Rolf Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 9, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Location: Malaquais, 6e

Vlada Roslyakova


Georgina Stojiljković


Anne Vyalitsyna


Vlada Rolsyakova

Georgina Stojiljković

Anne Vyalitsyna

Yves Saint Laurent Fall 2009 Show

Yves Saint Laurent Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 9, 2009 at 7:00pm
Location: Palais de Tokyo - 13 avenue du Président Wilson - Paris 16e
Designer: Stefano Pilati
Casting Director: Philippe Contini

Yulia Kharlapanova


Natasha Poly


Mina Cvetkovic

Olga Sherer

Sheila Marquez

Mariacarla Boscono

Yulia Kharlapanova

Karen Elson

Ginta Lapina

Kasia Struss

Toni Garrn

Sophia Kokosalaki Fall 2009 Show

Sophia Kokosalaki Fall 2009 Show
March 7, 2009 at 1:30pm
Location: LE CARROUSEL DU LOUVRE

Jourdan Dunn

Vlada Roslyakova

Yulia Kharlapanova

Olga Sherer

Haider Ackermann Fall 2009 Show

Haider Ackermann Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 7, 2009 at 10:30 am
Location: Les Beaux-Arts de Paris - Salle Mélpomène - 13 quai

Olga Sherer


Anna Kuchkina


Kasia Struss


Anna Kuchkina

Olga Sherer

Kasia Struss

Christian Dior Fall 2009 Show

Christian Dior Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 6, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Location: Espace Ephémère Tuileries - Jardin des Tuileries, 1er
Designer: John Galliano

Yulia Kharlapanova


Yulia Kharlapanova


Kasia Struss


Vlada Roslyakova

Olga Sherer

Olga Sherer

Jourdan Dunn

Jourdan Dunn

Heloise Guerin

Natasha Poly

Georgina Stojiljković

Georgina Stojiljković

Yohji Yamamoto Fall 2009 Show

Yohji Yamamoto Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 6, 2009 at 8:30pm
Location: Espace Commines - 17 rue Commines, 3e
Carreau du Temple - 3 rue Dupetit Thouars, 3e

Nimue Smit


Nimue Smit


Heloise Guerin


Heloise Guerin


Heloise Guerin

Anna Kuchkina

Anna Kuchkina

Nimue Smit

Nimue Smit

Nimue Smit

Heloise Guerin

Anna Kuchkina

Anna Kuchkina

Martin Margiela Fall 2009 Show

Martin Margiela Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 6, 2009 at 6:30pm
Location: POPB - salle Marcel Cerdan - porte 28 - 8 boulevard de

Natasa Vojnovic/Women Direct


Anne Vyalitsyna

Lanvin Fall 2009 Show

Lanvin Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 6 at 5:30pm
Location: Halle Freyssinet - 55 boulevard Vincent Auriol, 13e
Desinger: Alber Elbaz

Jamie Bochert


Jamie Bochert


Yulia Kharlapanova


Yulia Kharlapanova


Vlada Roslyakova


Vlada Roslyakova


Olga Sherer


Olga Sherer


Natasha Poly


Katrin Thormann


Katrin Thormann


Toni Garrn


Toni Garrn

Georgina Stojiljković

Georgina Stojiljković


Nimue Smit

Nimue Smit

Yulia Kharlapanova


Yulia Kharlapanova


Vlada Roslyakova


Vlada Roslyakova


Natasha Poly

Natasha Poly

Loewe Fall 2009 Show

Loewe Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 7, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Location: Faculté de Médecine - 45 rue des Saints Pères, 6e
Designer: Stuart Vevers

Kasia Struss


Natasha Poly


Jourdan Dunn


Nimue Smit

Stella McCartney Fall 2009 Show

Stella McCartney Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 9, 2009 at 10:00 am
Location: Carreau du Temple - 3 rue Dupetit Thouars, 3e

Natasha Poly


Yulia Kharlapanova


Toni Garrn


Jourdan Dunn

Yulia Kharlapanova

Natasha Poly

Toni Garrn

Natasha Poly

Christina Kruse in the New York Times

Source The New York Times Sunday, March 8th



Having spent too much time idling in hotel rooms, Christina Kruse, the hauntingly beautiful German model, decided in the mid-’90s to take up a hobby. So she bought a Mamiya camera and became her own guinea pig, dressing up as different characters and posing for herself. Then she began gluing the photos into travel journals (or “Reisebuchs,” as she calls them) and creating intricate collages that elegantly combined gouache and newsprint, colored tape and metallic paper. “They became like a language I had with myself,” she said.

Nowadays, Ms. Kruse has a studio in Brooklyn and a costume closet the size of a small bedroom. Her photos have been published in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Interview; and last week, her first solo show in the United States opened at Steven Kasher Gallery in Chelsea. On view is a range of evocative, often amusing self-portraits and collages, as well as “Reisebuch 1-5,” her limited-edition artist’s book, painstakingly self-published in Germany. So much for free time. As she noted, “It took forever to do them.”

Givenchy Fall 2009 Show

Givenchy Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 8, 2009 at 6:30pm
Location: Garage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne, 3e
Designer: Riccardo Tisci
Casting: Patrizia Pilatti

Mariacarla Boscono


Mariacarla Boscono


Karen Elson


Isabeli Fontana


Louise Pedersen


Valentina Zelyaeva


Valentina Zelyaeva



Natasha Poly



Karen Elson


Karen Elson


Isabeli Fontana



Katrin Thormann


Katrin Thormann


Mariacarla Boscono (closed)




Mariacarla Boscono (closed)

The Tracks of My Tears

The Tracks of My Tears



Credits- The Miracles:
Smokey Robinson - lead vocals, co-writer, producer
Marv Tarplin - guitar, co-writer
Claudette Rogers Robinson - background vocals
Pete Moore - background vocals, co-writer,vocal arranger
Ronnie White - background vocals
Bobby Rogers - background vocals

Other Credits
Written by William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr., Warren "Pete" Moore, and Marvin "Marv" Tarplin of The Miracles
Produced by William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr.
Other Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra



Lyrics:

People say I'm the life of the party
'Cause I tell a joke or two
Although I might be laughin' loud and hearty
Deep inside I'm blue

So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

I need you (need you)
Need you (need you)

Since you left me if you see me with another girl
Seemin' like I'm havin' fun
Although she may be cute
She's just a substitute
Because you're the permanent one

So take a good look at my face, uh-huh
You see my smile (looks out of place)
Yeah, look a little bit closer
It's easy to trace, oh the tracks of my tears

Oh-ho-ho-ho I need you (need you)
Need you (need you)

Hey hey -yeah
(Outside) i'm masquerading
(Inside) all my hope is fading
(Im just a clown) ooo-yeah, since you put me down
My smile is my make-up
I wear since my break-up with you

Baby, take a good look at my face, uh-huh
You see my smile looks (out of place)
Yeah, just look closer it's easy (to trace)
Oh, the tracks of my tears

Baby, baby, baby, baby
Take a good look at (my face)
Ooo, yeah you see my smile (looks out of place)
Look a little bit closer (it's easy to trace)
Yeah, the tracks of my tears, oh yeah
FADES-
Baby, take a good look

Other uses: It was featured in a memorable scene in the 1986 Vietnam war film Platoon.

Isabel Marant Fall 2009 Show

Isabel Marant Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 6, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Location: Couvent des Cordeliers - 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine, 6e

Natasha Poly


Snejana Onopka


Carmen Kass


Isabeli Fontana

Natasha Poly

Snejana Onopka

Carmen Kass

Isabeli Fontana

Natasha Poly

Snejana Onopka (closed)

Blowing Kisses to Paris in the ’40s

I have a lot of respect for Cathy Horyn. She tells it how she sees it. Sometimes I agree with her fashion reviews. Sometimes She makes me see collections in a whole new light. This season I have disagreed with several of her reviews.

Today she blew my mind.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"

- William L. Shirer made these words the epigraph for his Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1959)." .

In the New York Times today Cathy Horyn titled her fashion review Blowing Kisses to Paris in the ’40s :

Fashion Review
Blowing Kisses to Paris in the ’40s
By CATHY HORYN
Paris

THE plain, flat-collar jersey dress from Rochas didn’t say understatement so much as rationing. In another echo of genuine hard times, the models at Balenciaga had their eyebrows blotted out so they appeared to be wearing little makeup. Ahead of reports that France will suffer its worst postwar recession this year, two far-sighted designers conjured the 1940s.

Presenting his first collection today for Rochas — a mixture of masculine tailoring and discreet feminine details — Marco Zanini said, “In my fantasy trip about what is French, I didn’t want to look at any one decade, but Paris during the occupation is very meaningful.” A former designer at Versace, who most recently worked at Halston, Mr. Zanini did an excellent job imparting French savoir faire. With no long dresses and only a slip as a foundation, his Rochas is a departure from the drama of Olivier Theyskens, its former designer, and, despite the flashback, is more contemporary.

At Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquiere had Yves Saint Laurent in his sights, but the lodestar for Saint Laurent was the ’40s. The era informed one of his most daring collections as it agitated clients. Held in a salon at the Crillon overlooking the Place de la Concorde, instead of in his cramped Left Bank showroom, Mr. Ghesquiere’s show included dresses and trousers in lavishly draped satin. Lately, his clothes have looked hard, molded and probably mystifying to people who don’t follow these shows closely.

If this collection seems more romantic, more feminine and more accessible, it may be because Mr. Ghesquiere, like other designers, has to think harder about selling clothes. Accordingly, he had spotty print dresses inspired by the Balenciaga archive, including one in sparkling green-and-black leopard spots. Jackets were sharp-shouldered, fitted though roomy, and the best of the lot was shown over a black lace bandeau top with gray-striped pants.

The swags of satin drapery on skirts and trousers may have unfortunate associations to the ’80s, and certain prime-time queens. But in the blend of colors like Persian blue and green, in the alert cut of the shoulders, in the bangles stacked on wrists, in the erotic strips of black lace, these clothes also evoke Saint Laurent. And as a modern interpretation of his style, it was a good one.

There were a number of Saint Laurent muses in the room, including Catherine Deneuve and Loulou de la Falaise, who worked with the designer for three decades. “I think Yves would have liked this interpretation very much,” Ms. de la Falaise said. She did.

After the show, several French editors stood waiting for the backstage area to clear and the kissing to stop. There was Loïc Prigent and Agnès Boulard, who collaborate on documentaries and a French television program; Carine Roitfeld, the editor in chief of French Vogue; and Emmanuelle Alt, the magazine’s fashion director. Ms. Roitfeld had on a Balenciaga coat over a black lace top, Ms. Alt skinny jeans and a silver braided Balmain jacket, Ms. Boulard a little peak-shoulder jacket. Their hair was long, and they wore little if any makeup.

With a wave of his hand, Mr. Prigent said: “Look at her, look at her. This woman still exists. It’s so French, this look. It’s not Saint Laurent, it’s the woman. She’s a Paris lady. She smokes in the building even if it’s forbidden.”

The women kind of shrugged. “We’re all blond inside,” Ms. Roitfeld said.

From CNN, February 16, 2009:
PARIS, France (CNN) --
France 'responsible' for Holocaust deaths

France bears responsibility for deporting Jews to their deaths in concentration camps during World War II, the country's highest court ruled Monday.

Jews and foreigners are rounded up in Paris in May 1941:


But, the Council of State said, "measures taken since the end of the Second World War have compensated for the damage."

Northern France was directly occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II while the south of the country was ruled by the Vichy government that collaborated with Adolf Hitler.

France's role in the deportation of its Jews was a taboo subject for decades after the war.

The trial of Maurice Papon, a civil servant in the collaborationist Vichy government, for deporting Jews, forced the country to confront its role in the Holocaust.

Papon was convicted in 1998 by a French court for complicity in crimes against humanity for his role in the deportation of 1,590 Jews from the city of Bordeaux.

Most of the deportees later perished at the concentration camp at Auschwitz in modern day Poland. Papon died in February 2007, aged 96, after serving part of his term and then being freed on health grounds.

There were approximately 350,000 Jews in France at the time of the country's defeat by Germany in 1940. At least half of those were refugees who had already fled Germany or countries already under Nazi occupation, according to the Web site of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

At least 77,000 Jews were deported to their deaths from French transit camps between 1942 and the end of German occupation in December 1944. Of these, around a third were French citizens and more than 8,000 were children under under 13.

From International Herald Tribune:

Photo exhibit shows Paris under Nazi occupation, minus the misery
By Meg Bortin

Friday, April 25, 2008
PARIS: April in Paris. Nazis in uniform. Holiday tables under the trees.

That something is wrong with the old refrain has not escaped the notice of the crowds flocking this April - with chestnut trees in blossom at last - to a photo exhibition so controversial that the Paris mayor's top aide for cultural affairs publicly urged him to shut it down.

The exhibition, "The Parisians Under the Occupation," puts on view 270 color photographs of daily life in the French capital during World War II. These photos have never been displayed before, giving visitors a rare opportunity to see images of Paris during the 1940-44 Nazi occupation.

The fact that the photographer, André Zucca, shot the pictures while working for Signal, a Nazi propaganda magazine, is not the main source of the dispute. Rather, it is that the pictures went up with no historical information to put them in context - as though all Parisians enjoyed days in the park and promenades down broad leafy avenues, when in fact thousands, mainly Jews, were being deported to Nazi extermination camps.

The images on display are indeed striking: Three smiling young women in white-rimmed sunglasses pose in the Luxembourg Gardens in May 1942; well-dressed couples relax at outdoor café tables at Fouquets, on the Champs-Elysées, as two uniformed German officers stroll by; an elegant woman in fur and jewels shares luscious-looking cherries with a well-heeled man on a park bench, their baby beside them in a pram.

The captions, however, give little more than the place and date, if that.

Controversy about the exhibit began building shortly after it went up in mid-March at an annex to the Paris Historical Library, in the Marais district, and escalated sharply last weekend, when Mayor Bertrand Delanoë's chief aide for culture, Christophe Girard, told Le Journal du Dimanche, a leading Sunday newspaper, that when he first saw the display it made him want to vomit.

Girard ordered posters around Paris advertising the exhibition to be taken down, while Delanoë - no stranger to controversy - went into damage control. He acknowledged at a media lunch that the way the exhibition had been organized left plenty to be desired but said it would stay up, declaring that he did not wish to add "a wrong" - censorship - to the errors already committed. He added that debates about the photos would be organized.

Even before Delanoë spoke out, organizers of the exhibition began making small changes after complaints from historians, visitors and groups like the French Human Rights League. On April 2, a panel headlined "Warning" went up, and a few days later leaflets reprinting the warning began being handed to visitors as they entered.

The leaflet describes the photos as exceptional: "The only color pictures taken in occupied Paris by a French photographer" who was not only accredited but also used German Agfacolor film - "almost impossible to get hold of at the time."

It adds: "What André Zucca portrays for us is a casual, even carefree Paris. He has opted for a vision that does not show - or hardly shows - the reality of occupation and its tragic aspects: waiting lines in front of food shops, rounding up of Jews, posters announcing executions."

Colombe Brossel, Delanoë's chief aide for patrimony, said in a telephone interview Friday that captions going up next week would improve on ones like, "Keeping Up With Fashion," the current bright description of the three bespectacled young women in the Luxembourg Gardens in 1942.

Visitors on a recent day pressed into the basement exhibition space as soon as the doors opened. Some were curious to see how familiar spots in Paris had looked during the war: the big Marignan cinema on the Champs-Elysées renamed as the Soldatenkino (Soldiers' Cinema); the flower beds of the Luxembourg Gardens planted with onions and radishes; a man on a tandem "taxi" waiting near the Madeleine church.

Zucca also photographed scenes that made it clear there was a war on: helmeted Nazis marching though Paris, a car festooned with the American, British and Soviet flags during the Liberation. But most show ordinary people: a blonde woman bicycling on a sunny Sunday; a street acrobat; travelers leaving a railway station.

"You can't really feel that it's the Occupation," said Serge Thilloux, 70, who was visiting from Le Mans. "You have the impression that people can walk about freely, while today there are plaques around Paris indicating where this or that person was shot." He said photos showing the darker reality of Paris in the war years should have been included.

Robert Schenker, 66, was visiting from Zurich. "It shows how frighteningly normal life was," he said. "With the exception of the Germans in uniform, you can hardly see any difference from daily life now."

Jean-Pierre Azéma, a historian who has written about Zucca, told the newspaper Le Monde that, among other problems, the exhibition had the wrong title. It "should have been 'Some' Parisians Under the Occupation," he said, "and not 'The' Parisians."


The fact that the photographer, André Zucca, shot the pictures while working for Signal, a Nazi propaganda magazine, is not the main source of the dispute. Rather, it is that the pictures went up with no historical information to put them in context. This photograph is titled "Rue de Belleville."


The images on display are indeed striking, including this photograph of three smiling young women in white-rimmed sunglasses posing in the Luxembourg Gardens in May 1942. The captions, however, give little more than the place and date, if that.


Photographs like this one titled "Dans le Marais, rue des Rosiers," leave some visitors feeling that the darker reality of Paris in the war years should have been included in the exhibition. This is one of the few photos in the exhibit that shows a Jew wearing a yellow star (the man to the left).


Many feel that the photographs on display give the impression that all Parisians enjoyed days in the park and promenades down broad leafy avenues, when in fact thousands, mainly Jews, were being deported to Nazi extermination camps. This photograph is titled "Place de la Concorde."


This photograph of the rue de Rivoli covered in Swastika flags was taken by Zucca using German Agfacol, a type of film that was nearly impossible to get at the time.


A leaflet being distributed about the exhibition describes the photographs as the only color pictures taken in occupied Paris by a French photographer. It continues on to clarify that Zucca opted for a vision that hardly shows the tragic aspects of occupation. This photograph is titled "Les Halles."


Organizers of the exhibition began making small changes after complaints from historians, visitors and groups like the French Human Rights League. Colombe Brossel, the chief aide for patrimony, said that captions going up next week would be much improved. Pictured above is "Cinèma Lux Bastille et gare de la Bastille."

From The London Times:
Matthew Campbell in Paris

A new book which suggests that the German occupation of France encouraged the sexual liberation of women has shocked a country still struggling to come to terms with its troubled history of collaboration with the Nazis.

Like a recent photographic exhibition showing Parisians enjoying themselves under the occupation, the book’s depiction of life in Paris as one big party is at odds with the collective memory of hunger, resistance and fear.

“It is a taboo subject, a story nobody wants to hear,” said Patrick Buisson, author of 1940-1945 Années Erotiques (“erotic years”). “It may hurt our national pride, but the reality is that people adapted to occupation.”

Many might prefer to forget but, with their husbands in prison camps, numerous women slept not only with German soldiers – the young “blond barbarians” were particularly attractive to French women, says Buisson – but also conducted affairs with anyone else who could help them through financially difficult times: “They gave way to the advances of the boss, to the tradesman they owed money to, their neighbour. In times of rationing, the body is the only renewable, inexhaustible currency.”

Cold winters, when coal was in short supply, and a curfew from 11pm to 5am also encouraged sexual activity, says Buisson, with the result that the birth rate shot up in 1942 even though 2m men were locked up in the camps.

The book has stirred painful memories. One French reviewer called it “impertinent” and another accused Buisson of telling only part of the story by focusing on the “beneath the belt” history of the occupation. Le Monde, the bible of the French intellectual elite, chided the author, who is the director of French television’s History Channel, for painting life under the occupation as a “gigantic orgy”.

People who lived through the occupation found it insulting to suggest that they spent it in bed. “It makes me really angry,” said Liliane Schroeder, 88, who risked her life as a member of the resistance and has published her own journal of the occupation. “It’s shocking and ridiculous to say life was just a big party,” she told The Sunday Times. “We had much better things to do.”
Schroeder nevertheless described her life as a messenger in the resistance as a “marvellous time” in which “people got on with life even if they weren’t laughing”. Young women were useful to the resistance, she said, because “when a young woman and a man sat in a café it did not look as if they were plotting. They looked like lovers”.

French sensitivities about the country’s wartime record were demonstrated last month when an exhibition of photographs depicting Parisians enjoying life under the Nazis included a notice explaining that the pictures avoided the “reality of occupation and its tragic aspects”. The photographs showed well-dressed citizens shopping on the boulevards or strolling in the parks. People crowded into nightclubs. Women in bikinis swam in a pool.

Buisson dedicates a chapter in his book to cinemas, which he describes as hotbeds of erotic activity, particularly when it was cold outside. “At a few francs they were cheaper than a hotel room,” he writes, “and, offering the double cover of darkness and anonymity, propitious for all sorts of outpourings.”

The French even had sex in the catacombs, the underground ossuary and warren of subterranean tunnels in Paris: war, Buisson argues, acted as an aphrodisiac, stimulating “the survival instinct”. He said in an interview: “People needed to prove that they were alive. They did so by making love.”

It has been claimed that prostitutes staged the first rebellion against the Nazis by refusing to service the invaders but Buisson called this a myth. The Germans, he claimed, were welcomed into the city’s best brothels, a third of which were reserved for officers. Another 100,000 women in Paris became “occasional prostitutes”, he said.

Elsewhere, members of the artistic elite drowned their sorrows in debauchery. Simone de Beauvoir, the writer, and Jean-Paul Sartre, the philosopher, were devotees of allnight parties fuelled by alcohol and lust.

“It was only in the course of those nights that I discovered the true meaning of the word party,” was how de Beauvoir put it. Sartre was no less enthusiastic: “Never were we as free as under the German occupation.”

De Beauvoir wrote about the “quite spontaneous friendliness” of the conquerors: she was as fascinated as any by the German “cult of the body” and their penchant for exercising in nothing but gym shorts.

“In the summer of 1940,” wrote Buisson, “France was transformed into one big naturist camp. The Germans seemed to have gathered on French territory only to celebrate an impressive festival of gymnastics.” The author said he did not want to make light of a tragic part of French history, but there was a need to correct the “mythical” image of the occupation. “In this horrible period, life continued,” he said.

“It is disturbing to know that while the Jews were being deported, the French were making love. But that is the truth.”

Now Buisson is at work on a sequel, about how women were punished for sleeping with the enemy. The provisional title is Revenge of the Males.

Nina Ricci Fall 2009 Show

Nina Ricci Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 5, 2009 at 7:00pm
Location: Malaquais, 6e
Designer: Olivier Theyskens

Nimue Smit


Olga Sherer


Yulia Kharlapanova


Kasia Struss


Natasha Poly

Vlada Roslyakova

Rick Owens Fall 2009 Show

Rick Owens Fall 2009 Sh0w
Time: March 5, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Location: Musée de l'Homme - 17 place du Trocadéro, 16e

Olga Sherer


Kasia Struss


Katrin Thormann


Vlada Roslyakova

Katrin Thormann

Olga Sherer

Kasia Struss

Balmain Fall 2009 Show

Balmain Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 5, 2009 at 3:00pm
Location: Garage Turenne - 66 rue de Turenne, 3e
Designer: Christophe Decarnin
Stylist: Emmanuelle Alt

Natasha Poly


Isabeli Fontana


Carmen Kass


Natasha Poly

Carmen Kass

Isabeli Fontana

Natasha Poly

Anne Valérie Hash Fall 2009 Show

Anne Valérie Hash Fall 2009 Show
Time: March 4, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Location: 36 boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, 10e

Anne Vyalitsyna


Jourdan Dunn


Anne Vyalitsyna


Jourdan Dunn

Vintage Italian Vogue - Christina Kruse, Photo: Steven Meisel, Stylist: Joe McKenna

Italian Vogue editorial - May 1995
Model: Christina Kruse
Photographer: Steven Meisel
Stylist: Joe McKenna

Christina Kruse on Style.Com

A model taking pictures of herself? That may sound like a project born of narcissism, but in the case of model-photographer Christina Kruse, something like the opposite was in effect. Back when she began shooting self-portrait Polaroids in 1996, Cruse explains her motives were more practical. “I was trying to teach myself how to take pictures,” she said. “And I was traveling a lot at the time, so it seemed like I was the most convenient subject.” Eventually, it struck Kruse that she was compiling a kind of visual travel journal, and she began to collect her images and play on them for a series of books that also comprise her collages and drawings.

This evening, she opens her first show of these works at the Steven Kasher Gallery in west Chelsea, an event that also marks the launch of Kruse’s Reisebuch 1-5. “Reisebuch means travel book in German,” she says. “I’ve selected images from the five books I made over the years and put them together in one, more formal book.” Though she had offers from two publishing houses, Kruse has elected to publish the books herself—fitting, given that she’s kept her art and photography a relatively private project.

“I really only picked up the camera because I was at the point in my modeling career where I was starting to think, this will end soon, so what next?” she recalls. “I didn’t show anything to anyone for a long time. But I think that’s good. Doing things by myself meant that I didn’t just teach myself to take pictures, but that I also got to teach myself how to see.”

—Maya Singer

Christina Kruse - Interview Magazine interview

Interview Magazine interviewed Christina Kruse about her creative process and day-to-day routine:


August and Christina at the circus

Christina Kruse has been on and off the runways in recent seasons, but she's been full-time in the darkroom. Kruse has taken photographs since 1996, when she picked it up from her boyfriend at the time, who was a photographer. Since then she's self taught herself to shoot film, using the same Mamiya RZ 6x7 for the past 13 years. On the occasion of her recent series of self-portaits and collages at Steven Kasher Gallery, which opened last week but whose reception is March 5, we asked the muse-cum-maker to jot down some notes about her day to day.

On a typical day...
I live in Chelsea. In the morning I like to have a cup of tea and smoke a cigarette by the window before my son August wakes up. On a typical day I get up at 7 AM, leave the house at 9 to go to my studio in Brooklyn, and head back to Manhattan by 4:15 PM to pick up August from school. I go home and make (or order) dinner for us, and put him to bed. Either I wait for babysitter in order to go meet friends or stay at home. Not that exciting... even though the occasional trip come up or a modeling job and that is a welcome break but honestly after all these years traveling I kind of like the "routine." Today was not so much different.

On what caught her eye...
I saw a woman wearing pink sweatpants, a fur jacket, sneakers, and a mask for construction workers—complemented by insane amounts of orange blush and eye make up .

On preparation for her show at Steven Kasher Gallery, and catharsis...
I had only a few weeks to prepare, so I just did it. At the end when everything went to the framers I sat down asking myself, "What did I just do..?" That's a good sign.

On being a model, for others and for herself...
The portraits have been mostly self-portraits due to me being alone or on planes, travels—or primarily, not feeling comfortable asking people to sit for me. In the past I always felt pressure that a sitter wanted to be made to look good. And God forbid if they didn't like it. It was easiest to use myself: I didn't have any of that, and I could do whatever I want. This has changed but the books will always be self-portraits. It's its own on-going project.

Do I feel like I posses my image?
Not at all: When I do my stuff I never think about that. It's me and it's irrelevant physically speaking. When I am being photographed it looks more like the "me" I know from photos that people would respond to. In my own work I don't care what what I look like, as long as it makes my intended idea clear. It is beside the point.

Christina Kruse is on view at Steven Kasher Gallery through March 28. Steven Kasher is located at 521 West 23 St., Second Floor. The reception is March 5, 6–8 PM.

Little tease

We are the slaves of objects around us

We are the slaves of objects around us, and appear little or important
according as these contract or give us room to expand.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

German poet, novelist, playwright, courtier, and natural philosopher, one of the greatest figures in Western literature. In literature Goethe gained early fame with The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), but his most famous work is the poetic drama in two parts, FAUST. Like the famous character of this poem, Goethe was interested in alchemy. He also made important discoveries in connection with plant and animal life, and evolved a non-Newtonian and unorthodox theory of the character of light and color, which has influenced such abstract painters as Kandinsky and Mondrian.

In 1810, Goethe published his Theory of Colours, which he considered his most important work. In it, he (contentiously) characterized colour as arising from the dynamic interplay of darkness and light. Goethe was the first to systematically study the physiological effects of colour, and his observations on the effect of opposed colors led him to a symmetric arrangement of his colour wheel, 'for the colours diametrically opposed to each other… are those which reciprocally evoke each other in the eye. (Goethe, Theory of Colours, 1810).

Faust or Faustus (Latin for "auspicious" or "lucky") is the protagonist of a classic German legend who makes a pact with the Devil in exchange for knowledge. The meaning of the word and name has been reinterpreted through the ages. "Faust" (and the adjective "Faustian") has taken on a connotation distinct from its original use, and is often used today to describe a person whose headstrong desire for self-fulfillment leads him or her in a diabolical direction.

The legend of Faust was an obsession of Goethe's. The composition and refinement of his own version of the legend occupied him for over sixty years (though not continuously). The final version, published after his death, is recognized as a great work of German literature.

The story concerns the fate of Faust in his quest for the true essence of life ("was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält"). Frustrated with learning and the limits to his knowledge and power, he attracts the attention of the Devil (represented by Mephistopheles), who agrees to serve Faust until the moment he attains the zenith of human happiness, at which point Mephistopheles may take his soul. Faust is pleased with the deal, as he believes the moment will never come.
In the first part, Mephistopheles leads Faust through experiences that culminate in a lustful and destructive relationship with an innocent and nubile woman named Gretchen. Gretchen and her family are destroyed by Mephistopheles' deceptions and Faust's desires and actions. The story ends in tragedy as Gretchen is saved and Faust is left in shame.

The second part begins with the spirits of the earth forgiving Faust (and the rest of mankind) and progresses into rich allegorical poetry. Faust and his devil pass through the world of politics and the world of the classical gods, and meet with Helen of Troy (the personification of beauty). Finally, having succeeded in taming the very forces of war and nature Faust experiences a single moment of happiness.

The devil Mephistopheles, trying to grab Faust's soul when he dies, is frustrated as the Lord intervenes—recognizing the value of Faust's unending striving.

Many of Goethe's works, especially Faust, the Roman Elegies, and the Venetian Epigrams, depict hetero- and homosexual erotic passions and acts. In Faust, having signed (the Devil insists on his signature in an actual contract) his deal with the devil, the very first use of his new power thus gained sees Faust raping a young teenage girl. In fact, some of the Venetian Epigrams were held back from publication due to their sexual content. However, Karl Hugo Pruys caused national controversy in Germany when his 1999 book The Tiger's Tender Touch: The Erotic Life of Goethe tentatively deduced from Goethe's writings the possibility of Goethe's homosexuality. The sexual portraitures and allusions in his work may stem from one of the many effects of Goethe's eye-opening sojourn in Italy, where men, who shunned the prevalence of women's venereal diseases, embraced homosexuality as a solution that was not widely imitated outside of Italy. Whatever the case, Goethe clearly saw sexuality in general as a topic that merited poetic and artistic depiction. This went against the thought of his time, when the very private nature of sexuality was rigorously normative, and makes him appear more modern than he is typically thought to be.


Photo: Barbara P. Fernandez for The New York Times
Art Basel Miami Beach offers Goethe's words in Barbara Kruger's "Untitled."


London - Uploaded on February 5, 2008by Photography by Ariel

March 2009 Italian Vogue - Kasia Struss, Photo: Steven Meisel, Stylist: Marie Amelie Sauve

We are the Slaves of Objects Around Us

March 2009 Italian Vogue editorial
Model: Kasia Struss
Photographer: Steven Meisel
Stylist: Marie Amelie Sauve
Makeup:" Pat McGrath
Hair: Guido Palau



Kasia Struss


Kasia Struss

Kasia Struss