Michaela Bodenmiller

Ice Models (Milan)

Cato Van Ee

Group Model Management Spain
Seeds Management (Berlin)
IMG Models
Paprazzi Model Management (Amsterdam)
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Doutzen Kroes

Viva Models (London, Paris)
DNA Model Management (New York)
Yes Model Management (Bucharest)
Paparazzi Model Management (Amsterdam)
Women Management (Milan)
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My Weekend Crush

I realize, looking back at my posts this week, I’ve been in a rather black and white mood. Perhaps it’s the stress of moving or the nostalgia of finding remnants from one’s past. Either way, it’s made me a little monochromatic. But this weekend, I will bathe in the delicious Technicolor waterfall that is “Pushing Daisies.” The series kicks off its final three episodes Saturday night, so it will be a bittersweet exercise. But I plan to put on a brave face and indulge one last time in the cotton-candy ephemera that is this show. As I’ve said before, the denizens of The Pie Hole simply make me happy, like eating ice cream and petting puppies and spotting rainbows on a sunny day happy. This Seussian fantasy for grown-ups will live on to its fans as a glorious moment when whimsy met intrigue and got wrapped up in a quirky blanket of adorability. That this show got cancelled too soon is a given. That it got made in the first place is possibly the biggest fairy tale ever. Watch at 10 p.m. the next three Saturdays on ABC. Oh, Olive Snook, I think I’ll miss you most of all. Happy weekend, all.

Gender Fuck Thursday

Oh, kittens, kittens. Look what madness you have wrought. Another day dedicated to the singular pursuit of The Hot. You asked for it, and now you've got it. Gender Fuck Thursday is here. I've officially added it to the Surrenders vernacular, just for you. Now don't expect it every week, but just like Tank Top Tuesday it will pop up when you need it most. We’re here, we’re queer and we love a woman in a suit. Or a tank top (like Linda “Double Your Pleasure” Evangelista, above). Or anything else that fucks with the traditionally feminine. Mmmm, tasty tasty androgyny.

Evangeline LillyBeyoncéCate BlanchettDita Von TeeseScarlett JohanssonDita & ScarlettOh, that's why they needed the cigarettes.

A more perfect union

History will shame the California Supreme Court’s support of marriage inequality. Of course, being on the side of history is cold comfort in the harsh reality of injustice today. The wait for progress at times seems unbearable. But it is coming. There will be setbacks and roadblocks; it will be slow and uneven. We must demand it at every turn and fight for it with all we have. But progress is coming, it always does.

The jumble of a ruling by the state’s highest court yesterday only serves to highlight the inherent inequality of banning gay marriage. In essence, the court created three classes of citizen in California. Gays who got married when it was legal. Gays who aren’t allowed to get married now that it’s illegal again. Straights who can get married anytime they damn well please. It makes no sense and yet there it is. Hello, separate, but in no way equal.

I am thrilled for the 18,000 couples who get to stay married. To be forcibly divorced by the government seems cruel beyond the realm of unusual. But if good timing is all that matters between “I do” and “I don’t” in the eyes of the state, how is this fair? Justice is supposed to be blind, not arbitrary.

I guess what always seems so simultaneously absurd and enraging about this “fight” is that it is about marriage in the first place. While we may have our personal problems with the institution, its origins and intent, I think we can probably all agree that its best it should always be about love. No piece of paper can ever invalidate the human heart. No judge can ever gavel away affection. So we continue, as we always have, to make our own families and follow our own rules. As we continue toward that more perfect union, we know that our unions are perfect and no different than anyone else’s. And, one day, California and the rest of America will know it, too.

A look back in wonder

So as those of you who’ve been following my exercise in personal archeology known as moving have probably figured out by now that I am a fucking pack rat. I keep all sorts of things all kinds of long past their usefulness date. Good for nostalgia, bad for sanity. But today, instead of culling the past, how about we revel in it? So let’s get into our wayback machines and enjoy these snapshots from another era. Starlets of today, take note.

Julie AndrewsCirca 1957, in “Cinderella.”

Elizabeth TaylorCirca 1956, on the set of “Giant.”

Grace Kelly & Audrey HepburnCirca 1956, backstage at the Oscars.

Greta GarboCirca 1926, posing at USC.

Marilyn MonroeCirca I have no idea, but ohmygod those glasses.

Frida KahloCirca any year, any time, any place – just stunning.

MODEL PROFILES: KATE MOSS

Kate Moss is the most influential model working in fashion today. The girl from Croydon holds a special place in modelling history: she is someone, who on paper, should never have succeeded as a model.

Kate’s career began when she was discovered at a New York airport by Storm agency founder Sarah Doukas in 1988. Kate’s meteoric rise through the fashion ranks began with a photo shoot for ‘The Face’ magazine with photographer Corinne Day. The edgy, cool shots spread through the fashion world like wildfire. It was here that Kate was first cast as the ‘anti-supermodel’. Her teenage, waif-like body could not have been more different to the Nineties’ clutch of supermodels: Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista. They were conventionally beautiful and uber sexy. The remit for models was a womanly but slender figure – something that could comfortably fill out a Versace gown.

Kate Moss did the rounds at teen magazines, but it wasn’t until 1993 that she got her first big break. Kate’s inauguration into the public sphere occurred thanks to the vision of American designer Calvin Klein. The now-iconic black and white minimalist ads made Kate the embodiment of progressive, modern fashion – a perfect segue from the Eighties hangover of glamour and sequins. She was small, quirky and unconventional. Perfect for the Nineties.

Kate’s career blossomed virtually overnight. She began to work with the biggest designers, photographers and publications in the fashion industry. Her slight figure courted controversy as the press labelled her look ‘heroin-chic’ (based on the extreme emaciation of drug addicts), but Kate kept her cool and carried on working. Her unwillingness to get drawn into a debate on whether she was a good example to teenagers or not proved to be a canny move. The world of fashion does not stay still for long, and soon the ‘heroin chic’ look fell out of favour. But Kate remained. What she famously lacked in height (Kate, at just over 5’7”, is significantly below the standard industry requirement of 5’10”), she made up for in versatility. The fashion industry saw that in Moss, they had a face-in-a-million. A face that could sell any look: glamorous, editiorial, commercial.

By 2003, as well as her ‘mother agency’ Storm, she needed three additional agencies to manage the deluge of requests for her time. The fiscal years of 2004-06 saw Kate become the second highest-earning model in the world, second only to Gisele Bundchen. In addition to this, Kate has (to date) appeared on 24 British ‘Vogue’ covers, and 17 covers of the US style bible ‘W’. By anyone’s standards, this is an impressive track record.

If Kate had stuck to modelling, this alone would have ensured her longevity, but Kate’s popularity outside the perimeters of the fashion world was something entirely new. Everywhere she went, whatever she did, her style was obsessively chronicled across the world’s media. She wasn’t just a model: she was a pop-culture icon.

For years, the fashion press speculated on whether Kate would ever branch out into fashion design. April 30th 2007 saw the launch of the first Kate Moss / Topshop design collaboration. Kate red-ribboned the collection at Topshop in Oxford Street, appearing in the window as a live mannequin. It caused a sensation and the public, were they in further need of convincing, were hooked.

Financially, the first collection was a huge success, but there was some controversy over the term ‘designer’. Some doubted Kate’s credentials – had she any say in the development of the collection at all? Kate set the record straight by confirming that she did not design the clothes herself, but rather acted as a muse to the TS design team; bringing in samples of her own clothes to act as jumping-off points, and to discuss fabrics and finishings, as well as modelling the finished articles for the TS promotional campaign.

The collection, despite its success, initially received some mixed reviews. Some dubbed it ‘Duplikate’ – clothes for a generation of girls who have grown up watching, admiring and copying their fashion idol, although to criticise such a collection on these grounds is somewhat missing the point. The brilliance of the collaboration between Moss and TS simultaneously paid homage to, and took advantage of, her status as a style icon.

The first and subsequent Topshop collections have been designed for and marketed towards a generation who have dressed under the umbrella concept of ‘celebrity style’. They see, they like, they wear.

Where Kate has engaged with the public most successfully, is how she has ignited popular fashion trends. In recent years, she has spear-headed trends as diverse as denim shorts, Ugg boots, ballet flats, skinny jeans, the waistcoat and the leopard-print scarf, all of which have scored big with consumers across all age and income brackets. In an age where film stars recruit stylists to dress them before popping out for a latte, Kate understands that true style is innate, which is why the public respond to her in the way they do. A scarf thrown on at the last minute before heading out the door becomes a worldwide fashion blockbuster because it is spontaneous, unstudied and fun. Kate Moss has made an indelible mark on how we dress, and present ourselves to the world.

Kate has also steadfastly refused to play the fame game. Notorious for her lack of interviews, Kate Moss has remained at the top of the game by remaining an enigma: a tactic that has garnered more press attention than the ‘confessional’ attitude of D-list celebrities. It is this Garbo-esque silence that has proven to be Kate’s most irresistible play.

What makes Kate Moss so unique in comparison to other models, is her comparative ordinariness. Before her, models were statuesque, utterly beautiful and frankly, more than a little intimidating.

Kate has blown apart the conceptions of what a model should, and can, be. She is the ultimate outsider (‘wrong’ in so many respects), who ended up persuading the fashion industry to see style and beauty from her own unique point of view.

Kate’s legacy is one of embracing frailty and imperfection. This is why the public, and in turn, the world’s media, have embraced her so wholeheartedly. She is, on the face of it, just an ordinary girl. Kate never claimed to be a role model, just a model. She has no interest in being put on a pedestal – for Kate, modelling begins and ends with fashion, not celebrity.

When Moss is remembered, it will not be for the scandals, or the feted rock’n’roll lifestyle – it will be for her unabiding love for fashion. It shines through every photograph. Kate has a profound respect and appreciation for the creative process that makes fashion work. It is Kate’s understanding that the worlds of fashion and modelling progress hand-in-hand, that has made her the most sought-after name in modelling today.

It is a mistake to think that because someone chooses to remain silent, it is because they have nothing to say. Kate Moss has made a fortune on the belief that beauty is not perfection. The best of her work shows that her message is about the importance of accepting one’s flaws. Kate knows instinctively that there is no point in pretending to be perfect. There is much more mileage in being imperfect: in the long run, it makes life (and fashion) much more interesting.

HELEN TOPE

When NLM mets SGALGG

So, Monica Bellucci and Sophie Marceau are starring together in the new film “Ne Te Retourne Pas” (Don’t Look Back) which premiered at Cannes last weekend. It’s a psychological thriller that sees Sophie’s character morph, quite literally, into Monica’s character. This apparently caused both women great mental distress. Which is in turn where the movie loses me. Hello, if I suddenly looked like Sophie Marceau or Monica Bellucci I think I might feel like I’d won the lottery. But, potato, potato. Perhaps the best thing about the movie so far is that it affords us the opportunity to ogle the extra special when Naked Lady Monday mets Straight Gals Acting Like Gay Gals action between Monica and Sophie. I mean, what better way to illustrate a European goddess version of Freaky Friday than to have its two stars get naked and hug? [Hat tip, Elisabeth for the magazine scans and Eletta and Bénédicte for the heads up!]

Is it me, or does Monica look a little, um, possessive? Though, I guess, can you blame her?

Nathallia Krauchanka

Traffic Models (Spain)
2pm Model Management (København)
Next Model Management (New York)
Iconic Management (Berlin)
Silent Models (Paris)
Black Model Management (Russia)
Elite Model Management (London)
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Alina Lyn

Louisa Models (München)

Julia Stegner

Unique Models (Copenhagen)
Traffic Models (Barcelona)
Storm Models (London)
IMG Models (Milano, New York)
Marilyn Agency (Paris)
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Du Juan

IMG Models
PT Models (Taiwan)
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Erin Heatherton

Marilyn Model Agency (Paris, New York)
Joy Models Management (Milano)
Select (London)
Modelwerk (Hamburg)
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