on the campaign trail

>> Out with the Kirsten Dunst, in with the Vanessa Paradis for Miuccia Prada's scuba-inspired Fall 2008 Miu Miu collection.  Prada chose the former Chanel face because of her "powerful independence" and "overlapping qualities of fragility and feminine strength."  Looks like Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott have been here to work their usual . . .

*image: source

>> There's no doubt about it, Marc Jacobs still has BryanBoy on the brain.  He named a Fall 2008 Marc Jacobs bag the "BB bag" after the blogger, and quite possibly took inspiration for one of Victoria Beckham's Spring 2008 MJ ads from BryanBoy's shopping bag antics.  Now, after seeing the Fall 2008 Marc by Marc Jacobs ads, the resemblance to BryanBoy's look is uncanny.

Male model Cole Mohr shot both the MxMJ menswear and womenswear campaigns with Juergen Teller in Texas, but it's the womenswear ads that are really BryanBoy-inspired — the pint-sized Filipino blogger is well-known to wear womens' clothes, including mini dresses and handbags, big sunglasses, and have his boyish haircut sideswept just like Cole's.  Only the release of the full campaign will confirm it, but like I said — there's no doubt in my mind that Cole was BryanBoy-ed.

*image: source

>> A Vogue Italia cover yesterday, a YSL campaign today . . . Naomi Campbell's on a roll.  I wonder if the PR people are all trying to capitalize on her trial today, which is sure to garner a press report or two?  In any case, this Fall 2008 campaign image — shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin at the YSL headquarters in Paris — looks to be very much in the same vein as Kate Moss's Spring 2008 ads for the brand.

Meanwhile, Linda Evangelista's first ad for Prada has also debuted.  She looks about as startled as I feel; I'm still getting used to not seeing Sasha Pivovarova as the brand's face.  The supermodel was photographed by Steven Meisel back in April in a New York studio, and the first print campaign images will be in the August issue of Vogue Italia.

*image: source

>>  Is Nicholas Ghesquiere getting starstruck?  For the second season in a row, he's chosen to go celebrity: Jennifer Connelly for Spring, and now Charlotte Gainsbourg for Fall. 

Granted, both women embody the Ghesquiere girl — Charlotte is well-known to be his muse, and Jennifer a good friend — but to hear him describe the reasoning behind his choice is striking, considering that he has built Balenciaga to be a true blue fashion-for-the-sake-of-fashion label, rather than a fashion label devoted to upping its star wattage.  Behold, he sounds smitten with actresses:

They are used to playing characters and go deeper into the image.  There's definitely a celebrity effect when you shoot an actress. There's a real frisson.

The Spring 2009 campaign cast will tell us all — three makes a trend.  Until then, enjoy the first look at the Fall 2008 Balenciaga campaign, shot by David Sims and featuring an archly posed Charlotte Gainsbourg, with the new Balenciaga store in LA forming the backdrop.
*image: source

UPDATE:  Chanel says the reports that Emma is the new face of Coco Mademoiselle are "100 percent not true." [Off the Rack]

>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —The long-running red carpet collaboration with Chanel has finally paid off, literally, for Emma Watson.  She's replacing Keira Knightley as the face of the luxury brand's Coco Mademoiselle perfume, and has scored a two-year contract worth almost $6 million for her efforts.  Don't fret about Keira's ousting, though, word is Chanel has another role in mind for her. [Telegraph UK]

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>>  I don't know what's changed with Frankie Rayder's life lately, but I do know one thing: She's back.  Not only is she being lensed for an unnamed September "extravaganza of an editorial," she's also popped up in two major Fall campaigns.

She joins Kate Moss in headlining Stella McCartney's Fall 2008 campaign, shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin at Kate's country house in Gloucestershire, England.  Meanwhile, she replaces Kate, who was Roberto Cavalli's Spring 2008 campaign girl, in the Cavalli Fall 2008 ads along with Angela Lindvall, Raquel Zimmermann, and Isabeli Fontana. 

Maybe we owe the pleasure of seeing Frankie again to Inez and Vinoodh?  They also did the Cavalli campaign . . . We'll know for sure if they photographed this mysterious September editorial in which Frankie has been cast.
*image: source, source

>> After last season's "Nueva York" themed campaign, Donna Karan and Kate Moss are back at it again for Fall.  This time, the mood is the dark mystique of the Orient Express — as Karan herself explains the idea: "There's a romantic classicism, a little darkness, an Eastern European kind of decadence.  She was on a train . . . on the go, but feels intimate and sexy at the same time."  Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott did the honors, shooting Kate at Union Station in downtown LA. 

*images: source, source

>>  As promised, Marc Jacobs decided to go with models for his Fall 2008 campaign after a whirlwind tour of Victoria Beckham in bag, Victoria Beckham in box, et al. for Spring.  Taking over the reins are veterans Kirsten Owen and Stella Tennant (who is perfect for the collection, with her punk edge), carrying on the seasons' trend for using well-established models over the age of 30 — both ladies are 38.

*images: source

>> In the commercial for Jean Paul Gaultier's just-launched perfume Ma Dame, Agyness struts up to the camera wearing a long platinum blonde wig, snips the hair all off until she's back to her normal crop, and then proceeds to rip off her shirt sleeves, rip open her shirt, snip off her pant legs, and finish the whole ordeal with a little dance move.  All in all, it's a very retro '80s experience, complete with black biker shorts, but one that Agyness brings into today.  I consider my 34 seconds well spent.