>> Naomi Campbell, long a crusader for models of color — who also happens to be verging on her 25-year anniversary in the industry — is still frustrated with ad casting, she tells the Telegraph UK: "This year, we have gone back all the way that we had advanced. I don't see any black woman, or of any other race, in big advertising campaigns."

In the upcoming issue of POP, she expresses a similar feeling: "The black issue of Italian Vogue was great but I feel it was great for just a moment. It didn't work. You still don't see black models, ethnic models, and models from different cultures in advertising very much." She continues in the Telegraph UK: "That [Vogue Italia issue] made some noise, but, unfortunately, we are the same as before. People, in the panic of the recession, don't dare to put a girl of color in their campaign, full stop. Nor of any other race. It's a shame. It's very sad."

What could help? »

>> Just yesterday we were talking about the general direction of Fall 2009 ad campaigns and who might be the lucky girls, and already we've got some more concrete rumors.   

First up, a surprise: Balenciaga is not one of the major brands to go with a single girl that was mentioned yesterday — instead, they're going with a group — of celebrities, at that — lensed by Steven Meisel.  In the past seasons, Nicholas Ghesquiere has used Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jennifer Connelly — will they reprise their roles, or is he going with an entirely new look?  I'm leaning toward the latter.

As for Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa is rumored to have chosen Monika "Jac" Jagaciak, one of the standout faces of the season, for the main Collection campaign — as an exclusive, just as he did with Anna Selezneva for Spring 2009. And it seems Stefano Pilati is continuing his super obsession at Yves Saint Laurent — past seasons have seen Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, and Kate Moss was just photographed for an upcoming fragrance.  Now, Christy Turlington is rumored to have been shot for Fall 2009.
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>> INSIDER WIRE —This year's Costume Insitute Gala, dedicated to "The Model as Muse," is just over a month away.  It's a little too early to know who will be wearing whom — although Chanel Iman hinted she may be accompanying Jason Wu — but as for the exhibit, it will be comprised predominantly of photographs rather than clothing as in years past, and the supermodels of the '80s and '90s — Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Kate Moss — will be the main focus. [FWD] 
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>> He may be one of the lesser knowns of a design generation that includes Valentino Garavani, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, and Giorgio Armani, but at 68, Azzedine Alaia has carved out a niche of his own.  Like Armani, Alaia owns his business, allowing him to design his way — as Stephanie Seymour, who spoke with the designer for March 2009 Interview puts it — "usually very late at night with an old film playing in the background."  More elusive than Marc Jacobs but more forthcoming than Martin Margiela, a window into Alaia's world is always a treat; More from Seymour and the man she refers to as "Papa":

Alaia was fired from Christian Dior after five days.

I met my best friend, Leila, whose mother had connections to clients of Christian Dior in Paris, and eventually someone asked if I could come work there. I got the job. But when I arrived, it was the end of the Algerian War [1962]. After five days there they said to me, "You can't work here any longer. You're a foreigner."

"I have such fond memories . . ." »

>> BLOWING THE COVER —W Magazine is ringing in the new year with a model on the cover of their January 2009 issue — Christy Turlington — but don't expect it to be a trend.  Arianne Phillips — who just finished costuming Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man — is headed to Rio de Janeiro later this week to shoot an upcoming W cover with Madonna and Steven Klein.  Their last collaboration produced the iconic 2006 Equus-inspired shoot, so hopefully this round will be just as picturesque — and will probably include more Louis Vuitton. [Hint, Made in Brazil, TFS]

>> Stephanie Seymour is contributing fashion editor at Interview, Cindy Crawford blogged about the environment for Vanity Fair, Naomi Campbell is a contributing editor at British GQ, and now Marie Claire has tapped Christy Turlington as contributing editor — it's funny how supermodels have moved from solely being in editorials to also doing editorial.

Christy, who is currently enrolled at Columbia University for a master's course on public health, will collaborate with the magazine's writers on a column — to appear in the magazine every two to three months — covering such subjects as politics, mothers around the world, and her travels for humanitarian causes.  Her first piece, "Fighting for Mothers," describes her trek to Washington, DC to push for a Senate resolution on maternal health and appears in the December 2008 issue of Marie Claire.

The new gig likely came from all her public support — after Marie Claire ran a piece by Christy in March about mother's health, editor-in-chief Joanna Coles says she got a "ton" of fan letters from readers.
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>> Hints at the 2009 Costume Institute Gala theme have been swirling since May — first, it was thought to be an ode to Marc Jacobs, and then an ode to fashion muses.  Now that the official announcement has come out, we learn that both subjects are involved, just not quite in the way that was originally thought: the May 4 gala rings in "The Model as Muse," with Marc Jacobs as honorary chair, and Kate Moss, Anna Wintour, and Justin Timberlake as co-chairs.

The accompanying exhibit, which runs May 6 to Aug. 9, will explore the evolution of models and "their roles in projecting and sometimes inspiring the fashion of their respective eras," with special focus on one of the first publicly known models, Marion Morehouse; the first supermodel, Lisa Fonssagrives; fifties mannequins Suzy Parker, Dovima, Sunny Harnett, and Dorian Leigh; sixties icons Jean Shrimpton, Moffitt, Twiggy, and Veruschka; Seventies faces Jerry Hall, Iman, and Janice Dickinson; the supermodel trinity of Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell; Nineties “It” girls Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Nadja Auermann, and Shalom Harlow; and more recently, Gisele Bundchen.

As Harold Koda, curator of the Costume Institute, explained: "We look at the power of clothing, fashion photography and the model to project the look of an era. With a mere gesture, or the line of her body, a truly stellar model can sum up the attitude of her time, creating an alluring synergy between herself and the clothing to communicate a designer’s message to the wider world."

Seventy haute couture and ready-to-wear looks, plus photography, runway images, and video footage of models, rock stars, socialites and actresses who set the tone for each era will emphasize the theme, but most exciting of all — think of all the models who will be representing at the gala.
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