>> I've been noticing a more concerted effort by designers to cast models of color this season, but so far, Sophie Theallet takes the cake. For her New York runway debut, the Brooklyn-based Parisian designer sent out an entire cast of black models — Kinee Diouf, Honorine Uwera, Ataui Deng — the works. It was her training — ten years under the wing of Azzedine Alaia — that first brought the likes of Vogue's Grace Coddington, New York Times's Cathy Horyn, Lou Doillon, and Vogue Paris' Melanie Huynh out of the woodwork, but I bet as they left the Altman Building this morning, the model imagery was on their minds — it was on mine.
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Grace Coddington
Sophie Theallet Thinks in Color for Spring 2009
>> INSIDER WIRE —Here's a fun anecdote: Recently Annie Leibovitz assembled Vogue’s photographers for a group portrait, instructing David Bailey to settle himself between the legs of Grace Coddington. “F*** me,” laughed Bailey, “I’m back where I was 46 years ago.” The room fell into an appalled politically-correct silence. “Whoops!” he chortles, relishing the story. [The Sunday Times]
Karen Elson Pulls On Her Grace Coddington Face for Vogue August 2008
>> In a fun riff on Carine Roitfeld's iconic Vogue Paris editorial with Snejana Onopka posing as Anna Wintour, the August 2008 issue of Vogue has an editorial featuring five models styled by five different Vogue editors in their own style. Sasha Pivovarova, Raquel Zimmermann, Maryna Linchuk, Tanya Dziahileva are all involved, but first up, Karen Elson as Vogue's cat-loving creative director Grace Coddington.
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>> BLOWING THE COVER — Earlier this week, a German fan caught up with Keira Knightley in Berlin, and got Mario Testino to take a camera phone picture for him. But I'm more interested in what's going on in the surroundings: Mario Testino, makeup artist Gucci Westman, flame-haired Vogue creative director Grace Coddington . . . Hello! says they're all in town for a British Vogue cover shoot, but with this team, I'm thinking it's for the mother Vogue. [Hello!]



