The Future or a Current Fad? May 28, 2009 4:38 pm >> In the March 2008 issue of Vogue, premier retoucher of fashion photographs, Pascal Dangin, tweaked a total of 144 images, from ads to editorial spreads, and in The September Issue, which focuses on the making of Vogue's September 2007 issue, Anna Wintour definitely displays a reliance on retouching, asking Mario Testino to superimpose cover girl Sienna Miller's head from one shot onto her body in another shot, and requesting that a cameraman's gut from an editorial shot be diminished, to Grace Coddington's dismay: "Everybody isn't perfect in this world. It's enough that the models are perfect."
Gisele Bundchen Guarantees Sales, Will Lie on Hospital Floors Naked for Work May 12, 2009 3:33 pm >> Waves were made last month when Gisele Bundchen replaced Kate Moss in her longstanding run atop the Models.com Top Icons list. But Gisele can sell, according to The Independent — she commands up to $20 million for a single contract, and when she was signed by C&A in Brazil for a series of advertisements, sales increased 30 percent.Photographer Alice Hawkins, who once shot Gisele at her Manhattan penthouse triplex, says the model is "very clever about making money — it’s an interest of hers.” And she keeps it in the family — she now employs four of her five siblings, as her manager, her lawyer, her accountant, and her web developer.
Katie Grand Debuts Not 'Sex' or 'X' Magazine, But Love February 19, 2009 6:34 pm >> Happy Love Day! Yes, Valentine's Day was a few days ago, but Katie Grand's new endeavor, Love, officially launched today, brand new website and all. 336 pages of glossy, almost half of which are ads, and the reviews seem to be positive; inside, creative directors Lee Swillingham and Stuart Spalding went with a post-war look (left), and if naked pictures of Beth Ditto weren't included, a quick glance might make you think you were flipping through a '50s college yearbook. In honor of the launch, Katie recently did an interview with a close friend that was published in PonyStep, detailing how she settled on the title Love, why she ended up leaving POP in the first place, and how she feels about it going on without her.
Marc O'Polo
GHD