The American fashion industry is trying to cut down on using models under 16 – but the models themselves aren’t happy about it, according to Michael Kors.
The Council of Fashion Designers America (CDFA) president Diane Von Furstenberg just sent out a letter to designers participating in New York Fashion Week, warning them that all models have to be over 16 – and that the designers have to prove it.
However, Kors – who says that anybody under 16 is “a blank beauty” and is no use as a model due to lack of maturity – says that models are simply lying at castings in order to avoid being dropped.
“Right after I said [no girls under 16],” he said, “we started seeing all of these girls from Eastern Europe… I’d ask, “How old are you?’ “16.” Next one? Eastern European and 16. I’m like, “Was there a bus?”‘
However, the CDFA is now demanding that all models be carded at the shows themselves – so no over-16 ruling, no walking.
It remains to be seen just how many under-16 models manage to walk despite the ban.
Image: Monika Jagaciak, who was famously fired from Australian Fashion Week for being 14 years old.
Miranda Kerr ‘Never Said’ Coconut Oil Was Her Beauty Secret
It was the scoop of the day – Australian Cosmopolitan reported that Miranda Kerr had told them her ultimate beauty secret: coconut oil.
They quoted her as saying she had “four tablespoons” of the stuff daily, in salads, tea or elsewhere.
The comments went viral, and coconut oil became immensely popular as women went after the supposed secret to Kerr’s looks.
The problem? Cosmopolitan had never interviewed Kerr, and were misquoting comments on her blog about her eating habits.
Kerr told the media that she only had four teaspoons a day, and that she didn’t think anybody should take such a diet recommendation without consulting their health practitioner first.
It appears there’s no hidden secret to looking like Miranda Kerr after all – just genetics.
Image: Miranda Kerr backstage.
Controversy Over 13-Inch Waist On Vogue Italia Cover
British model Stella Tennant is wearing a giant nose ring on this month’s cover of Italian Vogue – but that isn’t what’s getting fashion commentators buzzing.
The model’s waist has been whittled, by a combination of severe corsetry and Photoshop, to a mere 13 inches.
However, it’s not just a bizarre fashion statement – it’s actually a reference to a historical fashionable figure, and not Catherine de Medici, though she also had a 13-inch waist.
Ethel Granger had the world’s smallest modern waist, at 13 inches, and also possessed several facial piercings – all a product of the work of herself and her husband, who pierced her himself. Ethel married her husband in the 1920s, and extreme corsetry was very unusual at the time.
Corsetry has experienced a vogue of late because of Mr Pearl, the corset-maker for Dita Von Teese – but nobody has ever gone as far as Granger.
Some onlookers are calling the look irresponsible, others brilliant – which is probably the point, as it’s the cover of Vogue Italia’s Avant-Garde Issue.
Do you believe this is going too far?
Image: Vogue Italia cover.
Bet On Lady Gaga’s Wedding Gown Designer
After her latest single, You + I, was released as an homage to her on-again boyfriend, Luc Carl, Lady Gaga has been the subject of marriage rumours.
Nothing’s been confirmed, and Gaga wasn’t discussing anything when she turned up at the VMAs in character as ‘Jo Calderone’.
However, you can now make a bet with Irish bookmaker Paddy Power about who might design the dress for her eventual nuptials.
Her sister Nicola is the current favourite with 13-8 odds – the two have been rumoured to be doing a fashion collaboration of some kind.
Her own stylist is in the running too, alongside Vivienne Westwood and Donatella Versace. The least favourite? Donna Karan.
The bookmaker is also betting on the non-existent dress’s materials – from flowers to glass.
Unfortunately Gaga’s chief fashion supporter, Alexander McQueen, cannot be entered into the running – although his successor, Sarah Burton, might be good odds for this wedding-which-isn’t.
Image: Lady Gaga.
The New Fashion It Girl: Iris Apfel, Aged 90
Not many women over 80 can claim to be a fashion icon and the subject of an exclusive documentary.
However, Iris Apfel is no ordinary woman.
Apfel is one of the world’s top fashion experts and clothes collectors – she worked for WWD and has been in Vogue, Paper and W magazines, and has had an entire exhibition dedicated to her flamboyant personal style at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute in New York.
She has, the Guardian notes, “a wardrobe literally unlike anything in the world”, due to a lifetime of collecting vintage, access to sample size clothing in the 50s and 60s, and a tremendous eye for design.
Never without her giant frames, Apfel will now be the subject of a documentary by the Maysles brothers, who produced the award-winning documentary Grey Gardens, as she tries to start an accessories line.
The self-described ‘geriatric starlet’ has also been the subject of a book, Rare Bird Of Fashion.
Rescu. will definitely be watching the finished result.
Image: Iris Apfel by Bruce Weber.
