Sports Illustrated’s Zero-G Kate Upton Shoot
It’s the new frontier of modelling: zero gravity.
The fashion world was puzzled when Kate Upton didn’t make the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue for 2014 – but that’s because they had something space-level special planned for her instead.
Upton modelled swimwear – specifically, a gold bikini, a slinky bodysuit and some gold Nike trainers – while floating in a Zero G chamber above the earth.
The photos, by James Macari, were shot on the Zero G Experience, a custom plane made to shoot out of the atmosphere and into orbit to produce a very bouncy experience.
And the results? Definitely fitting of a Sports Illustrated feature spread. It included bubbles, glitter and floating balloons, and a very 60s-style Upton.
Upton has made her career out of shooting swimwear in unexpected places – last year’s Swimsuit Issue cover featured her in Antarctica, where she wore basically nothing in sub-zero temperatures.
Next year may require her to model bikinis while on the lip of a volcano, or deep under the sea.
What do you think – gimmicky or great?
Image: The Zero-G Kate Upton shoot, courtesy Sports Illustrated.
McQueen Sued By Unpaid Intern
Alexander McQueen is being sued by an unpaid intern who’s alleged that it should be illegal for them not to pay her minimum wage.
Her internship involved drawing artwork for embroidery, dying fabrics and other hands-on tasks, and her lawyers are arguing that it was ‘real work’ that requires real money.
She’s now claiming the wages she would have been paid as a minimum-wage worker – not a lot of money, but enough to shake the worldwide fashion industry.
Unpaid internships have been a big issue in fashion recently. They’re historically how young, hungry people get their feet in the door of magazines and fashion houses – many of the most famous names in the front rows were once self-funding while shuffling papers.
However, recently they’ve come under fire.
Many internships are completely unpaid, which means the interns have to have enough cash to cover their own costs – and that people from poorer backgrounds are pushed out.
At London Fashion Week 2014, interns staged a headline-grabbing protest declaring ‘Paying Interns Is So In This Year’, to support the idea that unpaid internships are illegal.
And now the McQueen case will be used to see whether unpaid interns employed in the UK’s fashion houses – which include Vivienne Westwood and Mulberry – should legally be getting wages.
Stella McCartney changed its rules and stopped offering unpaid internships back in 2011, after the government warned it about the practise.
What do you think: are unpaid interns on their way out?
Image: McQueen’s 2014 campaign with Kate Moss, courtesy Alexander McQueen.
Fendi’s New Catwalk Stars: Drones
This week the focus at the Fendi show in Milan might not be on the catwalk – but on what’s hovering above it.
Fendi have gone military: they’re using drones.
The hovering machines, most often used on battlefields, will be arranged around the catwalk to broadcast the show in real time via Fendi.com.
They’ll all be fitted with cameras and will presumably circle the runway to get a close-up view of how the clothes move from the side and above.
Unmanned aerial vehicles, as the drones are known by those in the know, are new to fashion, but technology isn’t. Live-streaming shows is now a common practise on major sites like Style.com and Vogue.
And Cara Delevingne made headlines this week when she took a selfie on the runway at London Fashion Week, as part of the Giles show.
The drones are being used to help people experience the show “like nobody has ever seen before,” according to Fendi.
And yes, the drones come with the distinct Fendi branding in yellow along their backs.
We just hope they’re carefully controlled so none of the models has an unexpected run-in with a flying robot.
Image: Fendi’s drones, courtesy Fendi.
