Before she was the girlfriend of Johnny Depp, a 19-year-old Vanessa Paradis was the face of Chanel’s Coco fragrance. The French actress played a whistling exotic black bird swinging in a bird cage in Coco Chanel’s apartment.

Paradis worked with Jean-Paul Goude to create the 30-second commercial in which she had to learn to use a trapeze for her role. The contract was said to be worth £250,000 and helped launch her into the pages of magazines all over the world. Not bad gig early on in your career huh?

Are you wondering where Elle’s Fashion Director, Nina Garcia, will pop up next after questions of her recent departure from the magazine?

Well she doesn’t need Elle when she has followed Project Runway 4 winner, Christian Siriano all the way to the offices of Mode magazine on Ugly Betty. It’s fierce. Watch out for little Amanda hiding behind the models all wearing original Christian Siriano designs.

P.S. This clip comes fresh after the news that Elle editor in chief Robbie Myers and Joe Zee will appear on Ugly Betty too in the season 2 finale. Word has it that they will be at the charity softball game between Elle and Mode magazine with Naomi Campbell appearing as a designated hitter while Wilhemina Slater, played by Vanessa Williams, will be a pitcher.

Imagine you’re getting married to someone rich, let’s call him Michael, and you could wear whatever you like. Would you choose Karl Lagerfeld’s designs?

A rather fun-loving but self important young woman, Donna, did. She visited Karl’s atelier way back in 1970 to buy some clothes and it looks like she (or an-almost-unrecognizable Karl) had quite an experience. I’m so glad someone managed to capture it in all it’s glory on film.

Quote of the whole clip?

“Go buy yourself a douch bag, come on honey we’re going home”

Warning: the clip contains some toplessness.

Believe it or not, there was a time when Karl Lagerfeld’s weight didn’t change drastically from one season to the next, and before he status at Chanel and in fashion was undisputed. He also did not have white hair… what time was this? 10 years ago, showing his Karl Lagerfeld collection a few years after first joining Chanel.

This little fashion show video features skinny legged models, twirling in their pretty late 1980s clothes. Oh and a young hip brunette Kaiser Karl.

“A fragrance for a man or a women from Calvin Klein” says Kate Moss in this clip that ran in 1995 for the Calvin Klein fragrance, One. It was one of the most popular unisex fragrances of the time, along with CK Be and also the fragrances that launched Kate’s career into the big time.

What do you think of the ads? They don’t look too 1995 - which was 12 years ago. Check out two more ads below.. especially number three where the slogan is:

“The sexy one, the nasty one. I know what you’re thinking, the world one. The male one, the female one, CK One, the fragrance for everyone.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Before Milla Jovovich stared in The Fifth Element, Elle Macpherson guest starred in Friends and Gemma Ward in The Black Balloon, Kate Moss dabbled in the art of acting in the mid to late nineties - when her star shone very bright thanks to fronting Calvin Klein ads.

The British model appeared in Isaac Mizrahi’s Unzipped in 1995, as herself in French and Saunders in 1996, Catwalk in 1996, Beautopia in 1998, and even dressed up to play Maid Marian/Queen Marian in Blackadder Back & Forth in 1999.

So what was she like as an actress?

Well see below to see for yourself in the clip below where Moss said she just couldn’t say no to some of the roles she was offered. It’s worth watching just to see how young and fresh Moss looked.

Read the rest of this entry »

How did models walk the runway before they started trotting in the late 1990s - early 2000s? They walked with a sophisticated saunter, gliding along the runway so everyone could get a good look at the designs before they left the catwalk.

That was how the likes of Cindy Crawford, Elle Macpherson, Helena Christensen and Karen Mulder walked on for Calvin Klein’s fall/winter 1991 fashion show.

Is this a refreshing change or a sign of fashion not being as fast as before?

If you’re in Australia tomorrow, get down to a Target store near you and cross your fingers it will stock some of the Zac Posen for Target Australia collection because it is IN STORE TOMORROW. Check out the Designers for Target website for a list of stores stocking the designs.

If you’re not in Australia, keep refreshing eBay Australia and hope they ship pieces overseas.

Now… how do you think the collection will sell? Australian designer, Jenny Bannister thinks the collection won’t sell because the designer known for his amazing red carpet designs doesn’t appeal to “bogans” and most Australian’s who rushed into Target for Stella McCartney’s pieces probably “didn’t even know what real Stella McCartney looks like.”

Are you heading down to Target tomorrow - what pieces do you have your eye on?

Karl Lagerfeld has everyone on the web quite excited - he has been spotted around New York shooting advertising campaigns for the fashion houses he oversees. Claudia Schiffer (sporting a short black bob) was first photographed over the weekend in Central Park for Chanel’s fall campaign, then earlier this week he was aiming his lense at Raquel Zimmermann in Madison Square Park for Fendi’s fall campaign.

This video shows Raquel swinging a Fendi bag (which looks very much like a Chloe Edith) before a giant Fendi logo statue is set up for her to pose in front of. Watch Lagerfeld at work surrounded by dozens of people, can you spot which are the security guards, the Fendi folk and the spectators?
Read the rest of this entry »