Maybe I was the only one buying French Elle at the time, but few people seem to have scanned this one...after failing to find much -if any- editorial work in Russia, Natalia Vodianova (plus Eugenia Volodina and Eugenia's boyfriend, who was their common agent) flew to Paris, some time in Dec 1999. After a few months, she certainly got noticed by many (except "high fashion pros" it seems) and spent a couple of years working a lot around Europe, before the agent impressed some people in NYC and sent his "package" to the New World. Natalia appeared in several French Elle beauty section eds before her move to NYC, inc the one where she famously impersonates Copenhagen's Little Mermaid...

Raica with Ronaldo, from Kaka's wedding...

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!!

Ana Bia says -"Never mind the bollocks - enjoy your holiday season" !!!

French PHOTO also has an article on J Casablancas, where he reveals the plans for his return to the international model agency business. His partners are Andrei Krapotkin and Xavier Moreau (one of the original Elite owners) and the Paris agency is known as FirstModels - run by Sebastien Tranchant, with Beatrice Bruno as the booking director. That's part of a network, called StarSystem, including Lumiere in Sao Paulo, 40 Graus in Rio, and other agencies in many countries. The only model I know from those listed with the Paris office is Callie Mahoney, a sexy US mod that once won a model contest in Italy, and used to work a lot in Milan.
Ford Paris lists Cameron Russell as their No1, Fabiana Semprebom (1m77, 84-60-86) as their No2, Flavia Oliveira (1m77, 84-62-90) as their No3 and Camila Finn (1m75, 76-60-85) as their No4.
Anouck Lepere had a 76cm chest at 23 years of age, same as Camila at 13/14.
Ford was the original Paris "edgy" agency, unlike the NYC geriatric outfit - back when "edgy" was little known in Paris and few people cared about AW or S Meisel - they used to rep Karen Elson and Erin O C, and they still rep Kristen McMenamy...

The December issue of French PHOTO was always a must buy for model fans - it is the "Top Models" special issue, where all the big Paris agencies list their current and future top names...I had all the issues since I started to follow models back in 1997, but I stopped buying the mag a couple of years ago, when the model lists had become a repeat of the "hip in NYC" model charts. I burned some euros for the mag this year for one simple reason - there is a full-page pic of an Ana Beatriz nude, by Demarchelier, a shot that was perhaps destined for Chanel - unfortunately for Ana it's an "inedite" - "unseen" - it was never made public...she is wearing just a white watch...the article is an extensive look at the work of Jacques Helleu, who is closely associated with Chanel campaigns. There is also Stephanie Seymour showing her nipples and a rather low-budget boob job, shot by Terry R - she did not botox herself like Linda E, and looks ten years older, rather than "ten years younger" as Linda does. There are two more photo features, with N Vodianova and H Christensen. Add to that Pirelli 2006 - the usual pics, with Karen Elson fingering herself and the like. Guinevere V S looks a lot less fluffier than in past nudes, for those interested. Like I said - it makes female nudity look boring - maybe that was the purpose behind the whole concept.
The model agency feature is pathetic - the same faces you know from NYC, not a single name that is Paris (or Milan) based. I don't know how most Paris agencies manage to survive - probably just barely. As for the smaller agencies - nothing too exciting.
I have no idea if Visions still exists - but even back when it was the hippest agency in NYC and supposedly just as hip in Paris, PHOTO refused to mention them. Maybe they thought it was some sort of swindle - I wonder...

"High fashion" (virtual) reality check - a new Brazilian said to be favored by NYC hipsters is Drielle Valeretto - she is allegedly a "Jeisa lookalike". Judging from the pic below, she obviously has nothing to do with Jeisa - but that's close enough for "high fashion"...



That Flavia that shows up in the Top 50 "hip in NYC" charts - isn't she Fabiana Semprebom's sister? If not, then her best friend perhaps? They are together in many pics...
What does her sensual look have to do with the usual fare of Gemma W and Co?
The schizoid world of the kooky-hip marches on...
Flavia (center) with Fabiana Semprebom and efortlessly gorgeous Bianca Klamt-Motta...

Czech girl Petra Kwapilova grew up a lot since I last paid attention - and I like the results !!!
I saw once a news item about her winning a Gucci casting - but the usual predictable faces appeared in the campaign...maybe she showed up (in a very sexy oufit) in a Gucci Milan show that season, but I am not sure...

Aahhh - Fabi Tambosi joins the married fashion models club !!!
The lucky guy is Alexandre Birman, owner of Schutz (he is a 27 yo award-winning designer of women's shoes, as seen here)
Pic from Glamurama


Gisele was seen sunbathing with surfer dude Kelly Slater in Hawaii - she also now sports the same tattoo as Ana Beatriz (half moon and star) below the ankle...

The better fashion mods change little over the years - Ana Beatriz Barros, Diana Kovalchuk (both 14 yo) and Nina Moric (20 yo at the time, very big in Italy these days) back in Sept 1996...

My holiday season is a lot merrier now that I have the December issue of Spanish Elle, with Diana Kovalchuk on the cover - lots of good stuff inside too...




The wedding of Isabeli and Henri Castelli took place in Urca beach, Rio on Saturday - it was a boho affair, the guests were told to appear barefoot and the couple took a swim in Rio waters as part of the ceremony. No photographers were invited - Ana Beatriz, Marcelle Bittar and Michele Alves were some of the models present. Both were clad in Versace, but Donatella did not appear.

A collage of published pics from the wedding, borrowed from a fotolog - Mr Fontana can be seen next to Isabeli.



One of my all-time fave photos - sent to me by gorgeous Fabi Loef (Hi Fabi !!) one of the finalists of the 1996 Brazilian Model Look contest (the winners were Ana Beatriz, Michele Alves and Isabeli, Ale Ambrosio was also a finalist)
Fabi is in the middle, 14 yo Ana Beatriz on the left, and 13 yo (!!) Isabeli on the right - pic is probably from late 96/early 97



Factoid: Fabiana Loef was in the same high school class with Ana Claudia Michels (before Ana became a famous model) in the Colégio dos Santos Anjos in Joinville, Santa Catarina.

More pics from the Isabeli wedding...few models seemed to be attending the event, despite expectations - in the pics Elisa Joenck (still with Anderson Dornelles), Ana Beatriz with stylist Pedro Lourenco, Michele Alves and Marcele Bittar.

I reported on Elena Santarelli before - she was "discovered" in 1998, when she made the final of the Elite Model Look contest, something rare for Italian mods...I was heavily into Eastern European mods at the time, but Elena stole some of my attention. She was only 16/17 yo or so, but taller than most fashion mods - an interesting twist on the tall kittenish blonde concept, since she is from Latina, near Rome, and loves carbonaras...you can see one of my own photos in this page, from those that I shot after the 1998 model contest was over, with Elena standing next to Valeria Mazza. The following day, the contest finalists spent several hours shooting on the beach in front of hotel Negresco in Nice, and I had a better chance to observe Elena (although some Russians/Slovaks grabbed most of my attention, I must admit) while strolling down the Promenade des Anglais. Ellen V Unwerth also shot several of the contest finalists inside the hotel, with the pics appearing in French PHOTO and other mags in late 1998/early 1999 issues.
I reported again on Elena when she appeared on the cover of Maxim Italia, a few years ago (pic also in the link) - it seems she became far more visible since then, probably thanks to her participation in a "Survivor" - style reality show on Italian TV. The big news is that she was recently in Max magazine, and has her own 2006 calendar - I guess you need to buy Max to get it.
I almost puked when I saw Hefner with his standard US-issue busty blonde babes on CNN the other day - I like Elena types (sexy bodies with model dimensions) much better...more than any truckload of US blondie celebs of the sort that infest the mainstream media...
The notion that men like only sensual pics of over-inflated bimbos like Pamela Anderson was proven wrong by the success of Maxim in the US market - even if the mag no longer uses sexy fashion models, as they did originally, to establish their market position.
Elena decided to "reveal" a lot more of her assets to the public recently, as seen here - I am impressed...

Yours Truly now appears in the relative Google site section - apparently the "green bar" next to the link signifies that "...other people on the web consider a page to be a high-quality site worth checking out..."

Recent pics from Brazil - and exciting new evidence that Vida is alive and well !!! The miniscule furball once had to be taken to a Milan pet clinic after munching on suspect model food, and on another occasion was snatched by a couple who demanded ransom - seen in the pic together with Gisele, during a shoot for a Barrashopping Natal campaign, shot in Los Angeles. In another pic from the same shoot, Gis is signing an autograph.
Top left - on Nov 29th, Ana Beatriz showed up in Sao Paulo, for the launch of the new car models by Lamborghini - the MCs were Dani Cicarelli and Mari Weickert. You can see Dani in one of the cars, and Elisa Joenck with Sabrina Gasperin, who were also present.
The other Ana Bia pic is from Bahia, perhaps the Club Med in Itiparica - Isabeli with beau were also there. Their wedding is just around the corner, with Donatella V said to be involved somehow. You can bet all the top Brazilians and more will be at the ceremony. That was a hint...
There was also a "Havaianas top model" contest, won by Beatriz Back, ex- Garota Verão 2004 de Santa Catarina.



The Ford Brazil "Supermodel 2005" contest was won on Nov 29th by a 13 yo from Jundial, Augusta Lucchini. Ultracute Camila Finn was also 13 when she won last year, even if Ford NYC claimed she was 16 when she showed up in NYC...the international final is on January 18th.

The Ukrainians themselves refuse to "discover" crappy models of the sort Meisel and his cabal work with in NYC - you can see the contestants of the Ukrainian "Supermodel 2005" contest, from earlier this month, here . The winner, bottom right, may look less than exciting, but she obviously has to conform to NYC modeling biz standards if Ford NYC is to make any money out of her...