Eva Mendes:Mikael Jansson: Interview August 2008: via tfs

Claudia Schiffer rides again!Just ask VF

Question. If as hiss has it, Claudia is Chanel FW 08 and Naomi YSL with Kate set to log her inevitable 4-pack of camps, where does that leave today's mob of bright eyed newcomers? The magazines are awash with Top Newcomers edits. V must do one. German Vogue has one pending and the new incarnation of Interview under Karl Templar's stewardship kicks off with a visual ode to today's Top New Stars but these girls will not be populating the blue chip campaigns this season from the look of things.
This is not a new story. Clients are clear where they stand on this issue. In the rare cases that they cast from the current ranks of models, they still contract those girls with a track record. Think for instance about that certain haute editorial blonde who dropped out from the scene a few seasons back. She's in much demand these days proving that certain girls will always find a space on the call sheet waiting for them. Or you could be Lara Stone and find yourself constantly needed on those best sets. Now consider the curious political change-ups at that hallmark American label which seems to be hopping from girl to girl per season. The days of long term commitments seem to be over at that house.

The most expensive girls in the most reasonable clothes. Very Gap!

Catherine McNeil: Numero 90: PH: Greg Kadel

Kate Moss: Naomi Campbell: IMG: Vogue Paris Feb 08: via thefashionspot.com

Gianfranco Ferre's little store front

Prada, Calvin, Balenciaga ... Gianfranco Ferre? TI's been hearing the buzz, first in the form of the upcoming men's show in January that the Ferre label was about to be refashioned as the epitome of au courant hipness. The hippest male models on the face of the earth, as thin, young and androgynous as possible were being canvassed by a very blue chip casting director. Then today at lunch I picked up the buzz that Karl Templar and Fabien Baron have been harnessed to remake and remodel the branding of Ferre. That certainly explains Major's Egle as shot by David Sims for the SS08 campaign. Which means you should brace yourself for a rush of glossy mag raves about the cool new Ferre taste point. Wonder if it'll be a hit on the sales floor...Also Caroline Poznanski formerly of Next has just ascended to the throne of director of the editorial Women's board at Ford NY. Seems someone went shopping with their cash infusion...And model watchers posted outside the Meisel studios in NY and LA can stop spying now. Mr Meisel is done shooting for the year as of this weekend we hear. No more campaigns, no more editorials, no more Italian Vogue. Its a wrap as they say. Back on the agency front...are you done with your FW 08 show package yet? Women's Chris Gay has his locked. Paul Rowland was in Milk Studios for much of October and November lensing Supreme's . NY Model's has their vision worked out and TI's glimpsed them all. Can't wait to see them hit the desk in Jan! But there's a much needed vacation to savor first.

TI's secret hideout this week

Stylists: The Interpreters Of Fashion: Rizzoli 2007

The talk this week? Rachel Zoe's bold claim about possibly being more influential than Anna Wintour. The cabal is in a frenzy at this sacrilege. Its the best fashion sound byte since “We don't get out of bed for less than 10,000 a day” But given the high altitude Rachel now lives at (and the corresponding lack of oxygen) Rachel Zoe is entitled to be as megalomaniac as she wants to be. I mean maybe she means more influential in malls...or more influential with the 18 and unders. There is even a rumor in circulation that Zoe has first pull at Calvin. A rumor probably...possibly started by the Zoe camp. But it gets you thinking. Whose eyes, tastes, preferences inform the idea of what is fashion now? And how does the tastes and preferences (and talent) of these forces affect how fashionable women dress? . I spent my entire Saturday ringing up some kids in the trade to form an informal style council. Not only was Wintour with her fashion funds, speed dial to billionaire CEO's and Met Costume Balls PR machines in another universe of influence, the conclusion was there were easily 5 forces in the world of styling who could eat Zoe for lunch...and use her ribcage as toothpicks.

THE FIVE:
Grace Coddington:

Toni/Women: The Only Calvin Klein SS 08 exclusive that counts

Instant sensation Toni Garrn opens AND closes Calvin Klein SS 2008.

Some of Marc Atlan's Greatest Hits

From I-phones to limited edition Nikes, why has design become this much of a market force? Is it that we're experiencing an on-going visual evolution of contemporary culture in the same way we are under-going a technological revolution? I'm not trying to write a master's thesis. (Part of the discipline of The Imagist for me is to learn to be...succinct). I'm just trying to figure out how the hell the whole world got to be so design sensitive. When did American product packaging start to overwhelm its content? To personalize the issue a little bit... I was out out to dinner last night with a pal from an ad agency, when the subject turned to Fabien Baron and his powerhouse agency Baron and Baron. Its not a company anymore it seems.Its a brand in itself, if you'll pardon that dirty word..."brand".
Baron you know from the firm's traditional image management of magazines : Paris Vogue, the 90's Harper's Bazaar- which obviously I've been looking at a LOT- Interview magazine, Arena Homme +, as well as fashion ads -most notably Calvin Klein. We gossiped a little bit about the influence Le Baron and Karl Templar now had over the direction of Calvin, down to the models, in which that team seems not to be as personally invested in. Certainly not the way Calvin the man invested in Kate Moss and Brooke Shields and now no girl or boy for Calvin is allowed to be a bigger story than the clothes.