Calvin Klein gets back into the movie business ahead of the Golden Globes

Tom Ford isn’t the only American luxury brand going gung ho in the leadup to this Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony in Los Angeles. Following the unveiling of a supersite billboard of Ford together with Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, comes a 20 second television commercial produced by Calvin Klein to run during the Globes broadcast on NBC. No this is not Calvin Klein's first tvc. Founder Calvin Klein made an impact with a series of highly provocative television spots in the 1980s and 1990s starring, among others, Brooke Shields and Kate Moss in the company's jeans, underwear and fragrances (here is a backgrounder). But this tvc, the company claims, represents the first time it has ever produced a branded tv campaign advertising Calvin Klein's designer collections (with accessories and homewares also getting a lookin). Starring world number 1 Lara Stone and Tyson Ballou, the commercial was shot on location in La Jolla, California and directed by Fabien Baron. Here is a first look.

video: supplied to frockwriter by calvin klein

Did the then "almost unemployed" Lara Stone neglect to stitch up a nude Greg Lotus photoshoot in 2008?

celebrity69  via fashionising

Last week frockwriter revealed that the spectacular onyx and crystal corset and cuff worn by Lara Stone in the June edition of Playboy France were originally designed by Australian jeweller Jenny Mercian for the 2008 Victoria's Secret show. We also noted that some mystery surrounded the origin of the photos. Although some images had already been widely circulated online in late 2009, with only the website of photographer Greg Lotus cited as a source, it appeared to be the first time the shots had made it to print. Now comes news that Stone is is taking legal action against both Playboy France and Lotus, in order to "protect" her "reputation", claiming the publication of the shots was unauthorised and that she would never have posed for Playboy. Given the volume of nude work that Stone has pumped into the public domain in recent years, the claim that her reputation has been sullied by a nude Playboy spread seems a little frivolous. The far bigger issues, surely, are did Stone not have the right to consultation before the photos were sold to Playboy and is she entitled to remuneration?  

One clue to the timing of the photoshoot is Stone’s strapped ankle, which some have made light of, assuming it may have been a styling accessory (along with the wheelchair which appears in some shots).

If frockwriter is not mistaken, the images were taken some time after the 2008 Victoria’s Secret show, on November 15 2008, when the corset was worn by Selita Ebanks -  and the publication of several other photos of Stone with her ankled strapped shortly afterwards, reportedly after falling off a pair of killer Rodarte heels (possibly these) at a W photoshoot.

Just a reminder that although Stone is now ranked as the world number one editorial/advertising/runway model by models.com, in late 2008 it was a different matter.

Pivotal to Stone’s meteoric rise in 2009 was the publication, in February last year, of a virtual Lara Stone issue of Paris Vogue. With the cover line, “Et Vogue Créa Lara” ("And Vogue Created Lara" - a play on Roger Vadim’s 1956 classic, And God Created Woman, starring Brigitte Bardot).

When asked why she decided to dedicate 100 pages of editorial to the Dutch model, Paris Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld told Hintmag.com in late 2008:

“Lara had almost stopped working so I decided I wanted to make her a star”.

She might well have been in the 2008 VS show, but is it possible that the then much less high profile Stone did an edgy magazine submission with a mate, thinking it might help boost her profile - and either she, or her agent/s, neglected to formalise the terms of the arrangement with Lotus? 

With Stone now at the very the top of the industry, commanding top dollar via lucrative advertising deals - such as a triple exclusive with Calvin Klein - quite obviously her image is far more valuable in 2010 than it was in 2008. Lotus was probably paid handsomely for the shots - although a lot less, presumably, than Playboy would have had to pay Stone to pose for them.

According to leading IP specialist Stephen Stern, from Melbourne's Corrs Chambers Westgarth, the go-to IP rep for LVMH and many luxury brands in Australia, provided that Lotus was working independently at the time the photographs were taken – and was not employed by another company – then the copyright most likely belongs to him.

“Unless there was a contract of some form – even oral – restricting the use of the photographs, the photographer could use them as he sees fit” Stern told frockwriter.

“But there is no one international law on ownership of copyright. It depends in which country the photos were taken - or where you want to stop the publication. Some countries do have rights of publicity (ie of public figures) that exist independently of copyright law. Everything depends on what was agreed or could reasonably be implied in the agreement between Lara Stone and the photographer. And lastly, any damages that she could claim, if there are in fact numerous nude photos of her in circulation, if the (Playboy) photos were obscene then there may be reputational issues. If they are simply like other naked photos of her, then her loss might well be what she could charge to have those photos published”.

Jenny Mercian dresses Lara Stone for French Playboy

celebrity69 via fashionising

Jenny Mercian has made a career out of bejewelling bombshells. Since she first set foot on the fashion stage in May 2005, displaying her spectacular crystal body jewellery at a trade show stand at Australian Fashion Week, the Sydney-based jeweller has been a principal supplier to five Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows, outfitting the likes of Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Alessandra Ambrosio in increasingly elaborate showpieces (and on Friday, winning the Catwalk Jewels of the Year Award at the UK Jewellery Awards for her runway efforts). Well now Mercian can add Lara Stone to that list. In the June/July issue of Playboy France, the world number one wears Mercian’s dramatic onyx/crystal corset and cuff – and not much else (NSFW). Here is a clearer image of the cuff, below, although it must be said, it’s not one of Stone’s better shots.

celebrity69 via fashionising

The story, entitled “Lara Stone is my drug”, was shot by Greg Lotus last year, although it’s unclear if the images have previously been published in print.

Numerous websites picked the images up last December, including Fashion Gone Rogue, with only the Greg Lotus website cited as a source. In any event, Playboy includes several other apparently unseen images from the same series.

The pieces were originally made for the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and were worn by Selita Ebanks:

zimbio

Lara Stone was in that VS show, but did not wear any of Mercian’s jewellery. 

The jewellery worn by Stone in Playboy came via the London headquarters of Mercian's sponsor Swarovski, which holds some of her jewellery and loans it out for various shoots. 

And it obviously gets around - because here are the same pieces in the background of Mercian's Sydney studio in this Today Tonight story which ran in December. 

"I got it FedExed in and out for the TT story as it's my favourite piece" she told frockwriter.

Mercian's jewellery isn't the only Australian connection to Playboy France. 

Australian model Tiah Eckhardt who, coincidentally, has just replaced Stone as the face of French lingerie brand Eres, appeared in Playboy France in December 2008. 

World number #1 Lara Stone lands triple Calvin Klein exclusive (just don't call her fat)

wwd

Well Lara Stone is certainly having a moment. Womens Wear Daily reports today that Stone has booked a triple exclusive with Calvin Klein, as the advertising and runway face of Calvin Klein Collection, ck Calvin Klein and Calvin Klein Jeans for the upcoming Fall 2010/2011 season. The Dutch native isn’t the only model in the campaigns (Australia’s Abbey Lee Kershaw is one of several others who feature, in Kershaw’s case, in cK Calvin Klein). But according to WWD it’s the first time “in years” that the company has used one model across three brands – and the newspaper suggests this could propel Stone’s career “into the stratosphere”, given that Calvin Klein contracts were pivotal in launching the careers of several other models, including Christy Turlington and Kate Moss. But Stone is already the world number 1 on models.com, having just dethroned Brazil’s Raquel Zimmermann from the top spot. Her success and in particular, the Calvin Klein coup, are interesting for several reasons.

In March (although not screened until early April), in talking about his decision to cast several 30 and 40 plus models in his Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show, Calvin Klein Collection creative director Francisco Costa told Australian current affairs television program Today Tonight that “the 16 year olds are fantastic, they’re fresh...” but that older women “represent some kind of truth”.

Later that month, a New York modelling agent hinted that “Calvin Klein has discontinued their use of the Size 0-2 Models and trade them in for a 2-4 … a sign of the times indeed”.

This must presumably have been around the same time that busty, size 4 Stone was being earmarked for the campaigns.

Where does that leave 16 year old Monika Jagaciak, who had previously booked two back-to-back Calvin Klein campaigns? Without a Calvin Klein campaign this season, that's where. Although Jagaciak did in fact open the FW1011 Calvin Klein womens runway show, which featured plenty of other teenagers, notably Australia’s Julia Nobis, who was booked as a runway exclusive.

So is it a victory for the "older, curvier" woman?

Forty year-old Emma Balfour, who recently returned to modelling after a long break, is tipped as a new face of Céline.

Stone is still just 27. But she has hit the top of her game after being in the business for at least 12 years - perhaps longer. Stone was reportedly scouted at the age of 12.

And her curves do look to have proven problematic in the past.

In the January edition of US Vogue, she spoke of her battles with her weight, which saw her resort at one point to popping pills, which made her "heart race". Stone also talked about a 2009 stint in rehab for alcoholism, but apparently places no blame on the fashion industry.

Stone told the magazine:

“What they say is ‘curvy,’ but you know they mean fat...It’s depressing when the clothes don’t fit and you are always the odd one out....I was on a shoot just last week and the stylist took out this tight corset dress and said, ‘Here, put it on,’ and I was like, ‘Who are you kidding?’ There was no way, so that was very rude of her. It’s like, come on, she’s a woman; whether you’re buying jeans at the mall or wearing couture, you know what it’s like for clothes not to fit. It’s not an easy kind of rejection, because it’s very personal. It’s you, your body. You take it to heart.”

With lucrative advertising contracts piling up and recently wed to Little Britain star David Walliams, who’s having the last laugh now?

Prada's curve ball: Fall/Winter 2010/2011 video

Frockwriter talked about the unusual casting this morning. Here is Prada’s video of the Fall/Winter 2010/2011 show if you haven't seen it already, or missed the live stream. And on closer inspection, with all the full-skirted dresses, A-line skirts and Princess line coats – the wardrobe staples of many fuller-figured women (you only have to check the best-selling merchandise of antipodian brands Easton Pearson and Trelise Cooper, which cater specifically to the mature customer) - the brand’s casting strategy makes a whole lot of sense.

Not that there is anything remotely middle aged about the Victoria’s Secret Angels.

But their hyper “sexy” figures, which have placed them at the top of the modelling industry by way of earnings, as distinct to high fashion cachet, make them a little closer to regular women, with breasts and bottoms. As distinct from the androgynous, barely pubescent teenagers who have dominated the runways for the past decade.

Indeed, Dutch bombshell Doutzen Kroes, one of Prada's Victoria's Secret Angels, is one of several high profile models who have dominated fashion coverage over the past fortnight - over the fact they have been excluded from the runways due to issues of weight. On the eve of New York Fashion Week, at a CFDA body image initiative, Kroes told reporters that she rarely does shows because, although she might have done so when she was "11 or 12", she doesn't fit the current runway sample size.

Also on the eve of New York Fashion Week, the well documented weight struggles of Australia's own Gemma Ward were the focus of a 2500 word feature in The New York Post. And Canadian Coco Rocha was on the record with The New York Times saying:

“I’m not in demand for the shows anymore”

Although she was quoted directly in the NYT, on her blog, Rocha later claimed the story was a beatup. Only further confusing matters by admitting:

"in another parallel universe I'm considered "fat"

Presumably, that parallel universe is fashion.

Backstage, Prada talked about going back to the brand’s heritage (there’s that word again). The sexy secretary vibe and Sixties homewares graphics certainly did that.

The braided beehives seemed inspired by both Mad Men (although Miuccia Prda reportedly claims she's never watched it) and the stylish Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko (a connection previously noted by Bryanboy after Prada’s FW0809 collection).

But it also reminded frockwriter of Prada’s SS08 show, which we clocked in person.

Much was made at the time about the casting of full-bosomed Lara Stone, who also hails from the Netherlands, with many outlets heralding a return of curves to the runway.

Stone seemed somewhat larger two years ago than she is now. To wit, we distinctly recall overhearing backstage model gossip about the first casting she attended in Milan that season. “Jaws dropped” we were told, when Stone entered the room, such was her relative bulk compared to the other ectomorphs.

It is well worth noting that, two years down the track, Stone has just graduated to world number #1 on models.com.

Tiah Eckhardt to replace Lara Stone for Eres?

warwick saint/S magazine via TFS

As in Eres, the high profile French luxury lingerie brand. Well these are the whispers coming out of Paris where, as already mentioned by Eckhardt on her blog, she is currently on assignment for five days - having left three month old daughter Finley Victoria in the care of her mother back home. It’s not so inconceivable – and not just because Eckhardt's rates would be lower than those now commanded by Stone, who has emerged as one of the world's most in demand models over the past twelve months (and is presumably now a little too expensive for some). A fashion model who, her friends say, once dabbled in burlesque in Sydney, Eckhardt has clocked up quite a body, pardon the pun, of nude work since leaving Australia. The publications include no less than French Playboy. And Eckhardt's best-known ad campaign to date just happens to have been for cult British lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. You may recall her role as a French maid in this video for Agent Provocateur's Fall/Winter 07/08 'Lady of The Manor' campaign shot by David Bailey, co-starring Catherine Bailey and Daisy Lowe.

The making of Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2010 campaign

And unless I'm mistaken, a quick check of Tokyo Dandy's blog shows that they were among the very first to track down this YouTube of the making of Louis Vuitton's new S/S 2010 campaign starring Lara Stone. So here's this as well.