Kim Kardashian wants you to buy her handbags but she'd rather carry Balenciaga

splash via the daily mail

Sydney-based entrepreneur Bruno Schiavi managed to convince Kim Kardashian to sign a global fashion and accessories deal, so you'd figure he would have taken care of a little detail like what brand handbag she was carrying when she arrived at Sydney Airport yesterday, wouldn't you? But apparently not. Kardashian and sister Khloe are in town specifically to spruik their Kardashian Kollection handbags, an exclusive capsule collection of which has just gone on sale in Australia. In the reality television star's first public appearance since her announcement on Monday that she would be filing for divorce from her husband of 72 days, NBA player Kris Humphries, she waltzed into the waiting media scrum carrying not a Kardashian Kollection, but a black Balenciaga City bag (aka Motorcycle bag). The distressed leather and hand-stitched handle are unmistakable. The bag is one of many Balenciagas from Kardashian's personal collection. 

Given Kardashian's predilection towards the French luxury brand, so thoughtful of her then to inject what looks to be a little Balenciaga love into the Kardashian Kollection line for her more budget-conscious fans. 

Here is the new Kardashian Kollection Zip Feature Bag in black, which retails for AUD 59.95:

bagsac.com.au

It bears more than a passing resemblance to Balenciaga's Giant Gold Part Time bag, which sells for USD 1,945:

balenciaga.com

UPDATE 4/11: The Kardashian Kollection Zip Feature Bag, although still visible from the bagsac.com.au link, above, appears to have been pulled from the main Kardashian Kollection lineup on bagsac.com.au. A company spokesperson has so far been unable to provide any clarification. 

It wouldn't be the first time that the Kardashians have been accused of borrowing ideas.

In August, New York-based handbag designer Monica Botkier issued a cease-and-desist letter to the US Sears department store, over a Kardashian Kollection for Sears pre-collection bag which Botkier claimed was a copy of her Trigger Clyde style - prompting Sears to remove the handbag from its website. 

Botkier claims that the buck stops with licensee Schiavi. She told Brand Channel in August:

"Most likely the Kardashians have no idea but should definitely pay closer attention to the products they put their name on. The licensee probably does know and the design department within. Shame on them, it's a small industry. That's why the CFDA [Council of Fashion Designers of America], which I am a member of, is fighting so hard to protect original design and fight piracy. Brands and companies are built on that, piracy is extremely devastating."  

However the Kardashians have been telling the Australian media that they are very "hands-on" in the design process of their products, which are being manufactured by Schiavi's Jupi Corp.

In this interview on the Seven Network's Sunrise breakfast show this morning (UPDATE: which may have so pissed off the Kardashians, they decided to up stumps and leave Australia ahead of schedule), Khloe tells hosts David Koch and Melissa Doyle (6.38):

"We’re not people who just lend our name to someone and say 'Oh do what you want. We just want handbags, use our name'. These are our designs. We design everything from the shapes to the fabrics to the zipper pulls to how the label stitching is on the inside. We’re very controlling. But that’s the blessing of working with each other".

With Kim adding (7.38):

"We're extremely involved in every last process" 

Frockwriter has sought comment from Schiavi and the Kardashians, with so far no response.

The issue of copying appears to be front-of-mind for Kim Kardashian who, one month prior to the Botkier brouhaha, ironically, commenced legal proceedings in the Los Angeles Superior Court against Gap Inc, alleging damages as the result of ads for Gap's Old Navy brand starring Kardashian lookalike Melissa Molinaro. 

According to the court documents, Kardashian has:

"invested substantial time, energy, finances and entrepreneurial effort in developing her considerable professional and commercial achievements and success, as well as in developing her popularity, fame, and prominence in the public eye”

 

Andrej Pejic talks to Seven's Sunday Night

richard chai FW1112/style.com

Seven's Sunday Night current affairs program just ran its profile on superstar Serbian Australian model Andrej Pejic - as tonight's lead story no less. Here is the video below, in case you missed it. As outlined last week, I worked closely on this story with the Sunday Night team, setting up all their filming access as they went in Paris and London. I also travelled to Melbourne for the interview with Pejic's delightful family: mother Jadranka, brother Igor and grandmother Danica. Andrej, meanwhile, has just touched down at New York Fashion Week, where he is booked for a number of shows. Some are straight menswear, as in yesterday's Richard Chai (above) and Robert Geller shows. However some shows and presentations are womenswear, such as Ally Hilfiger's presentation for her Nahm brand (below). And it seems he may be earning womens' modelling rates. Way to go.   

nahm FW1112/style.com

Jessica Gomes is the Megan Gale of South Korea

There were only two models at last week’s Australians in New York Fashion Foundation party to announce the 2011 AINYFF grant winner, each representing opposite ends of the Australian modelling spectrum. The upwardly mobile high fashion girl Bambi Northwood-Blyth, who seems to be getting thinner and thinner. And the more voluptuous Jessica Gomes (whose surname FYI rhymes with “homes”). Gomes has, not surprisingly, found a niche in the ‘sexy’ arena, whose imagery primarily appeals to straight men - as distinct from the flatter-chested, ballerina-like gazelles who tend to populate the world’s top runways and ‘highbrow’ fashion editorial. A few models have managed to cross over between the two arenas, Miranda Kerr being a good case in point. Gomes is on the December cover of Australia’s Men’s Style magazine and has appeared in Sports Illustrated’s famous Swimsuit Edition three times. Not forgetting her lingerie-clad cameo in the 2007 tvc for Sean Combs’ steamy 'Unforgivable Woman' – which was banned in the US. 

After shooting commercials for Hyundai and LG, Gomes, who is half Chinese and half Portuguese, has also become quite the celebrity in South Korea over the past two years, mirroring the career trajectory of another Australian model in Italy - Megan Gale. 

Gomes now spends a lot of her time on the Korean peninsula shooting advertising campaigns, editorial and making television appearances. She has also starred in two seasons of her own South Korean reality tv show called ‘My name is Jessica Gomes’ on the On Style channel. 

I recorded this quick chat after the AINYFF announcement.


Frockwriter: What are your holiday plans?  

Jessica Gomes: I’m going back to Perth for Christmas and then I come back to Sydney. And then I fly to Melbourne for a big wedding on New Year’s Eve. My friend Rebecca Twigley and Chris Judd. They’re getting married on New Year’s Eve in Melbourne.

FW: So is she wearing a backless dress?  

JG: (Laughs) I don’t know, probably. It’s going to be so much fun, I’m really excited about it. Then I come back and I’m shooting with some Korean clients.

FW: Because you have a Korean talk show, don’t you?  

JG: I do.

FW: It’s in English?  

JG: In English. It’s a fashion channel called On Style. I have my own tv show where they follow me around and I talk about fashion, I go shopping, they come with me to my photoshoots. They follow me to New York. And then I’m actually going back to New York for the Sports Illustrated party. We’re doing that in New York and in Vegas. Yeah, so lots of things are happening. It’s fun. 

 

FW: So you’re based in New York now? 
JG: Yes. Well…I’ve been living in New York for seven years, but now I’m spending a lot more time in Seoul in South Korea.
 

FW: In a profile on Seven Network's Sunday Night program in July - entitled 'Thin is in' - you were quite vocal on the body image issue, talking about how you had been told you were too 'fat' to work as a mainstream fashion model. 
JG: I think you’ve just got to be comfortable with who you are. Every girl has their own opinion and I guess there’s pressure in, you know, every business that you’re in. But there is a lot of pressure obviously to keep really thin. And we definitely do criticise ourselves and compare ourselves to other girls. And so I just wanted to say to other girls that, you know, it’s cool to talk about it. It’s there. I’m not saying that I’ve got anything against it.
 

FW: Did you cop any flak from it? 
JG: Not at all actually. I got a lot of fans. A lot of girls were writing to me saying, ‘Like OMG you’re so inspirational’. I guess people just thought it was humbling to see a girl talk about it.
 

FW: But you have found a niche in the ‘sexy’ modelling area – lingerie, swimwear etc. And obviously, those girls earn a lot more money than straight high fashion models. Forbes’ annual high earning models list, for example, is filled with Victoria’s Secret models. The high fashion arena, however, likes models to be ultra thin - with few exceptions, eg Lara Stone.  
JG: Yeah exactly, whom I absolutely love. All I’m saying is, curvy girls can wear fashion and look really cool. And photographs, you know… you’re portrayed in a different light. It just depends how you’re styled and what they’ve done to you and what angle and what lighting and makeup.. And I’m just trying to say to all the other regular girls out there that aren’t models, to realise that it is a fantasy and it’s not all real. And not stress out about it and get eating disorders.
 

FW: Some girls are extremely thin. 
JG: I mean I guess it’s to each their own. For me, I love my food and I want to be healthy and I think that being voluptuous is beautiful and womanly and brave. And I guess if there are more girls like me and Lara Stone who can still work and do everything, then that’s awesome. Because it just paves the way.
 

FW: The general public would find it very hard to understand that you would be considered ‘plus size’ compared to a regular (ie size 0) fashion model because you are for all intents and purposes extremely slim.
JG: They probably think it’s nuts. I did have some people say to me ‘Oh I can’t believe that you’re saying that….you’re so skinny’. I am bigger than most other models. And that’s why I felt like I was…’Ooh I’m plus size’ or whatever. I mean it’s just the way the industry is. I mean it is very kind of ... almost……crazy. (Laughs) I mean it is. It’s crazy. It’s crazy.
 

FW: How long have you been modelling?
JG: I’ve been modelling for over ten years now,
 

FW: Do you think it’s crazier now than when you started? 
JG: I think it’s just getting good. Like I’m actually just really enjoying it and I’m really starting to be confident with myself. I really feel like I’ve now got a place and I have an identity. And I feel really good about it. And I’ve definitely grown up doing it, so I feel really mature about it all now, so that’s really great and refreshing for me. Because now I’m like, ‘Oh I get it. I’m not mad’.
 

FW: What about pressures in South Korea? Their best known fashion model, Daul Kim, sadly committed suicide.  

JG: Not for me because I have created my own brand over there. And that’s what I am over there: I’m the girl who looks like she could be Korean, but she’s also got this amazing, sexy body and that’s kind of what the whole niche is. That’s kind of what Megan Gale did in Italy. I do a lot of the commercials over there, I do a lot of magazine work, I’ve been on a lot of talk shows, I’ve got my own talk show. So I’m very recognisable over there.
 

FW: How long have you been working in South Korea? 
JG: For the past two and a half years.
 

FW: Do you have an apartment over there?
JG: No but I will be looking into that next year for sure.
 

FW: Interesting place. I’ve been three times.
JG: I feel like it’s a small Tokyo. The Koreans are very cautious and they’re strict and they’re very clean and orderly and they work so hard.
 

FW: The bathhouse culture is fascinating.
JG: Yes the bathhouses are amazing. I’ve been to a lot of them and love doing that. But you know, it’s nice coming home and just hanging out here in Australia. Sydney is so beautiful and I love coming home and working and doing shoots here because everyone is so cool and nice. I love New York as well.
 

FW: So are you a bridesmaid on Friday?

JG: No I’m not, just a guest. I think her sisters are bridesmaids.
 

FW: Having now spent 10 years in the industry, what would be your advice to any girls who want to be models?
JG: Just be yourself and never lose your integrity and always follow your own rules. Be smart, think about the business and about setting yourself up. Because that’s what's so great about it. Because I’ve been able to travel and learn a lot of things. I think it’s all about being smart and staying true to yourself is also very important.