Noah Mills Says "Happy New Year!"

Male supermodel Noah Mills breaks into acting in the 2010 independent movie, "Happy New Year" with producer Iain Smith.


The 24 year-old American is represented by the Wilhelmina agency and is the current face of Gap and D&G fragrance campaign ads with fellow supermodels Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer.

Aside from his first film project, Noah Mills is also rumored to play a role in the Sex and the City sequel as Samantha Jones' love interest.

The Maryland native began his modeling career in 2003 and made his runway debut by walking the fall Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent shows in Milan and Paris. He has done photo shoots with many elite photographers including Steven Meisel, Annie Leibowitz, and Mario Testino. His impressive career highlights included fronting the Calvin Klein campaigns alongside Natalia Vodianova, becoming the face of Emporio Armani fall ad campaign, opening the spring Michael Kors show in New York alongside Carmen Kass, and appearing in the steamy V magazine editorial last May 2009.

Out to prove that he is not just another handsome face, Noah Mills already begins shooting the independent movie with the "Cold Mountain" producer.


Attention:
Wilhelmina of PA is currently seeking actors and models for representation!

Debenhams' Live Lingerie Models For Men's Holiday Shopping

Following the steps of XOXO's NYC shopping windows where models can be seen changing clothes, a London department store also hired models to help men pick out items for their ladies this holiday.


Debenhams Oxford Street branch in London used live lingerie models to help men pick out lingerie. The models were of various shapes — apple, pear, and hourglass-shaped bodies in sizes 8, 12 and 16. They walked around in lingerie inside the department store for a day while men chose the women with curves resembling most closely to their ladies.

"The idea was a huge success, with our male shoppers commenting on what a great idea the event was at this time of year," said spokeswoman Ruth Attridge for Debenhams lingerie department.

Using live department store models to help men buy the right-sized lingerie came from a research conducted by Debenhams, which showed that almost two-thirds of men do not know their partners' bra or knicker size.

The unique solution had male shoppers walking away with the perfect fit from 30 brands and 70 bra sizes on show.

Plus-Size Model Vs Skinny Model: "One Size Fits All"

Plus-size model Crystal Renn is pitted against the skinny Jacquelyn Jablonski by posing side-by-side in next month's issue of V Magazine.


The "Size Issue" includes a spread shot by Terry Richardson. It is called "One Size Fits All" and features the fashion models in same looks and similar poses. The poses are said to create a "sizeable" comparison with the purpose of proving that "fashion can flatter any figure."

Witness how the plus-size and the skinny flatter the clothes with their different body measurements:

Jacquelyn Jablonski: 5 ft, 9 in; 32/24/34
Crystal Renn: 5 ft, 9 in; 36/31/41

Does fashion really look good on a plus-size model or a skinny model?
You'll be the judge!

Bethenny Frankel Reveals Untouched Pic

To get back to her detractors who say that her nude pic for PETA is heavily airbrushed, 39 year-old Bethenny Frankel shows the original, untouched image through UsMagazine.


"Everything I'm about is being honest and being upfront. So if people are talking and saying (the photo) was airbrushed... then, you know what? Here's the picture. Have it your way," says the star of Real Housewives of New York.

The reality TV actress and author of new cookbook The Skinnygirl Dish adds that she would "never, ever allow them to put up a billboard that was really far from the truth."

Bethenny Frankel has posed nude for PETA on a Manhattan rooftop in September. Although she's never disrobed for shoots before, she says "I wasn't that freaked out about it. I don't know why. PETA has no interest in making me look sleazy. It was such an honor."

Bethenny Frankel's PETA billboard has been unveiled on December 15 in Manhattan's Times Square. She is now four months pregnant with her first child.


Have your photos touched-up like the models in magazines!

Lara Stone Narrates Life As A Curvy Model

Curvy and proud size 4, supermodel Lara Stone talks about her early hardships in the modeling industry in latest Vogue interview.


When you're a model, nobody calls you fat. "What they say is 'curvy' but you know they mean fat," says Dutch supermodel Lara Stone who stands 5'10" and wears a size 4. And the fat label could only get worse. When the stylists started whispering in a corner after trying on clothes for ten minutes, "that is when I know I'm about to be canceled."

Like most fashion models, Lara Stone was scouted in her teens. Back then, she was a "typical angry teenager" with no interest other than cigarettes and dressing up for the Halloween. During one of her family's trip to Paris, she was scouted by an agent in the Métro. She spent a few years in Paris living the typical life of a struggling model — sharing an apartment with five other girls, went on endless casting calls ("Walk. Turn. Walk. Thank you"), and posed for catalog shoots that "paid well but not spectacularly."

By the age of 22, Lara Stone met Derek Dayley, a young agent at IMG who was intrigued by her unconventional looks. "She had been pigeonholed as this pretty, fresh-faced blonde, but I saw something else. She's got this interesting, one-of-a-kind beauty," the agent would later reveal.

The big model agency has helped paved the way for Lara Stone's career. She soon appeared in ad campaigns for Givenchy, Calvin Klein, and Hugo Boss. She also walked the runway for almost every major designer including Marc Jacobs, Balmain, and Isabel Marant.

Despite the success, it is still not easy for a young girl to constantly feel being the different one. And for a size 4 model in the land of size zeros, famous Lara Stone is always considered as the odd one.

"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."

Despite the "curvy" praises, Lara Stone soon began to feel the pressure of losing weight. She went on diet and exercise, but nothing worked. She even tried pills but stopped because it made her heart race. Eventually, she started drinking alcohol to get through the day.

Still, nobody seemed to notice ("In this job, you're always in different countries with different people.") and soon, Lara Stone's alcohol problems got worse. "I was waking up shaking. I couldn't do anything until I had a drink. I hated it. I didn't like the person I became. Plus, I was looking like absolute shit, waking up with a swollen red face, pimples everywhere," she recalled.

Admitting to herself that she really had a problem, she voluntarily checked into a month-long alcohol rehabilitation program in South Africa. "I thought it would be like a holiday, but it turned out I was in lockdown for 23 hours. It was really not a holiday. It was a lot of therapy, a lot of crying, and a lot of difficult moments," she said.

But the therapy was also successful. She has not had a drink for eight months. And months later, Lara Stone was back on on the scene, an unlikely but rising supermodel strutting her curves and even winning the hearts of fashion critics.

As they say, clothes hang better on a coat hanger but some clothes look better on bodies with "boobs."

Karl Lagerfeld, a fan of the model's fuller figure, says "Lara Stone has a gorgeous woman's body."

Virginia Smith, the fashion market editor of Vogue, says "Lara makes clothes look good. It's refreshing to see her come down the runway. Sometimes I'll call in a piece, it will arrive, and I'll think, Why did I think I liked that? Then I'll remember, Oh, because Lara wore it."

Renowned fashion photographer Mario Testino says "I have never thought of Lara as fat. It is just a matter of different shapes. It reminds me of when I started to work with Gisele; everyone used to think that she was too voluptuous. Look at where she is now!"

Lara Stone, indeed, is in every inch a supermodel at the peak of her career — despite that her size remains an issue.

As for her personal issues, the curvy supermodel just says "I like my job. I don't want to do anything else... People think I'm angry because of my face, or that I'm a sex bomb. I'm neither... People still tell me I'm fat, but when I look in the mirror, that's not what I see."

UK Bans Twiggy's Photoshopped Olay Ads

U.K's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has finally banned Twiggy ads for Olay, following hundreds of complains from concerned groups who claimed that the images of the wrinkle-free model is socially irresponsible and could have a negative impact on people's perceptions of their own body image.


Beauty company Olay debuted its Definity eye illuminator campaign last summer, featuring then 59 year-old Twiggy. Not to mention that the airbrushing has definitely made the old model's face look younger-smoother-firmer, her eyes were also bright and youthful without the evident of many crows feet.

Below Twiggy's photoshopped face was the line "Olay is my secret to brighter-looking eyes."

Because the anti-aging cream has older women as its target market, some people were disturbed including British lawmakers who called for the banning of the digitally altered advertisements since August.

Olay has admitted to "minor retouching" around Twiggy's eyelid area but the ads made it look like the result of the model's constant wiping of the eye cream.

The ASA banned the complete set of Twiggy's Olay ads yesterday, ruling that the post-production retouching could give consumers a "misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve."

Petra Nemcova: Life After The Tsunami

Five years ago, Petra Nemcova was one of the world's most famous supermodels with her gorgeous face and body on the spreads of Sports Illustrated, the catalogs of Victoria's Secret lingerie, and the ad campaigns of many women's clothing lines.

When she spent a supposed quiet vacation in Khao Lak resort in Thailand with her main photographer and fiancé, Simon Atlee, the globally-reported 2004 Tsunami struck the place where they were staying. The young model was swept away from her hotel room and suffered a broken pelvis and serious internal injuries. Miraculously, she was able to cling on to the top of a palm tree and managed to hold on for eight hours. She was rescued by local civilians and airlifted to an inland hospital later. Her boyfriend, however, was not found until over two months after the tsunami, his body lying dead on the shores of Sumatra.

With the heart of a survivor, Petra Nemcova returned back to Thailand four months later to visit the Tsunami zone and empathized with the local children who lost their loved ones to the natural calamity.

"They lost their parents or their brothers and sisters. They didn't have anywhere to go. They didn't have any stability. When you looked at those children they didn't actually look at you, they looked through you. And it was this look without hope," the model said.

This has inspired Petra Nemcova to establish The Happy Hearts Fund in 2006. The charitable organization aims to advocate and provide for disadvantaged children with the sustainable help they need for healthy childhood development, including building schools for children in areas ruined by natural disasters.


The Czech model has, indeed, moved on after the tragedy. She was awarded the Glamour magazine's "Survivor Award" in 2005 for the way she picked up her life after the tsunami ordeal. She posed back on Sports Illustrated, the magazine which has become her springboard to becoming a supermodel. She wrote the book "Love Always, Petra" which narrates her life from early years in Communist Czechoslovakia to her engagement with Simon Atlee and to her life after losing him. She continued her modeling career while establishing a luxury boutique real estate firm at the same time. She has also been romantically involved with few men.

Petra Nemcova continues to take active involvement in many charity campaigns. The Happy Hearts Fund has expanded and is now providing help to children in eight different countries.

Recently on Good Morning America, the 30 year-old Petra Nemcova has once again spoke of her near-death experience. Watching the video footage of her rescue from tsunami, she was asked what has changed to the young woman she saw. The model and philanthropist answered, "Really, honestly, what I'm doing now, being able to improve, and better lives of children, that's what I always wanted to do."

Meet The Big Contestants Of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" Season 9

Amidst criticism for cultivating the culture of thinness and dislike for fat people, NBC's "The Biggest Loser" premieres its 9th season on January 5, with contestants just keep getting bigger and more resolved to slimming down.

The full cast of the reality slimming competition has been completed last September, with 526 pounds Michael Ventrella, a Chicago-based DJ, as the largest contestant in the history of the show.

The new season cast big people - with at least 100lbs to lose - who have the want, desire and competitive edge to vie for $250,000.

Models Walk The Eco-Friendly Fashion In Copenhagen

Last Wednesday in Copenhagen, models walked the runway in organic cottons, polyesters made from recycled plastic bottles, and fabrics made from recycled agricultural or industrial waste. The runway show was out to prove that eco-friendly fashion can be just as fashionable as the traditional textiles.


Held at Copenhagen's Opera House, 20 designers from 5 Nordic countries and some representatives of big retailing companies like H&M and Barneys displayed the "green fashion." It was organized by the Danish Fashion Institute and highlighted the establishment of the Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical (NICE), a collaboration that aims to motivate and assist companies in the Nordic fashion industry to become more sustainable.

Each designers presented two looks from eco-friendly materials like organic cottons and silks, polyesters made from recycled plastic bottles, and new fabrics made from agricultural or industrial waste left over. It introduced the Crabion - a clothing material made from byproducts in the crab industry, Ingeo - an organic wool made out of corn scraps that mimics the smoothness of silk or the glossy sheen of PVC, and the Milkfiber - a material milled from the powder left over of boiled milk.

"It was an exercise to show that you can replace traditional textiles with innovative new ones that are being made in mills in Japan and Italy and that are less polluting," said Stine Hedegaard of the Danish Fashion Institute.

The eco-friendly runway show also doubled as a design contest for the prize of 50,000 kroner ($6,720), with a jury of fashion insiders to judged the show's 40 looks.

Saara Lepokorpi, a Finland-based fashion designer, took home the award after vowing the crowd with her asymmetrical cocktail dress woven from Ingeo and Milkfiber. "They were really nice materials to use and I intend to use them again," exclaimed Lepokorpi.

Awarding the prize, Denmark's Australian-born Crown Princess Mary said:

"The fashion industry is full of good ideas and creative people, people who are always ahead of time. It is an industry that picks up on and mirrors the developments in our society."

Plus Size Models For V Magazine's January Issue

"Big, little, pint-size, plus-size — every body is beautiful."

V Magazine is reportedly featuring an all-plus size models in its upcoming January issue. Because the decision has come after the hit of the blackface issue in November, some call it the new publicity horse.


The issue will feature Crystal Renn and other plus size models, to be shot clothed and nude by photographers Terry Richardson, Bruce Weber, and Karl Lagerfeld.

Karl Lagerfeld? He is the one who expressed his disagreement of plus size models in October, saying "No one wants to see curvy women. You've got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly."

Well, seeing curvy women through the lens of the camera is probably his New Year's resolution.

The decision to devote the January 2010 issue of V Magazine to plus size models is a so-called "proof" that curvy women are "also" beautiful. "Big, little, pint-size, plus-size — every body is beautiful. And this issue is out to prove it," says V editor Stephen Gan.

V Magazine is following the steps of Vogue Italia when it incorporated in its publication an issue devoted to Black models. The effect has been phenomenal. It has effectively made a statement that seems to call on giving nonwhite models a fair shot at the modeling industry. But after the sensational release of the "Black" magazine, nothing more is heard of it and no black or nonwhite models have been regularly featured in its publications.

Critics forecast the same for V Magazine. It would devote an issue to plus size models that seemingly calls out to the fashion industry to give curvy women a fair chance at runway shows, ad campaigns, and editorials. But after that, there would be no new idea incorporated into its editorial concepts.

Unlike Glamour Magazine which promises to regularly feature plus size models in its future issues, V Magazine's "plus size models only" issue is just like a trend, a "big" splash with an anticipated patronizing effect using curvy models that it once have shunned.

Tween Idol Justin Bieber Interview Details

Tween idol Justin Bieber sits down for an interview with Details. Find out some secrets of this overnight singing sensation including his dream girl, personal style, and his attitude as a tween pop star!


The 15 year-old Canadian pop/R&B singer started his career at a local singing competition in Ontario when he was 12. In 2007, his mother began posting his video performances on YouTube and was soon discovered by a Toronto-based company who assisted him with producing, editing and promoting his videos. He was recognized by singer Chris Brown for his rendition of "With You."

When a former marketing executive discovered his videos, he was invited to meet R&B singer/songwriter Usher who later gave him an audition at Island Records in October 2008. Soon enough, Justin Bieber became known as Usher protégé. "One Time" and "One Less Lonely Girl" are two of his hit songs currently rocking the international scene.


What are the first songs you loved?
"God Is Bigger Than the Boogie Man' from VeggieTales. And when I was, like, 7 or 6, Boyz II Men's 'On Bended Knee.' My mom used to play the album over and over. I would go to my bedroom and try to do the vocal acrobatics."

You're single now, but you have dated, right?
"I've had girlfriends - nothing really, really serious, but I've had girlfriends. My first was when I was, like, 12 or 13. A month later, we broke up. I had that little stomach pain for a couple of days, but then I was cool. Now I'm waiting for Beyoncé to call."

Your fans show up to your shows wearing the same American Apparel hoodie you wore in your "One Time" video. Are you cultivating a style?
"I'm just a kid that wakes up like everyone else and just puts clothes on - like a hoodie and jeans and some fresh kicks, Supras or high-tops."

What's up with the mop-top hairdo?
"I think the girls like it, so I'm going to let it stick around for a while. I really don't think anyone's ever done this kind of thing with their hair: I just wake up, blow-dry it, and just shake it. And continue to shake it throughout the day."

I've heard that some of the teens flash you their bras(?)
"I mean, I don't mind it. Just kidding - it's not something that's cool for them to do. There was this one girl in Seattle - I didn't even see her - she runs at me, tries to give me a hug and tackles me. It was really aggressive and scary."

How do you feel about the whole teen-pop scene?
"I think some of it is corny, but that's just me. I just think that if you're a musical artist you should do something that appeals to all ages. I mean, I have songs that are about love, but I have songs that are about everyday life and stuff that people can relate to. When I was very young my parents split up, and that was hard on me. So I have a song that talks about that. I want to have a career, not just a hit."


Original Post:
Q&A With Tween Idol Justin Bieber

Sorry, Miuccia Prada Does Not Clothe Extras!

Miuccia Prada, the Italian fashion designer who turned Prada and Miu Miu into fashion powerhouses, is assigned to work on costumes for the Metropolitan Opera's upcoming spring production of "Attila" by Giuseppe Verdi.

But when she met the extras cast for the non-singing parts, she groaned at them and said, "I cannot clothe them! I need models!"


Poor extras. They will never be good enough for Miuccia Prada so they are being replaced. According to the opera company, the casting "is at the discretion of the creative team. Due to a change in concept, the Met is in the process of recasting" some of the extras.

The way it shows, the production is giving more importance to Prada's clothes and not to the actors who are supposed to give life to the story.

The non-singing extras (or supernumeraries, in theatrical terms) are women who have been cast months ago and have been probably preparing for their roles for quiet some time already.

One bad day, Miuccia Prada comes to visit Manhattan and when she takes a glance on the women extras, she realizes she hates their curvy figures. The extras are instantly deemed inappropriate - for the clothes, not for the roles.

Met is now reported to be hunting for models in an effort to recast some of the extras.

For all the drama, an observing source could only said, "Employing models is ridiculous. Being a supernumerary is about how you move, not how you look."

ABC's Reality Series "Find My Family" Stirs Controversy

"Find My Family" is a limited-run reality series on ABC that helps reunite adoptees with their birth parents or other blood-related family members.

It seems to be the most wholesome and family-oriented program on television these days. So why is the show stirring controversy?


Think: Who are most likely to refuse adopted children be introduced to their real parents? The adoptive parents, of course!

Well, this does not mean that adoptive parents are selfish people but when they become so close with children who not related to them, there is always that fear of losing their adopted children. Either the children would beg to return back to their birth parents or the real parents would beg to be with their birth children - everything could happen after the reunion.

So it follows that after the success of "Find My Family," there are some groups representing adoptive parents that oppose the show's offering. They say the show is exploitative. According to Martha Osborne, founder of an adoption advocacy site, the show is filming people having "an emotional breakdown."

This reaction is apparently opposite to the views of birth parents who praise the show for promoting reunions between birth parents and adoptive children. Lorraine Dusky, a writer for a birth mother-focused site, praises the reality series for addressing the longing of adoptive children to discover their roots - "the most natural desire of consciousness."

To address the controversy, ABC has provided taped interviews with the show's co-hosts, Tim Green and Lisa Joyner. The co-hosts (who are also adoptees themselves) address the issues raised on the series including "Why the show is not exploitative."

In one of the interviews, Lisa Joyner points out that "Find My Family" differs in purpose from most reality shows because it is "not dealing with a thousand-dollar or million-dollar prize, or a shot at fame. The only prize - the only ultimate gift that these people get - is their family."

Point taken. Still, some questions remain hanging: Should the adoption drama be televised? Is a reality series about adoption, in reality, uplifting or upsetting?


For more information or to apply for ABC's "Find My Family" click on the link!
Also check out the New Faces Castings Calls for many other auditions on family reality series!

Mandela Film Casts Jennifer Hudson, South African Actors Object!

Looks like Jennifer Hudson's Oscar award could not convinced South Africans for her big role in upcoming Nelson Mandela film.

The 28 year-old singer-actress is casted to play ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in a movie about the South African's first Black president. But South African actors object!


The Creative Workers Union of South Africa has expressed disagreement for the casting of the American actress because they believed that using foreign actors to tell the country's stories is undermining efforts to develop the national film industry.

In The Citizen newspaper, union's president Mabutho Sithole has said, "It can't happen that we want to develop our own Hollywood and yet bring in imports."

Union secretary general Oupa Lebogo has voiced out the same concern in The Times, saying "This decision must be reversed, it must be stopped now. If the matter doesn't come up for discussion, we will push for a moratorium to be placed on the film."

Jennifer Hudson, who has won the Oscar's best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls," is casted for the role of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela just last month. As the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, she has tirelessly called for his husband's release during his 27-year imprisonment but her image would later be tarnished from involvement in a series of scandals leading to her separation from him.

The objection to the casting choice comes just days before the opening of the film, "Invictus," which focuses on Nelson Mandela and the South Africa's 1995 rugby World Cup victory that united the nation. The film is directed by Clint Eastwood with South African film-maker Darrell J. Roodt. Morgan Freeman plays the role of Nelson Mandela while Matt Damon plays the rugby team captain.

Cindy Crawford Explains Why Too Much Cosmetic Surgery Is Not Sexy

Cindy Crawford has recently admitted to using botox to fight the aging process, but she also warns women to refrain from relying on too much cosmetic surgery to improve their looks.


Describing the excessive use of cosmetic surgery as "unsexy," the 43 year-old former supermodel says:

"If you're not careful you end up looking perfect but not real. And that's not very sexy."

Cindy Crawford's view on cosmetic surgery has definitely taken some influence from her husband, Rande Gerber, and his close friend George Clooney who could not understand why anyone would go under the knife to alter their appearance:

"I don't think guys like it. My husband hates that stuff, he'd be angry if I did it. He and George (Clooney) talk about it and say, 'Have you ever not gone out with a girl because her lips aren't big enough?' Of course they haven't. They always ask me why women do this stuff to themselves. And I don't know. The doctors who do it lose their eye for it because they're doing so much. But I think it'll change."

Nonetheless, Cindy Crawford understands the pressure of staying gorgeous and "young" for women like her age, especially those who are also in the beauty/fashion industry. With her admittance to using botox to maintain the radiance of her skin, she has also been quoted as saying:

"I'm not going to lie to myself: past a certain age, creams work on the texture of your skin but, in order to restore elasticity, all I can really count on is vitamin injections, Botox and collagen."

She believes that a little nip or tuck is only natural for someone of her stature.

"Because people have such expectations of what they are going to find when they see me, that brings added pressure to fight the aging process. But don't get me wrong. I think I'm holding together pretty good!"

And by "holding together pretty good," the model means not obsessing on cosmetic surgeries and succumb to the pressure of staying young.

"You think about it the older you get, the pressure builds, definitely, especially in my kind of profession. But the women I think look great either don't do it or are very subtle about it."

FYI, Cindy Crawford likes to maintain her gorgeous looks to be called "MILF," an abbreviated slang term (generally vulgar) used to describe a sexy woman who has children. Being a wife to a businessman and a mother to two children aged 10 and 7, she believes that her personality has been effected by the aging process and that people does not find her as attractive as they once did. Nonetheless, she hopes people still thinks she is sexy.

"Age can be daunting, but you can't stop it. I know 20-year-old guys don't look at me anymore. I don't feel it like I used to. I remember walking down streets in New York at the height of my modeling career, my hair up, and all the construction guys would go crazy. It's different now.

"I don't want to be a cougar, I want to be a MILF. I hate that word 'cougar' and what it represents. MILF is a word I absolutely love. I like that tag because I think there is a worry for all models that the moment you have kids the perception of you is going to change."

Kylie Bisutti Is Victoria's Secret Angel Model Search Winner

Kylie Bisutti is the lucky winner of the recent Victoria's Secret Model Search. The 19 year-old model from Simi Valley, California has won the contest through the nationwide online voting for the newest Angel of the giant lingerie company.


Kylie Bisutti has emerged from the crowd of 10,000 tall and lovely ladies (18-30 years old & at least 5'8" in bare feet) from all over the United States. The new Angel is a 5'10" beauty who loves adventure and enjoys sports. As proof of her adventurous spirit, she has traveled to Japan at the young age of 16 to pursue modeling.

Kylie Bisutti and runner-up Jamie Lee Darley has walked the runway during the 2009 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Of the competiton, the winning model says:

"Jamie and I became pretty good friends as we lived together. We are also competitors though, so it was a funny combination because we were friends but we always had to compete with each other in tasks. We had a lot of fun shopping and going to the gym together. We made food together and we got along really well."

But just like the other gorgeous VS Angels, Kylie Bisutti is also "taken." She is a newlywed and it is actually her mother-in-law who pushed her to participate in the VS model search. Otherwise, the promising model says she would be at home settling in with her new husband.

As the newest Victoria's Secret Angel, Kylie Bisutti hopes to inspire women around the world to be comfortable in their own colors.

Models Strip On XOXO's Shopping Windows!

Ok. So you are a struggling model who want to make it big in the fashion industry. How would you like to get publicity (for yourself and for the product that you are endorsing) by stripping inside the shopping center?

No, you don't need to strip past your underwear, but you will be changing clothes and walk in lingerie from time to time. Outside, people would be crowding because every strip and modeling that you make are seen through the glass windows.


Junior label XOXO has erected holiday windows on 38th Street and Fifth Avenue where models can be seen changing clothes. Because the clothing line's target is publicity, they welcome the crowd of voyeurs, er, curious men who obviously are mesmerized to stop by and watch the teasing models through the shopping windows. This, despite the fact that the label's target clients are women.

"The scene is a young woman's apartment, where two shapely models try on clothes, flip through magazines and even paint each other's fingernails. After dark they switch to evening wear, and spend hours getting dressed for a night on the town. All in front of floor-to-ceiling windows."

XOXO's Creative Director Carol Powley has oriented the models to focus on their modeling/acting and not to pay any attention to the public:

"When I want them to change clothes, I send them a text message. It's very voyeuristic. You want to be looking at them, but you wonder if you should be."

The conservative people are disgusted while others scream for additional men models. Either way, XOXO and the models behind the shopping windows really give a new meaning to "window shopping." Hopefully, that would not be cheap or irrelevant.

Beauty Queen Dies After Plastic Surgery!

Solange Magnano, 38 years old and winner of the 1994 Miss Argentina beauty pageant, died on Sunday after complications on plastic surgery procedure.


The former Miss Argentina wanted to sculpt her bottom and so she underwent a gluteoplasty cosmetic-surgery (buttock augmentation) in Buenos Aires just last week. She believed that going under the knife for a rounder butt is "no big deal."

Little did the beauty queen know, her operation would turn fatal and she would be rushed to the hospital a day after. She died from pulmonary embolism. The liquid used for sculpting her butt went into her lungs and brain, blocking the supply of blood to the lungs.

"A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind," says Roberto Piazza, a fashion designer and friend of the model.

For a nation obsessed with beauty, cosmetic surgery procedures like buttock augmentation are common. Because of popularity, they really have become a "no big deal" in the country, especially for those who can afford to pay for the operations. But alas! The price of beauty is sometimes fatal.

Daul Kim's Agency Blames Work Pressures For Model's Suicide

Daul Kim's agency, Next, has released a statement last Wednesday that supported the suicide theory behind the model's death:

"She was not able to live the normal life other girls did at her age. We suspect that she felt confused and lost after reaching the top of her career."

Joy Yoon, a friend of Daul Kim and a fellow Korean, has also said that despite the Asian model's success on the catwalk, she usually has dark moods and melancholy:

"The loneliness she felt must have been suffocating. Did her agencies really have her best interests at heart? I know she wanted stability and a somewhat normal life and even complained about it. Isn't that a sign? A cry for help?"

At 20, 5'10" Daul Kim is recognized as the Korean version of supermodel Kate Moss.

If work pressures and loneliness are the real reasons behind Daul Kim's suicide as suggested by her agency, they realized it too late.

Isn't caring for the model's growth (personally, not just financially) every talent agency's topmost priority?

Daul Kim's suicide news has sent shockwaves through the fashion industry. Unfortunately, everybody seems just to be stuck up on the drama behind the model's death. No prominent fashion figure has really stood up to speak of support groups for the models and how to prevent any model's suicide-because-of-work-pressures in the future.

Is support group for fashion models considered a faux pax in the industry too?