Tyra Banks Launches Plus-Size Teen Model Search!

Tyra Banks raises a new challenge for the fashion industry as she launches the first-ever modeling competition for plus-sized teens!


"Tyra's Fiercely Real Teen Model Search" searches the country for plus-sized girls aged 13-19 and between 5'9" and 6'1".

"I've always felt it was my mission to expand the narrow perceptions of beauty; through America's Next Top Model, True Beauty and The Tyra Show I challenge industry and universal standards by featuring and celebrating non-traditional beauty, and stressing that true beauty is both inside and out," says the supermodel of fierceness.

The modeling competition will not air on TV but will be launched exclusively on The Tyra Show website where the young curvy models will be presented to the community.

But wait there's more!

The winning plus-sized teen model will get 1-year modeling contract with Wilhelmina modeling agency, a fashion spread on Tyra's MagaLine (to be shot by the supermodel herself), a cover photo with Tyra Banks on Tyra's MagaLine, and a spread in a major fashion magazine.

For all the effort, Tyra Banks says:

"Plus-sized tends to have a negative connotation and I want young girls to realize that what's considered plus-sized is the average American woman. That woman is healthy, fit and beautiful. Adolescence is such an impressionable time in a young woman's life, and I hope this contest helps teen girls discover their own beauty from the inside out."


For more information about this casting, please go to the New Faces Casting Calls page and click on "Tyra's Fiercely Real Teen Model Search."

Naomi Campbell Will Not Host "Britain's Next Top Model"

Naomi Campbell turns down her anticipated hosting gig for "Britain's Next Top Model."

The supermodel's camp could not make an agreement with the producers over the amount of time she would spend on the show.


According to a "source" for the The Daily Mail:

"The producers felt the last series wasn't taken as seriously as the American version because presenter Lisa Snowdon just couldn't carry it off on her own. What was missing was a real diva supermodel, a British equivalent to US host Tyra Banks.

"Naomi was really excited, but pulled out because she couldn't reach an agreement over logistics or the amount of time she would have to commit.

The proposed show format would have the 39-year-old British supermodel take on a group of aspiring models, offering advice and choosing the deserving winner along the way.

Naomi Campbell's appearance on the show is expected to relive the said competition between her and fellow black supermodel Tyra Banks who hosts "America's Next Top Model" since day one.

Pulling out a hosting job on the reality modeling competition, Naomi Campbell has also turned down the prospect of reviving her career with a turn on British TV.

Known for having anger-management issues, it could have been exciting to see how Naomi Campbell mingles with the model contestants, some of whom might just be as "diva" as her.

Naomi Sims, First Black Supermodel, Dies At 61

First African-American supermodel Naomi Sims has died of cancer yesterday, August 03, 2009. She was 61.


Once bullied by her classmates because of her height, Naomi Sims has risen to become one of the most successful black models while still in her teens.

She has been the first African-American model to appear on the covers of Ladies Home Journal in 1967, The New York Times Magazine's Fashion of the Times in 1967, and Life Magazine in 1969. (Her magazine appearances - the 1967 New York Times fashion magazine cover and the 1969 cover of LIFE Magazine - are now on display in the Metropolitan Museum's "The Model As Muse" exhibit.)

According to reports, Naomi Sims was turned down by modeling agencies in the late 1960s. Undeterred by rejection, the black model went to photographers and finally persuaded Gosta Peterson to capture her for the cover of The New York Times Magazine's Fashion of the Times supplement in 1967. (It was this image which would later appear in the MET's "Model as Muse" exhibit.) She has also sent out the image to advertising agencies and was earning $1,000 within a year. The image has her land a national AT&T TV commercial campaign wearing Bill Blass.

Her phenomenal appearances on top magazine covers has paved the way for her worldwide recognition in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She has also modeled for prestigious fashion designers Halston, Fernando Sánchez, Teal Traina, and Giorgio di Sant' Angelo.

Because of popularity, Naomi Sims was later offered a lead role in the Hollywood film Cleopatra Jones but she chose to turn down the role because of racist portrayal of blacks in the movie.

When she retired from modeling in 1973, she started her own beauty business and launched a successful wig collection. Her design posted an annual sales of $5 million by 1978.

Naomi Sims also became a successful author in her later years. She wrote five books on modeling, beauty and health including "All About Health and Beauty for the Black Women," "How to Be a Top Model," and "All About Success for the Black Women." She also has an advice column for teenage girls in Right On! Magazine.

Naomi Sims always acknowledged that her success has come from using her race as an advantage. Her early works and advocacy for the black race has helped established the identity of today's black supermodels like Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Jourdan Dunn and other upcoming top models of African descent.

"It's 'in' to use me, and maybe some people do it when they don't really like me. But even if they are prejudiced, they have to be tactful if they want a good picture," Naomi Sims once said after establishing her multi-million beauty empire.

MET The 2009 Supermodel Muses

The 2009 Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Gala honoring "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion" began yesterday.


The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art organize the spring 2009 exhibition with the goal of exploring "the reciprocal relationship between high fashion and evolving ideals of beauty, focusing on iconic fashion models in the latter half of the 20th century and their roles in projecting, and sometimes inspiring, the fashion of their respective eras."

Expecting glamour and glitz on the red carpet, let's see who were the supermodel muses who attended the event and what fashion did they inspire:

Kate Moss, honorary co-chair of the gala, in her Marc Jacobs asymmetrical minidress - check! (Oh, and there's the turban she co-designed with Stephen Jones.)

Newly-wed Gisele Bündchen in sparkling Versace and unkempt sexy do - check!

Preggy Heidi Klum in a J. Mendel ballgown dramatic navy taffeta and sheer gown - check!

Agyness Deyn in Marilyn Monroe-hairstyle and classic make-up in a grey, crushed silk Burberry maxi - check!

Cindy Crawford in a thigh-baring, metallic blue Versace gown - check!

Tyra Banks in a Badgley Mischka black beaded strapless gown - check!

Iman in a one-shouldered champagne colored gown - check!

Claudia Schiffer in an intricate black cut-out gown - check!

Yep. Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Stephanie Seymour - they did not attend the event so, X!


The 2009 Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Gala is on view at the Metropolitan from May 6 through August 9, 2009.

Tyra Banks Will Testify Against Stalker

It's not anymore catwalk but courtroom fight for Supermodel Tyra Banks. She's set to testify against a stalker accused of following her around.


The model-turned TV personality will come face to face with her stalker, Brady Green, in a Manhattan courtroom. The man has been accused of following Tyra Banks from coast to coast since January last year.

Brady Green was arrested last month after reportedly trying to see the model in a fast food establishment near the Manhattan building where "The Tyra Banks Show" is taped. He was charged with stalking, harassment and criminal trespass. If convicted, he will face 90 days in jail.

Brady Green, however, denies stalking against the model saying:

"I know her. She knows me. We're good friends... We had a thing together. I sent her flowers. I sent her cards. Should I plead no contest? I've got satellites watching me and recording us."

Tyra Banks, for this matter, has to testify in court that she was alarmed and feared for her physical safety - the emotional distress serving as element of the criminal charges against his stalker.

Transgender Model Isis King Will Become A Woman

Tyra Banks will help Isis King, the first transgender contestant of America's Next Top Model, to become a real woman by undergoing sex change operation.


Tyra Banks has announced on Tuesday in her talk show that she has found a doctor to pay for Isis King to undergo sex reassignment surgery – a wonderful gift from the supermodel and creator of America's Next Top Model.

Also on the Tyra Banks Show, Isis King was introduced to Dr. Marci Bowers, a leading gender reassignment surgeon who has also undergone a sex-change operation. It will be Dr. Bowers herself who will be paying for the surgery.

The 23-year old Isis King was born born Darrell Walls. She was living in a homeless shelter when Tyra Banks discovered her. She was featured in a photo shoot for the 10th cycle of America's Next Top Model and returned as a full-fledged contestant on the reality series this current season. However, the transgender model got kicked off later midway through the show after failing to produce a stunning photo in her swim suit.

“Darrell was somebody that I had to be. He had to be a certain thing. Darrell was never me. Isis is me. I’m free, I’m happy,” Isis King said.

When the supportive Tyra Banks announced the future transformation of Isis King, the transgender model excitedly remarked, “This is not happening! “(I feel) like I’m about to wake up.”

Isis King had been taking hormone replacement therapy but hadn’t received the surgery because of the high costs ($20,000 to $35,000). Now that her dream of becoming a real woman is about to come true, she could not help but get sentimental:

“I look at it like, ‘Yes, I’m the first transgender contestant, but OK, lets move past it now. I try not to think about (being transgendered) because… I feel like I really was born in the wrong body, and it’s just the one thing that makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Models Lose Cosmetic Contracts To Celebrities

Supermodel Tyra Banks blamed the celebrities for models not getting lucrative deals with cosmetic giants. She believed that models lose cosmetic contracts to celebrities as actresses and singers strike deals with cosmetic companies these days.

“I think all supermodels now are losing out to celebrities. It’’s celebrities who are getting the cosmetics contracts,” says the supermodel-turned-TV host.

Two of the famous celebrities that become faces of cosmetics company today are Eva Mendes who did the controversial TV ad for Calvin Klein and Beyonce Knowles who is a spokesmodel for L”Oreal.

And so the catwalk queen believed that because cosmetic companies prefer celebrities to do the campaign ads, hard-up models will have hard time landing on money-spinning deals with fashion, make-up, and fragrance firms.

That celebrities becoming the faces of make-up and fragrance companies is a growing trend that almost everyone already know. What's there to be discussed about should be the answer to this trend. While Tyra Banks insists that models lose cosmetic contracts to celebrities, she did not mention any possible solution to the situation.