Posted May. 12, 2008,

Model Lyoka Tyagnereva Talks Heels, Mushrooms and Mensa

By Julia Frakes

Lyoka Tyagnereva -- the striking Russian phenom with the fluffiest hair and the fiercest stare -- answers our questions fresh from a Mario Testino D&G pre-Fall 2008 campaign. The botanist-cum-model reveals her fear of heels, her love of mushrooms and disdain for Mensa.

Julia Frakes: When did you first know that you wanted to be a model?
Lyoka Tyagnereva: I never wanted to be a model. I mean, it wasn't my dream or something like that. I liked to take some pictures at home but never thought about [the possible] career of being a model. People said that I should… but I thought that it was a mean business.

JF: Do you ever become homesick while traveling?
LT: Of course, I'm always missing my home and my family!

Posted May. 7, 2008,

An Interview with the Profoundly Eloquent Simona McIntyre

By Julia Frakes

Simona McIntyre -- the articulate 18-year-old Canadian model captivating designers and photographers alike with her fairy tale good looks and delightful charm -- chats with us about her environmental beliefs and incredibly mature, levelheaded outlook on life. A very sincere thank you to the alluring Ms. McIntyre for graciously taking valuable time out of her teeming (and fascinating) schedule!

Julia Frakes: Are there any historic figures that you profoundly identify with?
Simona McIntyre: Actually, I think so. Since I was about seven years old I began to idolize Pocahontas. I have plenty of memories (and family home videos) of me in her Disney apparel, day in and out, barefoot and singing "Colors of the Wind." I recall channeling her, reminding those I saw to respect nature and of universal love. Whether or not the romanticized version of Pocahontas that I envisioned based on the Disney idol is the real Powhatan doesn't matter. To me she always represented my love and respect for every life form in the physical macrocosm.

Posted Apr. 18, 2008,

Mr. Mickey and Todd Love 2xist Undies!

By Mickey Boardman

What to do for lunch is always such a difficult question. Luckily a few days ago that question wasn't a problem as the nice people at 2xist hosted a "liquid lunch" to booze up the editors and let us a take a peek at what's shaking in the world of high fashion man panties.

Mr Mickey was thrilled that the first scantily clad model in the place was the fabulous Tall Todd! Todd is not only gorgeous and smart, he's got a great personality. And have you taken a look at that body. MM has known Todd for ages as he's a fixture on the fashion and party scene. Aren't we a cute couple? MM needs to get his trainer on the horn!

Photo by Michelle Lindsay

Posted Mar. 24, 2008,

Stefan Campbell Presents: Sean Fitzergerald, the Anti-Abercrombie Kid

By Stefan Campbell

This is Sean Fitzgerald, a 20-year-old, lanky, Jodie Foster-circa-Freaky-Friday of a boy, and a drama major at NYU and Lee Strasberg from Ohio. I spotted him at ODIN on Lafayette Street last June one afternoon around 1:20 p.m. before having lunch with Aussie photographer and director James Huston (look for James’ documentary on sex in America). What caught my attention about Sean were many things… from his “Southern punk trash look meets deliverance chic”; to his classic black Wayfarers and Clockwork Orange-style bowler hat; to his perfectly scruffed up, square-toe vintage dusty boots and ratty bobbed hair. But what blew my mind was Sean’s skinniness that made him seem as if he attended the Rachel Zoe School of Dieting. He was so thin his skinny jeans were too baggy... and all his gestures while browsing through the racks of the hipster-wear looked like couture poses. “I have all brothers, and we are all this way," he said of his Vivien Leigh meets manorexic waistline.

Posted Feb. 4, 2008,

Victoria Bartlett Starts Casting for Her Show and Sets Her Brain to Miss Sixty

By Victoria Bartlett

FRIDAY, FEB. 1
I’m always happy once we start looking at girls for casting. It’s a relief to see different body types in the clothes and to understand the pieces on the girls. It’s nice to see whose body will fit what pieces -- it’s kind of like a mathematical problem that needs to be solved. We did casting ALL day!

SATURDAY, FEB. 2
Today I need to set my brain to Miss Sixty because I am styling their runway show, so I need to piece together the picture for their FW/08 collection. It’s always fun to do Miss Sixty because it’s so different from my collection. It’s interesting to put your own psyche into someone else’s fashion thoughts. It’s almost like creating a character in a movie and figuring out ”who that girl is inside."

Posted Dec. 21, 2007,

Gemma Ward's Close-Up

By David Hershkovits

I number myself among the growing number of Gemma fans out there. That's Gemma Ward, the beauteous model who is maturing into an actor of serious potential. Sure, models have made the shift before, but looking at this clip from The Black Balloon makes me think that there's more here than meets the eye.

The Black Balloon is an Australian film with Gemma Ward, Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford and Toni Collette, and will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in Feb. 2008. It will be in Australian cinemas beginning March 6, 2008.

Posted Oct. 15, 2007,

PAPER TV: Trick or Treat!

By PAPERMAG Editors

Meet and greet the delectable boys of PAPER's "Trick or Treat" fashion spread from our October issue. You may want to spend some alone time with these guys and lock the door -- the boys take their shirts off!

Posted Sep. 14, 2007,

Bethann Hardison Brings It: Talking About a Revolution

By Rebecca Carroll

naomi campbell There's very little that pleases me more than a room full of beautiful black people.

Especially when the room includes André Leon Talley, Naomi Campbell (who could not have been more delightful, by the way), Liya Kebede, Tyson Beckford, Constance White, Iman (could she possibly be more beautiful?) and the legendary Bethann Hardison, who both organized and hosted the event -- a town hall type gathering held at the screening room at the Bryant Park Hotel to address the lack of black models in the fashion industry.

There were other people of color and white folks in attendance, too, but it was mostly gorgeous brown-skinned faces, many of whom I recognized from various projects and points in my career: former model and author Barbara Summers, who spoke vividly at the meeting, was an interview subject in my first book, I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like; the exceptionally dope-ass fashion stylist Michaela Angela Davis, with whom I sat on a panel at the Smithsonian some years back, was there kicking it on point; and my dear friend, the brilliant documentary producer, Selina Lewis Davidson, was there filming the event for a doc-in-progress she's working on with Bethann.

Posted Sep. 12, 2007,

Meet the Unsullied, New Faces of Fashion Week

By PAPERMAG Editors

The Saturday before Fashion Week began, Mitch Healy and Angus Watson, aka EXU, who have been photographing many of the S/S '08 runway shows for us, held a model casting in a grungy, walk-up in Chinatown. The result? Thirty-six of this season's most un-jaded and freshest faces. Take a look here.

Posted Apr. 9, 2007,

My Del.icio.us Week

By David Hershkovits

I've come to depend on Del.icio.us as my filing system. It's where I save articles I might want to refer to at a later time. Now I can share. Here's what I tagged this week.

French Politics in 3-D on Fantasy Web Site -- "Protesters attacked the cyberspace headquarters of extremist French presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in the popular 3-D Internet fantasy world Second Life." A great place for people to get out their aggressions. Let's fight all wars on Second Life. All four major French presidential candidates are conducting campaigns on Second Life.

Italian TV Bans Reality Shows -- "In Italy, the state broadcaster Rai has taken an unprecedented decision to scrap reality shows from next year. It's a decision winning popular support." And the ratings suck anyway.

Why That Hoodie Your Son Wears Isn’t Trademarked -- Economists "argue that the lack of intellectual property protection actually promotes the functioning of the [fashion] industry. If the extension of copyright to fashion prevented clothes manufacturers from copying each other, the industry would be ceding a major role to the lawyers and become much less creative. We’d see the same thing year after year. In other words, women’s fashion would look much more like men’s fashions — boring, boring, boring." Diane von Furstenberg is currently lobbying for intellectual property protection for the fashion industry.

Meet The Model Pop Star -- The former supermodel Carla Bruni goes from Vogue to verse in classic poems she’s set to music." Bruni's fans are not only from the French hipoisie.

Disney Opens Weddings to Gay Couples -- "Same-sex couples who want to exchange vows in front of Cinderella's Castle now have the chance." Will goofy now come out?

Posted Apr. 5, 2007,

Sneak Peek at Looks from Kate Moss for Topshop

By Carol Lee

Kate Moss for Topshop is almost here (Yayee!) -- May 1st. I can't think of a non-designer who's more qualified to have her own collection than Kate Moss. She is the most fantabulous model of our time and is a bona-fide style icon who arguably has more influence on how young women want to dress than Anna Wintour. So needless to say, it is so exciting to see what Miss Moss has pulled from the lot of her own favorite outfits to cull together a line for Topshop this spring! Here's a sneak peek at the best of the Kate Moss for Topshop look book which is all about Kate and her BFF Irina Lazareanu playing dress-up!! Hint: Expect signature Kate Moss items such as cropped skinny jeans, tuxedo vests, vingtage-esque mini-dresses and an overall rock 'n' roll, sexy vibe with a splash of modern boheme.

And go to this web site (katemosstopshop.com) for more on Kate and Irina!!!

p.s. For those of us who are not going to be across the Atlantic near a real Topshop store, you can go nuts on their web site.