I love Diane Von Furstenberg’s clothes, and I love Terry Richardson’s work. So what went wrong here? This campaign just looks…tacky. The photoshopping looks like it has been done by a 5 year old (and not in a good, “crafty” way) and the models legs are just horribly thin compared to her giant head.

Image from The Fashion Spot.

Title: Hollywood High

Despite the bad publicity Terry Richardson got in the last few months, I am still a fan of his work (I think he’s ended up being a bit of a scapegoat, which is unfair.) His blog, Terry Richardson’s Diary, is one of my favourite photo blogs. I’m less interested in the portraits he posts on his blog, but more into the pictures of random stuff. They are just…really cool.

(Photo captions are the photograph titles.)

Beer Delivery Guy

Louis Vuitton Bongs

Funk Bros.

Me and Frank B...Flying High!

Iron Maiden Parking Lot #15 (this series was an awesome take on Heavy Metal Parking Lot, one of the best heavy metal documentaries ever.)

Mick the Dog Got a Boob Job

Taylor, Kristen, Robert, and Bacardi

Karma Police

I Heart Soccer Moms

Middle Finger and the Eiffel Tower

Happy Independence Day!

Brad Pitt for Mayor

All images from Terry Richardson’s Diary.

Although I am not a fan of Jimmy Choo as a brand, I did respect their president and co-founder, Tamara Mellon, until a few weeks ago.

Tamara grew up a very rich girl and dabbled in the magazine world as a UK Vogue editor for some time (as all the rich girls do) until she noticed a gap in the luxury accessories market. She teamed up with Malaysian shoe designer, Jimmy Choo, borrowed a couple hundred grand from Daddy, and she was in business. Fast forward ten or twelve years, and Jimmy is out (thrown out by his own niece!) and Tamara Mellon is laughing laughing on her way to the bank because her company is worth millions.

I have some good ideas too, and if my Daddy would bankroll them, I am sure I would definitely have a nice little business right now. But I am not sure I would have been able to turn it into a multi million dollar empire, the way Tamara Mellon did (even though her brand is the McDonald’s of the luxury shoe world.) So that’s why I respected her, she is a savvy businesswoman who knows how to make good deals.

When she gets featured in the press, they always make sure to mention that she is thin, glamorous, and quite good looking. She has also dated Christian Slater (nice) and Kid Rock (not nice.) There were times I compared her to Natalie Massenet, the CEO of Net A Porter, who also looks good, came from money, started a fashion business, and managed to make a lot more money. But one thing Natalie Massenet would not do is pose nude.

Tamara Mellon with Christian Slater.

Tamara has been photographed topless on several occasions, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. If you are in Spain, and you want to be on the beach topless, which is perfectly legal and acceptable, and someone takes a photo of you, it’s not the end of the world. But what I can’t understand is how Tamara agreed to be photographed nude by Terry Richardson. I have completely lost respect for her. She is the perfect example of a reason why women aren’t taken seriously in the boardroom. I mean, how the hell does she face her board of directors, knowing they all saw her naked with a cat sitting on her crotch? It is so tasteless!

Tamara Mellon shot by Terry Richardson.

This image actually makes me feel a bit sick. What if she was your boss? Would you be able to look her in the eye?

I’m sorry if I am repeating myself, because I sort of covered this Thursday when I talked about Carey Mulligan and Heidi Montag, but this is different. We expect actresses to do silly things, not presidents of multi million dollar corporations. Did I mention Tamara has a daughter? Poor thing!

The best part is that The Cut quoted her as saying “I would love to do a chat show for women…I would love to talk to women about how to run their lives, that’s what I would like to do.”" Perhaps she’d like to give us advice on how to ruin our reputations? Or do we really need someone to help us with that…

Tamara with shoes image by Richardnicholson.com. Shoe images from Jimmychoo.com.

Terry Richardson

There has been a lot in the press about fashion photographer Terry Richardson, and the accusations that he sexually exploits models. This Guardian article sums it up quite well, but here’s a brief summary. A Danish model, Rie Rasmussen, accused him of being “degrading to women” in a night club in Paris recently, and that got the ball rolling. Since then, there has been reports of other models who say that they were put into uncompromising situations on shoots with Terry Richardson. Let’s face it, Terry’s work is pretty much pornographic, but he definitely has a strong style, and I would consider him to be one of the leading phtographers of the past twenty years.

Terry Richardson with Kate Moss

I have one of his coffee table books, and yes, its pretty much tits and ass, but there is no denying that he has a distinctive style, which generally involves a lot of nudity and stark lighting (and he often poses naked with his models.) He has a blog, called Terry’s Diary, in which he posted the following statement (March 20, 2010.)

“I just want to take a moment to say I’m really hurt by the recent and false allegations of insensitivity and misconduct. I feel fortunate to work with so many extraordinary people each and every day. I’ve always been considerate and respectful of the people I photograph and I view what I do as a real collaboration between myself and the people in front of the camera. To everyone who has embraced and supported me and my work, I am so grateful. Thank you, it means a lot.”

Its hard to say whether the allegations have much validity in this situation. Terry Richardson has been shooting for many years, and if he was that bad, surely he would have been accused sooner than this… But then again, its no surprise models would have been nervous about saying anything about him, since he is one of the most powerful figures in the industry. I’d like to hear what his assistants have to say. I am sure they have confidentiality agreements in place, but one of them is bound to open up at some point. It wouldn’t surprise me if the models had reluctantly agreed to do “things” while on a shoot, and then regretted it later, hence the allegations coming all at once.

A Tom Ford campaign shot by Terry Richardson

The fashion industry is messy, and models are often in the position where they can be exploited quite easily. But then again, they can also earn a lot of money in a very short period of time. And its not just models, I was telling my Mom the other day about one of my bosses, who had worked for many very high profile fashion companies, and had routinely “slept” her way to the top, often finding ways to have her sexual partners fired after she managed to usurp their power. Sounds nasty, but its not only the fashion industry that is like this.

As usual, the fashion industry gets put into the spotlight, and gets a ton of bad press. I totally disagree with exploiting young models, and making girls do nude shots if they don’t want to, but I am not going to make any harsh judgements on Terry Richardson until I have heard a bit more evidence. I’d also like to know why the media jumps on one story about a lone fashion photographer, when there are far worse cases of sexual harassment going on, that don’t get nearly enough column inches. This Guardian article and CNN article about how one third of women in the US Army experience sexual assault is terrifying, and seems a much bigger issue than Terry Richardson. Anyway, I am watching to see how this progresses, and I hope we get the full story.

Terry Richardson with Barack Obama

I thought it would be appropriate at this time of year to do a post about food. Since I spent so many years away from my hometown, Christmas was always about family and food. Presents were usually the flight I took home, and on a couple of good years, it was vintage Louis Vuitton luggage, but generally its more about the company than the presents. I have a very big family, and there is generally not a lot of fighting going on, which means Christmas is usually a very good time.

So we tend to eat a lot over Christmas, and my highlights are always the chicken liver pate, oyster stuffing, trifle, and Grandma’s curry (we are a very multicultural household, so there are a few unusual dishes…) Of course there is a bit of guilt associated with all the feasts, but I try not to worry too much, and I’ll make sure I am on the treadmill tomorrow morning, just like I was this morning.

Sizes, weights, and bodies are always an major obsession in the fashion industry, and it can be quite difficult at times. Dressing models certainly doesn’t help with body image, nor does being surrounded by people who don’t eat. But the fashion industry is not all to blame, in fact, I think there are far worse factors than that. So, as a Christmas present to all of you, I am going to set the record straight about food and fashion.

“French women eat all that butter and cheese and pastries, and they still don’t get fat.” Well, let’s start by feeling sorry for french women. Yes, they tend to be slim, beautiful, and well-dressed, but their main reason for needing to be like this is that for some ridiculous reason it is acceptable for their husbands to cheat on them. If I was constantly competing with all of the young, beautiful women swanning around Paris, I too would be keeping myself in tip top shape. Yes, they eat bread with butter, but they eat one slice. And that’s their lunch. And breakfast was probably a black coffee. The fact is, the more calories you take in without burning, the fatter you will be. There are no exceptions, not even for French women, so while they are eating their pastries, remember that is probably all they are eating today.

I remember when Carine Roitfeld (Editor of French Vogue, and the ultimate French Fashionista) used to style our shows at Sonia Rykiel. She would drink water and take a lot of pills, but I don’t remember seeing her eat. I will not deny that she is a fabulous woman, but I do think once women get into their 50s, its important not to be too thin. It just looks bad. Carine is not at that point yet (and she is in her 50s), but she definitely can’t afford to lose any weight. There is no myth about French women, they don’t eat a lot, that is how they stay slim.

“The fashion industry is to blame for body image issues.” I won’t lie, models are under pressure to be thin. But lets face it, a model is a freak of nature. How many people are born six feet tall, with size 2 bodies? Not many, they are anomalies. And, when you sign up to modeling, you sign up to staying thin all the time. That is your job, simple as that. Actresses, on the other hand, are a different matter. You don’t need to be six feet tall, or a size 2 to be a successful actress, yet for some reason Hollywood has become obsessed with dieting and plastic surgery.

And the media doesn’t help by publishing photos of actresses and singers who are “too thin”, “too fat”, and with “too much cellulite.”

Hollywood is much more to blame for body issues than the fashion industry is, and even within the industry, models are not the ones to blame. Journalists are just as bad, if not worse, with their eating habits. I once saw a fashion week food diary from a designer, a model, and a journalist, and the journalist ate by far the least, in fact, she was dangerously below a healthy calorie intake. My friend works as a designer at Dior, and she told me about an American press lunch she attended. She was sat around a table with a bunch of American journalists, and most of them didn’t eat their lunch. In fact, one actually said “I don’t do food.” So let’s leave the poor models alone. Most of them are 16, having to get naked in front of loads of strangers, and will have to retire when they are 28, because they will be too old. So it is not that great of a job.

“The size zero phenomenon is affecting our society.” Ok, yes, I won’t deny that size zero is not a very good thing to be exposed to when you are a vulnerable 14 year old girl. But the fact is, there are way to many over weight people than there are underweight people. I think it is important to realize when you are overweight, and when you are dangerously overweight, but as long as you are happy and healthy, you shouldn’t put pressure on yourself. The UK was one of the main “voices” in the size zero debate, and they also have terrible media that criticizes celebrities and follows them like crazy. But the UK is very close to catching up to the US in terms of percentage of overweight people.

I’m a size 8, and in the UK I feel like I am average, or sometimes below average, whereas in France I feel fat. The problem with a lot of Brits is that they are overweight from drinking and eating huge amounts of unhealthy, processed foods. I once heard that it is totally acceptable to say to someone “You shouldn’t smoke” or “You are too thin” but when is it acceptable to say to someone “You are too fat.”? Its not really acceptable at any time. I feel that the media just finds a scapegoat (thin models) rather than dealing with the real issues, which in the UK and the US, is definitely the people who are eating too much, not too little.

On that note, I hope you all have a very happy Christmas. I’ll be back in a few days, so I am going to leave you a few images from the upcoming V Magazine “Size” issue. I read about this on New York Magazine’s The Cut, and what they have done is shoot a “normal” size model next to a plus size model. Terry Richardson did the photos, and the girls are Crystal Renn (the plus size one) and Jacquelyn Jablonski. Although there is a pretty distinctive difference between their sizes, I am sure we can all agree that Crystal looks pretty hot in some of the shots.

Enjoy your families, food, and presents, and make sure you do it guilt-free!