Naturally
Daria Werbowy @ IMG
In a world of stone, love will never be the same (again). In a softer world, it wouldn't be otherwise. Regardless of the fact everything surrounding us is stone or roses, cold or warm, rain or sun, love switches from one form to another relentlessly following the mood of the heart and eye. And the important is to stay natural, geniune and never get lost in transformations. No processed love, raw yet sweet does it better as always. Maybe that was the message from this spread from Canadian magazine simply called Fashion or that's what we want to see in it (oh, the eye of the beholder still does a lot when it comes to visual thrills and personal visions). Natural Woman says the title and it's indeed a very natural Daria Werbowy that pops up there. Or maybe 'pop up' is not the right term for it.
Rather say she gently appears as one vision from a dream. Either for the viewer who opens the magazine and Daria herself who seems to have shot that story by Alex Cayley after waking up early in the morning just out of her own dreams. Far from the overloads of effects used in so many editorials or campaigns she is familiar with, these few pages show a totally natural and un(re)touched. In quite an awkward manner on some images but that's the deal my dear and she totally rocks it, rocks the idea of what a model who is already famous for years can and should do. Endless questioning about status and what it should mean, visually speaking. And the answer might be the ability to rock the boat at any level and any stage in a career. Rock it till the day we die. View more of the editorial, here.
Niconic
Nico @ Iconic (Germany)
Going by a name with a immediate flavor of music icon from last century, Nico is certainly the model that literally embodies her agency's vision right now and regardless the aura of fame and freedom around her nickname, she could be ready soon to go her own way and write her own story by herself. Recently added to Oui Management's roster in Paris, it's not the city of lights that will get all our attention tonight but where she comes from and what's been done from there since we saw her first. Was something like two years ago, Iconic Management was still a Berlin boutique before moving to Hamburg and we hadn't enjoyed the real taste of Berlin back then. Everyone went his way since and Nico, who was a green little newcomer at that moment took time to let her book grow little by little, stepping away from "the classic doll" vibe so many people predicted her to embrace more complex looks. No perfection is worth a wow but the perfect use of tiny flaws will always bring geniune admiration from whoever has a true taste for beauty. We seem to understand some in Hamburg understood it pretty well.
I Don't Give A Shit (But Still Have Dreams)
Shelbie @ Elite (NY)
Tattoos and balloons and dreams, could stop here. Not going to the tattoo-shop next door though, brown marker does it better here and allows us to change moods whe need though ours keeps being the same for weeks or months. But for Shelbie it's certainly more interesting to keep the one she has on her wrist in order to hold on tight to her dreams about New York City, where she is now with Elite and recently arrived from Michigan. Bright blue gaze and casual clothing made us, and photographer Jason Paul who shot those above (with make-up artist Heather Lucas) think that a model should be a model when she enters the photographer's studio but should always keep her own style and personality to its rawest and purest form when she is walking in the streets (of New York or wherever else). The important is to keep being yourself anytime and that might be the very best way to embody a totally different character when you cross the eye of the camera. And for whoever is interested in the basics besides the big dreams: Shelbie is 5'11 (180).
They All Need A Star
Kristina Salinovic @ Women (NY), Daphne Groeneveld @ Supreme (NY) and Lindsey Wixson @ Marilyn (NY)
Months and years come (and go somehow). And we grew up too old to make ourselves fools for mistaken love (or devotion). Inspiration is like months and years and comes and goes and comes back in the end for whoever is patient enough to wait and work. To people who considers this story and especially cover as a letdown from Steven Meisel and Vogue Italia we can only answer the perfromance is far from bad and that it's impossible to ask for the same level every single month. Some stories will be inspired, some others will just be eye-appealing and that's not that bad. At all. It's just a natural process going on and on, with its ins and outs, its ons and offs and these facts also rely on what beauty means in the eye of the beholder. Same old song but refreshing itself every month and embodied by different visuals each time. If you think twice there is absolutely nothing to dislike in this editorial, not a single bloody thing from page one till the end. And checking what other magazines, other photographers and models are doing right now will give you the same answer: everything is fine there or at least not worse (and most of times even better) than what's going on elsewhere. The grass isn't greener in the neighbour's yard and Lindsey Wixson, Kristina Salinovic and Daphne Groeneveld did their job more than decently. The real question behind all these questionnings remains untouched though. Does fashion need its new star(s)? And the answer is crystal-clear: yes, it effing does. (Pictures from Z Fashion Blog).
'Cause You Are Young
Liza Schwab @ Ulla Models (The Netherlands)
First tries are sometimes the most interesting and exciting moments as first times can be. That's one of the most appealing part of this video, either a first time for model Liza Schwab and photographer Pim van Offeren who just went from stills to motion while keeping the emotion alive. Liza is a young sprout from Ulla Models in Amsterdam, 5'10 tall and building her book at the moment. According to Pim's recent experience working with her, she's as cute as can be but can change mood in a wink. Instinctively. And maybe most important point: she puts all her energy in trying to give the best of herself to her work, in the most perfectionist way. Which basically means quite an insecure feeling that pushes her to do better and better, improvement in action and later. The road is long for the young lady but with such an iron-strong will she should get rock-solid skills in less time you would need to say it.
Beyond The Mirror
Vanusa Savaris @ Nass (Brazil), FM (London), New York Models (NY), Women (Paris & Milan)
And Vanusa again. Third time maybe we publish a few lines on the brunette from Nass Models and it's always a pleasure to follow what her next little step will be (and look like). Today she comes in an editorial from Wonderland Magazine, sweet and severe moods mixing from page to page. Once again, it's too early to think about champagne bottles but the evolution goes its slow and steady way. Rome wasn't built in one night and so won't be a modeling career. Or in other words, we don't believe in overnight sensations and other good old urban legends about fashion. That doesn't mean reality can't be as beautiful or fantastic, just works totally differently: marvels are the result of hard work and patience with a little touch of luck for whoever knows how to take his chances. And career can become a real wonderland at that moment, just need to remember all the time you've got to look beyond the mirror (if this tip doesn't sound too abstract).
April Fuels
Anna Selezneva @ Silent (Paris, NY)
April Fuels was the perfect title for a post on a story named Flaming the Passion published on April Fools Day, actually coming from the May issue of the magazine. Jokes and puns aside, it's not a strange taste for cheesy wordplays that convinced us to write on this editorial but the haunting beauty glowing from each page. Just by reading two names involved in the team gives you a preview of the dream: Anna Selezneva and Hedi Slimane. Or more exactly Anna Selezneva by Hedi Slimane even if it sounds a bit foolish to insist on such an evidence. We're tempted to say the results are beyond words, especially coming from such a simple formula, but still need to try ourselves at dropping a few lines on what our eyes and minds went through when we saw the story. Anna, the eternally sunkissed Anna who's neither the tallest nor the leggiest model around, not your typical pretty young lady with ultra-refined features, got the only important thing you need to really succeed as a model: talent. One of her static stares is worth hundeds of pages of gimmicks and grins from models considered as the best posers of the moment. And that's here we go again: modeling, as any other creative activity requires mostly two things: inspiration and... talent as we said above. Natural and innate, skills are growing with practice but you gotta have what it takes to start with. Pictures by MAGstyle @ TheFashionSpot.
No Weather Forecast
Julia Ponomareva @ V.G. Model Management (Russia)
Model careers can start like springtime weather, going through many changes from one day to the other and who would forget this parameter might have a hard time handling the situation. One day the sun shines bright and the next day you're going through an unexpected storm and pouring rain (which day is the luckiest is up to each own tastes). Julia Ponomareva is just starting, right now and no one has to care about meteorology in her case yet. And rare are these days where dawn doesn't look pretty a little bit at least. So, the story starts with a couple of neat test photographs that surely shows what the deal is about. A young brunette, 5'9 high (176 79-60-88 to be exact), who arrived on stage via V.G. Model Management from Volgograd, Russia. Nothing else to say for now, except keep on watching if you like. We should make ours the slogan of some regular english soap: cleans and no added promise, except we don't clean we showcase. No added promises we promise you, but keep our fingers crossed anytime.
Crossroads
Paulina Rademacher @ Modelwerk (Germany)
At the crossroads of his work for a model agency and his geniune love for photography, Sebastian Koeller seems to be driven by one thing: creativity. Or maybe three things after all, as you could add passion and inspiration on the list. This connection between two 'jobs' is a gift for anyone aiming to create something that makes sense when you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, a unique opportunity when you're creating your own vision. For his first entry as a photographer on FDIB, we selected two stories shot with Paulina Rademacher, young sprout at Modelwerk going her way step by step, day in day out in her home country Germany for the moment. A parameter that emphasizes the 'experimental' side of the project and the thrill of an exciting new start.
Sebastian's photography is probably one of the most honest and unpretentious work we have seen lately, stepping far away from the too common too obvious overload of visual effects (think heavy retouching) or the self-proclaimed cool trashy craze. With outtakes evoking the slight melancholy knocking at the door with the end of the winter and the peaceful loneliness of the newborn spring. In other words, subtle emotions captured in their most natural expressions. Again, no exaggerated posing from the model and no overwhelming direction from the photographer, only black and white moments taken as they went by. As if it was as easy as pushing the button to take you out of time and craze for a little while to bring back the necessary energy to your inner battery.
Next Door, Next Day
Zhanna @ Muse (NY)
Back from a short break that wasn't a break at all, let's just say finding a moment to rest was impossible for us these last three days and writing is a skill that requires a minimum of calm. This grey morning is a little more peaceful and it seems there is nothing to rush about so far. We always insist on "so far" since you never know what's going to happen next fifteen minutes. Pretty much the same as in a model's career. If you make abstraction of the past, you've got two times: now and in a near future and leave alone long terms expectations (leaves this to your dreams). In other words there this insecure moment called now and the even more uncertain event going to take place next. May it be for the best news or for another fence to break on your way to your target. The idea behind this early-morning thoughts? You will have loads of people telling between oh! and ah! about cheekbones or these infamous so-called dolls features but in the end the only valid things when it comes to building a modeling career are true talent and a certain ability to handle opportonuties that knock on your door. We only Zhanna from a couple of digitals shot in Muse's offices in New York, never met her and haven't seen anything else yet, won't gamble on what's going to be her next booking or whatever. But at this precise minute she embodies a warmly welcome alternative to the idea models should look like living dolls from another planet with cheek bones en veux-tu en voila. A kind of girl-next-door who could be an amazing performer next day.