ModelSpotting: NATASHA POLY for Vogue Paris

Natalya Sergeyevna Polevshchikova or Natasha Poly for short was born on July 12, 1985 in Perm, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union and began modeling locally in 2000 taking the second prize in a model search competition in Moscow. She made her runway debut, walking for Emanuel Ungaro in 2004. The year would prove to be her breakout year; she walked in 54 fashion shows in cities like Milan, Paris, and New York City, and graced the cover of French Vogue twice consecutively.

She is a household name in fashion and can easily be regarded as one of the worlds finest models. I thought I've seen it all but she continues to surprise. In this collection, she is photographed by Mario Sorrenti and boy what a fantastic set it is. Something that could easily be tagged as soft porn, this set clearly shows that showing skin does not mean porn. Such beautiful shots and elegant moods it shows what natural lighting and stolen moments feel like. All the shots feel voyeuristic as if one is watching a neighbor disrobe but in an almost ritualistic manner wherein you are captured and frozen in the moment.

This is me and this is how I see my photography will go years from now. I just wish I will get there and I pray the right models come my way. Sigh..... Is all I can say.... Enjoy!

Toink! :o) 

  

  

More on Natasha (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Since 2004, Poly has appeared in many advertisement campaigns, including Gucci, Prada, Lanvin, Fendi,Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Dsquared2, Sonia Rykiel, Nine West, Proenza Schouler, H&M, Printemps,Blumarine, Jil Sander, Nina Ricci, Missoni, Shiatzy Chen, Calvin Klein, Givenchy, Tse, Balmain, Neiman Marcus, Jimmy Choo, MaxMara, Alberta Ferretti, JOOP!, Dolce & Gabbana, and others and has walked the runway for notable brands such as Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Miu Miu, Gucci, Prada,Versace, Victoria's Secret and many other blue chip fashion labels. Poly has walked for the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show twice, in 2005 and 2006. In 2008 alone, she appeared in seven advertisement campaigns through the fall/winter 2008-2009 season (Nina Ricci, Jil Sander, Blumarine, Balmain, COS, Tse, and Givenchy) and opened numerous runway shows in the spring/summer 2009 season.

Poly was one of the faces to land in one of the fourteen covers of V magazine September 2008 issue. Each cover boasts a head shot of a famous model, either from the new crop of leading models (Agyness Deyn, Lara Stone, Anja Rubik, Daria Werbowy etc.) or the supermodel era (Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova), it was lensed by duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. In July 2008, RussianVogue dedicated the issue to Poly and in August 2008, March 2009 she appeared on the cover of the same magazine. Also she was touted by American Vogue in 2009 as one of the faces of the moment. She has also appeared on the cover of Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, American, German, Australian, and French Vogue. Poly has appeared in editorials for Russian, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, and American Vogue, Numero, I-D Magazine, V, W, Interview, and MUSE.

Poly has been the number one model on Fashion Television's First Face countdown three times consecutively (Spring 2008, Fall 2008 and Spring 2009). And she has been placed 7th (Spring 2007), 4th (Fall 2009 and Spring 2010) and 5th (Fall 2010).

The fashion art magazine MUSE dedicated their fall 2009 issue to Poly and she was photographed by Sølve Sundsbø, Terry Richardson and Craig McDean. The magazine also commissioned art from Jeff Koons,Cédric Rivrain, Richard Phillips, Billy Sullivan, Marco Brambilla and Chantal Joffe.

She is signed with Women Management in New York, Paris, and Milan; Select Model Management in London; Mega Model Agency in Hamburg; and Traffic Models in Barcelona. Also as of 2012 she is ranked #2 on models.com Top 50 Women along with Joan Smalls. Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.

Poly is featured in the 2011 Pirelli Calendar photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. She is also featured in the 2012 Pirelli Calendar photographed by Mario Sorrenti.

In 2012, Poly signed a contract with L'Oreal Paris and is one of the Beauty Ambassadors for the brand.

VOGUE Magazine announces age limit for models

VOGUE supports the promotion of healthy body image and announced today that from the June 2012 issues, they will only work with models 16 years old and up. This of course is a policy that they will also apply to all 19 international editions. So, if you are a mature looking 15-year old stunning aspiring model, sorry but VOGUE won't put you on the cover and you will have to try again when you turn 16.

The editors aren't stopping there. The statement also binds fashion's elite to a six-point commitment to promoting healthy body image:

VOGUE says:

1. We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder. We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image.

2. We will ask agents not to knowingly send us underage girls and casting directors to check IDs when casting shoots, shows and campaigns.

3. We will help to structure mentoring programs where more mature models are able to give advice and guidance to younger girls, and we will help to raise industry-wide awareness through education, as has been integral to the Council of Fashion Designers of America Health Initiative.

4. We will encourage producers to create healthy backstage working conditions, including healthy food options and a respect for privacy. We will encourage casting agents not to keep models unreasonably late.

5. We encourage designers to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models.

6. We will be ambassadors for the message of healthy body image.

ADAM LEVINE & Anne V | Nude on 'Vogue Russia' cover

Adam Levine and girlfriend Anne V dare to scare naked on the cover of Vogue Russia’s November 2011 issue.

The 32-year-old lead singer of Maroon 5 and his supermodel girlfriend is featured in a generous series of photos for the fashion mag.

Adam’s crew Maroon 5 will guest at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show along with rapper Kanye West, as reported by Rolling Stone.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will air on CBS on November 29.

Adam’s hit show The Voice will return for its second season after the 2012 Super Bowl!

 

 

 

 

 

THE PHOTOSHOOT VIDEO

Source: Just Jared

Paris Fashion Week | KANYE WEST Ready-To-Wear Spring/Summer 2012

THE Paris catwalk is something of a sacred place to fashion and, no matter how much money you have or famous friends you can haul onto the front row, if the clothes don’t cut it you simply won’t win the approval of the crowd there to see it.

Kanye West’s show tonight was rumoured to have been given credence by input from British designers Louise Goldin and Katie Eary on the creative direction – but it was never really going to be more than a celeb fest with plenty of flesh on show. To be fair to him, he’s put the work in – he’s a regular sighting at high fashion shows and beside the catwalks of newer young London designers and he’s apparently super keen to make a serious go at the fashion game. But with screaming teenagers crowding the entrance to the Lycee Henri IV and a front row that included the Olsen twins, Lindsay Lohan (posing for pictures on Terry Richardson’s phone as he sat next to her), and an impressive line-up of fellow designers including Dean and Dan Caten, Alexander Wang and Jeremy Scott, this had plenty of headline-hitting intention before the clothes warranted a mention.

We were told that 80 or so of Kanye’s friends were backstage watching the show online – Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Rihanna among them presumably, since there have been rumours all day that they’d be there in support. Let’s hope they were – because it’s the mega stars with mega bucks that Kanye’s looking to dress.

No matter that it’s a spring/summer collection, he’s plying them with furs and leather – The Fugees played Anja Rubik in wearing a black leather shawl sleeved coat with a fox stole hanging over one arm. There were leather trousers in patches of blue, red and black, black jeans sprayed bright blue; glittering sequinned jackets; snakeskin jeans; loose organza tops that fell off one shoulder; scuba dresses that zipped away from their tops and had further gold zips up the back and sides; fox fur rucksacks and skinny rib tube dresses slit round and round.

It was a wardrobe for a super groupie – but with slightly less of the bling than you might expect. Jeans weren’t spray-on tight and there was relatively little glitter, in fact. He opted instead for white beads around the ankles of fierce high heels and stacked over the shoulders of white leather bombers. Another rose gold leather bomber jacket had leggings to match with black zips over each hip bone, while Jourdan Dunn in a rose pink leather mini dress with cutaway sides, its sleeves ripped off, was the definitive drop dead gorgeous rapper chick. It was high quality, painfully expensive, 21st Century sex bomb kit.

Split-sided suede tops worn over leather athletic pants; backless snakeskin dresses with a gold chain hung across the back; baggy white trousers in a patchwork of different skins and gold lamé trousers – well, what did we expect? It will be interesting to see if Kanye decides to dress anyone other than his most super rich fans in forthcoming seasons, or to learn from all the fashion he’s been watching – or even to concentrate on fitting the clothes more precisely to his models in future – but whatever happens next, a paparazzi extravaganza of a show doesn’t hurt at Fashion Week, even if just as a distraction from the real work we’re here to see.

Source: Vogue UK | Ella Alexander