Jezebel: america's most smartest model

Is Marie Claire Taking Over Elle's Sloppy Project Runway Seconds?

Jennifer — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:30:00 EDT

More rumored changes for The Greatest Show On Earth, Project Runway: Season 6 of the show, the first to be broadcast on Lifetime, may feature "More Than A Pretty Face" magazine Marie Claire in lieu of Elle as the affiliated fashion magazine sponsor. [WWD, 1st item]
Whoah: Are New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn and Skeletor/stylist Rachel Zoe more similar than we could have ever imagined? Possibly, if it's true that Cathy Horyn was also mysteriously not invited to the dinner and dancing portion of tonight's Costume Institute festivities. [Fashion Week Daily]
And what does legendary costume designer Bob Mackie not like about the fashion industry? "Doing a fashion show that's on for 20 minutes and then it's over and everybody runs to the next one. Nobody sings, nobody dances, nobody tells jokes. I found it quite unsatisfying." I second that emotion. [WWD, sub req'd]

It's so hard to be Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley: "I wear a lot of Burberry at events and the brand's been really supportive of me since the beginning. On the show, we wear H&M suits." [Fashion Week Daily]
Sex and the City costume designer/fun drunk lesbian Pat Field: Now designing Diet Coke bottles. [FabSugar]
More pearls of wisdom from Tim Gunn: "Always keep your tux jacket closed in photos." [Page Six]
Starring in the latest Gap ads are actors Ginnifer Goodwin, Liv Tyler, Hugh Dancy, Fabcon Clemence Poesy, Catalina Moreno, Edgar Ramirez, photographers Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist) and Ryan McGinley, and also Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, model Chanel Iman, Visioniare's Cecilia Dean, and Princess Coldstare herself, Leigh Lezark. [FabSugar]
Leona Lewis: The latest celeb to believe she can be a fashion designer. A vegan fashion designer, that is. Watch your back, Portman and McCartney. [Fashionista]
Lord & Taylor is launching a new "reality" advertising campaign, with TV and radio spots featuring real customers "ambushed' in their stores by "celebrity stylist" Robert Verdi and quizzed on their shopping experiences. Oh Lord. [WWD, sub req'd]
WWD asks: "Tax Rebate Checks: Will They Spend Or Will They Save?" [WWD, sub req'd]
More stars coming to tonight's Vogue and Armani-sponsored Costume Institute gala: Kate Bosworth, Thandie Newton, Audrey Tatou, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jourdan Dunn, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann, and Roberto Bolle will all be there. In other words: Lots of good photos for us to dish on tomorrow. [WWD, 1st item]
Also: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady, Scarlett Johansson, Iman and David Bowie, Sofia Coppola, Karen Elson and Helena Christensen. [Vogue UK]
Mary Alice Stephenson (formerly the fashion director at Harper's Bazaar and the co-host of America's Most Smartest Model on Vh1) is shooting a special for E! on tonight's festivities, set to air May 8th for the viewing pleasure of us plebs. [Fashion Week Daily]
Elle editors might have put Kelly Clarkson on the cover of the mag, but that doesn't mean they think she's very fashionable. [Page Six]
Marc Jacobs: Now in Moscow. [WWD, sub req'd]
Former model Josie Maran may have fake breasts tits. [Awful Plastic Surgery]
The fashion on Gossip Girl? Kinda crazy. But that's why we love it so. [EW]
The rock stars today? The just don't dress like they used to. [LATimes]

VH1 Reality Star Andre Birleanu: Sexual Harasser Or Just Plain Sexual?

Tracie — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EDT

So it turns out that the hot Russian dude, Andre Birleanu, from America's Most Smartest Model doesn't just play a combative, aggressive asshole on reality TV, he actually is one in real life, too. Birleanu was arrested in NYC yesterday and charged with sexual misconduct and aggravated harassment, after he groped a woman at a party earlier this month. Oh, and at the time of his arrest, he was already out on $3,500 bail stemming from charges a few weeks ago for stalking, aggravated harassment and attempted assault a different girl. Andre—who's known for his cocky attitude and hostile arguments with fellow cast members on the VH1 show—has a longer rap sheet than modeling résumé, reports The New York Post. Since 2000, he's served a slew of prison sentences for a bunch of different charges including assault, harassment, criminal contempt, criminal mischief and trespassing, and in 2003 he spent six months in Rikers. I know it's kinda fucked up, but does anyone else think his psychotic behavior and criminal record make him hotter?

Different things arouse different people. For example, the woman who pressed charges against him resulting in his arrest yesterday said that at a party, Andre was "so explosive. You can see it in his eyes. He has this insane thing inside of him." She went on to say that he "touched my genitalia... then grabbed my boob." First of all, I sort of love how she is all formal with "genitalia" but then slangy with "boob." But really, that description of him doesn't make me as nearly frightened as it does dewy down there. After his arraignment last night Andre said:

"I didn't molest anyone... I already slept with that girl, so it's strange she would say I touched her inappropriately."

HOT! However, the other woman who had him arrested earlier this month had a way scarier encounter with him. He used to leave her menacing voice mail messages, and he repeatedly threatened to break her legs. He eventually tracked her down on the street, and grabbed her by her hair, and again threatened to break her legs. NOT HOT.

REALITY HUNK IN SEX BUST [NY Post]

A VH1 reality show debuting in November...

Jennifer — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:45:00 EDT

A VH1 reality show debuting in November called "America's Most Smartest Model" will confirm everything you already knew about the younger generation being stupider than you thought possible. Says co-host and former Harper's Bazaar fashion editor Mary Alice Stephenson: "[When] we did the spelling bee, I have to say, I was not impressed with [the models'] knowledge of how to spell certain words like Balenciaga or Yves Saint Laurent. They could barely spell DKNY." And yeah: Cindy Crawford was valedictorian and Carmen Kass is president of the Estonian National Chess League, so there really hasn't always been a correlation between "pretty" and "brain dead." Also, Ben Stein is set to co-host alongside Stephenson. Which somehow seems to make the whole thing that much worse, though we're not sure why. [WWD, sub req'd]

A Kennedy Clothing Line At Last!

Jennifer — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:00:25 EDT

Alina Shriver, who is part of the whole Shriver-Kennedy clan, is getting in on the whole rich socialite starting a fashion label thing. We hope it evades the Kennedy "curse"! [NYPost]
He speaks! Notoriously hermetic, recently-ousted Dior Homme designer Hedi Slimane will be interviewed in French newspaper Le Monde this weekend. We're suddenly glad we didn't take a more useful language in school! [WWD, last item]
Actress and ridiculous person Nicole Kidman makes her modeling debut today at London Fashion Week, albeit via video like Princess Leia because she's a ghost or something, for label Antoni & Alison. [WWD, 1st item]
The super-exclusive fete for the opening of the new Barneys New York outpost in San Francisco was hosted by Danielle Steele. Which is awesome. [Fashion Week Daily]

Of the new Lanvin store in Paris, one of those "modern" raw and unfinished warehouse-y kinda spaces, designer Alber Elbaz says, ""It was not at all about making a beautiful boutique; it was about making a boutique that makes the clothes more beautiful." Wait a second - how hard is it to make a $8000 skirt look beautiful? [WWD, sub req'd]
Yves Saint Laurent designer Stefano Pilati was approached about the design gig at Valentino, but turned it down 'cause he's all super loyal like that. That, and he just talked his way into a multi-year contract with YSL. [Vogue UK]
Petanque, some weird French game where you hurl balls across a yard, was one of the best things we ever learned about in all those years of French class. And now we can, apparently, buy our very own set of Louis Vuitton petanque balls, retailing for approximately $1813, which is even more retarded sounding than the game itself. [Fashion Week Daily]
Cathy Horyn has stopped talking about Marc Jacobs, started drinking heavily in London bars. [NYT]
Andre Agassi is suing Target. [The Budget Fashionista]