After a Fashion
BY STEPHEN
December 10,1999:
THE MODELING SCANDAL The big stinking mess that has exploded recently is that, by and large, the modeling business is exactly the kind of business we always thought it was: an unregulated profession led by predatory men who feed upon impressionable and increasingly younger girls. Is this news? Sadly, no. It's a very old story.
It's a skewed business that pitches dreams of unbelievable glamour, dreams in which a 13-year-old from Bosnia can be plucked out of abject poverty, painted like a tart, shoved into a $15,000 evening gown, and become an absolute sensation — but for less than the 15 minutes predicted by Andy Warhol.
By the time she's 15, with very few exceptions, she's a has-been who may have made astronomical amounts of money but saved none. She won't be much older, not much wiser, and will land right back in her parents' yard so hard she won't know what hit her. That's if she's lucky.
BBC1's MacIntyre Undercover did a segment on corruption in modeling, complete with an undercover reporter/model. Some fairly run-of-the-mill allegations were made against the notorious Elite Model Management.
One employee, Elite Europe president and the Svengali behind the rise of ex-client, ex-wife Linda ("I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day") Evangelista, Gerald Marie, was videotaped propositioning the undercover agent, offering her money and drugs for sex.
When the agent/model demurred, saying she hardly knew the former Mr. Evangelista, he screamed, "You don't have to know me!" Enraged, he added, "You are frigid, frigid."
Since then, her home had been burglarized, her phones tapped, her trash gone through. Due to threats on her life, she has gone into hiding.
It was further reported that Mr. Marie boasted of his conquests: Elite model-search contest winners (average age, 15). The unfortunate consensus seems to be that Marie is being framed because of the volatile animosity with Elite co-playboy, chairman, and founder John Casablancas.
Casablancas, responsible for employing such executives, released the statement: "In an ideal world, none of our employees [would] have anything to do with the models." Mr. Casablancas is married to a model.
Modeling is loaded with tales of its seamy side: Gia's story is a primer of how not to survive the modeling business, and there's that story of the model who shot the Italian playboy to death when he couldn't take "No!" for an answer.
And Marla Hanson — remember the model who had her face slashed with a razor when she rebuffed her landlord's attentions? I have always considered it one of my most dubious achievements to have lived in the same building in Manhattan where that occurred. It's even the same building they used in the TV movie, though they disguised the name of the bar that she crawled to after the attack.
Milan, Paris, and New York fashionistas are falling all over themselves, piously confirming or denying what's being said in the press about the latest scandal. From Krizia's Mariuccia Mandelli, who evidently spends her time in a hermetically sealed chamber and says that she has never seen any evidence of drugs in the fashion business, "not even a joint, " to the newly rehabbed Kate Moss, who has yet to share her tales of debauchery, the scandal seems to be just another trend to latch onto. Unless, of course, someone comes forward and presses charges against Gerald Marie, and that wouldn't surprise anyone.
IN THE STORES Have you bought your ballgown shirt for the holidays yet? You can hardly look anywhere without seeing acres of organza and shot silk, paired with a variety of tops — most popularly, a beaded, sequined, or embroidered shell top.
Victoria's Secret even sells voluminous black crinolines that inflate them to cloud-like proportions. Mercifully, less-than-sylph-like women are given these as a heavenly option to the requisite bias-cut, slit-to-there, draped and beaded, unforgiving sheaths that have plagued runways for the last few years. How nice for manufacturers and designers to realize that what's lovely on Ashley Judd and Nicole Kidman may not be right for you.
HOLIDAY SHOPPING The Armadillo Christmas Bazaar at the Austin Music Hall, December 11-24, offers a uniquely Austin event, with entertainment, food, drink, and holiday crafts. Wonderful shopping, and a delightful alternative to the hellish holiday malls. Be there or be Cher.
Dave
Orlando, Florida
0 comments