Model Hannelore Knuts, 32, has curated an exhibition, Fashion Testimony, to be shown at the Fashion Museum of Hasselt from March 27 to June 6, 2010.
   Knuts’s exhibition offers a glance at her 10-year career, which includes working the professional catwalk at Chanel, Gucci and other top European labels.
   Designers featured in the exhibition include Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermès, Christian Lacroix, Martin Margiela and Dries van Noten. Contributing photographers include Miles Aldridge, Steven Klein, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Michael Thompson and Ellen von Unwerth.
   The aim of the exhibition is to lift the veil on the fashion world. It features some of her favourite images from her first fashion show to today. Some artists have provided works that Knuts felt connected with her.
   Those artists include Marc Claes, Patricia Ghijsens Ezcurdia, Ugo Rondinone, Filip Vandingenen and Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven.
   The Museum states that the exhibition is not a retrospective or a homage to Knuts, but a look in to her world.
   Knuts had been studying photography and, at age 21, turned to professional modelling.
   The Museum is located at Gasthuisstraat 11, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium (near de Groene Boulevard, next to the Holiday Inn and Molenpoortplein).

The venue is filled with only standing room. The lights are dim and a mystical tune fills the air. While the crowd glares at the stage, a slender silhouette appears in the background. As the light shines more brightly, the crowd is progressively enchanted by a sleek, dark-haired model with an unusual grin. Her movements are dramatic and flamboyant. Walking slowly toward the throng, she is vintage glam personified. Who is she? Her name is Monica Palatnikov.
   At first glance, Palatnikov is strikingly more reserved than most models with her résumé. She has loads of print ad, runway, film, and even theatre credits under her belt. This 23-year-old Russian beauty is more than just a pretty face. Born and currently living in San Francisco, she’s recently been showing up on advertisements and runways in the Bay Area.
   Wearing a simple graphic T and dark denim jeans, Palatnikov has the casual style that makes you think she’s too down-to-earth to be a model. But, as a new and fresh-faced local choice of many designers, she has a distinct and refreshing look about her. At a very young age, she knew modelling was her destiny when she played dress up, just as any little girl in her mother’s clothing. There was something about the way a garment made her feel when she slipped into it, allowing her to transform any mood into exuberant.
   Palatnikov shows a wide range of versatility in her modelling—from Lever 2000 soap and tequila commercials to Davidoff cigarette ads. So, she may very well be a household face already to some people.
   She’s received adoration for her almost theatrical expressions while on the runway, which has paid off from formal training at acting school. Although she enjoys having fun on stage and is passionate about modelling, Palatnikov’s equable temperament is fine-tuned by the people she surrounds herself with daily. ‘My family is very supportive as long as my career doesn’t consume me,’ she says.
   The clothing isn’t the only part that’s remembered in a fashion show, it’s also the model’s presence and energy exuded while on the runway. ‘I love how all eyes are on me while the audiences watch the clothing look even more stunning than just lying on a shelf in retail stores. It’s that personality of the model that really makes it,’ says Palatnikov.
   One thing is certain, this young lady has absolute staying power. Why do we love her? Maybe it’s because she mesmerizes you with her hazel eyes and innocent glow. It might also be the fact that she’s a professional ballroom-dancing, Japanese-speaking, health science major. Palatnikov is clearly well-rounded and has the essence of a seasoned supermodel. So, be sure to look out for her, whether it’s in a TV commercial, at the theatre or, better yet, on the runway.

Top Peter Trevalyan’s Mimetic Brotherhood. Above left The jazz entertainers at the post-launch function. Above right Sculptor Peter Trevelyan.

The Wellington Sculpture Trust unveiled Peter Trevelyan’s Mimetic Brotherhood outside Te Papa on Wednesday. A kinetic sculpture—which changes thanks to hydraulics—it replaces Green Islands by Regan Gentry, which had stood at the same location until last month.
   Trust chairman Neil Plimmer said of the rotating sculptures, ‘It would be for the Southern Hemisphere at least the counterpart of the famous sculpture rotation on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London—which currently features the New Zealand war hero Sir Keith Parks.’
   Trevalyan was the centre of attention at the function that followed the unveiling, attended by luminaries including Mayor Kerry Prendergast and Dr Claudia Orange.

Peter Ashworth/www.ashworth-photos.com

Above Milliner Stephen Jones in 2008 (image from the Victoria & Albert Museum).

The Queensland Art Gallery will present an exclusive-to-Australia exhibition, Hats: an Anthology by Stephen Jones, a collaboration between the Victoria & Albert Museum and milliner Stephen Jones, from March 27 to June 27, 2010.
   The exhibition features over 250 hats and headpieces. The Gallery notes there will be ‘a twelfth-century Egyptian fez, a wide-brimmed black silk tulle hat from Christian Dior’s first collection in 1948, Mary Quant’s c. 1968 navy blue béret, and Stephen Jones’s Wash and Go hat from spring 1993.
   ‘It also features hats worn by historical and cultural icons:­ Elsa Schiaparelli’s black felt beret worn by Marlene Dietrich in Witness for the Prosecution in 1957, Philip Treacy’s bridal headpiece created for Camilla Parker-Bowles’s marriage to the Prince of Wales in 2005, and Jones’s own creations such as Mick Jagger’s hat worn for the Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang World Tour and Kylie Minogue’s visor headdress on her Showgirl tour.’

Designer Lee McQueen, better known by his label’s name of Alexander McQueen, has been found dead at his home, a victim of suicide.
   McQueen, 40, had found it difficult to come to terms with his mother’s passing on February 2. Her funeral was scheduled to take place tomorrow.
   His Twitter postings reflected his sombre mood after his February 3 announcement of his mother’s death.
   He was found hanged at his flat in Mayfair around 10.20 a.m. GMT today (February 11).
   The Metropolitan Police has said in a statement that McQueen’s death is not being treated as suspicious.
   His body was taken away from the flat before 5 p.m. GMT.
   His company’s website posted the message, ‘On behalf of Lee McQueen’s family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home.
   ‘At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee’s family.
   ‘Lee’s family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this.’
   One of McQueen’s earliest supporters, the magazine editor Isabella Blow, had taken her own life three years ago.
   The designer had come to most people’s attention after he succeeded John Galliano at Givenchy in 1996. He was later hired by the Gucci Group, joining the group in 2000. Gucci had bought a controlling stake in McQueen’s own label.
   McQueen had planned for a spectacular collection at Paris Fashion Week later this season.

Who can resist the possibility of time-travel into the intrigue and splendour of this legendary yearly celebration? Visions of masked, caped gentlemen and ladies drifting down mysterious, shadowy, lamp-lit and cobbled passageways of La Serenissima, in search of elegant salons and romantic assignations. Opulent late Renaissance costumes of incredible finery. Minuets and baroque melodies, counterposed with the traditional delicacies unique to the setting. For the truly impulsive, here’s a superior last-minute package deal which might just deliver such a magical and memorable feast for the senses. It’s a chance to get out of your iPhone and email, and head back to another era, into a world of decadence and splendour, set among the canals and palazzos.
   Next weekend experience the near-mythological, through a special promotion at the Luna Hotel Baglioni Venice. On Friday, February 12 you can be part of the ‘Ball of the Baglioni Counts’ and on Saturday the 13th attend the Great Carnival Ball, during a minimum two-night stay, which includes masked ball, buffet breakfast and an entry for two to the Casinò di Venezia overlooking the Canal Grande. The Marco Polo Salon, with its massive School of Tiepolo murals, has got to be the ideal setting for dinner and desserts, followed by a live performance of Puccini’s La bohème, sung by a troupe from La Fenice. Dance away the rest of the night to the sounds of a cool DJ. There’s even the possibility of modelling some vintage costumes, with cloak and mask. Or steal away to the casino and try your luck at cards or love.
   The Luna is perhaps my favourite hotel in Europe, ideally located just around the corner from Piazza San Marco. It boasts a classical and intimate atmosphere, superb canal view rooms and faultless service. It has the best concierge in the world, Antonio Massari. This special promotion has prices starting from €280 per night, an incredible offering, and one which could deliver some of those fantastical memories we cherish for a lifetime, the kind of thing we tell our grandchildren about. For more information, see www.baglionihotels.com.—Stanley Moss

Tickets have just gone on sale for Naomi Campbell’s Fashion for Relief fashion show, to take place during the fall 2010 collections at New York Fashion Week.
   Taking place on February 12 at 7 p.m., tickets cost between $100 and $150 and are available via Ticketmaster.com.
   The runway show will be hosted by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and will feature internationally recognized designers, celebrities and VIPs. All the donated garments will be auctioned online at Net-a-Porter starting February 15. The donation is tax deductible and 100 per cent of the event ticket sales will benefit CARE.

Left Jean-Luc Colonna d’Istria of Merci. Right Medinge director and MIP dean Pierre d’Huy translates for Dominique Benoît of Pictet et Cie. Below The Brands with a Conscience certificate, designed by UffindellWest.

The Medinge Group had a slightly smaller Brands with a Conscience ceremony today at the Management Institute of Paris, reflecting the international nature of the winners. Many were scattered around the globe and unable to attend the ceremony, though two of the European winners made it to the French capital to collect their awards in person: Jean-Luc Colonna d’Istria of Merci and Pictet et Cie.’s Dominique Benoît.
   Stanley Moss, CEO of the Medinge Group, noted that it was remarkable that in a year of financial crises, there were two winners from that sector that were doing good. Apart from Pictet, the Co-op Bank received a Brands with a Conscience award.
   The seventh annual awards’ programme also honoured Alibaba Group, Marks & Spencer (for its Plan A initiative), SAP and Selco Solar Pvt. Ltd. Muna Abu Sulayman won the Colin Morley Award and a letter from her was read out in absentia by Medinge member Simon Nicholls.
   Medinge founder Thomas Gad noted that the Awards had become so successful that they had spawned at least one imitator.