There are only 8,000 each for him and for her of the Diesel Fuel for Life Special Edition bottles, launched December 2007—and if you search, you may still be able to find some at ‘exclusive sales outlets’. We had to mention it since we think this is the coolest looking bottle for the first part of ’08.

   Meanwhile, photographer Matthew Plummer went along to the Little Brother show in Wellington, New Zealand and took some catwalk shots—we really loved these since they aren’t your ordinary “photographers’ pit” stuff. Some of Matthew’s work will be in the next print edition of Lucire.
   Speaking of the next print edition, Elyse Glickman has an interview with very hip, celeb-favourite LA label Hale Bob—and it was interesting to note that there has been African inspiration there. It’s evident in one of the collection photographs: embellished, raw and stylish. This pic probably won’t run due to space reasons, so here’s a chance to enjoy it now.

    Finally, in terms of happenings for our team, hop over to the beauty pages: our Mari Johnson has been to the Qua Bottle Lounge in downtown Austin, Texas—read about her experiences here.

And it’s a hoax—as one reader, who sadly did not leave his or her name in the comments, suspected. George Clooney’s management has said that an email doing the rounds among the fashion media—we and Women’s Wear Daily at least received it—saying that the actor was launching a clothing line is a fake.
   ‘I have no connection whatsoever with any clothing line bearing my name, and more specifically GC Exclusive by George Clooney,’ the statement by Mr Clooney read.
   It was an interesting email to have received, nonetheless—and it will be very interesting to see if anything takes place at the Westin on the promised date.
   As to the site looking like a fake: we’ve seen far worse among legitimate licensees.
   Well, this blog is meant to show you the behind-the-scenes stuff, for better or for worse—now you know what we get!

It had to happen sooner or later. Of all the celebs out there, George Clooney is particularly marketable, not just because of his looks, but because of his social activism. Thanks in part to his politician Dad Nick, the younger Mr Clooney is probably interested in more than acting.
   At the Westin Palace in Milano next month, Clooney will be débuting his luxury fashion line for men and women (with clothing and accessories). The press release is not the best translated, but we gather he’ll be there. The line is called Style by George Clooney, we believe, and the company is GC Exclusive by George Clooney.
   There’s a business card for the manager, Vincenzo Cannalire, at his site, featuring Mr Clooney’s image and not-very-luxury-brand web design, and an official site at www.gc-exclusive.com in a similar style (above). If one assumes that if the actor has allowed his name to be used, this should be a reasonably good range.

Related links
Lucire: ‘George Clooney fashion line release an early April Fool gag?’ (2008)

Supermodel Naomi Campbell says the fashion industry is more racist than ever.
   Campbell hit out at the lack of black faces on magazine covers and catwalks.
   She told The London Paper: ‘Women of colour are not a trend. That’s the bottom line. It’s a pity that people don’t always appreciate black beauty. In some instances, black models are being sidelined by major modelling agencies.’
   She continued: ‘Fashion needs to go back to the way it used to be when wonderful designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Gianni Versace and Azzedine Alaïa just had a great line-up of beautiful women—white, black, Chinese, Hispanic.’
   Campbell, 37, admitted that her supermodel pals helped her career by taking a stand against racism.
   ‘Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington would go to big designers and say, “If you don’t pick Naomi to be in your show, then I don’t want to be in it”,’ she recalled.
   ‘The only reason I got the cover of French Vogue was because Yves Saint Laurent called up and told them he’d pull his ads if they didn’t.’
   The Streatham-born star spoke out after her former boss admitted racism was still rife in the industry.
   Carole White, head of the Premier model agency and who represented Campbell for 17 years, said: ‘A black girl has to be perfect to get work. The bookers are told, “Don’t send any ethnic girls.”
   ‘I showed a picture of a new black girl to an agent in Milan, and he actually recoiled. He said, “We don’t have black girls in Milan. It’s impossible.”’—Press Association

Patrick Dempsey of Grey’s Anatomy—let’s also not forget Loverboy and Meatballs III—is the new face of Versace’s men’s line, according to the fashion house. Donatella Versace said to the press, ‘He has that confidence, completely comfortable in his own skin, that is so attractive.’ Mr Dempsey’s campaign has already been shot by Mario Testino and breaks early in the New Year.

You’ve seen the video (which has been on the Lucire home page since late October), now read the article: a little more news of Roberto Cavalli and H&M’s collaboration and the parties they had in Roma and New York to kick it off.
   We hesitate linking the video in too many places, since it needs to be off our servers come December 31 as part of the licence with the folks who made it. But at least now we will have a nice web page souvenir of the events on two very full-on days on both sides of the Pond.
   The limited-edition range illustrates, once again, the idea of ‘accessible luxury’, something that this magazine has pushed for some time alongside the need for corporate social responsibility.
   There was a bit more partying going on the other coast, as our friends at TDink magazine hosted the Fashion Walkoff (with proceeds to a good cause). That’s featured online at Lucire, too.

In the 1990s, the geo-targeting of advertisements on websites was not very common. If a campaign went out—such as when Condé Nast’s style.com advertised here to get its word out to fashionistas—it went out globally. We were paid, of course, for delivering campaigns to everyone.
   Somewhere this century, advertising decided to take a backward step, since much of the ad world functions regionally or nationally. For the web, campaigns would be regionally or nationally targeted. If American Company X were advertising, then it sure didn’t want its ad to be seen by German Consumer Y. The technology of tracking where a visitor came from became more widely available around this time, and ad networks obliged.
   This traditional advertising method has its appeal. If I ran X, then why would I want my brand exposed to Y, who would not buy my goods?
   Here’s my problem with it. X has a chance to generate immense goodwill. X may expand into Germany at some point, and a whole bunch of consumers will know the name, just as they would if they were to buy an American magazine or watch a news item from the States.
   When you watch TV and see X, even in the United States, do you go and buy its goods straight away? No, the brand is built ever so slightly with that exposure. In fact, I would argue that advertising online is more effective than on telly, but then no one measures TV ads by clickthroughs or any standard nearly as strict as those adopted for the web.
   It is this global attitude that saw American brands get exposure in foreign markets in the first place. Last time around it took fighting Fascism and hundreds of thousands of American lives to bring Coca-Cola’s name into the minds of people in Europe and Asia. This time we have a medium that allows exposure without waging war.   
   So it was a relief, and a throwback to the 1990s, to see that Armani Exchange is advertising here at the Lucire site in a global campaign, which even we folks here in New Zealand can see. Then, it is a global brand, so the exposures here make sense because we can buy the stuff. But I wish that there was less geo-targeting: this is a globalized planet, after all.
   With one exception: the US Dancing with the Stars ads can stay there.

From the Murdoch Press today, reporting from Milano.

THE catwalk waif may be losing her sway. Miuccia Prada, the most-watched trendsetter in the fashion world, has signalled a move to curvier models by choosing a busty mannequin to parade a new sweater on the Milan runway where before she had stuck almost exclusively to stick-thin girls, writes Maurice Chittenden.
   Experts are predicting that Prada’s lead will be followed in Paris this week by designers responding to health concerns sparked by the deaths of three South American “size zero” models and their influence on young girls.
   Lara Stone, a size 8 Dutch model with a 34in bust, was cast last week by Prada, head of the label founded by her grandfather, to model a fine-knit but virtually see-through top to show off her breasts.

The usual story: we told you so. Who needs to watch the designers when we have been consistently ahead on most trends since 1997?