We enjoyed talking to Napoleon Perdis—he’s one of the most ambitious businessmen in the industry, and he has a real passion for make-up. The next stage in Perdis’s continued rise is his book, Forever Flawless, which, says its publisher, ‘gives you step-by-step instructions and advice on how to transform runway and red carpet trends to reality, no matter what your age or skin tone.’ Revealing some of the pros’ tips, it hits the market on April 1, retailing at NZ$49·99.

Looks like it’s finally farewell to New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park, something that we’ve heard mooted for years. The spring 2011 shows will be at Lincoln Center.
   The Daily Front Row is doing a commemorative issue (above) to say au revoir to the venue, which has been the home to every New York Fashion Week this title has covered—would you believe it’s been 11 years for us?
   In September, the shows move to Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center.
   Lucire is having a low-key fall 2010 presence, but will gear up for a larger one for the spring shows.

Sports Illustrated has tried to tie in digital content more closely with its latest Swimsuit Issue than before, with a cooperation with Jagtag.
   By sending a photo of the image at left, users will be able to get swimsuit videos via MMS to their phones.
   Videos feature Brooklyn Decker from the cover shoot, Olympian Lindsay Vonn, Bar Rafaeli, Jessica White, the 2010 “rookies” and more.
   Jagtag claims that its technology will work with 90 per cent of cellphones in the US.

Brooklyn Decker, who appeared in a Lucire swimwear shoot by Jon Moe some years ago, has scored herself an even higher-profile accolade: the cover of the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
   The Ohio-born model appears on the cover in a shoot in the Maldives, photographed by Walter Iooss Jr.
   The issue also features models Bar Refaeli, Hilary Rhoda, Julie Henderson, Rookies Christine Teigen and Dominique Piek, US Olympians Lindsey Vonn, Hannah Teter and Lacy Schnoor, US Dancing with the Stars’ Cheryl Burke and Edyta Sliwinska, women’s tennis sensation Ana Ivanovic, and World Cup WAGs in body paint.
   As cover model, Decker joins a legacy of supermodels who have adorned the cover including Kathy Ireland, Cheryl Tiegs, Hiedi Klum, Elle Macpherson, Tyra Banks and Petra Nemcova. Many of these covers were shot by Iooss who, with the addition of this year, has eleven SI Swimsuit covers to his name.
   The online complement, SI.com/Swimsuit, features more than 1,400 photos and 100 videos of the models taken during shoots spanning six countries: Chile, Portugal, India, the Maldives, Canada and the US.
   Decker began appearing in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2006 and has appeared in every year since.

Photographed by Thomaz

While Lamborghini released news of its Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni in the middle of last year, this is the first time we’ve been able to get our hands on it. Or, more accurately, our occasional contributor Thomaz, who recently took a few shots of it.
   Unlike most of us when we take pictures of cars, he turned his snapshots into a full-fledged shoot, which, while not quite the sort of fashion editorial that might appear in our print-edition pages, do show off the vehicle well.
   The Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni is named for the company’s famous test driver, who has worked on every model the Sant’ Agata car manufacturer has put out since 1973. Power output is 550 hp, with a top speed of 320 km/h. Production is limited to 250 units worldwide, which makes this the rarest of the Gallardo models.

Above, from top The venue at the Friedrichstadt Palast, Berlin. The Trio Style Nite team. On the stage. Below Trio creative director Reinhard Olschowsky.

While we did not attend Berlin Fashion Week, we did get some images courtesy of Trio Hair & Company.
   Last Friday, to conclude Berlin Fashion Week, Michalsky held his Style Nite.
   Michalsky did what he did best: be the showman. His autumn–winter 2010 show featured a stage-musical production on German history. Trio worked backstage on the hair.
   Trio also worked on the hair for Lala Berlin and Kaviar Gauche.

Mert & Marcus

Above Megan Fox is the latest celebrity to front a fashion label’s campaign.

In the main part of the Lucire site this week, Samantha Hannah makes her first 10 style picks for ’10, for the southern summer in New Zealand. Elyse Glickman, meanwhile, discovers there’s more to choosing jewellery for the bride, and investigates.
   Likely to be the biggest article of the trio is one tied to a celebrity, in this case, Megan Fox, from the Transformers series. While we’ve already featured Karen Elson for St John Knits this week, along with Georgia May Jagger for Versace, Armani has decided it would not be outdone and released many of its spring–summer 2010 advertising images featuring the heart-throb actress.
   We have to admit to being surprised by Fox’s choice; she is, nevertheless, someone with the high profile that Armani enjoys. The Tennessee-born actress’s appeal, we thought, was limited to teenage and 20-something young men, and our very quick, unscientific poll of a few indicates she’s not considered by women to be in the same league as some of the more familiar models—or, for that matter, another curvy, high-profile actress, Scarlett Johansson.
   However, if it’s headlines Armani wants, Megan Fox will deliver them.

[Cross-posted] This whole Jennifer Hawkins nude cover story has been another media-concocted non-story. But I will give it some kudos: it influenced Australian celebrity dialogue for a week, and it shows that Murdochs still have some sway over public opinion.
   We knew about it at Lucire, and thought: OK, a radio presenter doesn’t like the cover and got quoted in an Australian newspaper supplement. It’s a fair opinion, had it been for body image, and thought that was it. Let’s wait to hear from the other side.
   The story, however, ran and ran, in various media outlets in Australia, reporting only the one side.
   It was only on the 7th that a holidaying Jennifer Hawkins broke her silence and said that the photographs’ real purpose (remember, we were still to hear about this, despite the four days’ speculation being reported as fact) was about promoting a healthy lifestyle.
   It was never about being the poster girl for body image.
   It could have been nice to have done a bit of research over the photos’ purpose.
   Next thing, the sensationalism continued, with another Murdoch Press report over Hawkins being ‘dumped’ from the cover of Australian Woman’s Day.
   If the dumping is true and not another sensationalized story, it seems to show that Woman’s Day is not particularly good at standing their ground, and is easily swayed by what was a “nothing” story. But read on: there is no comment from Woman’s Day to say that Hawkins was actually dumped.
   I wouldn’t be surprised if, in fact, it was just a regular editorial decision than an actual “dumping”.
   Maybe Woman’s Day simply didn’t want to go out with another Jennifer Hawkins cover while Marie Claire Australia had its one.
   It reminds me of an earlier (2007) Australian media gaffe about Miranda Kerr, which was also run as fact in Murdoch Press newspapers, Channel 9 and other media outlets.
   The problem is that they got the location (New York, not Los Angeles), year (2005, not 2007) and fashion label (Heatherette, not Victoria’s Secret) wrong.
   Other than that, I believe they got their facts right.
   Only one Australian media outlet actually got that story right: Sassybella. The internet beat the supposedly superior infrastructure of old media.