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.

Jennifer Hawkins has broken her silence over her nude cover photo for Marie Claire Australia, which has caused a great deal of controversy this week.
   The former Miss Universe says the shoot was only done to raise money for an eating disorder charity, and to promote a healthy lifestyle.
   The furore has surrounded claims that the shoot, which appears to be untouched, was about proving that every woman has flaws.
   It was sparked on the 4th by Australian radio presenter Bianca Dye, who called Hawkins an improper role model for body image in a Murdoch Press newspaper supplement.
   Hawkins calls the misunderstanding in the media, which was fuelled in numerous Murdoch Press publications, embarrassing.
   She stresses that her relationship with Myer, the Australian department store chain, remains strong, although she admits she should have informed the company of the shoot.

Filmmaker Peter Jackson will receive a knighthood in HM the Queen’s New Year Honours’ List in New Zealand, according to sources.
   While administered by the Herald-at-Arms in New Zealand, the honours have the sanction of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
   Jackson may style himself Sir Peter Jackson if he chooses.
   Jackson is best known for his adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, for which he has been honoured with numerous Academy Awards, including Best Director in 2004.
   Instead of filming the big-budget blockbusters in Hollywood, Jackson insisted on making them on location in New Zealand, using local talent, in spite of earlier tensions with the New Zealand Film Commission. Weta Workshop, a New Zealand company based in Wellington, worked on the digital visual effects.
   While there were many notable filmmakers from New Zealand prior, Jackson and Weta virtually created the modern New Zealand film industry by bringing it to international recognition.
   Additionally, former prime minister Helen Clark was awarded the Order of New Zealand, the highest accolade in the country’s honours’ system.

Elyse Glickman

Things didn’t slow down over the past week, though there was less news to report. However, we do have Elyse Glickman’s special on Chicago dining online today—fitting, given it’s President Barack Obama’s former state.
   A few shots didn’t make it in to the layout, and we showcase them here. Crab cakes at Keefer’s and a steak from Dine make us feel peckish, even with the big Christmas feeds.
   Lucire wishes all readers a very happy Christmas.

Jess Smith

In the meantime, the publisher has a satirical series called ‘History of the Decade’, which began earlier this week, on his blog. It’s in 10 parts, with one year of the first decade of the new millennium covered each day. Part One, covering 2000, is here.

Chelfyn Baxter

Above The author with the Aston Martin V8 Vantage in 2006.

[Cross-posted] Autocar is currently talking about what was the car of the decade. I remember in 1989, the magazine ran a series on the most beautiful cars of each decade, and named the most significant. That decade, the Ford Sierra was the most significant, for mainstreaming the aero look, an assessment I agree with.
   One of its writers has named the Audi R8 his choice, and the magazine is doing a poll, asking readers to vote on theirs. The magazine has provided a list, which includes the Hyundai i10 (important for the Indian motor industry’s global exports) and the Toyota Prius NHW20 (but what does it really pioneer than the original NHW10 did not?).
   What surprises me is that the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is not on its list. You can write it in, but how come this very British of automobiles is missing?
   I know the 911 beats it dynamically on every count. I know it’s not as powerful as the bigger DB9. On the other hand, it looks the business, and the only area where it stirs the soul more than its looks is its sound.
   It’s the opposite of the attractive woman who sounds common the minute she opens her mouth. The V8, more than the DB9, and more than the 911, seduces you a second time when you open her up.
   What it does represent is the survival of a brand, and how to do a downward brand extension without losing too much exclusivity.
   While the V8 Vantage means that more footballers are able to get their hands on one without getting into the Premier League, at least it has assured Aston Martin’s survival for the decade—and a good part of the coming one.
   For most of my lifetime, Aston Martin Lagonda has really been a single-range marque with the occasional four-door model that broke down.
   Now it fields a wider product range of the V8, DB9, DBS and Rapide, and we haven’t even looked at the limited-edition models.
   It was a downmarket extension that was not botched. For a lesson on how not to do it, one need look no further than the Jaguar X-type, which was Detroit’s way of taking on BMW’s 3er.
   One of my friend and colleague Stanley Moss’s Medinge papers dealt with this very topic, indicating that the Europeans did downmarket forays better.
   How ironical, in this case, that both these examples happened while Ford ran Aston and Jaguar. However, one might say that Aston was left more to its own devices than Jaguar was.
   In addition, the V8 Vantage made Aston Martin a brand that kids could point at and dream about. When I was a child, the car with the same name, which was based on the original DBS, was a brute, but it was never the star of my bedroom wall. It was not cool in the way the Porsche 930 was cool. Or the Lamborghini Countach.
   Sure, the V8 did not mobilize the masses nor did it present a new technology.
   But for Autocar readers, I suggest they enter this model in for its significance to the Aston marque, to British ingenuity, and for a reassuring dose of patriotism.

Documentary filmmaker Darryl Roberts (director of America the Beautiful, pictured at left) is spearheading a boycott against Polo Ralph Lauren, hitting Chicago, New York and San Francisco. On December 15, Roberts, along with 100 supporters, will boycott Lauren’s Downtown Chicago store (750 N. Michigan Avenue) at 4 p.m.
   Roberts says that the YWCA of America, IAEDP (International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals) and ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders) are supporting the boycott.
   The boycotts follow the Filippa Hamilton controversy, where an Ralph Lauren Blue Label advertisement featuring Hamilton was obviously retouched to make the model look artificially thin.
   Roberts has set up a Facebook group to promote his cause.
   Hamilton herself believes that the retouching was extreme and gave an inaccurate depiction of her.
   Ralph Lauren initially tried to accuse the websites which first showed the image, including Boing Boing and Photoshop Disasters, of copyright infringement. The former responded by citing the fair use defence.
   Ralph Lauren issued an apology soon after, saying, in part, ‘… we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body.
   ‘We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the calibre of our artwork represents our brand appropriately.’
   However, Roberts says he was notified of two additional advertisements, both featuring extremely thin looking models. He says the second and third images should have been pulled.
   ‘The reason that we’re boycotting is that we want him to commit to never putting out another ad that’s egregious and offensive to young women and girls again,’ he says.

Above Think City cars outside the Bella Centre in København, Denmark.

Electric car companies are using the København United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) as a forum to market their products—which makes one wonder if some of these conferences have come grand trade fairs, rather than one where politicians do any work toward climate change.
   British company Electric Car Corp. has supplied 60 electric Citroën C1 Ev’ie models, which have been purchased by ChoosEV, a Danish company set up by three of the major electric power companies to promote electric vehicles. Following on the newswires this morning was news that Norwegian company Think, along with its fleet customer, Move About, have provided 15 Think City courtesy cars to COP 15.
   However, some exposure for the nascent electric car industry is better than none. The event highlights just how many decades it has taken for such cars to break into the mainstream, and the very small steps that politicians make at such conferences.

Above The five finalist labels of the FedEx Global Access Fashion Award.

One thing fashion journalists are seldom called on to do is the sort of investigative probing that was best exemplified by the fictional Cal McCaffrey, as played by John Simm, in State of Play. We investigate, but it all seems mundane in comparison. Could we ever be in the middle of an event where we could feel like McCaffrey? Or perhaps the television detective Bergerac, working on an island?
   The FedEx Global Access Fashion Award gave us a chance to come to an event where the company behind the awards kept enough secret to make Saturday a mystery journey of sorts.
   Keeping some mystery in the fashion business is nothing new. We come across designers keeping mum on locations at Fashion Week, to surprise us when we are driven there. However, I had not come across one that involved a ferry crossing.
   Media were asked to travel to Waiheke Island, along with the finalists for the awards. A FedEx sign was clearly erected and we were issued our tickets to board the ferry, which turned out to be one of the most enjoyable events in the business.
   Sitting with Marc Moore and Steve Dunstan of Stolen Girlfriends’ Club and Huffer, we joked about what might await us at the other end, and those of us in the media who I heard from likened the journey, inter alia, to an ‘Agatha Christie’ novel. Actor Karl Urban was on board the same ferry, and I took the opportunity to say hello to him—we had not seen each other for 24 years, since our school days—and caught up on some recent events. Former game show hostess and registered nurse Jude Dobson was also present on the crossing.
   Sadly, Urban was not part of our group, and was heading to Waiheke for another matter. But the journey was mostly uneventful save for a journalist and a photographer who asked to take our photograph.
   Reaching Waiheke, we were greeted by a bus driver who, we had to surmise later, was hard of hearing. He had had a few details wrong, not least the spelling of FedEx on his board, but it played into the hands of our inner Cal McCaffreys: it was fairly easy to deduce which was the driver for our group, and this contributed to the mystery the event had built up.
   Word has it that this proved too difficult for at least one of the media representatives, who gave up after the ferry crossing, and apparently went home. Maybe some of us have had it too easy.
   Held at a modernist home on the Island, Sián-Pearl Going of AP Group, which organized the event, announced that the five finalists—Nom D, Huffer, Lonely Hearts, Stolen Girlfriends’ Club and Zambesi—were in the running to win a total prize package of NZ$35,000, which included NZ$10,000 in cash. It was also tied to a 2010 consumer event called Style Series, details of which were promised by Going in January 2010. The designers could, at their option, show at Style Series, scheduled for March.
   The prize, by our reckoning, would be the largest given in New Zealand fashion in recent memory, and Denise McCamish, one of FedEx’s managers who handed out Wilson footballs (a reference to the Tom Hanks movie Castaway, where FedEx was very present), was delighted to have been part of the mystery tour with the rest of us. Designers were also encouraged to sign cards with pairs of Crocs for a charity event in Fiji in early December.
   Guests were treated to Zumwohl cocktails. Zumwohl stepped in when another alcohol brand failed to honour its commitments to the event, and most agreed that this was in fact a stroke of luck. The Schnaps from Zumwohl ranked above, rather than Below, the other brand’s, in the estimation of the guests who had sampled it.

Above Sián-Pearl Going announces the finalists as FedEx’s Denise McCamish and her three children look on. Below Enjoying Zumwohl Schnaps.

   The drinks, and the rather lavish lunch laid on for us, helped create the sort of intimate atmosphere where we could chat to the designers and to our media colleagues. It was the sort of intimacy that is often missing from events. A home, we had to conclude, was far better than any official venue such as a hotel lobby or hall. Provided the home was suitably flash.
   The only hitch, it seemed, were our colleagues who were so keen to take our photograph aboard the ferry. It turns out that they were with a foreign-owned tabloid and had not been invited, and made use of a personal, non-transferable invitation sent to someone at their office. But at least they lasted a tad longer than whomever had given up at the Waiheke terminal.
   Call us genteel and old-fashioned, but snapping photographs inside someone’s home when you aren’t invited doesn’t rate well in our book, and I seem to remember this is as a no-no in the world of journalism here. The invited colleagues I spoke to agreed.
   The mystery solved, the designers enjoyed themselves, especially Nom D’s Margi Robertson and Zambesi’s Elisabeth Findlay: the two sisters welcomed the opportunity to have a reunion. Steve Ferguson and Amy Farlane at Lonely Hearts, well familiar to readers of our print edition, were delighted that Going was wearing one of their designs, while Dunstan and Moore comfortably looked the part of footballers as they posed.

I will be writing a few more details of recent events, such as Style Christchurch and the Massey University end-of-year show (great photos on the way for both of these), and a recent Sunglass Hut do, but believe the rather entertaining events of Saturday to have made a sufficiently lengthy entry. More soon.