Monday, November 30, 2015

Naomi Campbell /The Supermodel


Naomi Campbell may have been modelling for over 25 years but she is still in high demand.
And judging by the 45-year-old's latest photoshoot, it's no wonder she is one of just six models of her generation declared 'supermodels' by the fashion world.


The model, who was spotted at the age of fifteen, showcases some dazzling jewels in the editorial

 
The supermodel looks fierce in a leopard-print leotard and matching boots. She even updated her tresses with a blonde 'do
Shot by industry legends Tom Munro, JR Duran and Jacques Dequeke, Naomi looks fierce in a leopard-print leotard and matching boots.
Throughout the magazine's pages, with her hair styled in a dramatic bob, the supermodel pouts and covers her modesty with her arms crossed over her chest.


Known for her ever-changing hair style, Naomi trades her usually dark tresses for a voluminous blonde style and a sharp, jet black bob. Flaunting it: Naomi Campbell looks amazing in this month's edition of Vogue Brazil, which sees her pose for every single editorial. Posing for the May 2013 cover, the British beauty showcases her super-toned body and flawless, wrinkle-free complexion.



Naomi looks fierce as she shows off an array of eye-catching green jewels, shot by industry legends Tom Munro, JR Duran and Jacques Dequeke. Naomi guest-edited the magazine, which sees her participate in three editorials including this jewellery one
In another shot, the South London-born model dons a sexy fur gilet and barely-there tassled shorts as she whips her locks to and fro.
In one stunning photo Naomi wears thigh-high black leather boots, which she teams with a bralet and over-sized pants. It's been a busy few months for British-born Naomi, who has had numerous work commitments including filming for her modelling competition show The Face.


Naomi showcases her super toned physique as she poses in a revealing gilet and barely-there shorts, just super toned.


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Cindy Crawford


Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American supermodel. Crawford is known for her trademark mole just above her lip, and has adorned hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. Her success at modeling made her an international celebrity that has led to roles in television and film, and to work as a spokesperson. In 1995, Forbes magazine named her the highest paid model on the planet. She was named No. 3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s and was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by Men's Health.


Cindy was born in DeKalb, Illinois, the daughter of Jennifer Sue Crawford-Moluf (née Walker) and John Dan Crawford. She also has two sisters,Chris and Danielle. She has stated that her family has been in the US for generations and that her ancestry is mostly German, English and French. She was discovered at the age of 16 by a newspaper photographer who noticed her at work during her summer job of detasseling corn and took a picture of her. The photo and positive feedback she received were enough to convince her to take up modeling. She entered the Elite Model Management's Look of the Year contest at 17 and was the runner-up. The Elite modeling agency in Chicago then started representing her.


During the 1980s and 1990s, Cindy Crawford was among the most popular supermodels, and a ubiquitous presence on magazine covers, runways, and in fashion campaigns. She was repeatedly and frequently featured on the cover of many magazines, including: Vogue, W, People, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Allure. A partial count in 1998 totalled over 400 appearances. Crawford also appeared in many fashion campaigns during her career, including those for Gianni Versace, Escada, Revlon, and Ink. She has also worked for Omega, Maybelline, Clairol, and Chilean Retail Stores Ripley (partner of Macys).

In 1987, Crawford appeared during the opening credits of the Michael J. Fox film The Secret of My Success. Three years later she appeared in the video for George Michael's "Freedom '90" alongside other models Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz and Naomi Campbell. Subsequently, Crawford played the lost love of Jon Bon Jovi in the video for his 1994 version of "Please Come Home For Christmas" and "John Taylor" in the 2011 video for Duran Duran's "Girl Panic" (featuring supermodels as the band, including Naomi Campbell as Simon Le Bon).


The red Versace dress which she wore to the 63rd Academy Awards in 1991 had a major influence on fashion, and many copies and fakes of the dress were produced. In 1992, Crawford—through GoodTimes Home Video and her company Craw Daddy Productions—made an exercise video with Radu Teodorescu named Cindy Crawford: Shape Your Body; although criticised by some for being unsafe, it was hugely successful and led to two equally lucrative followups, Cindy Crawford: The Next Challenge in 1993 (again with Radu) and Cindy Crawford: A New Dimension in 2000 (the latter, made with fitness expert Kathy Kaehler and produced not long after Cindy gave birth to her first child, was aimed at new mothers getting back into shape). In 2001, Cindy also made a shorter fitness video aimed at children, Mini-Muscles with Cindy Crawford and the Fit-wits, an animated production featuring the voices of Cindy (who also appears at the beginning in live action), Radu and Kobe Bryant.


The inaugural issue of George, a short lived political magazine in the 1990s, featured Crawford dressed like George Washington on the cover. In 2005, The American Society of Magazine Editors listed it as the 22nd best magazine cover of the last 40 years.

Crawford is 5 feet 9 inches tall, with brown hair and eyes. Her measurements are 34"-25.5"-36". Crawford's trademark is a mole (or "beauty mark") above her upper lip. She is so closely associated with this physical feature that she appeared in an advertising campaign for chocolates featuring commercials wherein she "licked off" her own mole. During the beginning of her career, the mole was removed from her earlier modeling pictures, including her first Vogue cover. Her resemblance early in her career to model Gia Carangi led her to being known as "Baby Gia".

 
Crawford has also been on TV and in films. From 1989 to 1995,  she was host of MTV's House of Style. In the early 1990s, Cindy starred in the Pepsi and Pepsi Stuff advertising. In 1995, Crawford broke into movies as the female lead in the movie Fair Game. Her performance was panned by critics—Leonard Maltin commented "In her acting debut, supermodel Crawford makes a good jogger." The film was also a financial failure, with expenses of $50 million and $11 million takings at the box office. In 2001, she costarred as part of an ensemble cast in The Simian Line. Again the film was not successful or critically acclaimed, but Crawford's acting was not criticized. She has had many lesser roles guest starring on TV and as supporting roles, often playing herself. For example, in 2000, she was one of the celebrities (along with Victoria Silvstedt, Anna Falchi and Megan Gale) playing themselves in the Italian comedy Bodyguards – Guardie del corpo.


In July 1988, she posed nude for Playboy magazine in a shoot by photographer Herb Ritts. In October 1998, Crawford returned to the pages of Playboy for a second nude pictorial, again taken by Ritts.
Crawford has consistently ranked highly on lists of the world's sexiest people. She was ranked number 5 on Playboy's list of the 100 Sexiest Stars of the 20th century. A 1997 Shape magazine survey of 4,000 picked her as the second (after Demi Moore) most beautiful woman in the world. In 2002, Crawford was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People magazine. In her forties, she claimed No. 26 in the 2006 Hot 100 issue of Maxim magazine.


Fashion designer Michael Kors
summed up her impact:

“Cindy changed the perception of the ‘sexy American girl’ from classic blue eyed blonde to a more sultry brunette with brains, charm, and professionalism to spare.”
Crawford quit modeling in 2000; however, she still appears from time to time in (and on the covers of) fashion magazines in new shoots. She continues to provide celebrity endorsement for a variety of projects. In 2005, Crawford created a line of beauty products with Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh called Meaningful Beauty for Guthy-Renker. Crawford has admitted to regularly receiving certain cosmetic procedures, including Botox and vitamin injections. She first saw a plastic surgeon at the age of 29.

In 2005, Crawford launched a new line of furniture under the "Cindy Crawford Home Collection" name. This collection is manufactured by HM Richards Inc., and is sold through many retailers including Art Van Furniture and Rooms To Go. She assisted in the creation of the line by directing the designers to include certain features, colors, or styles that fit the needs of families or reflected her own tastes. She also has a furniture line with Raymour & Flanigan and launched another home goods line with J. C. Penney in late 2009.
Crawford came back to modeling in May 2011, appearing on the cover of the May 2011 issue of Vogue Mexico.

   
Crawford was married to actor Richard Gere from 1991 to 1995. She has been married to Rande Gerber since May 29, 1998, with whom she has two children, Presley Walker (born 1999) and Kaia Jordan (born 2001).
   
When Crawford was 10 years old, her younger brother Jeff—whom she continues to praise as "the fourth most influential person in my life"—died of leukemia. Since becoming a model, Crawford has made childhood leukemia a focal point of her charity work, donating proceeds of her calendars to medical research. Crawford has been a long-time supporter of the pediatric oncology program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Jeff was treated, stating that she believes he received the best care possible. She is also an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

   
In 2007, she became an official supporter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC. Crawford is on the Honorary Committee of the California Wildlife Center.


In 2011, Crawford endorsed Mitt Romney for President of the United States. In 2008 she endorsed Barack Obama.


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Monday, November 23, 2015

Sofia Vergara's and Joe Manganiello’s Miami Wedding

Sofia Vergara declared earlier this year that she had no desire to "look like a virgin" and would rather be "sexy" at her wedding to fellow actor Joe Manganiello.


She tied the knot this weekend at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, in a form fitting gown by Zuhair Murad Couture, watched by her famous friends including Reese Witherspoon, Channing Tatum and her Modern Family co-stars.


The dress featured a fitted bodice and slim skirt with a dramatic full overskirt on top, attached at the waist for the ceremony. The gown's every inch was beaded with sequins and tiny pearls - requiring more than 1,600 hours of atelier workmanship and won't have been any mean feat to look graceful in, with embellisments alone weighing more than 17 lbs.



The dress was removed later for the evening reception - creating the desired "sexy" silhouette that Vergara favours on the red carpet.



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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Trevi Fountain

Pietro Beccari and Silvia Venturini Fendi 
in front of the restored Trevi Fountain.

Davide Maestri

Designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732, the Baroque fountain was inaugurated in 1762, depicting a statue of Oceano, the personification of the power of water, driving a shell-shaped chariot pulled by two winged horses, one representing the destructive force of water, the other its positive role, and led by two Tritons. The restoration of the fountain — a Roman fixture in countless movies, but perhaps most famously seen in “Roman Holiday” and Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” — was made more complex by the variety of materials employed. These include everything from travertine and stucco to marble, bricks and plaster, as well as decorative iron elements.

The unveiling at dusk of the newly restored Trevi Fountain made for a magical moment on Tuesday as crowds pressed around to see one of the most famous monuments in the world after 16 months of work financed by Fendi.

“Water flowing, continuous, but always different, can have many significant meanings, but I like to think of inexhaustible renovation and creativity that gushes forth — just as it does at Fendi,” an upbeat Pietro Beccari, chairman and chief executive officer of the luxury brand.

The executive praised the speed and efficiency with which the works were carried out, and finished four months ahead of schedule, remarking on the modern techniques used and panoramic boardwalk set up during the restoration, which allowed tourists to continue to admire the fountain.

Beccari took the opportunity to reveal another project under the “Fendi for Fountains” moniker — the initials a play on the brand’s longstanding double-F logo designed in 1965 by Karl Lagerfeld, who was delayed in New York and so missed the ceremony. Beccari said that, in 2016, Fendi will support the restoration and preservation of another group of four fountains: The Fontana dell’Acqua Paola al Gianicolo, also known as the “Fontanone” and recently seen in the Academy Award-winning film “The Great Beauty,” and the Mosé al Pincio, del Ninfeo and del Peschiera fountains. Fendi has earmarked 300,000 euros, or $329,000 at current exchange, for the works.

The first Fendi for Fountains project, which also included works on another group of four fountains in the city, was unveiled in January 2013. The company spent 2.18 million euros, or $2.4 million at average exchange for the period, on the restoration of the Trevi Fountain.

“Fendi has an indissoluble tie with Rome, and we are becoming specialists in fountains,” said Silvia Venturini Fendi with a laugh. “Water is a strong symbol of renovation and Rome is the city with the highest density of water,” she observed. “And it must be karma,” she said, remembering Fendi’s short film “Histoire d’Eau” from 1977, and a book devoted to the fountains of Rome published by the Fendi sisters in 1980.

The designer admitted this was an “excellent moment for Fendi,” underscoring in particular its “clear and precise vision.” She again referred to the strong ties between Rome and the brand, which was founded in Italy’s capital in 1925. Fendi is giving back to the city “with facts,” and Rome, filled with the most precious works of art, needs “active collaboration.” She hoped Fendi’s efforts would be an example, “also for citizens,” to help preserve the city for the future. The company last month unveiled its new headquarters at the newly restored Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, also known as the Square Colosseum, with an exhibition space open to the public on the ground floor, which Beccari proudly said has already drawn 4,000 visitors in 10 days.

“Fendi is Rome and Rome is Fendi. This is a further message of love, a postcard of love for Rome, which needs positive signals of confidence,” said Beccari, referring to the city’s current efforts to overcome a number of political and criminal issues. “Rome will succeed, and we will never stop.”

Claudio Parisi Presicce, Rome’s superintendent of cultural heritage, underscored the complexity of the restoration, completed with the help of 120 workers, ranging from stonecutters, glass-makers and painters to carvers, masons, sculptors, geologists and specialized technicians.
Traditionally, tourists toss coins in the fountain, with their backs to it, which ensures their return to Rome — a tradition Beccari and Venturini Fendi kept alive on Tuesday.


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