News Bytes

-To coincide with the arrival of spring accessories on his e-commerce site, Alexander Wang is releasing a behind the scenes video of his SS10 runway show. Style.com has a short preview which you can see above. It's only 45 seconds and you can see Freja about 16 seconds in. The full version will be released Monday on Alex's site, and if the preview is any indication, it looks like we'll get plenty of Freja to satisfy our backstage curiosities.

-Freja moved up a rank to a solid number 4 on models.com Top 50 Models list. Lara, Anja, Natasha, Sasha and Raquel are the only ones before her. If I recall correctly, Freja's career high position was number 2, but I could be wrong. Any one remember? Anyway, as long as she keeps working at the same pace and level that she's been at for this past year, I don't see any reason why her rank wouldn't gain one or two more spots. However, I'm not sure she'll ever reach the number 1 spot. Freja's a wonderful model, but let's be realistic; you have to be damn near iconic (I'm talking within the industry here, not just with fans) to reach that spot and her quantity of work just doesn't add up. If Meisel shoots her for a Vogue Italia cover, US Vogue puts her on their Models of the Moment issue, Nick Knight features her on ShowStudio monthly, and she lands blue-chip ad campaigns beside Chanel then we'll talk. Until then, it's not gonna happen. (Prove me wrong Freja, because I would be happy to eat my words.)

-You can see preview images of Freja's new Vogue Nippon editorial shot by Terry Richardson here and here. Being that the images are low quality, I'm pretty much ideologically opposed to everything that Terry Richardson stands for, and I need a break, I'll spare you the long write up about this ed...not that any of you were dying to read it in the first place I'm sure.

-New York Fashion Week officially beings in 12 days on February 11th! We'll likely see Freja touch down for her first show Friday night at Rag & Bone...that is, assuming she's going to walk this season. I don't see why she wouldn't, but with Freja I've always come to expect the unexpected. And the SS08 and SS09 seasons are always fresh in the back of my mind, making me hold my breath in hope that she doesn't unexpectedly skip out again. We'll see. After all, life's pleasures are derived in anticipation.

Image Credits: imgmodels.com

Chanel Haute Couture SS10

Freja opened the Chanel Haute Couture show today, firmly entrenching herself as one of Karl's favorite female models, not that there was any doubt about this in the first place. Was this any surprise? Did we expect any less? After all, I would say that Freja is now the female equivalent of Brad/Baptiste, but I don't mean that with any derision. It's just a fact of the fashion world that I've come to accept and even enjoy because of the comfort and dependability it brings. Fashion cycles are always so rapid and turnovers always so quick, that it's quite refreshing to know you can count on the Freja/Karl relationship. And Karl seems less territorial with Freja so she's free to work with other people as recent work can attest to. I may complain and I may whine, but I do always look forward to seeing Freja walk down that Chanel runway.

Karl gave hints that the show would be "neon baroque" but I thought it was more "Bride of Frankenstein in outer space during the springtime." I guess that doesn't make nearly as good of a sound byte and it's quite a mouthful to say. Although I can see where Karl is coming from because the color palate for this collection is quite bright, especially compared to last years' all white spring Haute Couture show. And the presence of high, fluffy collars and culottes brought in that baroque feel.

My Bride of Frankenstein reference comes from the hair, especially with those silver streaks running throughout. And all the metallic accents and accessories, but specifically the shoes, give me that outer space feel. There just seemed to be a general sheen and shinyness to the whole show, most ardently and ferociously summed up by the final look.

Regardless, it was a stunning collection. Not my favorite, but some looks were just so beautiful.

And it was nice to see a mixture of both old and new girls. You had Freja, Heidi, Isabeli, Lara, Anja and Abbey (with her taking honors as the bride) on the one hand. Then Lisanne De Jong, Mirte Maas, Jenny Sinkaberg, Marlene Szoka (!!) and Valerija Kelava (!!!) on the other. I love seeing new girls for Chanel and I'm happy that some of the more unexpected, but no less exceptional, girls got to walk.

Image Credits: catwalking.com, coutorture, moviechopshop.com

Bits and Bytes

Just some news and upcoming things to be aware of:

-In case you forgot, the Chanel Haute Couture show is set for this Tuesday, January 26th.

-Freja's made it onto her first cover of the year. Nevermind that it's shot by Karl, features three other models (Heidi, Abbey Lee, Baptiste), and is for Numero Homme. A cover is still a cover.

-Look for a new editorial shot by Terry Richardson in the upcoming March issue of Vogue Nippon. A preview can be seen here, and below thanks to tFS member s'gnac.

-Speaking of upcoming work, don't forget that we have the Spur story and the Purple editorial to look forward to. Not to mention that New York fashion week begins in a matter of days.

Busy busy! As happy as I am for all this new work, I sure hope Freja isn't overworking herself to exhaustion. Remember to take care of yourself girl.

Image Credits: journaux.fr, snap by tFS member s'gnac

Vogue-à-Porter

Freja, if you continue to produce work like this you'll have me fan-girling again like a 12 year old in no time. Whatever it is you're doing, please keep it up because the start of 2010 has been fantastic for your work and your versatility. Not a Lagerfeld-lensed editorial in sight. No androgynous styling to be seen anywhere. It's like you're a new model, and in a sense you are because we've seen you work with Meisel for the first time in your career, and you're back in the pages of Vogue Paris after a few years' hiatus.

Vogue-à-Porter
Vogue Paris February 2010
Ph: Inez and Vinoodh

This is a beautifully shot and composed editorial, and it's something I can get excited about. It's both visually stunning and intellectually stimulating. When you look at this, you can see more than just the clothes, models and setting. You can see and feel a subjective social voice behind it as well. Maybe it's just me and my tendency to over analyze things, but I see an appropriation of the Middle East going back in the tradition of Edward Said and his concept of Orientalism. The clothes are all current yet the setting is devoid of any reference to modern times or technology making the differences (whether actual or merely perceived) between our western world and this eastern one even more stark. There is also a play on the now pervasive tourist snapshot that captures out of place people in extraordinary locations. The collision between western and eastern fashion norms is also apparent in the diaphanous discord between covering up and revealing the skin. There is also the idea of male desire and the male gaze, made even more poignant when one understands the history and role of the harem in middle east culture. These are just some of the thoughts that came to my mind, but I will not expound upon them for fear of boring you (although that's probably too late).

Anyway, I don't believe this is your typical east meets west fashion editorial. There is something different about it and this is what interests me. The setting is far from glamorized. There are no sweeping landscapes or gorgeous vistas. In short, this isn't a travel magazine spread like fashion eds sometimes can be. So I guess I'm left with a feeling of unease after seeing all the images. This isn't a bad thing at all, but I just get an ominous feeling from the confluence of all the elements in this editorial. Something is very unsettling in the way the images are cropped and composed. It's like I want to see more, but I physically can't. Nevertheless, this is just my own reading which is undoubtedly influenced by my limited knowledge of the current situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Moving along, Freja looks to be at the top of her game. She's working well with both Lara and Dree, yet she's able to stand out in certain shots. You can feel her glare jumping off the page and straight into your own eyes. It's just so refreshing to see her in something where she doesn't come across as passive, bored or uninvested. The rest of the editorial is quite interesting too. There appear to be three fashion stories going on simultaneously. Although I wonder, why were all the shots pushed together in one big editorial? Why not just have three separate pieces? If you look at each story individually there is enough narrative and cohesion that they stand on their own: Freja, Lara and Dree's shots being one, Daria's being another and the studio shots being the third. Interesting choice by the VP team.

Daria:

Studio:

Your thoughts, comments, insights, criticisms? I'm interested in hearing what other fans think beyond the fact that Freja looks good.

Image Credits: Angelscans and tFS member AngelLover