![SPOILER ALERT! - My Episode 3 recap for People Magazine(Photo by Ben Cope of 7 Artist Management)Tonight at 9/8c I hope you’ll watch episode 4 of The Face! If you missed last week’s episode you can watch it HERE and read my recap for People Magazine below:
This week’s episode of The Face starts out with a quick-change challenge. Runway models often have two or more looks in a show, leaving us mere seconds backstage to throw on the next look and walk the runway. The girls are all done up in heavy red lipstick and slicked hair — the perfect look to be totally messed up in a hasty change. Karolina teaches the challenge and sets the bar mighty high by changing into a runway look in just 41 seconds.
Timing Is Everything: Team Naomi’s Zi Lin goes first with a time of 1:18, which she says is not good enough for her. Aside from being a magnificent beauty, Zi Lin is refreshingly humble in this competition — something some of the other girls could definitely learn from. Devyn of Team Karolina beats her time with 1:09, but Margaux (Team Coco) beats her by two seconds and wins a $5,000 shopping spree. Devyn complains that it isn’t fair because Margaux “wasn’t completely composed,” which a slo-mo recap proves to be false. Karolina is not impressed with her teammate’s poor sportsmanship and lets us all know it.
A Surprise Move: On a Sunday afternoon when we aren’t shooting, I’m called in unexpectedly to see my girl Marlee. She tells me that her family is facing financial difficulties back home and she needs to leave the competition. This comes as a total shock to me but at the end of the day family always comes first, so I completely understand and respect Marlee’s choice to leave.
[[MORE]]
Gowns Down!: The client this week is Kleinfeld Bridal of Say Yes to the Dress fame. The girls are to navigate a dramatic staircase in their epic dresses, some of which weigh upwards of 30 lbs. Although my Stephanie is the only one who has never done runway before, Margaux takes the first spill during rehearsal. Naomi has doubts about Jocelyn’s runway ability, but it’s Sandra who almost falls headfirst. Karolina instructs her team very well, though I am tempted to remind her that she called me “bossy” for doing that last week!
When it comes to the actual challenge, Stephanie is amazing and I can’t be more proud of my baby model-in-training. The client loves her, the crowd loves her. Even Naomi is impressed! Unfortunately Margaux takes another big fall, this time in front of the client and a live audience. Overall it was not a strong performance from Team Coco and I’m feeling nervous; there were a few minor missteps on Karolina’s team, but no epic Jennifer Lawrence-worthy tumbles like Margaux’s. Team Naomi’s Zi Lin is the true runway star, gliding down the stairs in a giant gown that even Naomi admitted she couldn’t handle. Way to go Zi Lin!
Memory Fails: The audience vote reveals that Team Naomi wins the challenge, thanks in no small part to Zi Lin’s magnificent walk. The client tells me he likes two of my girls (including clumsy Margaux), but can’t remember Brittany. In the end I forgive Margaux’s fall (all runway girls have fallen) and send Brittany to elimination for not making an impression. When you’re trying to get a job over plenty of other beautiful models you want to be the one to stand out. Saying you were “un-memorable” is akin to the kiss of death.
Both Ebony (Team Karolina) and Brittany plead their cases before Naomi, who pulls a McKayla Maroney and lets us know she is not impressed. She says they are both trying to play on her heartstrings and that’s a song she does not want to hear. Naomi chooses Ebony over Brittany, resulting in Team Coco going from four girls to two in a single episode. Talk about getting kicked when you’re down!
Brittany accepts Naomi’s decision and is realistic about the fact that we all face rejection sometime in our careers. I applaud Brittany’s drive and determination, and I know she will continue to do well long after this season’s finale.
–Coco Rocha](http://25.media.tumblr.com/e59233cfc5b65bb36b1aefd8411f7663/tumblr_mj6ydaZxaM1qeyuguo1_500.jpg)
![JEAN PAUL GAULTIER - Interview for Glamour MagI just arrived in Paris to support my dear friend, Jean Paul Gaultier, and so I thought it only appropriate that I post this interview we did together in the latest copy of American Glamour Magazine. Gaultier has given me so many amazing opportunities on his runway; he was the designer who asked me to Irish dance down the runway in 2007, which really put me on the fashion radar. More than that, though, he is one of the kindest, most sincere people you could ever hope to meet. See our interview below:
[[MORE]]
Now This Is a Major Fashion Moment
Designer Jean Paul Gaultier interviews Coco Rocha about catfights, male models – and playing for Team Coco.
In fashion it’s a given that every designer has a muse. For much of the last decade Jean Paul Gaultier, the Parisian designer who created Madonna’s cone bra in the late eighties, has found his inspiration in Canadian model Coco Rocha. Back in 2007 the then 18-year-old Rocha opened and closed Gaultier’s fall show by dancing a Celtic Irish jig down the runway. (Another year she played a mermaid!) The two have been friends ever since. Here, Gaultier and Rocha – who’s a new star judge on Oxygen’s model-competition show The Face, alongside Naomi Campbell and Karolina Kurkova – sit down to talk.
JEAN PAUL GAULTIER: Which was more difficult: coaching the girls for the competition or getting along with Naomi and Karolina?
COCO ROCHA: I think you know the answer to that.
JPG: Yes, I can imagine!
CR: When we first started shooting, we were like children on the first day of school. But two days into the show, you could definitely see that there was a competition among Team Naomi, Team Coco, and Team Karolina. We’re all fighting to win. We have three different personalities and our own concept of how a model should model, so you know it’s going to be a good show.
JPG: From what I saw, it seems like there was a bit of tension between Naomi and Karolina.
CR: There’s going to be tension in a lot of scenes.
JPG: Yes, yes yes! Especially with Naomi, she can be sometimes a little excited, no? Did you teach the girls how to Irish dance?
CR: No, I didn’t get to, but they knew that I could. Everyone always remembers my dancing.
JPG: I think you should teach male models how to walk. Some guys are very beautiful, but they walk like they’re embarrassed. It’s ridiculous.
CR: How do you choose a male model for your shows?
JPG: I want a male model version of you or Naomi or Karolina or Linda [Evangelista]. What makes you special is that you create so many different personalities. It’s boring when the models all walk exactly the same. Don’t you think?
CR: That’s why all of us like doing your show. You allow us to be whoever we want. These days we’re told to walk straight, don’t move, no emotion, no nothing. I want my team [on The Face] to play characters because it’s far more interesting. I have to say that you’re one of the only designers who likes to talk to his models and ask us about our opinions and what we’re thinking.
JPG: If there were no models, I couldn’t do my shows. You make my shows real – I love that.
- Rajni Lucienne Jacques](http://25.media.tumblr.com/6078fa30d87f4c8f604cbf50093f0c25/tumblr_mj1dhoNbSs1qeyuguo1_500.jpg)
![DESTINATION IMAN - Supermodel Iman interviews ‘The Face’ mentors Naomi Campbell, Karolina Kurkova and Coco Rocha about their style and approach to the game.
IMAN: What were the qualities you were looking for in a model?
COCO: For me, looks were second to attitude. I wanted hard working girls who really view modeling as a profession, not a lifestyle. I didn’t want the bad girls, the party girls, or the ones who just wanted to be TV famous on my team. I wanted girls who had an open mind, were willing to work very hard and trust me as a mentor to train them.
NAOMI: I was looking for drive, passion, thick skin, being able to change, and a willingness to follow direction. All of those elements were really important to me.
KAROLINA: Simply put, I wanted someone who was willing to work hard and was a good person. Uniqueness was important too.
IMAN: What is your strongest suit as a leader?
NAOMI: I was definitely Sergeant Major of the group. I was tough on my girls and didn’t sugar coat anything, because that won’t help them in the long run. I pushed them as hard as they’ll be pushed when they’re in the modeling industry, and I think they came out of the competition as stronger models because of this.
COCO: I think my strong suit was that I never played it safe. I can’t stand mediocrity in modeling or in fashion and I wasn’t going to let my girls take the easy route – ever.
KAROLINA: I’ve always been interested in becoming a mentor to girls who have just started out in the modeling business. I wish I had this when I was coming up — women in the business to offer advice, guidance, and who could relate to everything you go through.
[[MORE]]
IMAN: How would you describe “The Face”?
NAOMI: As you know, being a model is about more than just having pretty face – you need charisma, passion, talent, drive and smarts to represent a brand. “The Face” is my new reality TV series that searches for the new face of ULTA Beauty. Karolina Kurkova, Coco Rocha and I are searching for an aspiring model who has the beauty and personality to be the spokesmodel for this national brand. During the series, we choose our teams from a group of aspiring models and then guide them through assignments and challenges, including photo shoots, runway shows, and commercials. The models will be exposed to the very best photographers, stylists, and designers in the fashion world and get a feel for what the industry is truly like. In the end, one model will secure a contract as the face of ULTA Beauty.
KAROLINA: Being “the face” of a brand requires the right look, charisma, and talent — it’s about more than just a pretty face. This show gives aspiring models the opportunity to learn these qualities from three names in the business, but also gain a sense of self and confidence as women, in all aspects of their lives.
COCO: The Face is more than just an aspiring model show. It’s also about how three established models from different generations work and teach their own team of models how best to become the face of a major brand. The show gives the viewer an inside look at the world of modeling as Naomi, Karolina and myself guide our girls through real life assignments, photo shoots and commercials. As mentors, we do our best to instill the sorts of skills and lessons we think our teams of girls will need to have successful careers.IMAN: What have you learned from your “opponent”?
KAROLINA: I went into this competition without a strategy. My goal was to get to know these women personally and intuitively figure out their needs and be there to support them. I stuck to this throughout the competition, but I think I learned from my opponents that having a strategy is relevant in certain cases. For example, in the elimination rounds, maybe you don’t send your weakest girl, but you send the girl who you feel confident WON’T get eliminated.
NAOMI: Karolina, Coco and I all had different leadership styles. It was interesting to see how they coached their girls, and the expertise they brought into the competition.
COCO: I’ve always had my own way of modeling but what I saw from my fellow mentors Karolina and Naomi was that there is not just one route to success. We all have our different styles, but I think what we all share is that in order to remain relevant in modeling you have to be a chameleon and be able to embody all sorts of “types”.
To read more go to www.destinationiman.com](http://25.media.tumblr.com/5fa228f9fa6cb9480dbeb92f125ac0f3/tumblr_midu79KPhw1qeyuguo1_500.jpg)
Beginning with their June issues, the editors of the 19 international editions of Vogue magazine have made a pact to stop using models under age 16 or those who, from the viewpoint of the editors, appear to have an eating disorder.
In a somewhat unusual announcement, unusual in that the magazines are wading into a controversial issue, the Condé Nast International chairman, Jonathan Newhouse, said on Thursday, “Vogue editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on the pages and the well-being of their readers.”
For decades, fashion magazines have been criticized for upholding an unrealistic standard of beauty, and even more so with the widespread use of digital retouching that often results in images of models and celebrities that have no basis in reality. While Vogue editors like Anna Wintour, of the American edition, and Franca Sozzani, of Italy, have participated in recent efforts by the Council of Fashion Designers of America to promote healthier behavior in the modeling industry, the magazines have not typically issued their own standards.
The fashion council released its own guidelines to designers and modeling agencies last season, asking them not to use models younger than 16 on their runways, and most have complied. The designer Marc Jacobs, however, disagreed with the council on that point and did use some models under that age, represented by Ford Models, in his show.
The Vogue announcement included the following six-point pact.
“1. We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder. We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image.
“2. We will ask agents not to knowingly send us underage girls and casting directors to check IDs when casting shoots, shows and campaigns.
“3. We will help to structure mentoring programs where more mature models are able to give advice and guidance to younger girls, and we will help to raise industry-wide awareness through education, as has been integral to the Council of Fashion Designers of America Health Initiative.
“4. We will encourage producers to create healthy backstage working conditions, including healthy food options and a respect for privacy. We will encourage casting agents not to keep models unreasonably late.
“5. We encourage designers to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models.
“6. We will be ambassadors for the message of healthy body image.”
We here at Fashionista are continually impressed by the efforts the Model Alliance is making to improve working conditions within the industry, so we’re teaming up with them to bring you the latest from their movement. We’ll be hearing from them about everything from broadening child labor laws to changing the sample size. Today, Coco Rocha tells us about her personal struggles in the industry and what makes a good model. Plus, we have an exclusive video of Rocha at a recent Model Alliance event giving young models advice on the importance of having the right agent and avoiding creepy photogs.
I came into this business knowing nothing about fashion. I was a young girl from Vancouver, Canada who wore boot cut jeans and an oversized sweatshirt every day to school. Becoming a model was never an aspiration of mine, but at 14 I was scouted at an Irish dance competition and after some initial resistance found myself modeling in Asia and working on my portfolio.
After that I moved to New York where I found the agents I still work with to this day and started down a path that would lead to working with some of the world’s greatest photographers and designers. I was pulled from relative obscurity and given an amazing international life, but it was not without its ups and downs.
There were times when I was very lonely and felt an enormous pressure from adults around me to give up values and beliefs I held dear. Through trial and error I learned my rights and I learned to stand up for myself. I realized the benefit of an ironclad contract. In my contract today I state that due to my religious beliefs I won’t shoot nude or sheer clothing, or with cigarettes, weapons or religious icons. Even after nearly 10 years I still I find occasions when clients will push the issue, making it uncomfortable for everyone. It gets better though.
As I’ve moved from being a girl to a woman, and now a married woman, I feel more and more confident in my own skin every day. It’s something that comes with age and experience, which is why I wish most models would start a little later than the usual 14 or 15-years-old when they are so vulnerable and easily influenced.
