Rashida Jones and Partner Launch LaLoo Clothing Line

I just love Rashida Jones. This line consists of simple casuals made of organic cotton. Nothing to get too excited about but it looks very mom friendly and could probably be dressed up pretty easily with the right accessories.

Source: kochie322/TFS

Jovovich Hawk for Target

I wasn't wild about the line that Erin Fetherston produced for Target. I thought it was too cutesy and horribly made. However, I am looking forward to seeing the Jovovich Hawk line when it arrives in stores. Most of this stuff looks a tad young for me but there are definitely a few pieces (like the chevron striped top and skirt) that I'm hoping are worth the purchase price.

Vanity Fair "Hollywood Issue" Part II

I stand corrected. It seems that Thandie Newton is the only woman of African descent to ever make the cover of VF's Hollywood Issue in 1999. Also, in addition to Chris Rock's appearance on the cover in 2007, Djimon Hounsou managed to elbow his way onto it in 1998. I would love it if Essence magazine would spend a few bucks to hire a real photographer to do their own Hollywood Issue.

Super Tuesday!

Why I Don't Blame Naomi for Throwing a Cell Phone Every Now and Then

via The London News

Black models have little hope of making it big, the founders of one of the world's biggest model agencies said today.

Carole White, who founded Premier Model Management, said even Naomi Campbell, who she represented for 17 years, failed to make as much money as her white contemporaries who include Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer.

Her words echo the feelings of the supermodel who recently said she gets a "raw deal" in England.

White said: “A black girl has to be perfect to get work. The bookers are told “don’t send any ethnic girls”.

“I showed a picture of a new black girl to an agent in Milan and he actually recoiled. He said: “We don’t have black girls in Milan. It’s impossible”.”

She added: “Black girls never make money. Even Naomi Campbell didn’t make money like the white girls did’ she was always offered less.”

Six months ago Campbell launched her own campaign to find new black talent. She had planned to launch a model scouts agency in Kenya.

"Black models are being sidelined, even myself, I get a raw deal from my own country in England.”

"It’s a pity people don’t appreciate black beauty," she said.

WSJ: "Crossing Fashion's Thin White Line"

Fashion Week is up and running again and after all the criticism last Fall about the lack of models of color on the runway there does seem to be some improvement this go round with the leggy likes of Jourdan Dunn, Mimi Roche, and Yordanos on the catwalk doing what models do best walk.

Did the world stop spinning? Did buyers stop buying? I don't think so. Nordstrom and Neiman's will still buy the clothes that they think will sell regardless of who is wearing them on the runway. Is anyone asking for quotas? No. Many just want models of color to be sent on the same go-sees that unknown European models are sent to everyday.

The Wall Street Journal shed some more light on the issue recently:

Just who is responsible for diversity on the runway depends on whom you ask. Casting directors say they work for the designers, so if the designers decide ethnic models don't fit their aesthetic, they don't hire them. Designers gripe that they would use more minority models, but the agencies don't send any "good" ones. And the modeling agencies say they aren't scouting and developing many minority models because the market hasn't been demanding their services.

A designer's goal with an expensive fashion show is to keep attention on his or her clothes, not the models. That's why, many designers privately explain, they don't like to hire distinctive-looking models, either ethnically or otherwise. But the public concern has put so much pressure on the industry that some say they have to change.

"The tricky thing about this business is that [designers and casting directors] can always say it's a matter of personal and aesthetic freedom," says Roman Young, an agent at Elite Model Management. "You wonder, 'Are they racist or are they just dumb?'" Mr. Young says he hasn't been aggressively scouting models of color because, until now, designers haven't demanded them. Very young, newly scouted models are highly in demand every season since the market likes fresh, unknown faces.

...As for whether the industry will ever change, Ms. Venditti says it's all about whether racial diversity becomes the latest fashion trend. "In general, [the industry] is a bunch of followers," she says. But "the conversation has started."

Vanity Fair "Hollywood Issue" 3/2008

This is a truly magical time of year. With the Writer's Strike nearing and end (fingers crossed,) it seems that The Academy Awards have been handed a stay of execution which means there will be much ink and space given to pretty skinny people in expensive clothes. Really, The Oscars are like The Superbowl for me and even though I haven't seen any of the nominees, I have definite opinions about who deserves to win.

Another thing that lands with a loud plop at the newsstand this month is Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood Issue. A barrage of the same old faces shot by the same old photographer, it hasn't been interesting for years yet I still have to see it for myself. I can't help it.

Part of the fun is trying to guess who will land in the "black" spot of the cover each year. For the uninitiated, the "black spot" is the space grudging given to a black actor of actress on one of the non-cover fold out spaces. Chris Rock appeared on the cover of the Hollywood issue once but I can't recall another person of African descent making the fold.

This year's winner is the lovely Zoe Saldana and what a striking image she cuts. Dead center on the fully folded out cover wearing a old school glamazon Dior bathing suit. All the reclining actresses around her stading figure seem to fade into the background. The contrast between her skin and the bathing suit really draws one's eye to her figure and she almost appears to be on display for the bored vacant eyes around her. Interesting choice to say the least.

So yes, I will trudge down to the bookstore and flip through this issue from cover to cover but is it really worth buying? Who knows. My guess is that there will also be a pic of Will Smith or Don Cheadle and maybe a Ruby Dee to round things out but I don't think I'll be leaving the store with this one tucked under my arm.