[fashionologie]

Inside Tom Ford's Vanity Fair Stint
The controversy! The actresses! The collaboration with Joe Zee!

Friday, December 09, 2005

(NEW YORK) Tom Ford’s up to his old tricks again.
Sources inside the fashion halls of Vanity Fair, not to mention publicists at more than one luxury fashion house, have been abuzz over the apparent drama Ford is stirring up since editor-in-chief Graydon Carter confirmed his position as artistic director of the annual Hollywood photo portfolio, scheduled to bow in March.

Specifically, Ford was said to have requested that the Vanity Fair fashion department pull “really grown-up clothes” (translation: skin-baring dresses and platform high heels) for 12-year old Dakota Fanning, just one of a bevy of actresses he worked with. “It’s one thing to have an artistic eye, but it’s another to be offensive,” said one source who worked on the shoots. “It’s been an interesting adventure.” What’s also interesting is that sources are now saying that Ford’s guest-editing gamble might very well become a permanent venture at the Condé Nast title.

While all those involved with the issue remain tight-lipped about which actresses achieved the cover status—once again photographed by Annie Leibovitz—what is known is that none of the actresses will wear any of Ford’s own ready-to-wear line, which he is currently developing. Patricia Clarkson and Mission: Impossible III star Michelle Monaghan are among those featured inside the issue, which also boasts contributions from an array of famed shutterbugs, from Terry Richardson to Michael Thompson.

Meanwhile, Joe Zee hasn’t been sitting idly by since his magazine, Vitals, folded at the end of September. The contributing fashion editor at W has, for the last two and a half weeks, been in Los Angeles working as “fashion director” for the March issue alongside Ford. It’s Zee’s first collaboration with the man infamous for his attention to detail, and some are even hinting that the proactive Zee’s relationships and experience with celebrity styling would make him the ideal candidate to succeed Anne McNally, who left the magazine earlier this month. When asked about the issue’s theme, Zee replied, “Tom Ford, of course.”

A spokesperson for Vanity Fair offered no comment on upcoming issues.
JIM SHI


http://www.fashionweekdaily.com/news...973&itype=8486

[fashionologie]

...and from the Tom Ford: Life after Gucci thread....

Rachel McAdams refused to pose nude for magazine
source: http://www.radaronline.com/fresh-intelligence/2005/12/09/index.php
Tom Ford’s Indecent Proposal

We hear flesh-obsessed designer Tom Ford’s guest editing gig for the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue recently hit a little kink. Sources close to the glossy say demure rising starlet Rachel McAdams stormed out of a November cover shoot for the annual industry mash note, firing her publicist on the way, after finding out that the designer expected her to pose in the buff.



According to mag insiders, Ford had prearranged with McAdam’s publicist, Wolf Kasteller’s Amy Van Iden, for the in-demand Red Eye actress to appear nude in a group portrait of Hollywood’s breathtaking beauties-of-the-moment, including Keira Knightly and Scarlett Johansen. (We presume the shoot was conceived along the lines of Herb Ritt’s famous 1989 supermodel ensemble, “Stephanie Cindy Christy Tatjana Naomi,” but considering Ford’s role in the project it’s possible to imagine a raunchier scenario.)

Unfortunately for legions of mouth-breathing McAdams fans, we’re told Van Iden neglected to tell her family-friendly charge—who may have been the only actress in the Wedding Crashers to keep all her clothes on—that she would have to undress for the shoot. When she arrived on the L.A. set and found out what Ford had in mind, we’re told she turned tail and promptly fired Van Iden.

“Every magazine wants her on their cover and thinks she’s gonna be huge, so she can get away with being picky,” says a Condé Nast insider. “But everyone’s really impressed that she stood up for herself. It’s kind of amazing, actually.”

While the 29-year-old actress’s chaste retreat suggests she has a tad more dignity than the average Hollywood climber, it’s odd she was so blindsided by Ford’s concept. After all, the former Gucci designer has previously told reporters the “entire issue would be naked,” and his recent work has certainly showcased his fondness for letting it all hang out—he posed au naturel for a 22-page spread in last month’s W, his new line of cosmetics for Estee Lauder is called Amber Nude, his ad campaign for the fragrance Youth Dew features a naked Carolyn Murphy, and an advertisement he produced for a new line of sunglasses reportedly features porn stars whom he says were paid “to have sex on set.”

Neither Ford nor VF spokeswoman Beth Kseniak returned calls about the shoot. McAdam’s manager, Shelley Browning, confirmed that McAdams “presently does not have a publicist,” but she would not comment on the incident and referred questions about the photo session to the magazine. Van Iden herself did not return calls.

[fashionologie]

more on the issue from page six:

West Coast sources say the former Gucci designer's frequent fits and imperious manner during photo shoots have forced the magazine's battle-weary fashion stylists to take extreme measures. According to a source close to the L.A. set, Ford's finicky taste in designer labels has run his staff so ragged, they now remove the tags on all garments before Ford can see them. "It was getting comical," says our spy. "He would like a dress and then look at the label and send it back because he hates that particular designer. Eventually, somebody got the idea to just cut out all the labels so he couldn't tell what was what." Meanwhile, back in New York, sources say editor Graydon Carter is getting concerned. "Graydon's a conservative guy, and Tom's out there telling people everyone in the issue's going to be naked and bringing in all these outside photographers who've never worked at VF.

[arlekindearrabal]

funny... and predictable... nice that rachel stood up for herself

[Spike413]

I don't uderstand why everyone's all "good for her for standing up for herself" and stuff because the impression I got from the article was that she was upset because her publicist booked it and didn't tell her, not because Ford wanted her to pose nude.

w/e

[fashionologie]

^^ i think i actually read somewhere later that she decided to go ahead and go through with the shoot anyway...

[Eccentricity]

Am i the only one sick of Tom Ford's so called "controversy".. he needs to find a stable and permanant occupation and not inflict us any further with these "provocative" and "daring" magazine spreads he relentlessly produces. Overexposure makes me hate someone. Abscence makes my heart grow fonder. In other words, go away for a while Tom, you are soo yesturday in the words of Hillary Duff herself.

[LoveMyBoots]

I'm still getting the issue.
I always look forward to knowing who's on the cover, even though I'm not always in concurrence.

Isn't this the third year in a roll that Scarlett Johansson is on the VF Hollywood cover?

[LoveMyBoots]

And I don't think he went that far with Dakato Fanning, well, I hope he didn't. He loves controversy but doesn't he know his limits?

[jpymon]

someone please post a preview of that cover. i need to see what its all about

[liberty33r1b]

when is it out?

[Dieselmax]

February 7th nationally
a week before in NY and LA

[LoveMyBoots]

KARMA for whoever can post the cover!
FYI: I'm really, really looking forward to this issue.

[babyjane]

Will we ever get another ALL MALE cover.

[Captain_Lydia]

As much as I adore seeing Keira naked, seriously, it pisses me off. They wouldn't ask men to sit there totally naked on a cover. He better be really careful with Dakota Fanning too. She's a child, not a ****ing sex object. Pervert.