UPDATE: Agencies battle over models Agnete Hansen and Natalia Andrade
BY JOSE MARTINEZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, August 15th 2008, 3:30 PM
Tracy for News Agnete Hegelund Hansen
Hands off our sexy models!
Ford Models is suing a rival firm for allegedly poaching a Brazilian beauty and a Danish delight from its stable of lovelies.
The agencies are locked in an ugly dispute over the contracts of models
Agnete Hegelund Hansen and
Natalia Andrade, who allegedly broke their contracts with Ford to jump to Next Management.
Hansen, a blue-eyed Danish stunner who's appeared on the cover of
Italian Vogue and
Harper's Bazaar, is accused of violating an exclusive contract with Ford last month by following her manager and another Ford employee to Next Management.
In the suit filed late Thursday in
Manhattan Supreme Court, Ford says it invested handsomely in Hansen to convert her from an "unknown" into "one of the industry's most popular and recognized models." But she is accused of jumping ship right as she's about to enter the "big money territory" of beauty and fragrance company contracts.
"Next induced Ms. Hansen to breach her contractual obligations with Ford Models and positioned itself to reap the rewards of Ford Models' investment," the suit alleges.
Hansen first came to Ford's attention in 2005 when an agency in
Copenhagen connected her to the famed
Manhattan firm.
Last year, according to the suit, she agreed to a deal with Ford for six-figure modeling jobs - paying the firm a 20% commission and a 20% service fee.
Natalia Andrade, a Brazilian who's posed in sizzling ads for lingerie and
Jimmy Choo shoes, is accused of trying to follow
Hansen out the door by e-mailing Ford on Monday to inform the firm that she was seeking a new agency.
Her attempt to quit came only a week after
Karen Chanti, her booker at Ford, bolted for Next Management.
"Next attempted to induce Ms. Chanti to cause and induce models... including Ms. Andrade, to leave Ford Models," the suit says.
Next and a lawyer for Ford Models did not return calls.
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/20...ete_hanse.html
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