Chanel Iman

[Gabriel29]

I think this is gonna lead to a dead end. VS isn't known for being loyal to their newer models. Where are Emanuela and Lindsay nowadays? Where is Ale in VS? Emanuela and Lindsay used to be everywhere at VS. But when VS decide that there is gonna be a better black model to fill Chanel's spot, they will let her go just like Selita and she won't have HF to go back to.

 

[marsnoop2]

I remember the VS article in Vogue and she was saying that people around her didn't necessarily agree with the route she was going and she even said that they'd say that 'If you do this, Gucci wouldn't want to work with you' or 'If you do that, Steven Meisel doesn't want to work with you'. And then she'd say that she didn't really care about what they said because this is the path that she wants to choose.

Does anyone have a copy of this interview, I've been dying to read it.

 

[fantastical]

I have read that Vogue article as well (with the other VS models), but I think Chanel was referring to when she was starting out in modeling that people would say that to her, not now. I like that she also recognizes as well that she doesn't fit the body-type of the real VS girls.

I know she wants to work with VS so bad (as she mentioned in the article), but I think she should have waited a bit, built herself up a bit more in HF realm and then tried out for VS when she got a bit older and curvier. I'm not sure of her age, but for me, she is just too darn cutesy for VS as opposed to having a womanly appeal like the rest of the main girls.

 

[Gabriel29]

I think this is gonna lead to a dead end. VS isn't known for being loyal to their newer models. Where are Emanuela and Lindsay nowadays? Where is Ale in VS? Emanuela and Lindsay used to be everywhere at VS. But when VS decide that there is gonna be a better black model to fill Chanel's spot, they will let her go just like Selita and she won't have HF to go back to.

 

[J'ador-DioR]

I think this is gonna lead to a dead end. VS isn't known for being loyal to their newer models. Where are Emanuela and Lindsay nowadays? Where is Ale in VS? Emanuela and Lindsay used to be everywhere at VS. But when VS decide that there is gonna be a better black model to fill Chanel's spot, they will let her go just like Selita and she won't have HF to go back to.

She has a personality and presence in abundance, though...and her frame stands out from the rest. No one is saying she'll be working for them for forever but i can't see them letting her go anytime soon. And despite the hate she gets from the HF crowd..she's popular and gets great coverage in the blogosphere even before this VS thing. I don't believe she'll be completely shunned from HF but she won't work as much as she used to.

 

[LabelWhore4]

At this moment I truly believe VS saved her career. One can only walk so many runways season after season with no decent campaigns before they realize its getting them nowhere. I would hate for Chanel to become a Vlada or Snejana (who both at least got good campaigns at the beginning of their careers). She is WAY too special for that. I'd rather have her make good/stable money while she plans her next move. Its better than watching her slowly fade off of the ENTIRE scene. IMO she is in a very fortunate position right now so I'm happy for her. How many people at her age have made almost ALL of their dreams come true and STILL have the promise of a brighter future!?! Homegirl is doing fine.

 

[Purpledinosaurxo]

Chanel has shot new Ann Taylor LOFT with Behati

source: Ann Taylor LOFT Facebook

 

[Fiercification]

The third shot is really cute .

 

[Paws]

^It sure is! That hat looks great on her.

 

[agee]

once a model does VS they are "tainted" and their HF stock declines.

Have you seen this month's cover of Vogue Italia? Did Gisele have to change her name to score all the campaigns that she got left VS? Did Abbey Lee book fewer runway shows, campaigns and covers after she shook her *** with the Black-Eyed Peas?

It's not so much as her turning her back on HF, i think her agents knew that there isn't a big future for her in that arena so they switched things up. I personally love it, she's making more money than she would walking runways and VS allows her to showcase her personality. Hopefully, it will lead to bigger and better things for her within the company

I definitely agree with the comments about the money and also that VS allows Chanel to showcase her personality, but IMO VS was not some Plan B to redirect a declining high fashion career. According to reports VS and Chanel Iman have been eyeballing each other for quite some time before they actually got together. One of the execs said something to the effect that he was interested in her since he first saw her, and in Teen Vogue Chanel said that she wanted to WALK in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and that comment got her laughed off the internet, well as the saying goes, "who's laughing now?"

IMO a lot of fashion is about the new girl and Chanel was past her new girl peak, so in that respect she was declining. A big factor in that decline, in addition to no longer being the fresh face, is economics - some of these girls book 60-70 shows because their rate is cheaper than a more experienced model. No she was not headed towards Freja, Sasha and Anja status, Karlie is the chosen one from her class, but I believe that if VS had not come along she still had a few seasons left on the high fashion landscape, specifically runways and editorials. My guess is that she was not going to get the high fashion campaigns but we all know what that's about and there is no need to go there, but she would have gotten catalog and lookbook work, mass market campaigns for brands like H&M and Gap (which pay very well) and campaigns for well regarded labels like Rosa Cha. So high fashion did not leave Chanel and hopefully Chanel is not leaving high fashion, but it looks like she has left the grind aspect of high fashion of a whole lotta girls trying to get that one spot in a show or those few pages in a magazine.

 

[agee]

once a model does VS they are "tainted" and their HF stock declines.

Have you seen this month's cover of Vogue Italia? Did Gisele have to change her name to score all the campaigns that she got left VS? Did Abbey Lee book fewer runway shows, campaigns and covers after she shook her *** with the Black-Eyed Peas?

ETA:
I don't mean to sound harsh and I know people say this, both insiders and those follow fashion, but I don't think its true. I have asked for the names of these "shunned" or "tainted" models and I have yet to get a name. A couple of other examples are VS runway and catalog models are Natasha Poly, Lara Stone and Raquel Zimmermann and Natasha still does appear in the catalog.

The worst that I can see happening is a model who may have counted her chickens before they hatched and thought she was going to become an angel and she may have taken herself out of the game too soon, and even this is me speculating, I cannot think of an actual name to go with this theory. But this is not someone getting stigmatized over VS, this is poor decision making on the part of the model and her agent.

 

[VogueElle Addict]

Hasn't she showcard?

 

[J'ador-DioR]

ETA:
I don't mean to sound harsh and I know people say this, both insiders and those follow fashion, but I don't think its true. I have asked for the names of these "shunned" or "tainted" models and I have yet to get a name. A couple of other examples are VS runway and catalog models are Natasha Poly, Lara Stone and Raquel Zimmermann and Natasha still does appear in the catalog.

The worst that I can see happening is a model who may have counted her chickens before they hatched and thought she was going to become an angel and she may have taken herself out of the game too soon, and even this is me speculating, I cannot think of an actual name to go with this theory. But this is not someone getting stigmatized over VS, this is poor decision making on the part of the model and her agent.

Appearing in the catalog, walking the show or being in one of their print campaigns and doing in store appearances, TV commercials, signings, doing photo calls and live TV interviews representing a mainstream brand are 2 very different things.

The HF industry love a certain level of anonymity and distances itself from celebrity. Gisele is Gisele....she is, was and always will be a big deal. She semi retired from HF at the height of her popularity in order to make more money. Chanel hasn't been getting much work editorially, i have been following her since 2006 and it has never been this bad., she only walked 17 shows last season and didn't show up at couture. I love her but it was pretty clear that she was starting to fade.

I think she's had a great run so far and i'm not saying she'll never be doing a show again or appaear in US Vogue but the VS gig is going to put people off. The HF crowd never thought of touching Adriana, Ale, Ana BB and others before Tisci cast Adriana and Prada did their thing last season. Pretty soon, things will go back to normal again.

 

[LabelWhore4]

^IMO she let herself fade from that spectrum of the industry. She could go on walking tons of runway for years as long as she keeps this body and her clout. But money is a big factor and Chanel actually wanted this to happen. We'll see but I don't really think the VS thing has put off the designers and mags that she has relationships with. Every model has transitionary periods and she's on to the next phase of her lucrative career.

 

[agee]

Appearing in the catalog, walking the show or being in one of their print campaigns and doing in store appearances, TV commercials, signings, doing photo calls and live TV interviews representing a mainstream brand are 2 very different things.

The HF industry love a certain level of anonymity and distances itself from celebrity. Gisele is Gisele....she is, was and always will be a big deal. She semi retired from HF at the height of her popularity in order to make more money. Chanel hasn't been getting much work editorially, i have been following her since 2006 and it has never been this bad., she only walked 17 shows last season and didn't show up at couture. I love her but it was pretty clear that she was starting to fade.

I think she's had a great run so far and i'm not saying she'll never be doing a show again or appaear in US Vogue but the VS gig is going to put people off. The HF crowd never thought of touching Adriana, Ale, Ana BB and others before Tisci cast Adriana and Prada did their thing last season. Pretty soon, things will go back to normal again.

There are two different questions here, one is about Chanel and her career and the other is whether or not an affiliation with VS hurts a model's HF career. Regarding Chanel's career, I agree that there was a fade element, but I think it is the natural fade that occurs when you are not the fresh face and the availability of models with the same body at a cheaper rate - Karlie, Constance, Eniko and Kasia's showcounts declined too. I think that Chanel may have also been hit by what is a kinda sorta mixed blessing in the overall industry and that is the breakdown in the "one chosen black girl" rule, although I am still debating with myself on that. The FW 2010 shows came after Chanel signed the VS contract and I think a big part may be that she did not hustle as much and I think that is also why she did not show up at couture, I am not overly perturbed by her FW 2010 RTW "laziness," but I think she should have done couture - moreso than designers, she needs to stay on radar screens of the top editors and photographers and walking shows does that.

I guess the fading thing is a matter of degrees, but I just don't see VS as being Plan B or the back up plan, if anything it was THE plan (either VS or something else commercial like Maybelline, L'Oreal or CoverGirl). IIRC, at this time last year Chanel had not done anything with VS, not even Pink, right(?), and then we all woke up one day in October or November to reports that she had been made an angel (which was corrected to her signing a contract), I suspect that the plan probably materialized earlier and even bigger than expected. Let's face it, we are talking Ford Models (now Supreme) and smiley-happy Chanel Iman, she was probably on the commercial path from day one but because her bony *** stayed bony, her high fashion career took off further and faster than expected - weren't Chanel and Lakshmi Ford's only MDC ranked models for a long time?

I'll post later about the other question regarding whether or not an affiliation with VS hurt a model's HF career?

I think this is gonna lead to a dead end. VS isn't known for being loyal to their newer models. Where are Emanuela and Lindsay nowadays? Where is Ale in VS? Emanuela and Lindsay used to be everywhere at VS. But when VS decide that there is gonna be a better black model to fill Chanel's spot, they will let her go just like Selita and she won't have HF to go back to.

Yeah but designers, editors and photographers are not loyal to new models either, so which one offers the bigger bang for the buck? Financially, it's VS hands down. If VS lets Chanel go in say two to three years, I don't know that Chanel will not have high fashion to go back to, and even if that's the case, was she going to be at her high fashion expiration point anyway, but with a much smaller bank account than her VS detour bank account. As mentioned previously, I do think that will be a smart move on her and her agents' part to keep herself in the loop with photographers and editors and I will throw in to be a special request model for runway shows.

 

[Gabriel29]

I agree that Chanel probably wants to do VS and good for her that she's getting it done.

But personally, I don't want to see her do VS. I just can't get over how odd she looks next to these sexy, exotic bombshells like Adriana, Candice, Doutzen, Emanuela. Yes she is pretty, but she lacks that sex appeal that all the other VS models have. For me it's just all so wrong. What is Ed Razek thinking? You'd think VS would want women who have ideal lingerie bodies to represent their brand. I just find her to look like a teenager, and it just annoys the crap out of me that she gets to join the likes of Adriana and Doutzen. I can't think of one (straight) guy who would find Chanel remotely sexy.

 

[yogini108]

wow i haven't been in here for a while and had to read a lot to catch up on whats going on with her! Kinda surprised about her taking the VS path, but kind of..not.

 

[Faith Akiyama]

I think the showcard discussion may be moot now - she's headed to IMG

 

[ax80]

Is it confirmed?

I really wouldn't be surprised given the amount of VS girls with IMG. Besides, a girl with her media and fashion presence needs a big agency to take care of her. I hope she goes for them worldwide.

 

[Faith Akiyama]

^The rumors have been abound for a while now, but the most recent development is a yes (To the switch).