Models People

One of New York's best-known photo studios said Friday it will open a large branch in Hollywood to take advantage of America's changing tastes in magazine covers and advertising campaigns. Professional models based in New York were the first choice of magazine editors and big advertisers for decades, said Mazdack Razzi, creative director of Milk Studios. Now they demand celebrities. "Celebrities are the new models," said fashion photographer Alexi Lubomirski, who is himself based in New York.

The missing Mercedes-Benz driven by slain swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore was found Wednesday in the parking lot of a West Hollywood Trader Joe's, law enforcement sources said. Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department was notified by an individual who noticed a Mercedes appearing to match the description of Fiore's car about 12:42 p.m. in the parking lot of the grocery store in the 8600 block of Santa Monica Boulevard. "They noticed the car was dusty, dirty, had no license plates and looked out of place," said Whitmore, adding that he could not confirm whether it was Fiore's car. But the sources, who asked not to be identified because of the ongoing investigation, said the vehicle's identification number matched that of Fiore's white 2007 Mercedes CL S550.

The body of Katoucha Niane, one of the first African women to attain international stardom as a fashion model and a vocal opponent of female genital mutilation, was found in the Seine River in Paris, police said Friday. Known simply as Katoucha, the former top model for Yves Saint Laurent and other top designers was found Thursday near the Garigliano bridge, judicial police in Paris said.

Organizers of London Fashion Week said Thursday they would not ban ultra-thin models from the catwalk, but stressed they had asked designers to use only "healthy" people in their shows. The British Fashion Council said barring stick-thin models -- as fashion weeks in Madrid and Milan have done -- "is neither desirable nor enforceable."

Fashion bosses from Paris, Milan, New York and London have agreed to take part in a debate on how to address eating disorders after some countries took measures to ban ultra-skinny models from their catwalks, according to French fashion's governing body. "It is a serious problem to which one cannot be insensitive," the Chambre Syndicale said in a statement Friday. "All the bodies concerned have to participate in terms of information."

Organizers of Britain's Fashion Week refused on Monday to explicitly ban ultra-thin runway models, although event organizers insisted that no size-zero women would be used in this week's shows. The British Fashion Council, a consortium of major fashion retailers and publishers that oversees London's show, formed a task force to devise strategies to promote health and well-being among young women.

Tom Hintnaus was once an elite-level athlete, known throughout the world. A two-time Olympian, the former University of Oregon pole vaulter placed first in his specialty at the U.S. Olympic trials in 1980. And with the face of a matinee idol and the sculpted body of an Adonis, he could stop traffic. But he didn't \o7really\f7 get noticed until he took off his pants.

Gisele Bundchen tops Forbes.com's list of the world's richest models, earning $33 million in the last 12 months. The Brazilian supermodel strutted past the likes of Kate Moss, who came in at No. 2 with $9 million, and Heidi Klum, who placed third on the list with $8 million. Bundchen, 26, parted ways with Victoria's Secret in May and will see her lucrative contract with the lingerie brand expire at the end of the year.

A top model named Chanel Iman? Are you kidding? To steal from Richard Roeper, who once marveled upon a golf newcomer named Tiger Woods, that's like having a baseball star named Slugger Bats. But Chanel Iman is for real. And so is the overnight success story surrounding this 17-year-old sprite from Baldwin Hills, a girl the fashion world is calling the hottest thing to come bouncing out of the L.A. Basin since Tyra Banks.

A report by the British Fashion Council, organizers of London Fashion Week, has stopped short of recommending a ban on ultra-thin models. But the report, published Friday, says fashion models should be 16 or older and should be screened for eating disorders. Ultra-thin models were banned from fashion week runways in Madrid, Spain and Milan, Italy, last year. Organizers in Paris, London and elsewhere have come under pressure to do the same.