An ‘Ugly Betty’ Musical Is in the Works!And they hope to use the original TV cast. Also Noémie Lenoir landed the cover of French ‘Vogue,’ and we figured out who Naomi Campbell was with in Cannes.
Gisele Is the Highest-Paid Model’Forbes’ annual list of the world’s highest-paid models is out. Gisele nabbed the number one spot, earning $35 million over the past 12 months.
body issues
Despite Impending French Ban, Fashion Industry Holds Fast to Thin IdealsOn Tuesday in Paris, a French bill that would imprison for up to three years and fine for up to $70,000 anyone who “incited excessive thinness” was passed by the National Assembly; the bill now just needs approval from the French senate to become law.
body issues
Those Juice Fasts Are Not Exactly HealthyThese body-cleansing, weight-eliminating cure-alls are all the rage, but you won’t believe what one writer wound up with after she juice fasted for ten days.
three is a trend
Magazines Take a Walk on the Wild SideThis month, French ‘Vogue’, Italian ‘Vogue’, ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ all get in touch with their wild sides, featuring a few furry friends.
Philippe Starck Pans the New Royalton LobbyPhilippe Starck doesn’t like the $17.5 million redesign to the Royalton Hotel, which he once designed. Heatherette isn’t having a show this Fashion Week, and Richie Rich may be out for good! Russian model Natalia Vodianova had what may be her last catwalk during the final Valentino show in Paris and plans to take the designer to Moscow for a week and then to Brazil for Carnivale. Contrary to rumors, Puff “Diddy” Daddy says he is not considering changing his name back to Sean Combs. Paris Hilton and Stavros Niarchos hung out at the Beatrice Inn. Michael Richards and a blonde girl ate at a vegan restaurant at Columbus Circle. Cindy Adams claims that the writers’ strike will be over in two weeks and that Mayor Bloomberg is 50-50 about whether to run for president. Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner and boyfriend Matt Nye just had twins via surrogate parent. New York Times writer Alex Kuczynski will have a baby via surrogate mother in April.
intel
Natalia Vodianova’s Hips Do LieSo as you’ve probably guessed, we’re all in a tizzy getting ready for Fashion Week. We’ve started getting our invitations, we’re assigning photographers, and we’re going through the schedule and castings. As we looked at agency DNA’s list of models who are up for gigs starting next week, we spotted a familiar name: 25-year-old Natalia Vodianova. The beauty from a destitute Russian village turned British aristocrat’s wife is among the lovelies. It got us thinking about how Vodianova never seems to age. After nearly ten years of modeling, she still has the same baby face and baby hips. Like, not the kind that are made for the having of babies (even though she’s popped out three), but ones that a model for babyGap would take one look at and stop breast-feeding for a week out of sheer envy for them. Nothing she can do seems to shake that girlish figure. Vodianova gave birth to son Viktor on September 13, and while she sat out the New York shows in the fall, she hit the Paris runways less than three weeks later. This made us wonder about Vodianova’s other model-cum-mommy powers, so we went back and did the math on her past postpartum runway returns.
NewsFeed
Calling All Web-Surfing Gourmands: Opinionated About Dining Now in the Book
We always wondered why Zagat has a monopoly on restaurant surveys. The same thought seems to have occurred to Steve Plotnicki, the man behind the blog Opinionated About Dining. Don’t be fooled by OAD’s resemblance to the rest of the blogger-with-a-digital-camera food sites. It hosts a very big and very vigorous private forum, whose members will be the backbone of a new book on the top 100 restaurants in America and Europe this March. The OAD members are deep-pocketed diners who eat all over the city, so the book’s core of opinions will be strong.
art candy
Artist Julien Friedler Sinks His Teeth Into PicassoThis year, MoMA, and just about everyone else in this city, commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the completion of Picasso’s masterpiece, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. 2008 is rapidly approaching, but the celebration isn’t over just yet.
Neighborhood Watch
Dona Back and Cheaper Than Ever; Bowery Boys Spend Millions on West VillageBensonhurst: L&B Spumoni Gardens wants to cater your Christmas pizza dinner. [Lost City]
Dumbo: A liquor store is going in at 102 Jay Street next to Bridge Apothecary. [The Real Deal via Dumbo NYC]
Meatpacking District: Pizza Bar has closed just as Pop Burger rises. [Eater]
Midtown East: Dona returns at 206 East 58th Street … and it will be cheaper! [Restaurant Girl]
West Village: Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson have reportedly purchased the Riverview Hotel for $33 million. [Hotel Chatter via Down by the Hipster]
A-Rod Hires Guy Oseary, in Order to Better Entertain UsThere’s a new boss in the house of A-Rod, and sadly it’s not Cynthia Rodriguez. The Yankee third-baseman, who famously just renegotiated a $275 million contract with the Steinbrenners without the help of his longtime agent Scott Boras, has hired talent manager Guy Oseary to help steer his career. “He’s focusing on baseball and needs someone whose interests are aligned,” Oseary told Variety, seeming to imply that he will be A-Rod’s only management. “This is to help him have more control of his image and brand.” Now, we watched 60 Minutes on Saturday and A-Rod definitely said that he would keep Scott Boras onboard (Boras is getting $15 million from the A-Rod’s new contract, even though it was A-Rod’s wife, Cynthia, who coached him through it). “There hasn’t been a lot of talking back and forth” between Boras and A-Rod, the Yankee explained, but it seems like they’re still working together. Which is confusing, considering that Variety says they’re not. But it’s not as confusing as the fact that A-Rod hired Oseary in the first place. Oseary, who co-founded Maverick Records in the eighties, only has entertainment clients like Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, David Blaine, and the show Last Call With Carson Daly. Which we can only guess means that television, music, or magic is somewhere in A-Rod’s near future. We’re hoping for all three.
A-Rod Bats for Oseary’s Team [Variety]
Earlier: Scott Boras Out, Cynthia Rodriguez In?
NewsFeed
Zak Pelaccio’s Chop Suey to Open Next MonthZak Pelaccio has somehow found time to plan a new restaurant, in between taking over Borough Food and Drink from Jeffrey Chodorow, opening a new Fatty Crab uptown, and perfecting a haute Malaysian restaurant in London. Look for a big new Korean-themed restaurant in the Renaissance called Chop Suey to open (says Pelaccio with optimism) in late January. Last summer, the bearded wonder took a trip to Korea, where he fell in love with the marinated beef belly and other meaty delights he plans to implement in his new menu as consulting chef. At this pace, we predict Ditmas Park and Inwood will be only Pelaccio-free neighborhoods in New York. But if they’re lucky, they’ll get restaurants too.
Related: Zak Pelaccio Taking Over Borough Food and Drink From Jeffrey Chodorow
