I know a Super Model when I see one. A young Christie Brinkley came bouncing into my studio for her shoot for Frances Denney products. I had seen her on some Glamour covers and I thought she would be perfect for my New York retail client. I was intrigued by the reaction of the studio crew, wanting to know "Who was that?" And when the full page ad ran in the NY Times there was more commotion from photographers calling to find out who she was. She went from ingenue to femme fatale in one day and the client was telling everyone to “call the photographer.” She was on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue in 1979, 1980 and 1981. To read about her astounding longevity in the business you have only to go to Wikipedia.
And see what a busy girl she is now in this interview with charming photos: www.hamptons-magazine.com/HAM_v31I14_082_COVERSTAR.html
Back in the 70’s when I was starting out I was fortunate to have a perfect platform for my work. I was doing full page ads for the NY Times for retail giant, B. Altman & Company. Ruth Brody was the merchandise manager and guiding light of the art department. She could not always come to shoots, so I could interpret the ads any way I liked. And she wanted me to use the best models available, kind of her insurance policy. So, I did not cut corners and chose budding Super Models from Fords, Wilhelmina and Elite Models.
I had a shoot with Patti Hansen, when she was first enthralled with Keith Richards, and she also happened to be doing a movie with a friend of mine, Lisa Dunsheath. It was “They all Laughed” by Peter Bogdonivich. Lisa was the roller blade girl and Patti played the cab driver.
Patti was launched as a Super Model by a traffic-stopping billboard ad in Times Square for Calvin Klein Jeans. She was on her hands and knees featuring, among other things, her great hair. I was happy how she projected in my fragrance ad for designer Oscar de la Renta. This "girl next door” was just as comfy in couture as she was in her "Calvies".
Check out the People article which described her rise to fame: www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20075859,00.html
And see her on My Space: www.myspace.com/keithrichardsforever1983
Kim Alexis came to the studio on a "go see" for a Swimwear trip to Paradise Island. She was wearing baggie silver-metallic sweat pants and it was not immediately evident that she would become a Super Model. The future Sports Illustrated Swimwear girl, who would one day have 6 SI issues to her credit, was too shy to try on swimwear.
When she came back from working in Europe, she had totally blossomed. I paired her with Michel Castellano for a Geoffrey Beene ad for the fragrance "Red" and she pulled out all the stops. Bingo, the Super Model radar went off.
Maybe it was Michel’s charm and joie de vivre. He was also the founder of Castellano's, a restaurant that is both friendly and French, still thriving on 55th Street.
When I asked Michel “What's a quick way to learn French,” his answer was, “Get a French lover.” We all laughed.
Find Kim at: www.kimalexis.com/
Super Model Clotilde, a favorite of designers and under contract to Ralph Lauren for several years, had a "look." I never saw her smile. But she could "say it" with her eyes. And she gave us a quick assessment of this Nina Ricci dress, that she wore for the designer’s fragrance ad.
“No wonder it is so expensive” she said. She noted how strategically the peek-a-boo lace flower had been placed on the bodice. Beside her wit and sophistication, she is known for her role in Eddie Murphy’s “Trading Places” as Dan Acyroyd’s waspy fiancé.
Now she is just an old fashioned girl who likes to sometimes put on a dress ... from her own collection in her shop in Larchmont:
www.larchmontgazette.com/2007/articles/20070524clotilde.html
Along came Cathy Belanger for a Tabu perfume ad shoot -- all decked out with no place to go.
We needed to add some mystery. How about a reaction to the name of the perfume, we thought. TAB-UUUUU. She did ohhhh and uuuuu and ahhhh to add some drama to the scene. The client furnished a clever story to go with the photo for the full page ad.
She was apparently a big hit with other photographers who saw the ad, because we started seeing Kathy all over the magazines using the "uuuuu" word.
Margaret Donohue made an imprompu visit to the studio on a Friday afternoon, as models often did -- but, with a Magnum of Dom Perignon.
She said she wanted to thank me because famed designer, Halston, noticed her in my NY Times ad for Lancome skincare products and swept her away for a round-the-world tour for his design collection. I was touched by the good news and her kind gesture.
Later I found her featured in Helmut Newton's Chanel photos in his book “Gun for Hire” in stunning mirror-image photos. There's that six degrees of separation thing again, that I mentioned in July. Maybe we both liked to think of Margaret as "the mirror girl.”
One thing I learned from working with Super Models is that they can surprise you and make your life a lot easier.
Thank you, Ruth Brody, for all that freedom to be myself on the pages of the Times and the New Yorker.
Find more tasty bits about Super Model history and “The Model as Muse” at fashionologie (navigate by clicking on highlighted areas): http://fashionologie.com/search/Models+get+their+due
And check out the priceless book I am reading right now by Michael Gross, "MODEL, The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women". It goes back to the first catwalk in 1914 and tells why Cindy Crawford is such a good business woman.
You can see more photos of Christie, Patti, Kim and Clotilde from the collections at: http://supermodelsofthe70s-80s.org/ You will recognize the Calvin Klein image photographed by Charles Tracy from Patti's famous billboard. She is on all fours!
Drop by my gallery slideshow at: www.photo.net/photos/Leora
Tip for the day: You may not be a Super Model, but you can be super at something.
See you later, my friends,
Leora
My photos © 2009 Leora Long
