THE OTHER POINT OF VIEW IN FASHION.

Posts Tagged ‘Gianni Versace’

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THE LAST MEN STANDING by Navo

In Arts on November 18, 2009 at 3:43 am

“People like you and I, though mortal of course like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live… [We] never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.” - Albert Einstein’s letter to Otto Juliusburger

Bassman, Frank, Demarchelier, Weber, & Leibovitz

THE OLDEST 28-YEAR-OLD IN THE WORLD

I still don’t have a Twitter. I joined Facebook earlier this year, after being constantly bombarded by the electronic Facebook invites of my college mates from art school, I finally gave in. Sometimes, updating status, replying to messages, wall tags and photo comments are something I do to keep me company while retouching some of the images I took in Photoshop, in between photo shoots, waiting for my flight, waiting for my luggage, waiting for a friend in a coffee shop, just finished reading a book or done my research for my novel, Facebook somehow sneaked in to my routines, should I be worried? For all my growing readers and followers out there, I appreciate your emails and support, I  attended a worldwide blogger’s 2-day conference over the weekend to upgrade myself and literally everyone (about 200 bloggers, web developers, writers, coders) has a Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, together with their website and other contact details in their business cards or their blogs, I feel prehistoric, the oldest 28-year-old in the world who don’t Twit and a Facebook amateur compared to my niece who have used Facebook and Twitter since birth, now I’m worried.

MR. IRVING PENN 92

My favorite feature in Facebook is the “top five” list of everything you can think of, top five movies, top five sandwiches, top five Britney song, top five Sarah Palin books (although she has only one, hopefully), of course I don’t want to be left out by the other cool kids, so I made a couple of list of my own, like the hit “Top 5 Famous Dead People I Would Like To Invite For Dinner”– James Dean, Charles Darwin, Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler, and Albert Einstein (I’m definitely sure 3 of them are vegetarian and I definitely got a lot of fb comments for that), and after browsing The New York Magazine in LAX, Aug 16, ’09 interview of the famed photographer Annie Leibovitz (59 yrs. old), “Photography is not something you retire from, Photographers live to a very old age and work until the end.” (Lartigue lived to be 92, Steichen 93, and Cartier-Bresson 94.)  “Irving Penn is going to be 92 next month, and he’s still working.” Leibovitz said. I quickly made another “top 5″ last September 13 at 5:53 am (it’s still somewhere on my facebook wall), “The World’s Oldest Living Iconic Photographers” where Mr. Irving Penn topped the list at 92, shortly after a month (October 7),  Ms. Lillian Bassman (92) took Mr. Penn’s spot at the top 5.

FIVE LEGENDARY LIVING LENSMEN

It’s a youth-obsessed industry, a working fashion model’s age brackets from 14 to 21 and less than 1% of them work up to their 40′s (Claudia Schiffer 39, Christy Turlington 40, Naomi Campbell 39, and Kate Moss 35), but great photographers get to last twice or more than any great supermodel’s career in a lifetime which is fascinating and inspiring for a “late twenties” photographer like me, their career’s longevity and their resilience are something that a lot of “top” fashion photographers in their 30s or 40s at the moment can only dream of. It would be interesting to know if any of the five legendary living lensmen and women Twits or have Facebook “top fives” of their own. Two caucasian women, three caucasian men, two immigrants, three american-born, one photojournalist, one portrait photographer, two fashion/celebrity photographers, one fashion/art photographer, three have started with Harper’s Bazaar Magazine, and all based in the east coast, four in new york, one in miami, here are the updated list of “The World’s Oldest Living Iconic Photographers” still working today.

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Lillian Bassman (92)


A painter and an American fashion photographer, born in Brooklyn (1917) to a jewish immigrant parents from Russia (1905).

Bassman’s work as a fashion photographer started at Junior Bazaar (1940s) and Harper’s Bazaar (1950 -1965), by the 70s she abandoned fashion photography to work on her own photo projects, resulting to 40 years of life’s work (films and prints) thrashed, some salvaged hundred images re-appeared and her work was re-appreciated in the 90s. Her photography style is the high contrast, grainy finish, and geometric camera angles of her subjects.

In an industry ruled by “White Men (gay or straight)”**, Bassman is now one of the last two “great women” standing. And that is still an understatement for me.

**a future article you’ll find here in Dangerously Naive.

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Robert Frank (84)

An important American art/photojournalist, born in Zurich, Switzerland (1924) to a wealthy Jewish family.

Mr. Frank emigrated to the United States in 1947 and like Ms. Bassman started as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar. He travelled to South America and Europe after the brief stint with the magazine, and like Ms. Bassman worked on his more personal works, and came back in the 1950′s to NYC for a group exhibition in MOMA and then moved to Paris. His frustrations with the control of the editors over his work colored his fashion magazine experience, nonetheless he moved back to New York, 3 years after the exhibition and worked as a freelance photojournalist and completely abandoning fashion photography altogether.

In 1958, “The Americans” was published, his widely celebrated photographic book cemented his position in the history of American photography.

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Patrick Demarchelier (65)


A French fashion photographer, born in 1943 to a modest family and started as a wedding photographer at the age of seventeen.

Like Mr. Frank, Mr. Demarchelier emigrated to New York (1975), Elle, Marie Claire and 20 Ans Magazine was the first stints he had as a fashion photographer after working as a freelance photographer/ assistants to such greats as Cartier-Bresson. He later worked for Harper’s Bazaar (like Mr. Frank and Ms. Bassman) and Vogue (1992-present). Demarchelier also is behind several blue chip campaigns including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Celine, TAG Heuer, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Lacoste, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, and became a household name after the 2006′s Meryl Streep film The Devil Wears Prada with the lines- “Did Demarchelier confirm?”, and “I have Patrick!”.


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Bruce Weber (63)

An American fashion/celebrity photographer, born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania (1946).

Mr. Weber’s first fashion photography work appeared in GQ magazine in the late 1970′s, shot Bloomingdales catalogs in 1978, Calvin Klein Campaigns in the late 1980s to early 1990s, introducing him to the American households. His photograph of supermalemodel Marcus Schenkenberg nude in the shower, catapulted him to celebrity status. Then later working with fellow celebrities like him, Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, Chet Baker, Chris Isaak, Harry Connick Jr., Jackson Browne and virtually all the stars in the hollywood’s walk of fame, the dead and the living. Today, he is behind the countless ad campaigns such as Calvin Klein, Pirelli, Revlon, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch and unlike Mr. Robert Frank, Mr. Weber embraced the fashion industry and worked with virtually all the top fashion and celebrity magazines existing in the world today.

Mr. Weber’s work are mostly in black and white and homoerotic. (A House is Not a Home and Bear Pond to name a few of his numerous homoerotic nude photobooks).

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Annie Leibovitz (59)

An American portrait photographer, born in Waterbury, Connecticut (1949) to a modern dance instructor mother, and a lieutenant colonel father (US Air Force).

She took her first pictures in the Philippines while studying college, and to be with her family, after her father was stationed there during the Vietnam war. Ms. Leibovitz returned to the US in 1970 and started a career as a staff photogrpaher for Rolling Stone magazine, then in 1973 became its chief photographer (for 10 years) and helped defined the look of the magazine with her celebrity portraits of Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and like Mr. Weber the rest of the names in Hollywood’s walk of fame and virtually every celebrity that are in the headlines today, from President Obama to Miley Cyrus (for Vanity Fair Magazine).

Ms. Leibovitz’s signature style is the close collaboration to her subjects and on her earlier works are the more orange/yellow hue tint to the present work’s blue-ish purple hue. – Navo

Related Entry: http://naiveboy.com/2009/10/08/thank-you-mr-penn/

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ARMED WITH SALIVA: FILMS, BOOKS AND TV SHOWS ABOUT THE FASHION MACHINE by Navo

In my novel on November 6, 2009 at 12:18 am

birdbybirdLIKE A VAMPIRE

 

A writer friend of mine just told me that “I should stop talking about writing and just write…”. Well I am just like a new vampire born into the world with a different set of eyes and I’m excited with my new found senses, though I love my writer friend and respect all her unsolicited advice, I will still talk about writing. I just read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and a paragraph  just really made me realize how to rearrange my daily routines as a photographer to a photographer/writer, quoting Lamott “If you’re a writer, or want to be a writer, this is how you spend your days–listening, observing, storing things away, making your isolation pay off. You take home all you’ve taken in, all that you’ve overheard, and you turn it into GOLD. (or atleast you try.)” I always have stored images through my camera for the past 10 years travelling all over the world, but now I have to develop more senses and listen more, look more, observe more, like a vampire.

 

NAIVE YOUNG MEN

My favorite movies and books has always been filled with dark characters, they fascinate me -vampires, psycho killers, assassins, gangsters, and junkies, because they live most of the time with no rules, Interview with the Vampire, Bourne Identity, Silence of the Lambs, Fight Club, The Godfather are possibly  my most favorite films ever.  In every walks of life there are characters that are out there waiting for writers to tell their stories –a brain surgeon, an architect, a hacker, an australian surfer backpacking, a cowboy from Ohio, a politician, a serial killer, a mother and his son, their neighbor, the prostitutes across the street, the homeless man on the other alley, the pianist living in the loft above the building and the dancers listening to his music and it goes on, their stories have been written hundreds of times in so many different versions and vantage points. If you list the names of movies about prostitutes, gangsters, doctors and serial killers, you will think maybe they are societies favorite characters, we pay to hear their stories.

The story of a naive young man or woman comes to the big city with big hopes of becoming a top model as shown in mainstream films “Zoolander” (2001), “Gia” (1998), “Stardom” (2000), the documentary “Picture Me: A Model’s Diary” (2009), the novel’s “Sex, Love, and Fashion: A Memoir of a Male Model” by Bruce Hulse, “A Model Summer” by Paulina Porizkova, “Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women” by  Michael Gross, TV shows like the recently cancelled CW series “The Beautiful Life” (2009), “America’s Next Top Model” (2003), and “Make me a Supermodel” (2008).

A models

The story of a  naive young man or woman comes to the big city with hopes of becoming a top fashion designer, editor or photographer as shown on the films like “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006), “Bruno” (2009), “How to Lose Friends & Alienate People” (2008), books like “The Devil Wears Prada: A Novel by Lauren Weisberger”, TV shows like “Ugly Betty” (2006), and “Project Runway” (2005).

A artist

The story of that naive young man or woman who had arrived and now showcasing what validates them, like any other stories have some happy endings some don’t, like the films “Coco avant Chanel” (2009), “Rage” (2009), “The Versace Murder” (1998), “Eyes of Laura Mars” (1978), “Prêt-à-Porter” (1994), documentaries like “September Issue” (2009), “Fashion Victim: The Killing of Gianni Versace” (2001), “Valentino: The Last Emperor” (2009), “Unzipped” (1995), and books like “Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History” by Maureen Orth.

A icons

 

NO OSCAR, PULITZER, OR NOBEL FOR FASHION

All the titles featured here are basically most of the information available out there as a general opinion that an outsider of the fashion world could access, collectively the public wants to see the bright and bubbly side of this industry, TV’s “Project Runway”, the hit comedy “Zoolander”, Lauren Weisberger’s “The Devil Wears Prada: A Novel”, tops for TV, Film and Books talking about the characters in a fashion house. Why haven’t any of the title’s mention here were critically honored and respected like the great movies about gangsters and lunatics? Why there are only few respectable books, films and tv shows out there that has more valid and real point of view about the fashion Industry, not merely caricatures. Something that will win the Oscars like Silence of the Lambs (film about serial killers) and the Godfather (film about criminals) or even a Nobel Prize.

 

ARMED WITH SALIVA

The film “Zoolander”,  the novel “The Devil Wears Prada”, and “Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women” by  Michael Grbeautiful_life_tbl_ver2oss are the closest honest stories about this industry that I have read and seen, they are respectable in their own rights though they can only be achieved through comedy. Actor/ Producer Ashton Kutcher was almost close with his cancelled CW drama “The Beautiful Life”, with a better writer (his writers need to research more since most model booker/agents are overweight and balding) and actors this could’ve been a more watchable show. The major characters that has been told in relatively few stories about the fashion house are models armed with their good genetics, editors, fashion designers, photographers armed with their education, artistry and talents, the model agent as we see in “The Beautiful Life” episodes is armed with his “saliva”, a side of this industry that we haven’t seen, and what my new novel is all about. The “model booker/agent” is a word you wont find in a webster dictionary, but their “specific skill set” have been around since Cleopatra’s first trick. The two oldest profession in the history of man is prostitution and  politics, welcome to a world where everyone just want to sell something -a novel about the 9 to 5 business of selling people titled “NAIVE”. Read an excerpt of the novel below…


“NAIVE” (Excerpt) 1st draft CHAPTER IV – “MASTERS and PUPPIES”

I love my pet chihuahua, Queen Alexander, he’s a well-trained dog. I always bring him at work…

…People can’t help but wonder how I can be so successful in a career that you don’t learn in Harvard or even a small town summer school. One of those days while browsing a magazine and waiting for my meat-head personal trainer at the gym, After reading the article “Get Fit Slowly » Yep, I’m Obese” I bumped into an article called “How to discipline a pet, Training a puppy may seem easy. In reality, it requires focus, consistency, and patience” After reading the damn article it dawned on me, If you replace the words “puppies/doggies/pets” with models, “masters/owners” with bookers, “punishment” with sending them to less castings or ignoring them for a period of time, “maximum punishment” kicking them out of the agency or blacklisting their ass, “rewards” with good castings and more “quality time“. Thats one of the secrets to my success. But will I tell that to anybody, of course not! Because the moment my pet becomes a bankable “supermodel”, somehow we switch roles.

HOW TO DISCIPLINE A PET.
(Training a puppy may seem easy. In reality, it requires focus, consistency, and patience. Here are a few tips for disciplining a pet that may prove useful.)

If you’ve never trained a puppy
before, you’re in for a treat. With those bright dark eyes on you and a tail wagging like mad, your new little pet will be a lot of fun to work with. And how gratifying when it learns to obey your commands and respect authority. Disciplining your puppy becomes a matter of course with results that both animal and human can expect.

But the other side of the discipline coin is the hard work that will be needed to achieve these results. Puppies, like children, require consistency. You can’t train them one day and ignore them the next. You have to do it on a regular basis. Here are some guidelines to get you started down the road to an obedient pet with a satisfied master:

1. Set up a training schedule. Start while your puppy is still young, perhaps six to eight weeks old. Aim for fifteen minutes twice a day, about the same time each day, like after the morning and evening feedings.

2. Choose a disciplinary method and stay with it. Using a newspaper to tap your puppy’s nose when he makes a mistake is effective; so is using a water bottle to spray him. Some owners opt for a simple verbal response:
“No!” “Stop!” “Heel!” These are followed by pushing the puppy out of the offensive posture, such as squatting to urinate or chewing on a sock. Be consistent with whatever you choose.

3. Teach the puppy one thing at a time. Be sure that trick or habit is completely mastered before starting another one. It may take several weeks before the puppy knows what is expected and delivers the desired behavior faithfully.

4. Discipline through rewards, too. Discipline does not mean only punishment. Discipline means training that leads to a desired outcome. When your puppy performs as expected, reward him with words of praise:

“Good boy!”

“Good puppy!”

You may want to toss him a doggy snack as well. Be sure to do this the first several times your puppy does what you tell him, and intermittently thereafter. Positive reinforcement is an effective way to discipline a pet.

5. Have one family member be responsible for training and discipline. If more than one person gets involved, your puppy may become confused. Still young yet, a puppy may not be able to discern differing voice intonations or even some word pronunciations if children are giving commands. Stick with one person, preferably an adult, who can get the animal conditioned and serve as the primary disciplinarian until your pet is well trained.

Getting a puppy can be fun for everyone. But training him requires serious effort.
Ongoing discipline means a concerted commitment by at least one adult member of the family. Keep these guidelines in mind before getting a puppy, because if you can’t follow through, you may end up with a sad puppy and unhappy owners.

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FILIPINO NEWSMAKERS IN WORLD FASHION HISTORY by Navo

In Fashion on October 13, 2009 at 9:16 am

King Philip II Lope Navo

16th century King Philip II of Spain is a significant historical figure for me, although I enjoyed more of Cate Blanchett’s 1998 “Elizabeth” than the 2007 sequel “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”, I’m  amused to watch one of my favorite actor Jordi Mollà on the latter playing the part of the king where my country of birth was named in his honour.

With the holy water, I got baptized into Christianity, my spanish name Navo, my mother Elvira and my father Cesar, both names of spanish origins, unlike me, the Philippines has more name changing than a witness on a protection program, the ancient Greeks called the archipelago of 7,107 islands “Maniolas”, Chinese traders named it “Ma-yi”, which means “Land of Gold”, the Portuguese born-Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan baptized it “Archipelago of St. Lazarus”,  few years after and another explorer of mother Spain Ruy López de Villalobos renamed the colony “Felipinas” in honor of Prince Felipe (later crowned as King Philip II), later evolved to “Filipinas”, the Americans called it “The Philippine Islands” and at present time “Republic of the Philippines”.

Filipino Celebrity Lope Navo

Most people familiar with my work are surprise I’m not a “60 yr old overweight blond caucasian dude” the first time they meet me, another creative or a model, or someone I bump into a line for my venti iced caramel macchiato in starbucks, the top inquiry is, “where is that accent from?” Il’d reply-“Philippines”, they’ll say- “Oh, Manny Pacquiao“, suddenly it hit me, the modern world has renamed the island of my ancestors “Republic of PACMAN”. The ancient Greeks will see the “Maniolas” renamed after the gladiator PACMAN, as America “the United States of Britney Spears” to the middle east, as far as I remember when I was living there. But this is not about Filipino gladiators in the world history of Sports, but the Filipinos who made a name and headlines in the world of Fashion.

It’s fascinating and sometimes appalling to read or watch the news to know that a visionary magazine editor, a notable fashion designer, an iconic first lady, a groundbreaking model, and a controversial Versace murderer has altered and continue changing the course of the world’s fashion history as we speak. Quoting the author Hodding Carter “There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots, the other is wings.”

Stephen Gan Lope Navo

Stephen Gan

Creative director at Harper’s Bazaar, co-founder of Visionaire, editor-in-chief of V Magazine and Vman magazine.

Born (1966) and raised in the Philippines, arrived in New York City when he was 18, immediately becoming a prominent NYC club kid Gan studied at Parsons School of Design and began his career as a photographer. In 1986—while he was still a student—legendary Times lensman Bill Cunningham shot a photo of Gan on the street in SoHo, took him for coffee and a cookie, and gave him a quarter to call Annie Flanders, the soon-to-be editor of Details. Gan’s meeting with Cunningham proved fortuitous: Flanders later offered him the position of fashion editor at Details. After the magazine was sold to Condé Nast and Gan was kicked to the curb, he used $7,000 of his severance pay to print 1,000 copies of Visionaire with co-founders James Kaliardos and Cecilia Dean.

In 1999, he launched V Magazine, an offshoot of Visionaire focusing on young art, fashion, and culture. His day job, though, is at Harper’s Bazaar, where he was named creative director in 2001, one of Glenda Bailey’s first hires as editor-in-chief. Gan is also director of Dream Project, a creative powerhouse, with advertising clients such as Calvin Klein, Dior, Fendi, Shiseido, Olay Colour Europe, Tommy Hilfiger, D&G and Missoni.

Monique Lhuillier Lope Navo

Monique Lhuillier

Born (1971) and raised in Cebu, Philippines, fashion designer based in the United States. She’s the daughter of Michel Lhuiller, a successful businessman of mixed French Filipino descent, and Amparito Llamas, a society figure & former model of Spanish-Cebuano Filipino descent. Lhuillier’s family is prominent in Philippine society. Lhuillier demonstrated good taste and great imagination at an early age. At 15, she was an outstanding student in Lausanne, Switzerland and hoped to become successful in the fashion industry. Her parents sent her to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), where she met the man she married, Tom Bugbee. Lhuillier and Bugbee, a young, dynamic husband and wife team, founded their company in 1996 and launched their first bridal collection. The line was extremely well-received by fashion-savvy brides, editors, and celebrities.

The breakthrough came after Monique designed the gowns for her wedding entourage. These captured the fancy of couture circles. Having had a difficult time finding her own gown, Lhuillier, a 23-year-old newlywed at the time, decided to begin sketching her own line of dresses. She made the news with two high-profile celebrity weddings in a row. She designed Christine Baumgartner‘s wedding dress for her Fall, 2004 wedding to Kevin Costner shortly after designing both of Britney Spears‘s dresses for her wedding to Kevin Federline. She’s also designed the wedding gown of US former Vice President and former Second Lady Al and Tipper Gore’s youngest daughter, Sarah G. Lee, for her marriage to Bill Lee, and also Heidi Montag‘s wedding dress to Spencer Pratt. Also, one of her gowns is used by Hilary Duff when she plays Sam in A Cinderella Story. Subsequently Lhuillier added evening wear to her line, and several of her efforts showed up on red carpets before awards shows. For the Fall, 2007 season she branched off into more typical runway collections. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monique_Lhuillier

Ana Bayle Lope Navo

Anna Bayle

Born (1959) and raised in the Philippines, a Filipina model who achieved success in the late 1970s and 1980s. She became one of the highest paid models of her time.

Bayle worked for numerous New York designers and became a design consultant to some established fashion houses. She did national and international campaigns for fashion houses and major department stores, as well as calendars for Elite Modeling Agency and Shiseido Cosmetics. She was featured in numerous fashion books, such as Mugler, Chanel, Scaasi, Valentino, Versace, YSL, Dior, Fashion Illustrations by Antonio, etc. Bayle was photographed by fashion photographers including Helmut Newton, Norman Parkinson, Sante D’ Orazio, Peter Beard, David Seidner, Olivero Toscani, Arthur Elgort, Patrick Demarchelier, Peter Lindbergh, Skrebneski, Alex Chatelain and Paolo Roversi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Bayle

Andrew Cunanan Lope Navo

Andrew Cunanan (1969 – 1997)

An American spree killer who murdered at least five people, including fashion designer Gianni Versace, during a three-month period in 1997, ending with Cunanan’s suicide, at age 27. On June 12, 1997, Cunanan became the 449th fugitive to be listed by the FBI on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Cunanan was born in National City, California, the youngest of four children to Modesto Cunanan and Mary Anne Shilacci.

In 1981, his father enrolled him in The Bishop’s School in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California. At school, Cunanan was remembered as being bright and very talkative, testing with an I.Q. of 147, but he was often bullied. As a teenager, he developed a reputation as a prolific liar, given to telling fantastic tales about his family and personal life; he was also adept at changing his appearance according to what he felt was most attractive at a given moment. After graduating from high school in 1987, he became a student at University of California, San Diego, where he majored in American history.
 After graduating from UCSD, he settled in the Castro District of San Francisco. There, he frequented high-class gay bars and prostituted himself to wealthy, older men. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cunanan

“Still, there was a lot of surface masquerade going on. There was a lot of Andrew Cunanan that Andrew Cunanan did not like. He began to, using author Clarkson’s word, “reinvent” himself almost as a cause celebre. Glamour became the keyword; he wanted to be glamorous. Firstly, he did not like being Filipino, so he suddenly became Latino and acted out the part with the verve of an Antonio Banderas. At the bars he was known as either Andrew DaSilva or David Morales. A chameleon, he changed faces and figures with a pair of stylish glasses or a trim of his sideburns, or through the transformation from a suited Clark Kent to a T-shirt wearing Superman. Even though he was Personality A on Friday night, he could be Personality B at the same spot on Saturday and get away with it. Those who spent hours with him at the bar one night would not recognize him the next.” http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/cunanan/index_1.html

Imelda Marcos Lope Navo copy

Imelda Marcos

The widow of former President Ferdinand Marcos, and is herself an influential political figure in the Philippines. Imelda was born on July 2, 1929 in Manila. Her own branch of the family was not political. Her father was a scholarly man more interested in music and culture than in public life. Her mother, Remedios Trinidad, a dressmaker who grew up in an orphanage in Manila, said to have been an illegitimate offspring of a friar.

Marcos’s extravagant lifestyle reportedly included five-million-dollar shopping tours in New York, Rome and Copenhagen in 1983, and sending a plane to pick up Australian white sand for a new beach resort. She purchased a number of properties in Manhattan in the 1980s, including the $51-million Crown Building and the $60-million Herald Centre; she declined to purchase the Empire State Building for $750m as she considered it “too ostentatious.” Her New York real estate was later seized and sold, along with much of her jewels and most of her 175 piece art collection, which included works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Canaletto.

After the Marcos family fled Malacañang Palace, Marcos was found to have left behind 15 mink coats, 508 gowns, 1000 handbags and 3000 pairs of shoes. In February 2006, Marcos insisted that her husband acquired his wealth legitimately as a gold trader. By the late 1950s, she claimed, he had amassed a personal fortune of 7,500 tons of gold, and after gold prices climbed in the 1970s, the Marcos family was worth about $35 billion. However, the Bureau of Internal Revenue has no record of the Marcos family declaring or paying taxes on these assets, and the source of their wealth remains open to investigation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imelda_Marcos

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THE TEN: MALE BEAUTIES OF ALL TIME by Navo

In Top Ten on October 8, 2009 at 5:52 pm

10 male beauties Lope Navo Travelling the world in the 90′s, I saw the great influence of American Pop Culture wherever I go, Tom Cruise’s 1986 TOP GUN poster stapled on a barber shop in Boystown, Pattaya-Thailand, Brad Pitt’s 1994 Legends of the Fall poster in a “mostly censored” movie rentals in Al Khobar-Saudi Arabia, Leonardo Dicaprio’s life-size cardboard cutout in the streets of Lan Kwai Fong-Hong Kong, 90’s Jason Priestley and Luke Perry of  90210 all over the notebook covers of teenage girls (and boys) in my highschool in Manila, I have to confess I bought my first Tiger Beat with River Phoenix cover to wrap my textbook for my drudging calculus class.

James Dean Lope NavoJames Dean
(February 1931 – September 1955)

In “a  fun experiment” by Irina Aleksander on her article “The New Male Beauty” (June 23, 2009) for The New York Observer. She suggested that the latest “It boys”sort of look alike– High School Musical’s Zac Efron, Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford, Star Trek’s Chris Pine, Hairspray’s James Marsden, Fantastic Four’s Chris Evans and the list goes on, and she calls it the NEW MALE BEAUTY: those wide-set eyes, the narrow nose that flares up at the tip just so, the childish puffy cheeks and the not-too-rugged jaw lines, topped with carefully placed strands of layered hair. (http://www.observer.com/2009/style/new-male-beauty)

Although I agree with her that this twenty-something James Dean doppelgänger’s has been dominating the box office and prime time tv this decade, whats new? Since James Dean starred in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), he’s reincarnation’s in the “Male Beauties” of the 60’s (Warren Beatty), 80’s (Tom Cruise), 90’s (Leonardo Dicaprio) has always been prominent. The 2000’s Young Hollywood cannot deny that “another swoopy-haired, pretty-faced actor dominating the box office” has started in the 50’s. Although I was born in the 80’s and Tom Cruise was the king, I acknowledge that on my list of top 10 Male beauties of all time, it’s a not a Mr. Pattinson or a Mr. Efron topping my list- its the original, Mr. Dean.

River Phoenix Lope Navo

River Phoenix
(August 1970 – October 1993)

The American film actor who starred in Gus Van Sant’s 1991 Semi-documentary footage of Seattle street hustling “My Own Private Idaho” is one of the reason I fell in love with american filmmaking, not only its sexiest Homosexual road movie ever made, its casted perfectly with beautiful talented stars all at the top of their respective games. The film’s success solidified Phoenix’s image as an edgy actor with leading man potential, without even trying, he is the most authentic reincarnation of James Dean’s beauty and talent in the 90’s.

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Brad Pitt
(December 1963)

Yes, it’s not a surprise Mr. Pitt’s in the list, hailed as one of the world’s most sexiest men over and over in some top 10 list all over the world. But I can’t help but put him in this one, because am only human. Most of my favorite movies of all time are starred by Brad Pitt, and three of the sexiest and most beautiful characters that the silver screen ever produced he had played – J.D., the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis’s character in the 1991 road movie “Thelma & Louise”, as Louis de Pointe du Lac in “Interview with the Vampire” (1994) – the most referenced vampire of this decades’ teen vampires and Tristan Ludlow in the 1994 drama “Legends of the Fall”, how can I resist?

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Johnny Depp
(June 1963)

There is something so mysterious about this American actor that I find so mesmerizing and beautiful, after 50 films and running, from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” to “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” to “Pirates of the Caribbean”, he just makes me ask for more.

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Joe Dallesandro
(December 1948)

Aesthetically speaking if the Greek philosophers will have a perfect mold for the male beauty, it will be “Little Joe”s face. Thanks to Andy Warhol, the 70’s underground films will always have their nude James Dean. Although he never become a mainstream film star like Mr. Dean, Mr. Phoenix, Mr. Depp and Mr. Pitt –Mr. Dallesandro is a sex symbol of the 20th century in his own right, and an iconic beauty on my list. Like Mr. Phoenix he starred as as a beautiful teenage street hustler in the 1970’s film Flesh and hailed as one of the 10 most beautiful men Scavullo had ever photographed. As a photographer how can i disagree?

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Gabriel Aubry
(January 1976)

“Quick, name one male model.” asked by Lauren Streib on her article “The World’s Most Successful Male Models” (May, 07 2008) for Forbes Magazine. Gabriel Aubry, Mark Fisher, Marlon Teixeira, Jon Kortajarena, and Greg Knudson and yes, Fabio doesn’t count. In my personal list of Top 10 Male Beauties of all time, it only make sense that half of them are models and three out of five are signed with Wilhelmina Models in New York City. All five of them have the movie star good looks minus the Zoolander ego that plagued most male models this decade.

Signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, the only male model to ever appear on the cover of Uomo Vogue while appearing in 4 different campaigns at the same time, in the same magazine. Aubry is a Canadian male model, that has been the face (and body) of blue chip clients like Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Valentino, achieved supermodel status after modeling for Hugo Boss.

Mark Fisher Lope NavoMark Fisher
(January 1976)

One source of male beauties for me back in college are the men’s fashion magazines, I have converted my room in a mini-magazine library and nobody can avoid all the muses for more than four decades of the legendary photographer Bruce Weber, Mark Fisher is my favorite. Mr. Fisher is an American model best known for his campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, Polo, Versace and Ralph Lauren. In my book he is one of the original male models that carries the James Dean charm without even knowing it.
Fisher was born in Detroit, but grew up in Atlanta and considers himself a little boy from the South.

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Marlon Teixeira
(September 1993)

Signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Teixeira appeared on Dior Homme Campaign, the provocative Diesel Ad shot by Terry Richardson, the face of the 2009 Christian Dior Summer/Spring collection to name a few. The brazilian beauty is half Portuguese and has Indian and Japanese origins and at the very young age and early of his career he is becoming one of the top working male model now.

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Jon Kortajarena
(May 1985)

Those chiseled cheekbones, full pout and sexy stare has placed Spanish male model on my top 10 male beauties, signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Kortajarena has been the face of Just Cavalli, Tom Ford, Bally, Etro, Trussardi and now on his film debut on the upcoming directorial debut of designer TOM FORD “A Single Man” (2009) with Colin Firth, and Julianne Moore.

Greg Knudson Lope NavoGreg Knudson
(November 1978)

Whenever people ask me who’s my favorite model I ever photographed, this American male model, native of california always come to mind, I never thought I’ll ever meet a real life James Dean in my lifetime, but I did, and his body covered by Oriental tattoos of his gang membership in his teen years, a troubled teen like the characters that James Dean, River Phoenix, Johnny Depp would usually play in their films and his striking resemblance to Brad Pitt is uncanny.

Excerpt from my book Acknowledgement “STARK”: I remember buying my first photo book, Just Between Us by LA photographer Greg Gorman, when I was in Fine Arts college majoring painting. I will never forget that, because I had never before spent so much money on a book; but that day and from this day on I knew it was all worth it. The moment I saw Greg Knudson on the book cover in the display, I considered him the most beautiful person on the planet, and I still feel he is.

When I shot him in LA last year—8 years after I bought the book—Greg told me I might be the last photographer he would ever work with since he is thinking of retiring; he has worked with most of the top photographers in the 1990’s. Now he is gracing my photo book, and I am elated.

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