Details Magazine Gets a Makeover

by David Lipke

The March issue of Details will wear a new look when it hits newsstands on Feb. 15, including fresh layouts and the introduction of a section focused on health and fitness, called The Body. “It’s not a full redesign; it’s a necessary polish,” explained editor in chief Dan Peres of the 194-page issue — which for the first time has models rather than a celebrity on the cover to emphasize the new focus on fitness.

“We wanted a cover that would really resonate and look a little different than the norm,” said Peres of cover boys Sean O’Pry, Arthur Kulkov and Noah Mills. “Model covers are so rarely done — largely because they’re not a very popular newsstand driver, I’m not blind to that — however I actually believe this will be one of our better selling issues of the year.”

The new Body section is 13 pages and includes stories on a celebrity workout; a requisite 30-days-to-better-abs routine in calendar form (with an online feature that sends weekly schedules to your PDA), and a nutrition article.

“I’m late to the game, admittedly,” said Peres of The Body section, pointedly praising the powerful franchise Men’s Health has built around this zone. “But I think we’ve done it in a way that mirrors the Details lifestyle — it’s refined and polished.”

The Body is overseen by new senior editor Tyler Graham, a veteran of Rodale and O: The Oprah Magazine, who has a book coming out later this year called “The Happiness Diet: How Eating Real Food Will Build a Better Brain.”

The book’s new design elements were overseen by Nathalie Kirsheh, who joined Details this winter as design director, a new position at the title. The title’s Dossier section, which included interviews and short features, has been eliminated.

Details was down 1.4 percent in ad pages last year to 777, but the dip is a big leveling off after the 35.5 percent decline in 2009, according to Media Industry Newsletter figures. Still, the magazine has some heavy lifting to do in order to climb back to prerecession levels, when it sold 1,369 pages in 2007.

“If I’m really honest with you, I’d switched on auto pilot. But I’ve started to drive again and it feels good,” said Peres. Looking ahead, Details will launch a revamped Web site in April and an iPad app in September.

Ridiculous L'Oréal Ad Stars Beyonce, Patrick Dempsey, Jessica Alba, Jane Fonda And Just About Everyone Else

The Future Forward says it can identify Beyoncé, Patrick Dempsey, Jessica Alba, Freida Pinto, Claudia Schiffer, Rachel Weisz, and Jane Fonda in this L’Oréal ad. We also think we see Gerard Butler. But since each person gets about 1.87 seconds of screen time we can’t tell.

I wanna know why they didn’t call me? I AM WORTH IT TOO!!!

Are there just too darn many spokespeople here?

GROVER says - Smell Like A Monster

Sesame Street's parody of the Isaiah Mustafa Old Spice advertisement had become an instant hit on the Internet, proving once again that the children show remain popular with adults as well.

In the Old Spice parody, Sesame Street's Grover tells audience why is it important to smell like a monster and using the word "on" correctly in the show's rip-off at the "Man Your Man Could Smell Like" advertisement.

"Anything is possible when you smell like a monster and know the word on," quips Grover. The Sesame Street parody of the Old Spice advertisement had received more than two-million hits in the Sesame Street channel.

One viewer said, "This goes to show you that it is possible to write children's entertainment that is genuinely clever."

The Cast of Model City Talk Egos and Whether TV Can Help Their Careers

By Text and Photos by Phil Smrek

While Jersey Shore introduced "gym, tanning, laundry" to America's pop culture lexicon, BET's new reality series, Model City, has an offering of its own: "don't get mad, get money."

Chronicling the lives of non-white male models from agency Red NYC, Model City offers an authentic look at the often discouraging professional lives of multicultural men in an industry dominated by women and white men. Only about 3 percent of all jobs for men go to black models and the competition for them is appreciable. Says Red co-owner Neil Mautone, "We're hoping to draw attention to an unheralded segment of the industry and look forward to the day when race and color are irrelevant."

The episodes center around four twenty-somethings: Nelson is a Bronx native discovered while working retail five years ago. He's a consistent money maker who's often late to the ring but always delivers a knock-out punch. His first booking was an international Levi's campaign. Zeric, openly gay, is an Afro-Cuban American hailing from Miami who's paid his dues to become a signed model. His panache is tempered by wisdom rare in youth and beauty. Dating Victoria Secret model Sessilee Lopez is Wendell. With his 2008 Summer Bleu Magazine cover, tearsheets in his portfolio from a Bruce Weber shot solo editorial in L'Uomo Vogue and a Hermes campaign, Wendell's under no disillusion of who he is: America's top ethnic male model. A Pratt Institute graduate, Ibrahim's passion is for his art. The veteran model uses his honed skills to flawlessly execute the creative visions of photographers, stylists and art directors.

I caught up with the fly four at Red's Tribeca headquarters the other night before they headed to Model City's premiere party.

Wendell, Tyson Beckford, who appears in an episode, says success in modeling taught him to be humble. Having a rep on the show as the model with the most swagger, does humility fit into your game?

Wendell: I'm humbled and blessed to be here but on the same token I've worked very hard for everything I've accomplished. If you're a confident person and you come across someone else who's very confident, confidence complements confidence. If you're insecure and you come across someone confident you're going mistake his confidence for arrogance.

Do you think it's better to want to aspire to be model or be discovered?

Zeric: For me, it has been a little bit of both. My passion and my drive led me in the right direction but at the same time opportunities presented themselves. For example, I've had the chance to do other reality shows but when Model City came up I realized it was the perfect fit because it's really a documentary of what my life's been like for the past five years.

As successful models you've gotten plenty of exposure. Why bother being on a reality show?

Nelson: What I envision for my future is acting. I feel that by being camera-friendly on a consistent bases you become immune to it as if it weren't actually in your face. So what better way to train yourself than to have a reality show?

Ibrahim, how has being an artist influenced your work as a model?

Ibrahim: Being exposed to photographers' visions gave me a greater respect for their creativity, which forced me to stop using other people's images as references for my art and to start photographing those images myself. As a model I always ask the photographer "where you want to go with this?". Being able to paint compositions, I can envision what he's describing and give the poses the way he needs to see them."

Model City airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on BET's Centric

High Heels, 1. Model, 0

The down-for-the-count model gets a helping hand at the Vivienne Westwood Fall/Winter 2010/2011 menswear show in Milan. Photo: AFP/ Getty Images

Good news for the girls... It looks like runway tumbles are an equal-opportunity employer.

Just ask this male model at Vivienne Westwood during the menswear fashion shows in Milan. The catwalker hit the floor during the show and had to be helped up by a fellow model. And to really add insult to injury, he had to wear bright orange pants in public. (Side note: Is it just us or is everyone in the front row smirking and smiling? Ice-cold!) Of course, given that the theme for Westwood's Autumn/Winter 2010 show was the Homeless (really!), we wouldn't be surprised if the trip was all part of the act. The madcap designer also sent models down the runway with shopping carts and plastic bags, so we wouldn't put it past her.

It's been a bad week for runway models. This catwalker slipped out of her shoes at Berlin Fashion Week.

High Heels, 1. Model, 0

Model Barbara Meier suffered an embarrassing misstep (literally) as she walked the runway at last week's Lena Hoschek A/W 2010 show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin, accidentally losing one of her high-heeled pumps mid-catwalk. But what she lacks in sticky feet, Meier -- who won the second season of "Germany's Next Topmodel" -- made up for in poise, calmly stepping out of the wayward shoe and then removing the second pump before completing her runway turn.

On her way back the model picked up the runaway heels and tucked them behind her back like a champ. We'll cop to a whiff of disappointment after failing to see yet another case of runway roadkill, but mostly we're impressed at Meier's ability to keep her cool. Guess she was "sole"-trained? Next time, maybe she'll Krazy Glue those suckers.

Meanwhile, see the terrifying heels that made three models quit the Alexander McQueen show.

There comes a time when a gal's just gotta put her foot down. Or not, as it were.

So when Alexander McQueen called on his Spring/Summer 2010 runway models to slip on his death-defying, 10-inch-tall Armadillo shoes, catwalkers Abbey Lee Kershaw, Natasha Poly and Sasha Pivovarova quit the show in protest, Kershaw tells Frockwriter. Who says models are dumb?

Kershaw can't be blamed for erring on the side of caution. The model stumbled at Rodarte last September, had to sit out part of the Fall/Winter '09 shows due to a knee injury caused by another footwear-related near-miss, and even fainted thanks to a suffocating corset at McQueen's Spring/Summer '09 show last year, according to the source.

Yikes!!! We hope the poor thing has insurance.

But while Kershaw, Poly and Pivovarova may have 86'd McQueen's controversial kicks, style stars like Daphne Guinness and Lady Gaga have braved the monstrous heels sans bloodshed. Heck, Guinness even marveled to Fashionista at the time that the straight-from-the-runway shoes were "quite light." We'll just have to take her word for it. Those beasts give us nightmares. Meanwhile, the Armadillo isn't the only shoe getting snubbed. Find out why Stuart Weitzman is ditching his million-dollar shoe.

However, remember back when in 1994 Naomi Campbell tumbles for us... again it was that sneaky legendary designer Vivienne Westwood.

After the Tabloid- Paparazzi Special Thanks and coverage

Thank you so much for walking the red carpet with me on Saturday January 9, 2010 as I celebrated my first annual 25th birthday and turned 26. Paparazzi was a huge success and I had an amazing time, I hope all my fellow galebirties did as well. I have always wanted to have an event that was fit for a King and Paparazzi was that event, not very many people are escorted into their party by 4 hot male models. I do want to thank all of my sponsors, media partners, and designer for showcasing your designs at the event. Also the kind words of Bry’Nt, Nathan 7 Scott, and Lynne Rene. If you missed Paparazzi you missed the event of year, because the streets are talking baby.

Baby you will be famous,
chase you down until you love me papa- PAPARAZZI



Event Sponsors:
Royalty Media Group, Toonzworld Management, Titanic Hips by Saajidas Entertainment, Shot in the Dark, Black Gay Gossip, The Beautiful Boyz of Pride World Podcast, House Digital Media, The FUTURE, The Skorpion Show, Off the Clock Productions, 3 West Productions, The-TEE, Christopher Street TV, and Dating Dwight