Go Figure

Beauty comes in all forms.  Surfing the net, this author chanced upon the recent June cover of Vogue Italia and was inspired to make this arresting photo an entry.  In recent years, there were a lot of full figured women who graced the editorials of top fashion glossies to address the growing problem of anorexia in the modeling industry.  The body beautiful made a comeback in the last two years as fresh face Lara Stone was almost on every magazine cover from A-Z welcoming a change from the more than a decade fascination of thin is in.  Today, from bombshell to voluptuous, models Tara Lynn, Candice Huffine & Robyn Lawley appear arrestingly seductive on the covetable Vogue Italia photographed by Steven Meisel and styled by Edward Enningful.  This is no illusion or revolt against fashion but a reality that needs to be embraced and accepted as a fact of life.  If you look into art and history, the concept of beauty back then was far from the waif or slim figured-think Rubenesque( in reference to the painter Peter Paul Rubens or plump in an attractive way) or nowadays called Big Beautiful Women (or Big Beautiful Woman-BBW).  They were idolized and symbolized health, wealth and prosperity.  Italian Vogue has always been known as one of the leading Vogues (aside from the French) in revolutionizing fashion via the print medium in terms of editorial work, photography, styling, makeup and design.  On a global scale, the radical cover signals a positive change of perception of beauty--that beauty is unbounded and is a world of infinite possibilities.  It's all a matter of how we perceive things to be and not dictated by any norm, culture or society-after all, as the cliche goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Pinoy Ubermodel

Does the name Paolo Roldan sound familiar?  No he's not a new showbiz personality in the local entertainment scene, nor is he an up and coming singer?  If you still haven't guessed it right, the 26 year old Filipino-Canadian is a ubermodel hopeful on his way to international stardom.   The former fashion buyer of Nomad (a well-known menswear boutique located in Toronto) was discovered by chance a year and half ago in New York by Boss Models New York founder and owner David Bossman. But it was last years Givenchy campaign that catapulted this newcomer into stellar status.  The Givenchy muse immediately became an international sensation after going completely naked for Vogue Paris in June 2010 shot by renowned photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.  His Pan-Pacific looks, lean physique and towering 6'2 height is the perfect mold for the next global Asian supermodel.  Well, be seeing more of Paolo Roldan in the coming season as he takes part in the upcoming Spring-Summer 2012 Menswear runway shows and hopefully the face of designer ad campaigns.  In my previous entry, making the country proud is another Filipino who recently won the highly coveted Ford Supermodel of the World 2011 competition--Danica Magpantay.  With these two models in mind, Filipinos once again take the spotlight as one of the headlines in the global fashion industry. Both Paolo Roldan and Danica Magpantay are the epitome of today's modern Pinoy ubermodel.    

Major Paris'(agency)  Spring Summer 2012 Model Lineup(photo from Fashionisto.com)

Johannes Faktotum Fall 2011 Lookbook.

GQ Germany 2011.

Schon Magazine 2011.

i-d magazine 2011.

The Dirty Durty Diary.

Details Magazine 2011.

studswar Spring 2011 Lookbook.

Numero Homme China.

The Block Magazine.

VMan.

Vogue China.

The making of the Givenchy man.

The campaign that started it all.

Paolo Roldan for Givenchy.

Ford Supermodel of the World 2011 Winner Danica Magpantay.