6 posts tagged "Neil Barrett"
Model Slash: Boxer Jake Shortall
Jake Shortall is a model you don’t want to mess with. Before he was discovered at a nightclub earlier this year (which has its downsides: “I didn’t remember him when he called the next day,” he says of the agent who scouted him), Shortall was just an average 18-year-old Liverpudlian whose hobbies included stirring up trouble with his mates, listening to hip hop, and training in Muay Thai boxing. “It’s crazy because when I was 15, I thought I would never leave Liverpool,” he tells Style.com. “But I’ve only been home for one week in the past eight months.” During that time, the six-foot-two redhead has gone from striking, sparring, and kicking to walking top runways including Dior, Lanvin, Trussardi, Neil Barrett, and Kris Van Assche, among others. Shorthall has also racked up an impressive portfolio of editorials and campaigns. Catch him in the Steven Meisel-lensed “Prom Night” series in the April issue of Vogue Italia, on the current cover of Vogue Hommes Japan, and in the new Pringle of Scotland ads. (Despite being immersed in fashion now, he admits he has never really cared much for clothes and gives designer gifts away to his mom or friends.)
But long before life in the limelight, Shortall started boxing at age seven as a safeguard against playground bullies, and he eventually switched over to Muay Thai. “I was getting kind of bored with regular boxing and needed something new,” he says. Muay Thai is “mixed martial arts minus the jiu-jitsu part,” he says: where traditional boxers only use their two fists, Thai boxers have eight points of contact so you can punch, kick, jab, block, and strike with your knees and elbows as well. Needless to say, it can get pretty brutal. “I’ve broken three of my ribs, lots of fingers and toes,” Shortall says. He’s delivered the pain, too: “I definitely used one of the technical kicks in the streets once on this guy,” he says. “Wait, that’s going to sound so bad! It was totally unexpected and out of self defense.” His agency has banned him from boxing for the moment to preserve that money-making face, but he plans to return to it “sooner rather than later.”
Model-Slash: Future Photographer Laura Kampman
They’ve got the face, the body, a portfolio full of ad campaigns and editorials shot by top photographers in the industry, and a runway roster to match. But in our new Model-Slash column, Style.com profiles girls whose ambitions and drive extend beyond the catwalk.
Over the past few months, Laura Kampman (pictured, left) has experienced a swift rise to the top of the modeling industry. It all started with select premium bookings—coveted exclusives on the Calvin Klein and Balenciaga runways back in September, followed by the Steven Meisel-shot Balenciaga Spring campaign and cover of Vogue Italia‘s surrealist February issue. Since then, the 17-year-old, mysterious Dutch beauty has racked up scores of editorials for the likes of W, Dazed & Confused, and Vogue Japan, and you’ll also see her in Neil Barrett’s new Fall ads as well as the latest Prabal Gurung Resort lookbook.
What’s the key to her sudden success? At an open call before the Fall shows, casting director Barbara Nicoli hinted that Kampman has quickly become a favorite of top lensmen like Craig McDean and Daniel Jackson because she knows what it’s like to be on the other side of the camera and diligently studies the craft on each shoot. In a recent phone interview, she revealed to Style.com that she found an old point-and-shoot around her house when she was 13 and started snapping everything around her. “I was trying to understand the world and how it works,” says Kampman. “It became a way of processing my surroundings.” Eventually she upgraded to a Canon Rebel DSLR and started posting her images, many of which were self-portraits, on the Web. Kampman explained that a local modeling agency in Amsterdam actually discovered and signed her after stumbling upon her profile on Hyves (a Dutch social networking site similar to Facebook). “It was fun shooting myself in the beginning because I could control everything about the final result, but now I’m doing more candids and taking advantage of what modeling has offered,” Kampman said. “I even brought my camera on the Sonia Rykiel [Fall] runway.” Aside from fashion photographer idols like Meisel (“I like when photographers like Steven don’t give you too much instruction and really let you act”), Kampman’s favorite artist is Ryan McGinley. “My favorite pictures are nudes because they are timeless, and I’d love to do fun, spontaneous ones like his [McGinley's], but I don’t think any of my friends would let me,” she said, laughing.
Kampman plans to continue focusing on her modeling career and “hopefully learn more from the experts” before pursuing photography on a larger scale. Until then, you can find Kampman’s photos on her site, plus follow her regular Instagram updates via Twitter @laurakampman (you’ll spot lots of fellow Dutch model friends here, including Marte Mei van Haaster, Romee Strijd, and Josefien Rodermans). “As much as using a big camera is cool with all its settings and possibilities, technology makes everything so easy. After all, the iPhone does have an amazing camera.”
Chic Sweats Are On The Fashion Fast Track
Maybe it’s the upcoming Summer Olympic Games—the opening ceremony is July 27 in London—but track pants have really taken off. No, not the ones with logos written across the bum or those stretched-out old standbys you wear on the couch at home. We’re talking about tailored sweats that simply need a pair of heels to go from day to night. At Bottega Veneta‘s recent Resort presentation, Tomas Maier showed color-blocked tracksuits as weekend wear, while Neil Barrett and Chloé‘s Clare Waight Keller featured tapered versions with elastic at the ankles for Fall. Style.com’s own Marina Larroude was snapped test-driving a pair during Milan fashion week. Her take on the comfy-chic trend? “I love how you can dress them up with a silk shirt and dress them down with a tank or sneakers.”
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What Anna, Margherita, Giovanna,
And More Wore For Halloween
And you thought the New York fashion crowd went to town with its Halloween costumes. The Italian up-and-comer Francesco Scognamiglio sent us these pics from Friday night’s Hallowood Party at the photographer Giampaolo Sgura’s place in Milan. Anna Della Russo (top)—dressed in homage to Lady Gaga in a latex dress from Scognamiglio’s tenth anniversary collection—we’d recognize anywhere, but we never took Marco Zanini and his sister Miki for basketball lovers (below) or Margherita Missoni for a Simpsons fan (above). Who knows, maybe they aren’t. The theme was “America.” Enjoy, and don’t miss our slideshows of the NYC festivities. Continue Reading “What Anna, Margherita, Giovanna,
And More Wore For Halloween” »
Want Ewan McGregor At Your Fashion Show? Call Iggy
Only a Roman Polanski flick could turn the focus of New York City nightlife from clothes to film on the final night of fashion week. As the Calvin Klein party raged in the Meatpacking District and the glasses were raised in the Bryant Park tents one last time, a select few took in Polanski’s new thriller, The Ghost Writer, at the Cinema Society and Screenvision showing at the Crosby Street Hotel. Stars Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor then took the party upstairs to mingle with Brooke Shields, Julian Schnabel, and U2′s The Edge. With Shields making front-row appearances this week, we wondered—did any of the others make it to the shows?
None had, but they all were well attired, thanks to friends in high places. “I wish I’d gone to the shows!” said Brosnan’s wife, Keely Shaye Smith. “My friend Carmen Marc Valvo made the dress I’m wearing tonight. I saw photos from his Fall 2010 show—his collection is stunning! You can tell him I said that.” Duly reported. Meanwhile, McGregor confessed, “I’m not very involved in fashion, but I do love clothes. I wear a lot of Neil Barrett, because we’re friends—his clothing fits me well, and I’m loyal to him. I also met Lars Nilsson in Berlin and really like his work. But I’ve only been to one fashion show in my life, John Varvatos in 2007, and that was to watch Iggy Pop perform.”