FTV

Are you still feeling withdrawls from the F/W runway shows ending? Lucky for you, FTV has started uploading their videos onto their youtube account. We're talking dozens of them from this past season and from older seasons too. They have videos of runway shows, front rows, backstage, parties, recaps and of course their infamous Model Talks.

If you have patience and a good chunk of free time, browse through and I'm sure you'll find some Freja clips or something else that interests you. If you love seeing what the backstage of a show looks like, then FTV's youtube channel is your new best friend. Just a small taste:

Roberto Cavalli F/W 10.11 Backstage @ 1:04, 1:22, 2:45

Max Mara F/W 10.11 Backstage @ 0:22, 0:32, 1:36

Not only do you get a good sense of what it feels like backstage; you also get to see a lot of different models as they get prepped, making these videos a haven if you're into model street style as well. Furthermore, you get the chance to hear different, lesser known models talk, which is always an enjoyable and surprising thing.

It seems like FTV is going through their Milan footage now, so hopefully this means Paris footage isn't too far behind. And after that, perhaps another batch of Model Talks vids? Fingers crossed.

On Repeat: Freja, Meisel, Vogue Italia

For the second month in a row, Freja is featured in the main story for Vogue Italia photographed by Steven Meisel. If you're keeping track, Freja and Meisel have now collaborated five times in as many months; four times for VI and one time for Vogue US. To go from zero to one hundred like this is simply mind-boggling if you've been following Freja since the early years. All the evidence points to the fact that she's now become a Meisel favorite, but I still can't help but to think "this will be the last time," every time I see them working together.

Maybe I just don't like to count my eggs before they hatch. Maybe I'm just too weary and overly cautious in my age. Or maybe I'm just a pessimist. I should probably just shut up and enjoy the ride, but knowing that Meisel can be very fickle in terms of models (Daria and Elise immediately come to mind) is holding me back from completely embracing the fact that Freja is now a Meisel girl. Is anyone else having the same problem? Or is it just me?

Anyway, there are other girls in the story, but each seems to have been shot individually. It's a great mix of old and new: Amber Valletta, Angela Lindvall and Joan Smalls, Gwen Loos. I'm also thrilled to see Geidre Dukauskaite, a previous Meisel fav, return to prominence!

Now that Freja has been in plenty of Meisel editorials, it still remains to be seen whether she'll be in a Meisel campaign. I don't mean to get too ahead of myself and entirely contradict what I just said above, but with editorials in back to back issues of VI, maybe it is more likely that she'll land in one of the campaigns he shoots. The question is, which one? And even if she doesn't, I'll be so happy with her campaign season as it stands: Chanel and Max Mara. Besides, I never like it when you see the same model in 10 campaigns. After all, variety is the spice of life, and there are too many other girls who I want to see have some taste of success.

Video Credit: vogue.it

Campaign News - Max Mara

She's done it! Freja has landed the F/W 10.11 Max Mara ad campaign shot by Mario Sorrenti. Perhaps not the biggest surprise considering she opened and closed the runway show, but a surprise nonetheless as it's a new campaign for her and she's not really known as a Sorrenti fave. Beside, we all know that opening and closing a show doesn't guarantee a model anything. (How many times has Freja opened and closed Akris? And instead Daphne Guinness has the campaign once again.)

Thanks to mikel at tFS for breaking the news:

"The face belongs to the Danish top model Freja Beha Erichsen: large, dark eyes, an angular face, a slim figure. Immortalized by the legendary photographer Mario Sorrenti. These are the two protagonists of the fall-winter 2010-2011 campaign by Max Mara, shot in Paris, which depicts the essential elegance of the label with an all black and white look at the collection. Hair and make-up have been created by Luigi Morenu and Aaron De Mey fpor Streeters. This is an "encore" performance for Sorrenti who also shot the fall-winter 2009 campaign featuring the model Eniko Mihalik."

I think it speaks loads to Freja's modeling ability that two labels generally thought of as very classic (Chanel and tweed suits, and Max Mara and camel coats) have her as their campaign girl. Classic isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Freja--edgy, modern, and androgynous are more the norms. But the classicism is there in the refined lines and structure of her face. The clean beauty that Freja is capable of portraying is the perfect compliment to the simple but elegant clothing of Max Mara. It's a pity that her off-duty persona has grown so much that it overshadows the many different facets that she's capable of expressing in her modeling work.

Even though the campaign might look similar to last seasons' as Max Mara always seems to have the same look to it's campaigns, I can't wait to see it. And just for the record, Freja also opened and closed the Isabel Marant runway show this past season.....

Image Credits: style.it

High Praise

In a video interview about the February 2010 Vogue UK cover shoot featuring Natalia Vodianova, Nick Knight happens to bestow some high praise on Freja.

"Natalia is one of those models like Kate or Naomi or Freja who are just fantastic. They know how to express themselves. First of all they interpret the narrative of a piece of clothing really interestingly. And that's one of the main things the model does. Models are kind of an interesting mixture of very, very good actresses (oh really?) and very good sportspeople."

Check it out @1:20

That's quite the compliment coming from someone who's only photographed Freja for two editorials (Pop Hit for Vogue UK March 2007 and About a Boy for Vogue UK April 2008). She must have made quite the impression in order to have Nick lump her in with models like Kate, Naomi and Natalia (who are arguably the last of the supermodels). I hope this means that we'll be seeing a Knight lensed editorial sometime in Freja's near future. Or maybe they just recently worked together which is why Freja was so fresh on his mind? (Hmmmm.....keep those eyes peeled.)

Lately Freja has been expanding her oeuvre in terms of photographers who she's worked with (think Demarchelier, Meisel, Olins, Richardson, Summerton) so adding Knight to the list again would be quite lovely. If not for an editorial, then perhaps a multimedia project for SHOWstudio? It's been quite a while since the last one Freja did for Knight's online forum that has the the lofty goal of expanding fashion film parameters.

"Writing on the Wall"

Anyway, being a successful model has as much to do with the people who support you as it has to do with what qualities and talents you bring to the table. With regards to Freja, perhaps I focus too much on the later and not enough on the former. I've mentioned Freja fans in the industry before (Alexander Wang, Marcus and David of Rag & Bone, Stella McCartney and artist Chantal Joffe, Vogue UK's Jaime Perlman) but I've done so in a very flippant way. Well, not only are these people fans; they're also supporters and I'm guessing that a good measure of Freja's success is owed to them and the many others in the industry who have supported her since her early years. People like Russell Marsh who gave Freja her first runway exclusive with Prada her first season, Michelle Lee of KCD who repeatedly casts Freja for the Marc Jacobs shows, and Freja's mother agent Jeppe at Unique Copenhagen. Of course, you can have all the right people backing you, but if you don't have the goods as a model your career will fade away just as quickly as it lit up. Luckily, Freja has both components: a strong foundation of supporters and a huge reservoir of talent. This is why she's been successfully modeling for half a decade.

Nevertheless, I'm not so naive and caught up in my own fandom as to think that everyone loves Freja. I know that some people don't get her appeal and I have no trouble understanding and accepting that (but if you're reading this you're probably not one of those people). Luckily the people who count, in terms of models getting booked for work, do get it. The people that have a say in which model we see in whatever campaign, editorial, and runway show all seem to see what we Freja fans see. And knowing that doesn't make me feel so weird about having such a singularly focused blog. I get enough heartache and disappointment whenever I see my lesser known model favs fade, so it's good to be a part of the vast majority when it comes to Freja. You know...if she ever stops working or decides to pull a SS08/SS09 again and partially skip another season, a lot of people are going to be inconsolable. Fortunately things seem to be going in our favor.....for now.

Credits: Vogue UK video via rox_yr_sox @ tFS

Identification

Freja Beha, the Rock N Roll Star
i-D Magazine Spring 2010
Ph: Emma Summerton
Styling: Edward Enninful

After seeing Freja's i-D cover, I have to admit that I didn't have high hopes for her editorial inside. Well, I was most definitely pleasantly surprised by the lovely, albeit too short, only-girl story. Just four shots; all of them upper body ones with one profile shot. They're almost like a series of portraits, and that's what I think is so interesting about them. We haven't seen Freja in a story like this, so it's great to see her continually expand her fashion portfolio and her ability to converse with the camera.

With a story that's set up like this, I really think it's intent is to bring focus to the details of the clothes, rather than the full head-to-toe looks. At least, those details are what stood out to me enough that I ironically ended up wanting to see the runway looks in their entirety anyway. Like, I saw the intricacies in the Louise Golden piece and I just had to see the whole thing for comparison. The details made me appreciate the whole look....and the same can be said for the model.

By focusing on the natural charisma and grace of Freja's face (the details) this editorial makes us appreciate all her abilities as a model (the whole package). Earlier on I asked the question "Androgyny or femininity?" Well, here we have the perfect example of how easily and effortlessly Freja can traveling between both poles. This editorial is a great model profile piece in that it provides the girl with a vehicle by which to display her full skill and range in subtlety and emotion. To be able to carry this off successfully, you have to be a model who's well versed in all facets of human emotion and who's able to convey them with a slight alteration of the mouth here, or a slight arch of the brow there.

With the title bearing Freja's name, it's clear that she's supposed to be the star here and she most certainly delivers even within the limitation of four short pages. I love that she can be strong and dominant, showing us different aspects of her personality here. But she can just as easily be a mere clothes hanger, if the situation calls for it, letting the clothes take focus as was the case in her Vogue UK editorial.

I feel like this is a theme that I continually re-visit: how Freja moves freely about along all these different spectrums. Androgyny/femininity, high fashion/commercial appeal, strong/demure, etc... If I've learned anything from all the time that I spend analyzing and dissecting Freja's career, it's that in order to be a good model-nay a great one-you have to be able to be all things to all people but never lose the essence of your being in the process. It's quite the tall order, but all the tops girls can do it/have done it. Think Raquel. Think Daria. And people believe modeling is easy....well, it doesn't seem so easy to me.

Image Credits: Scans by yala_agni @ Fashion_Screen LiveJournal, style.it, vogue.co.uk