I was looking through the new H&M magazine when my boyfriend, who, ironically, happens to be Latino, points out to me that the one and only Black model in the entire catalog is light-skinned with loosely textured hair and narrow, European features. To which he begs the question: Why aren’t there any Black male supermodels? Or more importantly, why does the commercial fashion industry’s interpretation of male Blackness seem to almost always be watered-down, diluted for the masses?

　　Not since Tyson Beckford has there been an instantly recognizable male model representative of African-American beauty. With a career that has spanned over two decades, Beckford broke barriers as the face for many mainstream ad campaigns including Gucci, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and most notably, Ralph Lauren. In more recent years, he’s crossed over into film and television appearing in music videos, movies, and in television shows as a host and judge. His face let the fashion world know that our features and our skin tone is not only beautiful, but worthy of praise and adoration.

　　What you see in the form of the Black males in the realm of conventional fashion mediums is the exception: light skin, curly, tame-able hair, and a blithely urban disposition for the sake of inclusivity, lest we feel underrepresented. It’s unfortunate, but the look de rigueur is, and for the most part always has been, something that is nondescript and hard to pinpoint. Only when we see magazines and media geared towards us is when we become most visible. While there have always been a good number of female Black supermodels, as little as they were in comparison to their White counterparts, male Black models who have attained “it” status are hard to come by. It is a known and widespread fact that our people remain somewhat invisible from the fashion world. 　　Nonetheless, there are a number of fresh faces lending their unique beauty to the pages of upscale, high-fashion magazines and big-name ads. 23-year old Paris-born David Agbodji has become an industry favorite, having signed with Request Model Management in 2008. Since then, the ebony-skinned ingénue has appeared in editorials for GQ, French Vogue, Interview and this year became the face for Calvin Klein. With his flawless, sharp features and boyish appeal, 19-year old Bronx, NY native Corey Baptiste has walked the runways for Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and Z Zenga, as well as appearing in ads for Benetton and DKNY. Baby-faced Nate Gill became the face of Tommy Hilfiger this year after having walked for Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, Givenchy and Etro. Dominique Hollington’s Cuban and African American background accounts for his striking good looks. 　　Working under Red Model Management, Hollington has walked for just about every major designer, including Vivienne Westwood, Duckie Brown and Versace. 25-year old Wendell Lissimore’s body of work includes shows for Hermes and Jean-Paul Gaultier, editorials for V Magazine, British GQ, and Italian Vanity Fair and ads including the 2008 Adidas Spring campaign.

　　Cape May Stage, South Jersey’s premier Equity theatre, is pleased to present an unforgettable evening with one of the world’s most intriguing international vagabonds!

　　Told through song and dance, the self-penned On the Couch with Nora Armani is a one-woman piece about identity, belonging, multiple cultural provenances and the coincidences that complete our journey of the quixotic. On the Couch with Nora Armani will play Fri., Sept. 17 at 8 pm at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse at the corner of Bank and Lafayette Streets in downtown Cape May.

　　Tired of being told by casting directors that she’s either “too ethnic” or “not ethnic enough”, the multi-talented Nora Armani took it upon herself to create her own one-woman show. Speaking to us from her couch, the unexpected appearance of a long-lost love causes her to deviate from the planned script and embark, instead, on an intensely personal look into her own past and hybrid culture.

　　Oscillating between humor and nostalgia – with moments of poignancy liberally interspersed – Armani recounts her intriguing personal story: her growing up in Nasser’s post-revolution Egypt, memories of the Bosporus and Istanbul, her travels to the Scottish Highlands, Alexandria and its port, and Hollywood and its follies. The story is sprinkled with stories passed from generation to generation, about her grandparents’ expulsion from Armenia by the Turks and pre-1915 Anatolian summers. At the center of this narrative is a woman painfully struggling to discern her place among the memories of her ancestry, her culture, and her troubled past.

　　Armani has performed the play on tour in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Montreal, New York (Segal Theatre, CUNY, The Workshop Theatre) and Boston with a limited run in London, at the New End Theatre directed by François Kergourlay. She performed the French version Sur le divan avec Nora Armani as a première preview at Salle Cortot in Paris, and later throughout France, including performances for the Ambassadors of Armenia (now the Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Jordan. Other performances of the English version were presented at the October Gallery in London, the Poetry Café in Covent Garden, the London School of Economics and Goodenough College.

　　July 2004 marked the play’s New York debut, and in 2005 it was “back by popular demand” at the Workshop Theatre in Manhattan as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival.

　　Born in Egypt of Armenian parents, Armani was educated in England and, after years spent in the United States, currently dividing her time between London and Paris, Nora Armani is the epitome of the word “transnational”. Her repertory includes Shakespeare, Shaw, Beckett, Hammerstein and Guitry while her own creations Sojourn at Ararat, Nannto, Nannto and On the Couch with Nora Armani have earned her extensive international tours and many accolades on four continents in over twenty cities.

　　Later this month, she will be going to Los Angeles to play an FBI agent in an independent production. Awards include Best Actress twice in Armenia (Stage and Screen) and two Drama-Logue awards in Los Angeles.

　　El norteamericano, de 44 años, alcanzó su reconocimiento de la mano de la firma italianal Imagen por excelencia de Armani l Pertenece a la generación de Marcus Schenkenberg, Mark Vanderloo y Alex Lundqvist l Tras dos años alejado de la moda ha vuelto con Karin Models (2001) l Recientemente ha trabajado para la firma de lencería Intimissimi, Ermenegildo Zegna, Façonnable y Angelo Nardelli

　　Han pasado varios años desde que este misterioso y poco conocido en aquel momento modelo norteamericano, nacido en Sacramento en 1966, nos mostrara su mirada profunda y seductora en el anuncio de la colonia Acqua di Gio de Giorgio Armani, convirtiéndose en su primera imagen en 1997. Después, fue sustituido por el alemán Lars Burmeister. A pesar de ello, Larry siempre será el modelo por excelencia de la firma italiana, y es que emana masculinidad por los cuatro costados desde que lo descubriera un fotógrafo en San Francisco mientras trabajaba como dependiente en una joyería. También hay otra versión que cuenta que fue descubierto mientras practicaba skateboard frente a una joyería, pero ambas versiones coinciden en que fue en San Francisco y cerca de alguna joyería.

　　Tras su ascenso a la fama, trabajó para varias firmas, además de Armani, como Versace, Dolce Gabbana, Dona Karan New York y Calvin Klein, pero su resurgimiento en la década de los 90 coincidió con la aparición de la gran generación de modelos europeos, entre los que destacan Marcus Schenkenberg, Mark Vanderloo y Alex Lundquist y que hicieron que el nombre de Larry Scott no destacará en América ni obtuviera su merecido reconocimiento.

　　En 1999, abandonó el mundo de la moda durante dos años para volver en 2001 con Karin Models. También ha trabajado para Success Paris, Mega Agency Hamburgo, Wilhelmina Nueva York y Scoop Copenhague. Ha participado en campañas para Saks Fifth Avenue en Vanity Fair, Nine West junto a Carmen Kass y Anne Menke y Armani. En 2008 protagonizó las campañas publicitarias de Ermenegildo Zegna y de la firma de lencería Intimissimi. Recientemente, ha trabajado en las campañas publicitarias de Façonnable y Angelo Nardelli de 2009 y 2010.

　　Larry Scott es una persona muy reservada, así que sobre su vida privada y sentimental sabemos muy poco. Sólo podemos destacar su relación con la cantante australiana Kylie Minogue, a la que parece que le gustan los modelos ya que ahora está con Andrés Velencoso.

　　Having the night of her life, Claire Danes was the belle of the ball at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday evening (August 29).

　　Looking fabulous in a strapless, beaded Armani Privé frock, the lovely actress picked up Best Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie for her work in the autism-based picture titled “Temple Grandin”.

　　”Temple Grandin” also ended up winning for Best Director (Mick Jackson), Best Movie, Supporting Actor (David Strathairn) and Supporting Actress (Julia Ormond).

　　Making the night especially sweet, Temple, herself, was in attendance and happened to be celebrating her birthday on Emmy night.

　　After spending time with Miss Grandin, Miss Danes proceeded on to the party circuit – as she hit up the HBO bash before closing things out at Jimmy Fallon’s Trousdale after party.

　　Mario Anzuoni/Reuters Claire Danes, star of ‘Temple Grandin’

　　Giorgio Armani and Oscar de la Renta were among the big names represented on the Emmys red carpet tonight, but where were Valentino, Dior and Chanel, to name three labels that actresses typically blurt out?

　　Maybe the houses are throwing their efforts toward the Oscars and the Golden Globes because the Emmys can be such a mixed bag of style. Personally I liked Anna Paquin’s McQueen dress with gold embroidery on the shoulders but she was panned on NBC’s coverage. And January Jones got knocked for her fan-pleated Versace gown, with its teeny, strange conical bodice. She looked uncomfortable but maybe because the dress was indeed wearing her.

　　Still, this was not a risk-taking red carpet or a particularly fashionable one. Among the style winners were Lea Michele in taffeta Oscar de la Renta, Claire Danes in bronze beaded Armani Prive, and Julianna Margulies in navy L’Wren Scott.

　　A former Bond girl is leading a protest campaign against drilling for oil off the idyllic Mediterranean island of Pantelleria, an exclusive retreat for celebrities including Sting, Madonna and Giorgio Armani.

　　Carole Bouquet, 52, a French actress best known for her role as Bond girl Melina Havelock in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only with Roger Moore, was one of hundreds of protesters to take to the sea this week in a flotilla of boats off Pantelleria, one of Italy’s southernmost islands.

　　A group of international companies, including a British firm, Northern Petroleum, are hoping to begin conduct exploratory drilling in the expectation of finding large reserves of oil in the Strait of Sicily, between Italy and Tunisia.

　　The pristine waters around Pantelleria are home to whales, dolphins, turtles and tuna, but an Australian company, ADX, has already started drilling in deep waters 13 miles from the island.

　　Campaigners have warned that the area is seismically active and that undersea tremors could result in a catastrophic oil spill similar to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico this year.

　　They point out that just 39 nautical miles from Pantelleria lies a vast undersea volcano called Empedocles.

　　The summit of the volcano lies about seven metres beneath the surface of the sea, but when it last erupted, in 1831, it broke the surface, briefly forming a steaming, rocky islet that caused a diplomatic confrontation after it was claimed by four countries, including Britain.

　　The dispute was unresolved when the island, known as Ferdinandea, sunk beneath the waves five months later.

　　Miss Bouquet, a former face of Chanel, has a house and a 10 hectare vineyard on Pantelleria, a speck of black volcanic rock which lies closer to North Africa than Sicily, where she produces the island’s famed “passito” dessert wine.

　　She and other protesters, who included Italian pop stars and actors, two former government ministers and a bishop, hope to enlist the support of fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who has a cliff-top villa on the island, for the campaign.

　　”It is all happening in a volcanically active area, without proper scientific research,” said Calogero Mannino, who served as a minister in conservative Italian governments between the 1970s and 1990s.

　　Mimmo Fontana, the Sicilian president of Italian environmental organisation Legambiente, said: “If they make a mistake as happened in Louisiana, if crude oil gushes out of the seabed, who is going to pay?”

　　Dopo le splendide foto con protagonista il calciatore Cristiano Ronaldo, testimonial della griffe per la linea maschile, già divulgate diverso tempo fa, e quelle della sensualissima attrice per la linea Underwear, arrivano anche le immagini della nuova campagna pubblicitaria per la collezione Fall Winter 2010 2011 Armani Jeans, con Megan Fox sempre immortalata dal duo di fotografi Mert Alas e Marcus Piggott (Leggi la news).

　　It would seem that giving away piles of coveted goodies like iPads, diamond jewelry, Palm Pixis and Caribbean vacations would be enough to draw hungry crowds to swag lounges on Emmy Awards weekend.

　　But with stiff competition for major talent, and the number of gifting suites multiplying, it’s taking a nonprofit theme to lure some of the stars this season.

　　Gifting suites, a swanky tradition around Hollywood awards shows, are increasingly emphasizing their charitable tie-ins as a way to bring in celebrities who might find it crass to attend an event that resembles trick-or-treating for (already wealthy) adults. Especially because the country’s still mired in the effects of the recession, the focus on donating to worthy causes allows image-conscious stars to haul home some high-end loot without looking completely out of touch.

　　”Having a strong link to a charity means that the event’s not just about taking, it’s also about giving back,” said Gavin Keilly, founder and chief executive of GBK, a veteran event producer whose Emmy lounge at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills will benefit CancerCare and other nonprofit groups. “It gives the celebrities a chance to learn about these charities, and it gives us a better chance of having them show up.”

　　The top-tier lounges this year are donating to Hollywood-based and national charities like the Creative Coalition, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation and the Ann & George Lopez Foundation for underprivileged children. Keilly gives 20% of his sponsor fees to three nonprofits, while brands at his and other suites give additional money to designated charities, often in conjunction with the talent that visits. Some stars who disdain the whole walking-advertisement idea have come through the lounges just to participate in the charity fundraisers, organizers said.

　　But make no mistake, these lounges are still about the stuff. Celebrities who are on the guest lists this weekend will be showered with Tacori baubles, handmade Magnanni shoes, one-year memberships to Crunch gym, Invicta watches and Giorgio Armani beauty products, which just scratch the surface of the hip and hot freebies.

　　”Everybody loves Christmas morning,” said Samantha Haft, president of On 3 Productions, which is hosting the product-packed backstage lounge at the Nokia Theatre. “Celebrities get to find out about the latest trends and the must-have products before anyone else.”

　　Suites usually have a mix of established and emerging brands, like Prada and Vintage Revolution jeans, and ultra luxury and household goods, such as Turks and Caicos vacations and Altoids mints. P.F. Chang’s Home Menu, grocery store frozen entrees, will give out a year’s supply of the new product and Hasbro will stock celebrities’ game collections through On 3′s suite, while Capella Resorts will give away trips to its ritzy Cabo San Lucas seaside hotel at Kari Feinstein’s 2010 Style Lounge. There are plenty of on-site spa services, themed cocktails and organic nibbles.

　　”There has to be a wow factor — big ticket, exciting items,” said Feinstein, co-founder of Feinstein/McGuiness PR and Style Lounge creative director. “People wouldn’t respond if I said, ‘Hey, come get some shampoo and a manicure.’ “

　　At the same time, stars may end up being “just as stoked about some new coconut water as they are about getting an iPad,” she said.

　　Every step of the way, there are event photographers documenting the action, and those photographs are the holy grail for companies that pay as much as $6,000 just to get a spot on the roster. (That doesn’t count the cost of the product they dole out).

　　It’s quid pro quo that stars have their pictures taken if they’re accepting free goods, and Keilly said he has 10 shutterbugs on hand because “we never want to miss that Kodak moment.”

　　Everyone who’s nominated for an Emmy gets invited to the suites, as do presenters and performers. Emmy host Jimmy Fallon, the casts of “Mad Men,” “Glee” and “Modern Family,” along with paparazzi bait like Kim Kardashian and “The Bachelor” lovebirds are among the chosen invitees. The guest lists need to be filled with stars that brands want to associate with and major media want to cover, organizers said.

　　There’s still a hierarchy with swag lounges, and Oscar suites are the pinnacle, organizers say. The Emmys and the Golden Globes have gained prestige in recent years, though, because so many well-known film stars now work in television. They’re more appealing to some sponsors because TV talent is accessible, compared with, say, Oscar nominees who pull in $20 million a year and don’t need a free vacation or the potential backlash that could come from a gifting suite. Nor do they need the media exposure, which television stars often relish whether they’re promoting their current shows or scouting for their next project.

　　For a company like RevitaLash, gifting suites have provided sky-high return on investment, said Hannah Murray, vice president of marketing. Photos of stars holding and using products can stretch a marketing budget for miles, serving as fodder for Facebook, blogs and other social media.

　　”There’s no way I’d be able to reach all those people with commercials and traditional advertising,” she said. “It would take me a lot of time and money and even then it might not happen.”

　　Armani, Versace, Ferretti and Dolce & Gabbana are just some of the highlights in this fashion corner of the world.

　　This year, Milan’s Fashion Week, sponsored by the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, moves to the Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, near La Scala and the Duomo. There, names like Armani, Versace, Ferretti and Dolce & Gabbana will bring shivers of delight to style lovers. Inspired by the shows? Shop at newly opened Marc Jacobs (design pictured) and Stella McCartney boutiques. And if you are lucky, you can join the fashionistas at Just Cavalli Café, Old Fashion or Gold.

　　Hotel Sorella’s sizzling design scheme has caught the attention of one of the world’s most refined design-minded magazines, Wallpaper*, snagging a spot on the list of the top Best Business Hotels 2010 in the magazine’s September issue.

　　”The hotel is the crown jewel in west Houston’s CityCentre, a selfcontained community of shopping, fine dining and top notch office space,” reads the magazine’s website.

　　Teaming with Fortune magazine, the design rag employed a panel of discerning judges, who placed Sorella among the ranks of NYC’s Ace Hotel, Soho House in Berlin and Dubai’s new Armani Hotel. Explains Wallpaper*, “Our shortlist ranges from grand luxury openings to inspiring relaunches of old favourites and contemporary openings in up-and-coming destinations.”

　　The editors lavish praise upon Hotel Sorella for its inspired floor-to-ceiling windows, posh Italian-inspired contemporary décor, and dark hardwood-studded flooring. The Texas-sized closets and bathrooms receive their due. And, of course, Wallpaper* loves the complimentary luxury car service that runs to the Energy Corridor and any hotspot within a five mile radius.

　　The design scribes also find the dining quite tempting, explaining Bistro Alex’s owner, “Alex Brennan-Martin’s aim is to serve classics, but with enough cutting-edge cuisine to please foodies.”

　　We can expect to see a glossy spread on Hotel Sorella in the next edition of Wallpaper* City Guide Houston. Until then, wait out the last nights of the sultry summer amid their swank pool-side cabanas.