Archive for February, 2010
Designer Anand Jon faces new sex charges in NYC
Feb 5th
NEW YORK – Fallen fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander used drugs, threats and the lure of modeling jobs as he conducted a campaign of sexual molestation involving a dozen women, prosecutors said Friday in a case that echoes charges that sent him to prison in California.
Wearing a white shirt and tan drawstring pants, the one-time rising design star said nothing but “not guilty” as he was arraigned in a Manhattan court on a raft of rape and other charges dating to 2002.
Alexander preyed on the women, then ages 15 to 26, after contacting them with offers of modeling opportunities, prosecutors said.
He rendered at least two women physically helpless by drugging them, and he told one teenager he would hurt her if she reported her rape to authorities, the indictment said.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office had disclosed some of its charges against Alexander in 2007, after his arrest in the California case. But new charges and details — such as the allegations of drugging and threats — emerged at his arraignment Friday.
Naomi Campbell plans fashion show for Haiti relief
Feb 5th
NEW YORK – Naomi Campbell called on the fashion world to do its part for the Haiti relief effort — and the fashion world answered: There will be a charity catwalk show pairing top models and designers at New York Fashion Week.
Campbell organized the first Fashion for Relief event at the Bryant Park tents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and has since taken it to Tanzania and Mumbai, India. The return to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Feb. 12 comes at the right time, Campbell said.
“Everyone else is trying to help Haiti, and we wanted to do our part on the fashion side of things,” Campbell said in a telephone interview from Paris. “The response has been overwhelming. No one has said `no’ — which means a lot because it’s such a busy time with designers preparing their fall collections.”
The event is still coming together, but Campbell said she had called upon her friends, including Christy Turlington and the Duchess of York, asking them to participate. Celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe is putting together the looks, and designer Marc Jacobs has already created a special Louis Vuitton handbag, one of many items that will go on sale on the Net-a-Porter Web site March 15, with proceeds going to the organization CARE.