The Shophound

FASHION FILM PREVIEW: Keep An Eye Out For "A Quiet American: Ralph Rucci & Paris"

About a month ago, The Shophound and a bunch of other folks were disappointed when a showing of the upcoming documentary "A Quiet American: Ralph Rucci & Paris" was abruptly canceled at the last minute on the eve of Fashion Week. Director C.S. Leigh made up for it over the weekend, when a rough cut of the film finally screened at Scandinavia House for a select audience of invited guests including the designers' friends and well known customers like Deeda Blair, Tatiana Sorrokko and legendary model Carmen Dell'Orefice.

The documentary, filmed over a period of four years, follows Mr. Rucci (pictured at left) as he presents his couture collection in Paris for the first time. It features interviews with prominent clients like Mrs. Blair, Ms. Sorrokko and Lee Radziwill as well as key figures like embroidery master François Lesage, Andre Leon Talley, Cathy Horyn and others as they trace the celebrated American designer's development. Still waiting for its finishing touches, the film will be a must-see for fans of Mr. Rucci and fashion fans in general, so look for it when it finally gets released later this year.

Avon Sends Jennifer Hudson to Beauty Icon Status in Record Time

It wasn't so long ago that winning an Academy Award meant gaining the respect of your peers and the opportunity to play better roles and get paid more for it, but no longer. Today, winning an Oscar means getting a big fat cosmetics contract. Today, Avon announced that the latest Oscar winner to put a model out of work is none other than instant-icon Jennifer Hudson. The "Dreamgirls" star will represent the beauty giant's Imari fragrance line including a new scent, Imari Seduction, to be launched in August.  This trumps fellow Avon spokesperson Salma Hayek, who is merely a former Oscar nominee. Hudson joins the ranks of Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton and Hilary Swank in the makeup biz. One wonders what is taking Cate Blanchett so long to secure a deal. Even recent nominee Keira Knightley has been readying a beauty campaign with Chanel. Hudson has done an impressive job ingratiating herself with the beauty and fashion crowd in spite of the furor over that gold snakeskin jacket (people, it was just a jacket). She is one of the few women of color to have graced the cover of Vogue, and, it must be noted, the only proud size 12 of any race to have achieved that honor. The possibilities look endless for J.Hud. Oh, and she's going to make an album and probably more movies too.