Jalouse Magazine spills the beans on one of the best-kept secrets in Paris: in all those Galeries Lafayette billboards with Laetitia Casta, the model photographed is not really Laetitia. The star of the campaign, who is the best-paid French model ever and the most popular woman in France, was judged too fat for the layout. Photographer Jean Paul Goude therefore used a body model and juxtaposed her body to Laetitia's face.

According to the mag, the model in question is Ingrid, a Brazilian model based in Paris (apparently from Visions Agency, no confirmation yet). She was photographed by Jean Baptiste Mondino a year ago, and when Goude began to search for a "body stunt", Mondino recommanded her as having great legs, a legal work permit and -- last but not least -- a sense of discretion. Goude feared that rumors about the manipulation would abund if he'd use a model from a French agency, whose bookers might want to get some great publicity at the expense of the supermodel.

Ingrid (pic above) is 18. Apparently, she didn't intend to reveal her job while talking to Jalouse. She was supposed to appear in the column "Une Inconnue a Paris", in which each month a relatively unknown model talks about her daily life in the city of lights - boys, clubs, missing mum and dad, this kind of stuff. When she accidently mentionned working with Jean Paul Goude, she couldn't get out of it, since he is under an exclusive contract with Les Galeries Lafayette. It is believed Ingrid was under a secrecy clause.

Faithful readers of this humble weblog might remember doubts were raised about the real identity of the star from the very beginning, June 2001. In this post about the first billboard I said the half nude model can't really be Laetitia, since she looked way too skinny. Laetitia announced her pregnancy a few months after beginning the shooting, but the Galeries always claimed all the ads were ready before the pregnancy began to show. You can see most of the Laetitia/Ingrid billboards at the Galeries Lafayette site. The new billboard, for the Christmas season, is in the pdf format.

While using a body stunt is a common practice in Hollywood, especially for nude scenes, it is unheard of in the fashion world. A model's body, after all, might be her only asset, since she is supposed to show clothes. If she was chosen because she is famous, Goude could shot only her face. It seems he wasn't ready to scrap his layouts just because the model's figure didn't suit these drawings of very-very long legs.