A female reader asked me sarcastically why didn't I post yet the scandalous new ad from Tom Ford, if I'm so good at fashion news when they concern female models. Well, here is the proof this humble weblog is not afraid from nudity from both sides. Although the ad will be published only from October 24, this is an advance copy.
You probably read the news reports about it. The ad features a reclining full-frontal nude male model. He's quite hairy, as required by the new shift in male beauty standards. The guy is former martial arts French champion Samuel de Cubber. The ad (right pic, above) will be published from Oct. 24 in a handful of fashion magazines, including the French edition of Vogue and the Italian one.
It is the first time in the history of advertising that a major mainstream company shows a full-frontal nude as a standard ad.
Ford said the M7 campaign was a homage to a now infamous picture of Saint Laurent posing naked -- though with his legs modestly crossed -- for the photographer Jeanloup Sieff in 1971.
US magazines will carry a toned-down version showing de Cubber from the waist up (left pic).
Update: November 2002 - More about de Cubber - here. December 2002 - even more (and bigger scan) - here.

Development Hell targets 'disillusioned' men
Ciar Byrne The Guardian

A new men's glossy, produced by the brains behind some of the top entertainment titles in the UK, is on a mission to lure back disillusioned male readers without resorting to using pictures of "girls in their pants".

The forthcoming title, known as Project Satisfaction, will launch early next year.

It is the first magazine to emerge from Development Hell, the independent publishing company founded by David Hepworth, who, as Emap's editorial director, was behind the launches of Just Seventeen, More, Empire and Mojo.

Mr Hepworth, together with his business partner Jerry Perkins and fellow former Emap high flyer Mark Ellen, promises "a magazine for people who think there's nothing to read".

The magic formula Development Hell hopes will attract readers includes music, books, movies, digital and wireless technology but "not girls in their pants" and "not celebs".

"It's for people who listen to loud dance music in their cars and Radio 4 at home, who read Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad but can still laugh at The Simpsons," explained Hepworth.

Ellen is a former editor of Smash Hits and Q and, as editor-in-chief of Emap Metro, oversaw 14 music, film and men's titles.

His departure from the magazine giant, where he was latterly in charge of special projects and training in the consumer division, was announced in an email to staff last month.