Now it seems the brand has done it again with images featured in their newest catalog. The preppy looks are modeled by J. Crew’s own employees, including the one above titled, “Happy Together. Our Designer Somsack and his boyfriend, Micah.” The photo sparked even more controversy. ABC says the catalog includes “an explicit ad of a same-sex couple”, and titled the article, “J. Crew at Center of Gay Economics with Openly Gay Model.” Yes, we all know how raunchy button down shirts and ties are, or perhaps it’s that hot and heavy arm grab from a full arm’s length away that says “get a room!” Okay, we’re really not sure what’s explicit here.

J. Crew declined to comment on the issue, but it seems to us that the photo’s caption says it all. The bottom line is that painting a little boy’s toenails pink won’t make him gay, nor will looking at happy gay couples on the pages of a fashion catalogue. It is sad that people cannot tolerate the differences among us. {Refinery29}

Fortunately, in addition to Jenna Lyons being lucky enough to end up with a boy who shares a favorite color, she also ended up with a child who can seemingly see what’s really important. “He was just like, ‘Iâ€m on television! Iâ€m on television!†It was very cute. He was over the moon,” Lyons said. {WWD}

CBS News reported on Monday that pedestrians walking by the latest Calvin Klein billboard in New York City at East Houston and Lafayette have spotted something highly inappropriate in the ad. These folks donâ€t find Lara Stoneâ€s almost-naked body offensive; rather, they believe a hidden curse word was planted in the photo.

The table behind and to the left of Stone supposedly forms an “F,” while her underwear bottom forms a “U.” Get where weâ€re going with this? Then, to Stoneâ€s right, the “C” and “K” of the Calvin Klein logo complete the subliminal naughty word. {CBS News via Racked NY}

Our first thought upon reading this news was that the alleged curse word must have been spotted by someone with way too much time on their hands. First of all, the images of Stone for this ad campaign are beyond cool, as is the television commercial, and secondly, why would Calvin Klein risk creating this kind of controversy? But now we canâ€t look at the ad and not see it. The question remains whether Calvin Klein did it on purpose and how the label will defend the situation.

News spread this week of Christina Hendricks†starring roll in the fall ad campaign for trench coat label London Fog. The Mad Men actress†appearance in the ad pictures marks one more label in the celebrity-as-face-of-the-brand camp at a time when the battle between models and Hollywood types runs high.

The use of Hendricks is also noteworthy as she is well-known for her curvy, voluptuous body, though the The Cut is probably correct in their haste to point out that this likely does not mean a sea change is washing over fashion and curves are, for once, actually in. Still, it is nice to see a fresh star who has not done much in the way of product endorsement thus far at the forefront of a fashion label, curves or none.

London Fog has previously used ad staples like Gisele and Eva Longoria Parker as faces for the brand. {The Cut}

The photographs, taken by Nino Munoz, feature Hendricks in a trendy-for-fall leopard print trench and a simpler black one, with a lace cami peeking out.

Fashionista scored some backstage images from the photo shoot, and New York Magazine has video footage from the ad shoot.

An ad soliciting perfect-looking women to model for Doveâ€s next “Real Beauty” campaign appeared on Craigslist last Friday. {The Cut} “Real Beauty” aims to push back against the alleged unrealistic body types often featured in the media by showcasing women with average bodies. At the time the ad was posted, it seemed to have revealed that all Dove actually meant by saying it would feature “real” women was that the ladies would not be professional models. The posting said applicants need not have any scars or tattoos or be too curvy or athletic and must have beautiful arms, legs, hair and faces along with flawless skin.

Now Dove claims the ad was not approved, saying in a statement:

“Unfortunately, this casting notice was not approved by the brand or agency team and did not reflect the spirit of the brand team’s vision. We appreciate that this has been brought to our attention, and we are taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future. We believe our images demonstrate that real beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, colors and ages and we remain committed to featuring realistic and attainable images of beauty in all our advertising.” {The Cut}

Normally, we would say this is just their good PR response so the company does not lose credibility, but it is odd that Dove would post an ad for models on Craigslist of all places, and some past “Real Beauty” ads have featured women with tattoos.

The bigger issue is actually the name of the campaign. While diversity is sorely needed in fashion and beauty, “Real Beauty” implies another narrow definition of reality. Certainly some models are unhealthily thin, and there are more than a few examples of photos retouched to mask that, or terrible Photoshop examples that push them into a humanly impossible shape; but women who are naturally thin do exist, and are as real as anyone else. We vote for the next Dove “Real Beauty” campaign to feature curvy, athletic AND thin women. For real.

Stone modeled for Calvin Klein in 2007 and has worked two of the brandâ€s runway shows.

“I have a long history with the Calvin Klein brand,” she said. “It was wonderful to work with the house again this year. Itâ€s like being part of a family.” {Styleite}

A black and white close-up of Stoneâ€s face shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot for Calvin Klein Collection is the latest star in the label’s famous black and white images. Maybe it’s just us, but Stone seems to bear a passing resemblance to former Calvin Klein campaign star Kate Moss in the photo.

“I conceived my fall 2010 collection with a self-aware and assured woman in mind,” Creative Director Francisco Costa told WWD. “For me, Lara was the perfect choice for the new campaign because she is a woman who epitomizes confidence and sensuality.” {Huffington Post}

Male models Simon Ellisdon, AJ, Grayson Vaughan and Eric Anderson appear alongside Stone in some of the ads.

The exclusive deal with Stone is a progressive move on the part of the label. By going with a 27-year-old model who is considered curvier than many of her peers, the label that ironically kicked off the young waif look of the 90s is furthering the effort by some in the fashion industry to cast women rather than size 0 girls who may be at an age where they’re thin not only because of diet or exercise, but because they haven’t finished growing. {The Cut} Their last show featured Stella Tennant, Kirsty Hume and the silver haired Kristen McMenamy, who while still slender and gorgeous, are older than the usual catwalkers who are in their teens.

Stone also replaces Eva Mendes as the face of Calvin Klein jeans, adding to a growing movement among designers and magazine editors towards using models in lieu of celebrities for campaigns and covers.

Louis Vuitton's "Savoire Faire" campaign showed a woman handcrafting folds in a wallet (L), a man painting the sole of a shoe (center) and a woman with needle, thread and beeswax who appears to be hand stitching the handle of a handbag.

Louis Vuitton has a reputation for superior quality, with handbags regularly selling for thousands of dollars, but the photos depict craftsmen hand-stitching leather even though that is not how accessories are made in the French design house. Text in the ads reads, “The seamstress with linen thread and beeswax.”{DailyMail}

Guests at the opening of Louis Vuitton's New Bond Street London flagship included Elle MacPherson, Thandie Newton and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The ASA said Louis Vuitton failed to prove the products were handmade though the label produced evidence that “hand-crafting techniques” were used to create bags and wallets.

Louis Vuitton responded by saying the ads were simply meant to pay “homage to the craftsmanship” of its employees, not depict an exact account of its manufacturing process. The design house admitted to using sewing machines but said handbag production is “not automated,” with over 100 stages in the process of manufacturing one bag.

Three people alerted the ASA of the situation, complaining that they believed the handbags were made by machine. In Japan, the world’s second largest luxury market and a country where 60% of the households own an authentic Louis Vuitton, research found that consumers were willing to spend 50 times the price of a counterfeit bag for the real deal – even if the bags looked identical. {Guardian} The allure of authenticity, which is often intertwined with higher quality craftsmanship, among other things is something that Louis Vuitton and many other luxury brands like Gucci have tried to tap into during the economic downturn.

But modern technology – including efficient manufacturing that automates parts of the process is actually a part of Louis Vuitton posts such healthy operating margins. While hand stitched and folded wallets may seem charming and a mark of quality, it’s not a production method that would scale for a brand as big as Louis Vuitton. Even as far back as December 2009, when the ads were first released, some wondered if the ads went too far in trying to elicit an emotional attachment to heritage. {BusinessWeek} In the UK, it seems that they did.

New York Magazine says the slipup is unlikely to stop people from purchasing Louis Vuitton bags and hopes the ASA will continue its effort to ban misleading ads by forbidding the use of photos featuring unrealistic body types. On both counts, we could not agree more.

Here is some potentially good news in follow up to our recent post about the rise of anorexia in men with the advent of the skinny jean: muscular male models with serious washboard abs are no more appealing than average or chubby men in advertisements.

According to a new study, the truth is you don't need them!

Phillippa Diedrichs, the study leader, showed mock jeans, skin care and cologne ads featuring muscular and average men to more than 600 students in their late teens, and the ads with average men were rated no less effective than those with hard bodied men.

If young males are no more drawn to muscular types than average types, perhaps super skinny male mannequins and models will also prove no more alluring or likely to inspire men to be unhealthy.

The Sydney Morning Herald hopes the results will fuel the debate about unrealistic body types in media images.

Diedrichs said some of the participants in her study ”may have attributed the models’ muscularity to vanity or homosexuality, characteristics which they may have found unpleasant or discomforting…The average-size male models [may have seemed] less concerned with their appearance.” {The Sydney Morning Herald}

We think it might just mean that most men are not as concerned with their appearances as previously thought.

Some bloggers noted that for every study there is another that yields opposite results. For example, Deidrichs conducted a 2008 study that found plus size female models were no less effective in selling products than super thin models, but a University of Arizona study discovered plus size models in ads sold fewer products than skinny models, so maybe those concerned with manorexia shouldn’t get too excited just yet. {The Cut}

Our only concern with the results of this study is that the male students rated ads that showed just the product with no model to be most effective. This could show that men prefer not to see any image to which they are bound to compare themselves, meaning young males are still susceptible to body image issues after all.

Norma Kamali and Elie Tahari, on the other hand, are among the sparse selection of brands who have allowed their iPhone apps to mature into full hand-held shopping experiences.

Many luxury brands like Chanel have balked at the continuing trend of making everything internet-accessible (luxury is, after all, about exclusivity), but retailers in this day and age are better off swallowing their pride and keeping up with the Joneses and all their sparkly new tech toys.

Perhaps fashion really is on its way to becoming more democratic after all.

Read the full story {The Wall Street Journal}