Bianca Balti

Bianca Balti Biography

Bianca Balti (born May 25, 1984) is an Italian supermodel. She was born in Lodi, in the Lombardy region of Italy. At the beginning of her career she was rejected by numerous agencies, such as Elite Model Management, for being "too average and common" looking. In spite of that she did not abandon her dream of becoming a model and was discovered about a year ago in a supermarket where she was jobbing to finance her studies by Bruno Paulette, a scout of Modelschule. Promptly she was booked for the cover of L'Officiel which was shot by Alexi Lubomirski. Her following high fashion campaigns were for Roberto Cavalli, Donna Karan, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Guess? and Anna Molinari. She also appeared in the 2005 Victoria's Secret fashion show and in their catalogs.

- Bottega Veneta
- Trends les Copains
- Blumarine
- Gianfranco Ferrè
- Missoni
- Francesco Sconamiglio

- Behnaz Sarafpour
- Matthew Williamson
- Narciso Rodriguez
- Roland Mouret
- Carolina Herrera
- Jill Stuart
- Oscar de la Renta

- Matthew Williamson
- Narciso Rodriguez
- Roland Mouret
- Jill Stuart
- Marc Jacobs
- Proenza Schouler

Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot Biography

Brigitte Bardot (full name is Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot) was born in Paris to Anne-Marie 'Toty' Mucel and industrialist Charles 'Pilou' Bardot. Toty encouraged Brigitte's interest inmusic and dance at an early age; Brigitte modeled for Elle by the time she was 15 years old.

In 1952 Brigitte appeared on screen for the first time in Crazy for Love. That same year she married director Roger Vadim with whom she had been romantically involved for several years. They married when she turned 18 and divorced five years later.

Vadim was not content with this light fare. The New Wave of French and Italian art directors and their stars were riding high internationally, and he felt Bardot was being undersold. Looking for something more like an art film to push her as a serious actress, he showcased her in And God Created Woman (1956) with Jean-Louis Trintignant. The film, about an amoral teenager in a respectable small-town setting, was a big international success. She may have had an affair with her costar Trintignant but this was more likely a prerelease publicity gimmick. The film is often wrongly described as her first film (it was her seventeenth) and to have launched her overnight but it did help move her towards the cinematic mainstream.

She divorced Vadim in 1957 and in 1959 married actor Jacques Charrier, by whom in 1960 she had her only child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier. She and her son were never close - she did not raise him and once compared being pregnant with him to having a tumor growing within her. Her marriage was preyed on by the paparazzi and there were clashes over the direction of her career. Her films became more substantial, but this brought a heavy pressure of dual celebrity as she sought critical acclaim while remaining a glamour model for most of the world.

Vie privée (1960), directed by Louis Malle has more than an element of autobiography in it. The scene in which, returning to her flat, Bardot's character is harangued in the lift by a middle aged cleaning lady calling her a tramp and a tart was based on an actual incident, and is a resonant image of celebrity in the mid 20th century.

In 1970 the sculptor Alain Gourdon used Bardot as the model for a bust of Marianne, the French national emblem.

In 1973 just before her fortieth birthday Bardot announced her retirement. After appearing in more than fifty motion pictures and recording several music albums, most notably with Serge Gainsbourg, she chose to use her fame to promote animal rights.

The first "Brigitte Bardot" song was released by Achilles and his Heels on the Fontana label in 1961.

In 1986 she established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals. She raised three million French francs to fund the foundation by auctioning off jewelry and many personal belongings. Today she is one of the world's most influential animal rights activists and a major opponent of the consumption of horse meat.

Considered a militant for animal protection, she condemned seal hunting in Canada during a visit to that country. She sought to discuss the issue with Stephen Harper, though her request for a meeting was denied.

Her husband Bernard d'Ormal to whom she has been married since 1992 is a former adviser of the Front National. With the publication of her 2003 book A Scream in the Silence the reclusive Bardot has come under considerable fire for anti-Muslim and homophobic comments. In May 2003 the MRAP announced it would sue Bardot for her published views. Another organisation - the "Ligue des Droits de l'Homme" (League of Human Rights) - announced they were also considering similar legal proceedings. To her defence, she never supported the Front National.

Bardot, in a letter to a French gay magazine, wrote in her defense: 'Apart from my husband - who maybe will cross over one day as well - I am entirely surrounded by homos.

On 10 June 2004 Bardot was convicted by a French court of 'inciting racial hatred and fined 5,000 €, the fourth such conviction/fine she has faced from French courts. The courts cited passages where Bardot referred to the "Islamization of France" and the "underground and dangerous infiltration of Islam", her descriptions of France's Muslim community, the largest in Europe. In the book she also referred to tranvestites as 'fairground freaks' and she questioned the presence of women in government.

In addition to popularizing the bikini swimming suit, Bardot has also been credited for popularizing Saint Tropez. Photos of her in her later years have also been utilized to warn against the dangers of excessive exposure to the sun.

In the Stephen King's book "Hearts in Atlantis", she is the one that appears on Bobby's mind when he and Ted see the big car outside the restaurant. She also appears on a wallpaper in a cinema.

Refrenced in the songs "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Billy Joel), "I Shall Be Free" (Bob Dylan), and "Warlocks" (Red Hot Chili Peppers).

Ann Catherine Lacroix

Date of Birth: 1980
Profession: Model
Ann Catherine Lacroix Biography
Ann Catherine Lacroix is an international model from Brussels.

Basia Milewicz

Basia Milewicz Biography
Basia was born in Gdansk, Poland and has one daughter.

Aurelie Claudel

Aurelie Claudel Biography

Aurelie Claudel was born August 7, 1980 in the small town of Saint-Mars-d'Autille, France, and is one of three children (she has two brothers).

As part of a prominent French family -- her father was a distinguished notary -- that includes being the descendants of French sculptress, Camille Claudel, Aurelie's dreams of life in the limelight were understandably met with some reservation. Her father thoroughly disapproved of her quitting school, but his daughter was too determined to let her dreams drift away.

However, destiny would eventually win out, for at the young age of 13, Aurelie was approached about modeling by a man named Dawn Wolfe, who had seen her in the Jardin des Plantes park in Paris. In spite of her father's objections, Aurelie followed her heart.

It was a gamble that paid off handsomely for Aurelie. By 18, she was on the cover of a European edition of Cosmopolitan and her phone hasn't stopped ringing since.

In addition to Cosmopolitan, she has also been featured in Marie Claire and Vogue, both in the European and American versions. She has also strutted numerous catwalks for most of the designer heavyweights, including Chloe, Emanuel Ungaro and Gucci, as well as Victoria's Secret. She also donned a bikini or two in Sports Illustrated's 2001 Swimsuit Edition.

You might even recognize Aurelie from her appearance in Ricky Martin's "Private Emotion" video.

Her ability to shine in front of a camera lens is a feat that has garnered her the attention of such legendary photographers as Mario Testino (who photographed Aurelie in an edition of the Pirelli calendar), Peter Lindbergh and Steven Meisel (the man behind Madonna's infamous Sex book).

When she's not in front of the camera, Aurelie enjoys horseback riding and traveling to islands.

In addition to the ad for Calvin Klein's "Truth," Aurelie continues to pursue her modeling career. She will no doubt turn up as the face of another major campaign very soon.

She comes from a relatively prominent family (her father was a distinguished notary). She is a descendant of the famous French sculptress Camille Claudel.

She was approached in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris by Dawn Wolfe at the young age of 13. Her father thoroughly disapproved of her quitting school and pursuing a career in modeling but she did it nonetheless.

Aurelie Claudel appeared as "The Pregnant Model" in an editorial for the April 2006 edition of US Vogue, called The Shape Issue.

Asia Argento

Asia Argento Biography

Asia Aria Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento (born September 20, 1975 in Rome) is an Italian television and film actress and director. The City of Rome's register office refused to acknowledge Asia as an appropriate name, and instead officially inscribed her as Aria Argento. Despite this, she uses the nameAsia Argento professionally. ("Asia" is pronounced "" in Italian).

Her mother is the actress Daria Nicolodi and her father is Dario Argento, an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter well known for his work in the Italian giallo genre, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies. Her first child, Anna Lou, was born on 20 June 2001. Italian rock and roll musician Marco Castoldi (lead singer of Bluvertigo), also known as Morgan, is the father.

Asia Argento was directed by her father Dario Argento in one of her first works, Trauma (1993), when she was 16. During this film she also had her first nude scene. She received the David di Donatello (Italy's version of Hollywood's Academy Award) for Best Actress in 1994 for her performance in Perdiamoci di vista!, and again in 1996 for Compagna di viaggio, which also earned her a Grolla d'oro award. In 1998, Argento began appearing in English-language movies, such as B. Monkey and New Rose Hotel, with Christopher Walken.

In addition to her cinematic accomplishments, Argento has written a number of stories for magazines such as Dynamo and L'Espresso, while her first novel, titled I Love You Kirk, was published in Italy in 1999. She has modeled for and endorses the brand "Miss Sixty". The band Hondo Maclean from South Wales, gained Argento's interest when they wrote a track named after her. She liked the track so much she sent them pictures which they used as the cover of their 2004 EP Chasing Angels.

From the 17th to the 25th of October 2006, Argento contributed a video diary to Nick Knight's website, SHOWstudio. The title of the 54 entries/episodes was "Don't Bother To Knock" and detailed Argento's daily life with three entries (noon, 6 pm and midnight) posted every day. The content of the entries were partially controlled by a discussion forum and together formed a cohesive whole, a sort of "mini-movie" anyone could view for free. In the clips Argento discusses topics such as freaks, her father, Fellini and her sexuality; she also journals a pregnancy, a new love interest and her unraveling psyche. All of these issues come to a head before Argento's final revelations and good-byes. The last visual of the diary is a digitally manipulated portrait of Argento taken by Knight, slowly burning away.

Fantasma dell'opera, Il (1998) (The Phantom of the Opera) is the third film Asia has made with her director father, Dario Argento; in 1992 she made Trauma (1993) (filmed in the US) and Sindrome di Stendhal, La (1996) in 1996. Asia Argento was born into a family of actors and movie-makers (her mother is the actress Daria Nicolodi) and is one of the most sought-after actresses of the moment. She made her debut when she was only nine years old in Sergio Citti's "Sogni e bisogni" (1984) (mini). In 1988 she had the leading role in Cristina Comencini's first film Zoo (1989) and was part of the cast of _Chiesa, La (1988)_ , directed by Michele Soavi. The following year she played Nanni Moretti's daughter in Palombella rossa (1989) (also directed by Nanni Moretti).

It was with Amiche del cuore, Le (1992), written and directed by Michele Placido that Asia's career really took off and she was able to move on from playing very young girls to more mature, complex roles. The movie was well received at Cannes film Festival. In Trauma (1993) she worked for the first time with her father, playing an anorexic girl in search of her parents' killer.

Asia's absorbed, intense style of acting was well-used in Giuseppe Piccioni's Condannato a nozze (1993). In 1993 she co-starred in Carlo Verdone's Perdiamoci di vista! (1994) in which she played Arianna, a physically disabled girl - an intricate, difficult role which won her the David di Donatello for best actress ('93-'94). She also had a featured role in the international cast of Reine Margot, La (1994) directed by Patrice Chereau. In 1995 she worked with Michel Piccoli in Peter Del Monte's Compagna di viaggio (1996), which again won her a David di Donatello and a Grolla d'oro.

In 1994, Asia turned her hand to directing two short films: 'Prospettive' (an episode of the film DeGenerazione (1994)) and 'A ritroso'. In 1996 she directed a documentary on her father, and in 1998 one on Abel Ferrara Abel/Asia which won her the Rome Film Festival award. In 1999 Asia made her debut directing a feature film entitled Scarlet Diva (2000) for which she is the leading actress and author of the screenplay. Scarlet Diva has been released in May 2000 in Italy, and the rest of the world. The movie won an award at the Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival. In 2001 after directing a number of music videos she gave birth to her first daughter, Anna Lou. In 2002 she's starring in Sirene rouge, La (2002) by Olivier Megaton with Jean-Marc Barr and the action thriller XXX (2002) directed by Rob Cohen, with Vin Diesel.

Asia Argento is also the author of a number of short stories published in many prestigious magazines such as "Dynamo", "L'Espresso", "Sette" and "Village". Her first novel "I Love You Kirk" has been published in Italy by Frassinelli Editrice in October 1999 and in France by Florent Massot in 2001