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Maggie Rizer (born Margaret Mary Rizer on January 9, 1978 in Staten Island, New York) is an American model, actress, and AIDS activist. She is also ambassador for Operation Smile.

Personal life[link]

Maggie was born to Maureen and Kevin Rizer. Her parents divorced before she was a year old when her father announced he was gay. Ten years later her mother married John Breen. Her extended family includes siblings Julia, Patricia, Katie, and Jake. The family, who lives in upstate New York, appeared in a 2001 Teen Vogue layout. Rizer married Iranian businessman Alex Mehran on September 18, 2010 in Lake Placid, New York.^[1] On November 23, 2011, she gave birth to her first child, Alexander Rafahi Mehran III. [3]</ref>

Modeling career[link]

Rizer's high school graduation portrait was hung in Burns Photography studio and in the local mall. Neighbors saw the large photo and encouraged Maggie's mother Maureen to send the photo to the Ford Modeling Agency in New York City. Rizer's pale skin, covered in freckles, and her bright blue eyes caught the modeling world's attention. Rizer initially turned down modeling offers to continue her studies at the State University of New York at Geneseo and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Rizer's hair is naturally strawberry blonde. She dyed her hair carrot-red and attracted the attention of Italian Vogue and photographer Steven Meisel. They booked her for her first cover and 20-page couture layout in September 1997. She was also featured on the April 1999 cover of American Vogue with Kate Moss. Her second American Vogue cover was in November 2000 with models Carmen Kass, Angela Lindvall, and Frankie Rayder. That year she was up for the 2000 VH1/Vogue "Model of the Year" award. Carmen Kass was the eventual winner. Rizer has appeared in many fashion spreads and on the covers of dozens of fashion magazines including Elle', Lucky, Vogue, and Flare.

Rizer was at the peak of her modeling career in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Neal Hamil, her agent at Ford, said

She was a canvas you could manipulate and mold into whatever mood or look you were doing, which made her, obviously, a very popular model. That, and the fact that she was so eager to please. [4]

She starred in campaigns for Gap, Clinique, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Versace, Viktor & Rolf, Celine, Romeo Gigli, and Max Mara.

Her favorite designers were Miuccia Prada, Gucci, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui. Her favorite photographers are Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier, Irving Penn, Inez van Lamsweerde, and Chadwick Tyler.

Rizer has also done some limited film and television work. She briefly appeared in a television episode ("Let There Be Light") of Sex and the City during Season Six. She is the model who begs Smith to party with her and her friends at Richard Wright's hotel. Rizer also appears in a deleted scene from the 2001 Ben Stiller movie Zoolander. She appears with a group of models traveling in a limousine who stop and ask Stiller's character Derek Zoolander to "come and join our sex party!"

Loss of modeling fortune[link]

Maggie earned around $20,000 per fashion show and her day-rate started at $30,000. She amassed a fortune of $7 million in only five years.^[2]

At 20, Rizer and her mother hired a New York City financial manager to handle her money in exchange for five percent of her earnings. Weeks later, her stepfather John Breen, who was in the insurance industry, told her that this was a waste of money and that he wanted to handle all of her finances.

Breen had a serious drinking problem, however. The family would assume he was at work as he worked for himself at a small local insurance agency. According to him, after he lost his savings, he turned to Rizer's money and sometimes lost over $60,000 of it per day. No one but John was aware of these losses.

Maggie's mother eventually forced her husband into alcohol rehab and while he was gone, she came across receipts, documents, and forged checks in his trashcan at his office. She slowly unraveled the details of his addiction and discovered that Breen had gambled away all of Maggie's modeling income and the money Maggie had inherited upon the death of her biological father, Kevin, from AIDS in 1992.

In 2004, her stepfather was convicted of grand larceny and conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to sixteen to forty-eight months in prison. The family was left with no money. Rizer also gained weight after discovering her fortune was gone. Ford, and then her new modeling agency, IMG, encouraged Rizer to seek therapy. Rizer mostly dropped out of modeling for the next five years.

As a result of the thefts, Maureen had to briefly go on welfare and food stamps to support her large family.^[3]

A long article, detailing Rizer's rise-and-fall, was in New York Magazine and online in April and May 2005.

AIDS activism[link]

Rizer was fourteen when her openly gay father Kevin Rizer died of AIDS, and she has since become involved in AIDS awareness. As an adult, she spoke with Scott, her father's partner of ten years about how many friends her father had lost to the disease.

Modeling comeback[link]

People Magazine, in its December 15, 2008 issue, ran a story about Rizer's attempts at a modeling comeback. In the Fall of 2009, Rizer began appearing in advertisements for Dooney and Bourke. In the spring of 2010, she has been featured prominently on the website for the L.L.Bean SIGNATURE line and in the print catalog.

External links[link]

• Look Online Interview with Maggie Rizer
• Maggie Rizer at the Internet Movie Database
• Maggie Rizer at the Fashion Model Directory

References[link]

1. ^ "Stepdaddy’s Little Girl", by Kate Pickert New York Magazine April 11, 2005. [1]
2. ^ Maggie Rizer, Broke Supermodel, How the Lotto Ruined Her Life," by Kate Pickert, New York Magazine, May 21, 2005.
3. ^ "Maggie Rizer, Broke Supermodel, How the Lotto Ruined her Life," by Kate Pickert, New York Magazine, May 21, 2005.

Rebecca Taylor

Rebecca Taylor (born c. 1969) is a New Zealand-born fashion designer based in New York, New York, United States. To Americans, she is probably the most famous New Zealand designer, with her label at US and European department stores. Her retail outlets include boutiques in Japan. Her company was reported in 2003 as having a US$12 million turnover.

A Rebecca Taylor design in 2011.

Background[link]

In New Zealand, she attended St Catherine's College in Wellington. She received her initial fashion training as part of Access, a government scheme, training at the Bowerman School of Design. She then went on to study Fashion Design at Wellington Polytechnic (now Massey University). One of her first jobs on the scheme was making clothes for Peter Jackson's Meet the Feebles’ puppet characters. After arriving in New York with $600 to her name, she was eventually hired by fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, under whom she worked for six years.

She débuted at New York Fashion Week as part of the Gen Art Styles competition in the late 1990s, before doing her own catwalk show in 1999.

In January 2011, Rebecca Taylor was acquired by Kellwood Company.^[1]

The label[link]

The multi-million-dollar Rebecca Taylor label was set up by Taylor with business partner Elizabeth Bugdaycay in 2000.^[2]

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is a fan of Taylor's designs and called the designer personally. Taylor reportedly thought the call from Parker was a joke. Eventually, her work would be seen on Parker's show, Sex and the City, and on the Today show. Jennifer Lopez, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet and Uma Thurman have been reported as Rebecca Taylor customers.

Personal life[link]

She is married to Wayne Pate, who was introduced to her via mutual friends. Her younger sister, Victoria Taylor, is a nationally known jewellery designer in Wellington, New Zealand, and débuted her Tory Jewellery Company range at one of Rebecca Taylor's catwalk shows in New York.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rebecca Taylor Homepage
• Interview with Taylor
• Kellwood Acquires Rebecca Taylor

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Carmen Kass
Carmen Kass, July 2007
Born	(1978-09-14) September 14, 1978 (age 33) Tallinn, Estonia
Height	5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m)
Hair color	Light Brown
Eye color	Green
Measurements	86-61-86
Weight	114 lb / 52 kg
Manager	Women Management New York Baltic Models Storm Model Agency London Brave Model Management Milan Silent models Paris International Creative Management London

Carmen Kass (born September 14, 1978) is an Estonian model.

Early life[link]

Kass was born in Tallinn, Estonia and grew up in Mäo village, near Paide, the capital of Järva County. Kass, her sister and brother were raised only by their mother Koidu Põder.^[1]

Career[link]

Modeling[link]

Kass moved to Paris at the age of eighteen and soon received exposure by appearing on the covers of French and American Vogue, Australian Elle, UK Image, Madame Figaro, and French Numéro.^[2]

Her career was launched by Anna Wintour and by 1999, Kass was walking the runway for designers such as Shiatzy Chen, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and Dolce & Gabbana, and posing in advertisements for designers and brands like Calvin Klein, Chanel, Gucci, Donna Karan, Dsquared2, Versace, Givenchy, Fendi, Max Mara, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, and even General Motors. She also appeared in a Gap denim advertising campaign and was a spokesperson for Revlon cosmetics, Sephora, and the Christian Dior perfume, J'adore.^[3] In 2007 alone, Kass booked ten campaigns with notable designers for spring/summer collections. As of 2007, she is the model and spokesperson for Max Factor.^[4][5] She is currently the face of Spanish fashion brand Hoss Intropia for Autum/Winter 2010 and Swedish brand Lindex. Kass was awarded by Vogue as "Model of the Year" at the 2000 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards.^[6] While a model in New York, she attended the Lee Strasberg Institute.^[7] Kass is well known for her distinctive runway walk in the fashion industry despite her height, her feet are small (about an American size seven).^[8]

She opened the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 1999, and also walked the 2000, 2002,^[9] 2003, and 2008.^[10]

Other endeavors[link]

In 2004, Kass played the female lead in the Estonian murder-mystery film Täna öösel me ei maga ("We Won't Sleep Tonight"; titled "Set Point" in the international release).^[11]

In February 2004, she joined Estonia's ruling Res Publica Party.^[12] Kass ran for the European Parliament after her homeland joined the European Union in May 2004.^[13] She won 2315 votes from the Estonian electorate, but was not elected to the European Parliament.^[14]

Kass plays chess^[15] and was elected president of the Estonian National Chess League in 2004.^[16] She ran a campaign for Tallinn to host the 2008 Chess Olympics; however, Dresden, Germany was chosen instead.^[17]

She is part owner of her mother agency, Baltic Models.^[18]

In 2008, Carmen Kass created a SMS loan company called Credit Market in Estonia.^[19] By April 2009, the Estonian media released an article noting that the company was in financial difficulties and had not paid taxes in Estonia.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Her older sister Victoria De Luna married singer Joel De Luna.^[21] The couple separated in 2004 after they both were charged and convicted with drug trafficking.^[22] Kass's older brother Kutty Kass is involved in real estate.^[23]

Kass has dated restaurant owner Richie Akiva whom she met in 1998 and dated until 2004.^[24] Since late 2004, she has been involved with Eric Lobron, a German chess champion.^[25]

She is a close friend of fellow top-tier model Gisele Bündchen amongst others.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carmen Kass

• Carmen Kass at the Internet Movie Database
• Carmen Kass at the Fashion Model Directory