Herb Ritt: The Archives

The brilliant work of late photographer Herb Ritt lives on through these newly released images found tucked away in his archives. The California native is famous for shooting some of the most memorable and visually stunning photographs of Naomi Campbell, Johnny Depp, David Bowie, Cindy Crawford, and many others.
NOWNESS.com has presented a selection of these images leading up to a highly anticipated exhibit at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles featuring a collection of 69 unreleased photos in the spring of 2012. Check out some of Ritt's stunning work after the jump.
SEE MORE HERE...

Fashion Night Out 2010 on Rodeo Drive

Kelly Osbourne @ Fashion's Night Out on Rodeo

Last Friday, Sept. 10th, the streets were lined with style pros, divos, and a few cosmos for Fashion's Night Out in Los Angeles! Celebrating the second installment of the event, conceptualized by Vogue fashion editor Anna Wintour, 80+ stores on the famous Rodeo drive opened their doors to the public to participate in this global fashion fiesta. READ MORE

Naomi's Testimony: "Dirty-Looking Stones"

Last week we touched on the case of the blood diamond gift that was allegedly given to super model Naomi Campbell by former Liberian president Charles Taylor.
For months Miss Campbell pleaded with the courts to spare her the drama of being involved in a case against the man who is accused of a number of unimaginable war crimes against his own people. Her reluctance, which many media outlets are referring to as "refusal to cooperate", is out of fear for her own families safety.
Campbell would have faced up to seven years in prison if she didn't show up.
Well, she did.
Here is a sample of her testimony.

Only time will tell if Naomi's testimony helped or hurt the prosecution. If nothing else, her fame alone has brought the attention back to a case that hasn't had this much headline presence since Kanye West's "Diamonds Are Forever, Sierra Leone Remix".
Justice has yet to be served and the tragic events that stem from this case should not be forgotten. ~vK

Beauty and the Blood Diamond

Early this year, a story broke about British SUPER model, Naomi Campbell and her involvement in a case against the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor. Although she had been subpoenaed to appear in court to testify against him this Thursday, July 29th, CNN reported today that the court agreed to postpone her testimony until August 5th.

In case you've been snoozing under a rock, the story goes as follows: Miss Campbell and all of her fabulousness attended an event back in '97 hosted by Nelson Mandela to mark the opening of South Africa's luxury passenger rail service, the Blue Train. In attendance were Quincy Jones, Mia Farrow and president Taylor, who had been elected just one month prior. Taylor was said to have been so captivated by Naomi (who isn't?) that later that evening, to her surprise, he sent his men to deliver a large, rough cut diamond to her room as a gift.
Her good friend Mia Farrow says that she had initially planned to donate the stone to one of Mandela's children's charities. All was well until Taylor came up on numerous charges of war crimes spawning from the civil war of Sierra Leone involving massive killings, countless rapes and acts of sex slavery, child labor, mutilation and forcing children to commit heinous murders under the influence of psychotic drugs.
To say this guy was soulless bastard is the understatement of the day.

Apparently, Naomi's friend Mia dropped a dime on her and made a written statement to authorities about Taylor giving her the diamond, thus putting Miss Campbell in a terrible predicament. Naturally one would assume that she wouldn't hesitate to testify against Taylor, as this would help to prove his possession of a wealth of illegally procured "blood diamonds" that helped to fund his reign of terror in Sierra Leone.

Naomi initially denied that she was ever given the diamond in an effort to not be associated with the case, understandably out of fear. She stated on the Oprah Show this year in may that, "He has done some terrible things and I don't want to put my family in danger".
Still, the diva is due in court in approximately 2 weeks to testify.

I certainly hope that her testimony, as well as the others involved in the case are enough to insure that justice is served.

I for one can't help but to feel sorry for Naomi. The media is having a field day with alluding to the fact that she is some kind of careless, cell phone tossing, maid smacking maniac who sleeps on a bed of blood diamonds for fun, which I refuse to buy into. This is a person who is a supporter of Russel Simmons "Diamond Empowerment Fund" which supports educational initiatives that develop and empower people in African nations where diamonds are a natural resource.
Learn more HERE.

She accepted a gift, and almost 13 years later, she is paying the price for it. SMH.

LEAVE NAOMI CAMPBELL ALOOOOOOONE!!! ~vK