elite

Elite Yelp Cult Wreaks Havoc on Restaurants and Hors D'oeuvres

Adrian Chen · 06/03/11 10:20AM

Yelp: Full of altruistic, food-loving people who get a kick out of highlighting restaurants they love, right? Wrong. The "Yelp Mafia" is a violent ravenous mob, bound by a shadowy covenant whose only condition is power—and free food.

See Your Credit Rating in the VIP Room

Lauri Apple · 05/15/11 12:45PM

Given that the nation's credit rating bureaus have names that are somewhat nightclubby — "see you later on at Club Experian!" — it almost makes sense that they maintain VIP lists. Almost.

Model Agency Exec Disgraces His Industry

cityfile · 03/06/09 08:51AM

We cannot imagine why, but Paris authorities decided, of all the weeks in the year, to pick Fashion Week for a series of drug raids! Even more surprising, the chief executive of Elite Models' parent company Elite World, Bertrand Hennet, has been arrested for buying, possessing, and transporting cocaine. Police said that the 35-year-old "openly admitted that he had just bought £120 worth of cocaine, but consumed it before we got to him." The true mark of a dedicated junkie: When police are hammering at the door, don't throw your stash down the toilet, just snort it as quickly as possible!

The Return of Fur, Gisele's Engagement, Blake's Size 0

cityfile · 01/12/09 04:58PM

Gisele is engaged. [People]
• Fur is back. Jean Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani are among the designers leading the rebellion. [Ind.]
• Despite the recession (and a gazillion lawsuits), American Apparel is one of the few retailers seeing record profits. [WWD]
• Sass & Bide has dropped out of New York Fashion Week. [Fashionista]
• With marketing budgets on the decline, more designers are looking for a boost from Hollywood's awards season. [WSJ]
• Menswear designer Ferruccio Pozzoni is departing Valentino. [Reuters]
• As expected, vacancies are up on Madison Avenue. [Crain's]
• The worst of the worst from the Stephen Sprouse party last week. [Pipeline]
• Rumor has it Elite is cutting both models and bookers. [NYM]
• Blake Lively refuses to wear anything but a size zero. The solution? The Gossip Girl costume department cuts the tags out of larger samples. [FWD]

Elite Models Reclaims Its Rep

cityfile · 11/06/08 11:01AM

Despite the frequency with which willowy, young models end up shacking up with fat, old billionaires, Elite Model Management would like to make it very clear that it is not an escort agency. You cannot just pay some enormous fee, pick a stick-thin girl from a lineup, and then take her into a room for some "companionship." This explains why the modeling agency was none too pleased when it found out that a Manhattan escort agency was using the Elite name (and the domain elitemodels.cc) to market $7,500 prostitutes.

Tory Burch Not for Sale, Bloodbath at Elite Models

cityfile · 10/27/08 03:34PM

♦ Following reports in July that Tory Burch was offering a 30 percent stake in her hugely successful womenswear and accessories label, she now says that the company is not for sale. Also, she says the economy has had an impact on her designs: "I don't think women want to be over-the-top anymore. They want something that's chic and elegant, but not such a big statement." [WWD]
♦ If you've noticed slightly fewer giraffe-like teens with unplaceable accents on the streets of Manhattan, it's because in a sobering indicator of just how bad things are, Elite has slashed 60 models from its roster. [Fashionista]