Naomi Campbell

Leonardo DiCaprio posed with Naomi Campbell and met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday at the International Tiger Conservation Forum in St. Petersburg. Leo arrived a bit late for the event after his original flight from NYC had to make an emergency landing, and Putin spoke highly of the actor's decision to make the journey despite all the "obstacles."
He said, "A person with less stable nerves could have decided against coming, could have read it as a sign — that it was not worth going . . . In our country, they have a saying — a real man." The actor took his support of the cause one step further by donating $1 million to the World Wildlife Fund, an organization close to his heart, and tweeting to fellow celebrities about the tigers' situation. Putin urged Leonardo to sight-see around the city today, which may mean skipping Thanksgiving stateside this year. He's had family on the mind recently, however, since he brought his mom to meet Bar Refaeli's parents, sparking the latest round of engagement rumors about the duo, which have since been denied.

>> Stunt casting has really become part of the fashion show DNA in the past couple of seasons, but Anna Sui's runway casts have always boasted at least a few special girls — sometimes even a few supermodels. Though now, she says, "It’s a different time. We are now going through a period of a lot of Eastern European. It’s more about their look than their personalities. It was the most terrifying thing to do fittings with supermodels, because they would come in and look at your Polaroid board and count how many outfits they had, what order they came out in, and who were they next to. They would say things like, 'She is taller than me, and I am not coming out after her,' 'How come she has three outfits, and I only have two,' and 'I want that outfit.' They’d literally pull the Polaroid off the board and say they want to wear this. There was a reason they were supermodels, though. When they put on an outfit, everyone was floored."

That includes Karl Lagerfeld — who took notice of Sui's dresses before she even had her first runway show. As Sui tells it, "Linda [Evangelista] and Naomi [Campbell] went to the couture shows the Summer before my first show, and they were wearing my cotton lace baby-doll dresses. All of a sudden, I started getting phone calls from Paris, and other models like Helena Christensen were asking for the dress. I heard that Karl [Lagerfeld] was complaining. Everyone came into the couture fitting wearing my dresses, and he was like 'Who is this Anna?'"

American designer Anna Sui has been in this business for a very long time. So long that she lived — and can clearly recall — the days when supermodels reigned supreme. In her own words, it was a whole different time:

"It was the most terrifying thing to do fittings with supermodels, because they would come in and look at your Polaroid board, and count how many outfits they had, what order they came out in and who were they next to. They would say things like, 'She is taller than me and I am not coming out after her,' 'How come she has three outfits and I only have two' and 'I want that outfit.' They'd literally pull the Polaroid off the board and say they want to wear this. There was a reason they were supermodels, though. When they put on an outfit, everyone was floored."

She goes on about how nowadays it's all about the look and less about the personality. Do you miss those supermodel days? I do!

• 2011 Spring Milan Fashion Week: Roberto Cavalli — FabSugar UK
• Agyness Deyn on screen — Vogue UK
• Doutzen Kroes juice fasts before the Victoria's Secret fashion show — The Cut
• Watch it: calculator watches — Nylon
• A look at Jil Sander's third +J Collection for Uniqlo, out Oct. 7 — Fashionologie
• Gap introduces new collection of premium black pants in seven essential styles — Refinery29
• Who wore Stella McCartney better: Rihanna or Jennifer Garner? — Red Carpet Fashion Awards
• Models off the runway: Milan — Vogue Daily
• Beauty inspiration: HBO's Boardwalk Empire — College Fashion
• Leighton Meester aka Blair in Louis Vuitton — Bag Snob
• Naomi Campbell reveals and tells all to Interview Magazine — Interview

Kate Moss, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Naomi Campbell broke from the London Fashion Week proceedings to attend a memorial service for their friend, Alexander McQueen, today at St. Paul's Cathedral. They were among the stars who had iconic moments wearing designs by Alexander, who committed suicide last February. Sarah Jessica is in England now after wrapping up her style duties in NYC and getting her son, James Wilkie, settled into school again. She didn't speak during the ceremony, which was led by Anna Wintour, but was moved to tears by a tribute offered by jewelry designer Shaun Leane. SJP did say on the way out, "It was beautiful and so memorable. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world." Kate, meanwhile, joined pals like Daphne Guinness and Stella McCartney and caught up once again with her ex, Jefferson Hack.

To see more from London, just read more