WOMEN have welcomed Nike’s latest ad campaign, focussed on loving your big butt, with open arms. But is it all that new?

Featuring a newer, lighter-skinned model this time around, several media outlets have spotted the similarities between this one and an earlier 2005 featuring the rounded behind of a dark-skinned model.

Many suggest this is Nike’s attempt at diversification, making the point that not only black women have big backsides. But would a large corporation such as Nike allow an ad with recycled, misspelled copy—it’s “ambassador,” not “embassador”—to go public?

Why the revival? No word yet from Nike itself but we have to say we much prefer the original, 2005 version.

What do you think?

ANN Taylor is no stranger to overzealous Photoshopping and now it seems those click-happy graphic designers are at it again…

Untouched images from the brand’s catalogue found their way onto its website this week, appearing only when customers clicked on the untouched thumbnails to reveal the version with a whittled-down model. Not only that, the clothes are so remarkably smooth you wonder if they’re made of fabric or painted on.

After the embarrassing reveal in May, Ann Taylor issued a statement saying, “We want to support and celebrate the natural beauty of women, and we apologise if in the process of retouching that was lost.”

The company has not made any comments about this week’s incident as yet.

C’mon guys (we’re looking at you too Ralph Lauren), aren’t those models thin enough already?

HAVE you always wanted a piece of Justin Timberlake to yourself?

Now you can! The singer-slash-fashion designer and pal Trace Ayala are teaming up with Target to release a William Rast collection for the mass retailer’s Go International campaign come Christmas time.

The “Sexy Back” singer’s line joins a list of fashion elite such as Rodarte, Jean Paul Gaultier, Proenza Schouler and Zac Posen in bringing more affordable fashion to the rest of us cash-strapped fans.

USA Today reports that the William Rast for Target collection will be available for a month after a December 19 launch, offering denim, outerwear and sportswear in both men’s and women’s ranges.

The typical William Rast look has an emphasis on jeans and leather jackets, with their latest collection inspired by road trips between the Mississippi River and the West Coast, according to Justin.

Move aside, Jessica Biel!

One of the eight photos published by French 'Playboy'.

IN an totally unexpected move, Dutch model Lara Stone is suing French Playboy for publishing nude photos of her in their June 2010 issue without her permission.

Fair enough we say, we all have to protect our work. But for someone who has shown off her breasts, backside and, umm, nether regions in every high fashion magazine imaginable, is this purely an attempt at snobbery or a move to get paid for the pictures?

“Playboy had no right to publish these unauthorised photographs. It’s not the kind of publication I would ever choose to appear in. I feel I have no option but to take steps to protect my reputation,” said Lara to Britain’s Independent.

The newlywed model, who married British comedian David Walliams earlier this year, is pressing charges against both Playboy and photographer Greg Lotus who gave the magazine access to the images.

Is it hypocritical that she thinks showing her coochie in Purple magazine is different from Playboy? Should Hugh Hefner be offended?

What say you?

KATE and Laura Mulleavy may have missed their Michelle Obama-hosted luncheon this week for their Cooper Hewitt design award, but all have been forgiven since images of their costumes for Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan hit the internet.

The sisters, of Rodarte, outfitted Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman in intricate ballerina costumes fit for Odette herself.

Although Natalie and Darren have been working on the project since 2000 (Nat is a trained ballet dancer), Rodarte was a late addition because the sisters only conceived their line in 2005. But after ten years, it looks like they got the look right in the end.

The film is about a stoic ballerina who scores the principal role in a production of “Swan Lake.” She is encouraged to get in touch with her inner seductress and gets some help from the ballet director and a rival ballerina. Black Swan is set to debut on the opening night of the Venice Film Festival on September 1.

Can this overtake Karl Lagerfeld’s “Dying Swan” costume for the Ballet Russes? You decide!

IT’S not everyday we see a Hollywood star not wanting to be associated to a fashion label, but in this instance, we can see why.

Last week, 49-year-old star George Clooney attended court in Italy to deliver a 90-minute testimony—which the judge noted “lasted as long as a movie”—to testify against the people who claimed that George was launching his own clothing line called “GC Exclusive”. The case dates back to April 2008 when the defendants used the actor’s name to market a fashion show at a Milan hotel.

On Friday, George had to push through a throng of fans and paparazzi to enter the courtroom, with one woman thrown out for taking a picture of the Oceans Eleven star.

In his testimony, a wry and very smug George took time to have a crack at the people who concocted the fraudulent fashion line.

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen him,” George said, motioning to one of the defendants, Francesco Galdelli. Then he sly added, “So I’d like to say hello, nice to meet you.”

The defence’s case rested on alleged photos of George with the defendants, but the actor said he had never hung out with any them, including Vanja Goffi who was pictured in one of the images. George claimed that his face was Photoshopped onto the body of a badly-dressed man.

TAYLOR Momsen has been revealed as the new face for Madonna and her daughter’s new fashion line, Material Girl.

The actress-slash-musician is featured in the latest ad for Madge and Lourdes Leon’s juniors label that will be sold exclusively at Macy’s from August. It shows Taylor is a bold striped minidress, grey sweater, an armful of bangles and tough-girl biker boots.

What do you think of the Gossip Girl‘s new gig as fashion model? We would’ve loved to see Lourdes show off the range herself because she’s got quite the personality already, but we suppose Taylor will have to do!

Madonna previously admitted her 14-year-old daughter did the brunt of the design work for their new project, and hinted the line would be modelled by a unique talent.

As long as Taylor keeps those stripper heels away from the equation, we say well done!

The photo in question last week. Photo: fordmodelsblog.com

AFTER pictures of an unusually thin Crystal Renn surfaced on the internet last week, the model’s agent has confirmed to Fashionista that she is “still a 39-40 hip and a solid size 10″ (or an Australian 14).

The agent, Gary Dakin, is sure because she was just fitted for a shoot in French Vogue last week and is still getting a lot of work because of her size.

“She has no urge [to lose weight],” said Dakin.

So what explains her svelte figure in new photos on the Ford Models website? Dakin reckons her new hiking kick simply makes her look more toned in photos. We’ll take it, I guess…

As The Cut says, in a perfect world this wouldn’t even be a story, but it’s certainly a good way to show that a regular-sized woman looks just as good, if not better, than any stick-thin bag of bones…