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“Definitely Heidi and I come from two different places,” Iman tells the World Entertainment News Network. “I’m not belittling Heidi Klum, but I have been in fashion much more than she has. Not to toot my own horn, but I have been one of the best runway girls.”

She adds: “I know clothes, and I know about working hand in hand with designers - I mean, I’ve worked with Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, John Galliano. Yves St Laurent - he created a whole collection for me. Tom Ford, Valentino. Versace. Jean Paul Gaultier. Thierry Mugler… I could go on and on.” [source]

Apparently, flying the friendly skies with Naomi Campbell ain’t so damn friendly. On Thursday night, the supermodel threw a hissy fit at Heathrow airport over a lost bag and allegedly spit on a police officer. They catwalked her ass to jail where she was released on bail sometime after midnight Friday morning.

Via the AP

Naomi Campbell was released on bail Friday after a spat with a police officer at Heathrow Airport’s troubled new Terminal 5, where one of her bags was lost.Campbell, 37, left the airport police station just after midnight. London’s Metropolitan Police said she was released pending further inquiries and told to report to a police station in late May.

The London-born supermodel was arrested late Thursday on suspicion of assaulting an officer after police were called to a disturbance at the airport.

According to the Telegraph, this isn’t the first time Naomi has lost her mind in an airport.

In September she was seen swearing at airline staff in front of dozens of passengers after being told she could not board her flight to New York because she arrived just 11 minutes before take-off.

She also lost her temper in Bogota airport in Columbia in 2005 after bags containing her designer dresses and shoes were mistakenly sent to Houston, Texas. The model, who had just flown in from New York, threatened to get on the next flight out of the country if the problem was not sorted out.

Someone seriously needs to up her meds.

Katoucha Niane for Christian Lacroix F/W 1992

I’ve been meaning to do a tribute to Katoucha Niane since her death in Paris this February.

Known professionally only as “Katoucha”, she was one of the first African models to achieve top model status and paved the way for the careers of Naomi Campbell and countless other black models. She was the former muse of Yves Saint-Laurent and one of the top model in the 1980’s and through the early 1990’s, walking for Christian Lacroix and Thierry Mugler.

Katoucha Niane and Christian Lacroix F/W 1994

Born in the African nation of Guinea, Katoucha retired from the runway in 1994 and spent the last few years speaking out against the practice of female genital mutilation in her homeland. In 2007, she wrote a Dans ma chair (In My Flesh), a book that detailed her own female circumcision at the age of nine.

In the book, she categorized her success as a model saying, “I embodied the most arrogant and admired kind of femininity, I who was supposed to be diminished”.

On February 28, 47 year old Katoucha Niane’s body was found in the Seine River. Although there was initially some suspicion of foul play, her death has since been ruled an accident caused by an intoxicated Niane falling into the river as she returned to her houseboat after a party.

Although her life was marked by tragedy, she will always be remembered as the vibrant, elegant and unfailingly beautiful model and activist.

video via WSJ

Jessica Stam bestows some model mojo and teaches a DKNY intern how to walk like a supah model. Her advice: shoulders down, head up and long strides.I think that’s what I do every day, but somehow I don’t get paid for it.

The video also has a little clip of Jourdan Dunn walking in the Oscar de la Renta show.

I haven’t done a model highlight since Wakeema, so I thought it was time and who better to put the spotlight on other than Jourdan Dunn.

Everyone has been giving the head nod to the UK model and they’re calling Fall 2008 Jourdan Dunn’s breakout season. The 17 year old model walked for a number of houses this season, racking up around 31 shows between New York, London, Milan and Paris.

Casting directors and designers all seemed to all fall in love with her simultaneously, sending her down the runways of Gucci, Valentino, Carolina Herrera, Marc Jacobs, and dozens more.

But you knew she was destined for big things when you saw her strutting down the Prada runway. Jourdan was the only black model to walk the Prada runway, ending a 10 year drought that had lasted since Naomi Campbell strutted for the house in Fall 1997. Yeah, it’s been that long.

Jourdan Dunn for Prada Fall 2008

It’s easy to see why everyone loves Jourdan. The former dancer has a very elegant look that the high-end houses eat up. Her high cheekbones, slightly upturned eyes and long neck combine to give her this other-worldly refined look.

Jourdan was discovered in her hometown of London by Storm Models (who also discovered Kate Moss) and is currently with Women Management in New York.

In a recent interview, Jourdan had these things to say about living the glamorous life of a 17 year old supermodel.

“It’s crazy backstage, with hair and makeup, especially because my hair is different to most other models’, sometimes it’s really difficult for them to do it.”

“They are always putting different products on your hair…and it is always damaged at the end of the season,” said Dunn, who relies on her cousin rather than expensive beauty salons to treat her dark brown mane.

And on the late-night parties that she’s invited to?

“I’m not really into after parties, I am only 17 and I feel like I’ll be with a bunch of people not my age.”

She sounds pretty down to earth, no?

So now that Jourdan is the next big face on the runway, I hope we can expect to see her booking some big print campaigns soon. Is that too much to ask?

Click to enlarge

Photo credits: Style.com, Style.it, Elle, Nathalie Paris, Dazed & Confused Magazine