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FASHION BUZZ

IT'S been a hell of a week at Elite. First it was hit with a $90 million lawsuit, and then the firm sacked its head booker, who refers to Elite chief Gerald Marie as a "sleazebag."

Rival Next models filed the lawsuit over the defection of agent Nathalie Bernier in March, who took 20 of Next's male models with her and established a men's division at Elite. The suit names Bernier, Marie and Elite's director of scouting Karen Lee.

An Elite rep acknowledged the suit but declined to comment. "We don't comment on ongoing litigation," was Next's response.

Meanwhile, Elite's top booker Louie Chaban, who repped the agency's top girls such as Maggie Rizer, Karen Elson, Sophie Dahl, Missy Rayder, Oluchi and Jade Parfitt, was shown the door Wednesday, and the division he formed has been dissolved.

"The decision to fire Mr. Chaban was based upon several key factors, including concerns expressed by the models themselves; repeat complaints from clients; his inability to work effectively within the Elite Network; and anemic sales figures that simply don't justify his exorbitant salary," Marie said.

"Elite has a new generation of managers who know what it takes to build and maintain the careers of today's saavier models. Louie Chaban is not one of them."

But Chaban counters, and Elite insiders confirm, that he was let go after refusing to sign a binding contract.

"The truth is, I really got tired of working for a sleazebag like Gerald," Chaban tells Fashion Buzz. "I'm just not gonna swallow his disgustingness any more. First I worked through his BBC scandal, then I had to work through his Tunisian s*** - plus I know this other shady s*** about him."

As we reported a few weeks back, Marie's decision to stage the Elite Model Look contest world final in terror-ridden, repressive Tunisia in September has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Marie fired two top Elite execs, friends of Chaban, who balked at participating.

"He tried to slap me with a contract," Chaban says. "He heard I was looking around and talking to other agencies. There was no-one at Elite I could relate to anymore. And if my figures were so low and there were so many complaints, then why was he trying to get me to stay?"

Chaban says he hasn't plotted his next move yet, noting, "I'm talking to lots of people." One thing's for certain, however: "All my models are gonna leave Elite. Trust me, they're not gonna stay. They're gonna come with me."

That would certainly be bad news for Elite. Marie says he is personally going to telephone Chaban's girls to "discuss the future of their careers and the possibilities with new managers." So he hopes.

Speaking of lawsuits, supermodel Naomi Campbell may find herself on the receiving end of yet another one after walking out on an underwear shoot.

After arriving an hour late for the British Splendour label's fall/winter campaign day-long shoot Campbell, who had been allowed to choose her make-up artist, hairdresser and photographer, posed for just three hours before stalking out.

As a result, the company has refused to pay Campbell's $75,000 fee, and wants to recoup the $180,000 it blew on the shoot.

"We're terribly disappointed," Splendour's chief executive, Mark Pilkington, told the London Mirror. "We were really keen to work with Naomi and it would have been a considerable coup for us. We're in discussions with her people at the moment but we haven't ruled out legal action."

Campbell apparently made it clear from the get-go that she didn't want to do the shoot and refused to speak to anyone or let anybody touch her.

"Our designer is normally involved in photo shoots to make sure everything fits, but Naomi wouldn't let her touch her, so she couldn't arrange the garments on her body," Pilkington says.

But Campbell really went ballistic when she was asked to model a thong. "We'd sent her a sample of the underwear, so she knew what was expected of her," Pilkington says. "It certainly shouldn't have come as a surprise that we needed her to model a thong."

Campbell's rep was unable to reach her for comment.

Dave
Orlando, Florida

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