News: John McCain, Madonna, Knut, Colombia, Ellen Page, Ireland

California state Supreme Court to hear same-sex marriage arguments this week: "The Supreme Court's intervention has been inevitable since February 2004, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ignited a national furor by giving same-sex couples the short-lived right to marry at City Hall. But now that the justices have the issue in their hands, the outcome is anything but predictable - and the stakes for all corners of the divisive social issue could not be higher."

Madonna/Timberlake single leaks.

PlanetOut posts loss of $51.2 million for 2007: " In 2006, the San Francisco company (NASDAQ: LGBT) lost $3.7 million. Sales fell to $53 million for 2007, down slightly from 2006 sales of $58.8 million. PlanetOut, which owns Gay.com, Advocate.com, Out.com and other web sites, as well as a book publisher, Alyson Publications, recorded a $25.9 million charge for impairment of goodwill and intangible assets in 2007, which contributed to its loss."

Venezuela and Ecuador on brink of war with Colombia? "Venezuela and Ecuador ordered troops to their borders with Colombia, sharply raising tensions after Colombia killed a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil. President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised Venezuela would respond militarily if Colombia violates its border, where he ordered tanks as well as thousands of troops. He also ordered closed Venezuela's embassy in Bogota. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said he deployed troops to the border while also withdrawing his government's ambassador from Bogota and expelling Colombia's top diplomat."

At New York's Bailey House Auction, Tim Gunn elaborates on his recent comments regarding Hillary Clinton's 'gender-confused' fashion sense: "Let me put it this way. I believe in the semiotics of fashion."

Ellen Page wants to "hug a woman with her legs in friendship."

Caged animal: Knut in captivity, one year later.

HIV/AIDS infections surge among gay men in Australia: "Based on current trends in condom use, testing for HIV and other epidemiological factors, the centre predicted new infections would increase from the 234 recorded among Victorian gay men in 2006 to 406 in 2015, an increase of 73.5%. For the same period, infections are predicted to decrease in NSW by 12% and increase in Queensland by 20%. If national trends continue, new infections among gay men in Australia overall would increase from 725 reported in 2006 to 786 in 2015, an 8.5% increase."

T.R. Knight and beau Mark Cornelsen appear at UCLA benefit to help crew members affected by the writer's strike. Previously...

John McCain asked to denounce the support of evangelical pastor John Hagee. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Hagee said: "All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are—were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades."

Madonna and Guy Ritchie bought their neighborhood pub, The Punchbowl.

Olivia Newton-John basks in gay love at Sydney Mardi Gras...

San Francisco launches gay tourism campaign.

Weeklong documentary series on photographers begins tonight on The Sundance Channel: "The documentaries, made over the last decade by 10 independent filmmakers and assembled for the series, feature a broad range of photographers including William Eggleston, Tina Barney, Helmut Newton, and Robert Mapplethorpe and his mentor Sam Wagstaff, among other lesser-known artists."

Jason Preston engaged to Marc Jacobs?

After review of the case, cover-up of gay relationship remains at center of mystery over theft of the Irish crown jewels: "The mystery popped back into the news recently after the safe that held the jewels, known as the regalia of the Illustrious Order of St Patrick, was moved to the Irish police, or Garda, museum where it is now on public display. 'It is a never ending and continually fascinating mystery,' said Murphy. His study, which took a fresh look at all available evidence, backed up the notion that there was a whitewash over the theft to cover up a homosexual ring at the centre of the British colonial establishment in Dublin."

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Tim Gunn Dubs Hillary Clinton's Fashion Sense 'Gender-Confused'

Last night Tim Gunn, whose Poindexter presence makes Project Runway, appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Conan had him analyze the fashion sense of a couple political figures, starting with a photo that was taken last summer of President Bush wearing a pair of Crocs and black socks with a Presidential seal on them.

Tim seemed a bit hesitant to lay into the president, saying "I can only imagine that the Crocs are a metaphor."

However, Gunn really dug into Hillary Clinton's fashion sense:

Gunn: "When she was in the White House I really thought there was hope for her. And then she became the senator from New York and I thought 'hurray, hallelujah, she's from New York, she's representing us, her fashion will really be ramped up,' but I think she's confused about what her gender is. She's so mannish in her dress, and I believe the suits are probably made out of Kevlar. I just don't get it. There is one Capitol Hill leader whose fashion I think can't be beat and that's Nancy Pelosi."

Ouch. Of course, Clinton herself has recently poked fun at her own fashion sense but I can't help but think calling her gender-confused might not sit too well with some people. Though it certainly inspired a roar from the audience.

Watch the full clip, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Project Runway Kicks Off Season with Lincoln Center Preview

[[SPOILERS]]

Project Runway held a runway preview yesterday at Lincoln Center, featuring fashions from this season's designers.

USA Today posted a report on the show. Said Tim Gunn: "This is the first season I've said any one of the designers is talented enough to win the entire season. Once we have a really seasoned, experienced professional designer (on the show), unless we tried to have an even playing field, we have unfair advantages. This is a very even playing field as we start out. And as we progress, watch what happens."

Above, a clip from the first episode, featuring the introductions of the season's designers. Below, a video of the runway event at Lincoln Center. The designers aren't tagged on screen but you can see the slide on the wall corresponding to each designer's fashions.

Project Runway premieres one week from tonight, at 10 pm. The full Lincoln Center show, after the jump...

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

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Tim Gunn: Underwear is the Foundation of Fashion

Tim Gunn chats with Conan O'Brien and David Duchovny on the importance of underwear.

Gunn's show, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style debuts tonight. The Weinstein Company, which owns Project Runway "went ballistic" when they heard about the show, according to Reality Blurred, then claimed that they owned it.

Gunn also revealed recently that they demanded all references to Project Runway be removed from his book, Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style: "Bravo’s going to kill me for saying this, but I’m going to say it anyway. There were two references to the show in my book. Very matter-of-fact, in sentences like, ‘As I would say to my students at Parsons and the ‘Project Runway’ designers … .’ Then it was in my bio in the book, and it was on the cover flap. It all had to be removed."

Ironically, the Project Runway designers for the upcoming season are said to be revealed during tonight's premiere.

The New York Times today called Gunn's new show a "watchable" knock-off of TLC's What Not to Wear.

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News: Manchester, David Bowie, Tennis, Tim Gunn, Madonna

Earthquakes strike Manchester's gay village: "It was the sixth earthquake to hit the city in the past month, all measuring between 1.4 and 2.5 magnitude. A swarm of 150 tremors occurred in the same area between October 2002 and January 2003. Seismologist Dr Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey said: 'An earthquake of this magnitude is not unusual in the UK and you would not expect any structural damage as a result of this earthquake'."

Match-fixing alleged in professional tennis: "Two elite players made the claims, under anonymity, in an interview with the French sports daily claiming they have witnessed matches being "thrown" and that they had personally been offered bribes...The unnamed sources in L'Equipe's report called on the sport's authorities to act, 'before things get out of hand'. 'I know several players who have been approached, and who had the exact same experience as me,' said one player, identified only as Mister B and who claimed he had been approached physically by someone offering him 50,000 dollars to lose a match. He added: 'Not for one second did I believe it was a joke. 50,000 dollars is more than what I would have got for getting to the semi-final in this tournament, and it was tax-free cash. 'I refused his offer straight away, but I was left wondering what direction we're going in.'"

Willa Ford joins Bobby Trendy in new film about Anna Nicole Smith - first shots.

Yesterday, the death knell was sounded for West Village bar Julius. Today, news that it has reopened, at least for now.

Lesbian couple are first in Colorado to adopt. "'People say, they need two parents. We say, they've got two parents,' says Jeannie DiClementi, who along with life partner Mary Ross, have become the first gay couple to adopt children together under a new state law. 'This is a victory for children.'"

Jesse Metcalfe obtains topless female tattoo.

David Bowie to join UK TV series Dr Who as an evil alien abductor: "The singer who found fame as a cross-dressing glam rock star Ziggy Stardust in the 70s will cross swords with the Tardis's Time Lord, actor David Tennant when he kidnaps crime author Agatha Christie."

Lesbian is one of five finalists for bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

AfterElton talks to style guru Tim Gunn about his forthcoming show and his last relationship: "I had been in a relationship and a very intense one. And it broke up after quite a number of years. And it broke up abruptly – didn't break up from me. I was cast aside. And it was just, just at the advent of AIDS. And I found out he had been sleeping with a lot of people. And thank God I'm healthy. Because I didn't know and it had been going on for a while. So when we broke up, there the world of AIDS is spread out before me, and I thought ‘I can't do this. I don't want to be selfish, but I care too much about my health'. And the person I loved more than myself had been cheating on me and lying to me. So if that person is doing it, what about total strangers? So I just got used to being alone, very used to it."

An interactive graph based on The World Without Us, Alan Weisman's gripping new book about what would happen to the Earth should humans disappear.

REPORT: Madonna to adopt second orphan from Malawi.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tore a jewelry clerk to shreds, according to a new biography, after the clerk whispered something under her breath when Condi asked to see a nicer item: "Let’s get one thing straight. You are behind the counter because you have to work for minimum wage. I’m on this side asking to see the good jewelry because I make considerably more.

Filmmaker documents the end of three gay British men in 1967: "The outline of their deaths is well documented. On February 3 1967, the independent record producer Joe Meek killed his landlady, Violet Shenton, before turning the shotgun on himself. On August 9, the hottest new British playwright of his generation, Joe Orton, was murdered by his companion, Kenneth Halliwell. On August 27, the body of the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein was found after an accidental overdose of a prescribed sleeping pill."

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Looking at the Business of Gay "Celebrity" Books

Citing numbers from Nielsen BookScan, the Washington Blade's Katherine Volin looks at the disappointing sales of gay "celebrity" books and what's behind the numbers.

Says Charles Flowers, executive director of Lambda Literary Foundation: "The publishers are looking for a way for someone to sell the book and that’s part of the attraction of a celeb book, they’ve got this platform. I’m not sure people make the leap to, ‘Do I want to read a whole book about this person, or by this person?’ So I think it’s something to be careful about in acquiring a celebrity book. If they’re over-exposed, people may not buy a book about them or by them. They already have their opinion made or think they know the person."

I was a bit surprised by the low numbers, though I'm not sure why. It seems all the promotion in the world can't do as much for book sales as a single appearance on Oprah.

A few of the notable books and their sales numbers:

38,000 — "The Confession" by James McGreevey

19,000 — "Silent Partner" by Dina Matos McGreevey

15,000 — "A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style" by Tim Gunn and Kate Moloney

14,000 — "Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins" by Rupert Everett

9,000 — "Man in the Middle" by John Amaechi
9,000 — "Now It's My Turn" by Mary Cheney

8,000 — "There's Nothing in this Book That I Meant to Say" by Paula Poundstone

6,000 — "Tab Hunter Confidential" by Tab Hunter and Eddie Muller
6,000 — "Here's What We'll Say" by Reichen Lehmkuhl

3,000 — "Alone in the Trenches" by Esera Tuaolo and John Rosengren
3,000 — "Include Me Out" by Farley Granger and Robert Calhoun

1,000 — "I Had to Say Something" by Mike Jones with Same Gallegos
1,000 — "La Dolce Musto" by Michael Musto

Gay books a bust [washington blade]

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News: The Joker, Liz Taylor, Presbyterians, David LaChapelle

CIA: Iraq a "big moneymaker" for al Qaeda.

Tim Gunn and Heatherette toss a few salads at the Wish-Bone fashion show.

L.A. Galaxy owner: Beckham investment will be more than recouped by the time he arrives in July. Tim Leiweke: "David Beckham will do more for US soccer than any other activity in the young history of North America's top league. With David coming to play for our team soccer has made a quantum leap in terms of public awareness. His signing created such a huge interest that we should be able to make good on our investment before he even arrives in California in July."

Courtney Love and David LaChappelle hit Mr. Chow. Love jokes: "This is David LaChapelle ... and he is not a homosexual."

Gay man details persecution in Jamaica, failed attempt to seek asylum in the UK: "People [always] tell me that I walk like a girl. What happened is that a group of men drew me into St Michael's Church, and they used a stone and started knocking me in the head...Then, one of them told his friend to go for his gun to shoot me and throw me in a pit. I was begging for my life and telling them that I was not that (homosexual) and that I was coming from Bellevue. Then they buck up on (found) a letter that the doctor gave me from Bellevue, and they read through it and decided that I was a 'mad bwoy' and decided to let me go."

Cannes Water Lilies director Céline Sciamma comes out of the closet: "Hey, I'm gay. I don't know if I should say this. I always...resent the people who are gay, who could say it, and they don't. So I'm not going to do that. I have to be logical.”

Verdict: Liz Taylor can keep Van Gogh looted by the Nazis. "Dame Elizabeth, 75, bought the 1889 work, View Of The Asylum And Chapel At Saint-Remy, at Sotheby's in 1963 for £92,000. She keeps it in her Los Angeles home. The painting, completed by Van Gogh near the end of his life, is estimated to now be worth up to £8 million. The Orkin family sued Taylor for return of the painting in 2004. They are South African and Canadian descendants of Margarete Mauthner, a Jewish woman whose possessions were seized by the Nazis when she fled Germany in 1939. The Orkins claimed the work was among the items confiscated and that it should be returned to them under the U.S. Holocaust Victims Redress Act."

Meth addict or Heath Ledger?

George Michael explains car troubles: "It involves prescribed drugs and it involves a dependency on them and the tendency to chase one drug with another because of side effects."

Presbyterian court upholds anti-gay policies: "The court ruled 8-3 that the presbytery could not call the ordination standards 'an essential of Reformed polity,' but while candidates could disagree with them, they still must adhere to them. The court also voted 11-0 that presbytery could prevent clergy from conducting same-sex marriages as long as they were able to bless same-sex unions, which the church's high court has upheld."

Choose Hillary Clinton's campaign song!

Gay Welsh referee selected for Rugby World Cup: "It's such a big taboo to be gay in my line of work, I had to think very hard about it because I didn't want to jeopardise my career. Coming out was very difficult and I tried to live with who I really was for years. I knew I was 'different' from my late teens, but I was just living a lie."

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News: Tim Gunn, Manorexia, Ian Ziering, Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut dies at 84.

The NYT takes a look at how Project Runway's "headmaster of fashion" Tim Gunn came to sit atop the sartorial heap: "He had been an unhappy child, introverted, a stutterer, spending sunny days in his room reading books, practicing the piano, playing with Legos, idolizing mad King Ludwig II, who spent his spare time designing castles. He was the last one chosen during mandatory team sports — a disappointment to his tight-lipped father, George William Gunn, an assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who served as the ghostwriter of J. Edgar Hoover. (His mother, Nancy, helped establish the library of the Central Intelligence Agency. His great-grandfather Harry Wardman was a builder of row houses and hotels in Washington.) 'I was the one they called the horrible slurs that ended up being prophetic,' Mr. Gunn said. 'Little did I know.'"

Cathedral City, California, adjacent to Palm Springs, approves resolution urging the FDA to review its policy banning gay men from giving blood.

Black Gay Men's Advisory Group wins UK award for Stop Murder Music campaign, condemning homophobia by Reggae artists.

James Franco has a hot Complex.

Big Brother Brazil winner Diego fancies himself a male pin-up.

Dancing with the Stars' Ian Ziering considering showcasing it all to Playgirl for $100K...

New pastor at Methodist church that rejected gay parishioner welcomes him back: "The Reverend Barry Burkholder, the new leader of South Hill United Methodist Church, told the congregation to accept the unidentified man's transfer from a Baptist church. The former pastor, the Reverend Edward Johnson, said in 2005 that he could not accept the man as a member because he would neither repent nor seek to change. Johnson has since been appointed pastor at another Virginia church."

Gay media and entertainment professionals to network at second annual Q-Me Con in Los Angeles this weekend.

STUDY: Gay men prone to eating disorders than straight men. " Researchers surveyed 516 New York City residents; 126 were straight men and the rest were gay or bisexual men and women. The results showed that more than 15 percent of gay or bisexual men had at some time suffered anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorder, or at least certain symptoms of those disorders -- a problem known as a 'subclinical' eating disorder. That compared with less than 5 percent of heterosexual men, the researchers report in the International Journal of Eating Disorders."

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Jay McCarroll Takes Tim Gunn to Task

Project Runway winner Jay McCarroll doesn't mince words on his relationship with the show's much-loved fashion guru Tim Gunn in this New York magazine interview:

"It’s tough because he talked so much shit about me in the past. And it’s hard when you’re trying to figure your business out. It’s fine. Power to him. He’s having his heyday, but I also don’t think he’s an authority on any designer’s life. He went to school for sculpture or something. I don’t think that he’s ever, to my knowledge, started a fashion line and therefore should not be the adviser or the fuckin’ creative director … how dare you pretend to know what I should be doing with my company? It’s none of your business, dude — you’ve never started a fashion line. You’ve never initiated showing at Bryant Park on your own so don’t tell me what my time line is to show at fuckin’ Bryant Park.

He doesn’t know what I want to do. Maybe I want to fuckin’ take a piss off the Empire State Building and call it fashion. But that’s my fuckin’ prerogative. I just hate that because middle America looks at him like, He’s so nice, he’s like a father to them. On the show he was, sure. I’m not bitter about the man. It’s kind of hurtful. At one point he said I was an embarrassment because I didn’t show yet. And it’s like, fuckin’-A, man. Maybe next season they can make Tim Gunn show a line. Five months. We’ll see how good it is. But don’t worry. I’ll be fine."

Not bitter, not bitter at all. Here's the rest of the interview...

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News: Doomsday, Robbie Williams, Spain, Ugly Betty, Footballers

Following last year's Stephen Colbert appearance which reverberated across the blogophere at light speed, the White House wants a Bush-friendlier dinner this year. Good luck.

Robbie Williams: gonna dress you up in his love.

Brangelina's next mission: save New Orleans.

Kathy Griffin and Tim Gunn will guest star in coming weeks on Ugly Betty. Executive Producer Silvio Horta: "A lot of us watch[Project Runway], we talk about it a lot in the [writers] room. We always thought when [our] Fashion Week [episode] comes along we’d love to have him, whether as a fashion TV reporter or just have him there as part of the mix."

Closeted gay footballers speak out from behind the closet door: "But what am I to do? Coming out would mean death."

Sarah Jessica Parker: the neighborhood nemesis.

The 2007 Brit Award nominations are out. Best British album nominees: Amy Winehouse, Snow Patrol, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, and Lily Allen.

For first time, Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight over threats from global warming.

Chris Rovzar makes an illuminating trip to Spain to see what's behind the legalization of gay marriage there: "I met with [Pedro Zerolo, the secretary of Social Movements and Relations With NGOs, a ministry post] in his expansive office in the party headquarters in Madrid, and we chatted for well over an hour. He was full of political platitudes about 'worlds of the rainbow' and how 'we won a victory for humanity.' Whenever I had conversations like these, I couldn’t help but think that in the end it wasn’t the activists that made the law possible in Spain—it was the straight people who listened, who allowed themselves to be educated, and who ignored religious and social prejudices. With a large voting majority, passing the law was easy."

South African nuts charge AIDS worker Zackie Achmat with genocide. They also claim vitamins will cure the disease.

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News: Posh Spice, Jason Lewis, Houston Pride, Baghdad Blood

Catholic Bishop in Piedras Negras, Mexico calls recent legislation legalizing same-sex unions in the state of Coahuila "an attack on the institution of marriage."

Two of Saddam Hussein's aides have been hanged in Baghdad.

Victoria Beckham and her nipples arrive in L.A., inspiring attention from the locals.

Police officer in Corvallis, Oregon tasers man during traffic violation pick-up: "Rodney Quinn, 49, was pulled over at NW Jackson Avenue and NW 10th Street after committing several traffic violations in his pickup truck, police said. According to police, Quinn crawled out of his pickup window and yelled, 'Are you a homosexual?' and other statements at the officer who pulled him over. Quinn didn’t respond to orders from police to stay back and continued to approach the officer, police and witnesses said. Authorities said the officer defended himself by using a Taser gun on Quinn."

Setting Rosie O'Donnell aside for a moment, Donald Trump weighed in over the weekend on a couple of political figures. The New York Daily News reports on some comments he made to Sean Hannity about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: "[Americans] want someone that knows how to negotiate, that knows the art of the deal. In all fairness, I see Condoleezza Rice - she goes on a plane, she gets off a plane, she waves, she goes there to meet some dictator. ... They talk, she leaves, she waves, the plane takes off. Nothing happens, it's a joke, nothing ever happens. I think she's a very nice woman, but I don't want a nice woman. I want someone that's not necessarily nice." On another note, Trump said of Hillary Clinton: "She is a very capable woman. She has done an amazing job as a senator of New York."

Sex and the City's 'Absolut Hunk' Jason Lewis, who has just started a seven-episode stint as Matthew Rhys' love interest on Brothers & Sisters, tells Extra that having to kiss a man on screen was "scary".

Tim Gunn in, Queer Eye out at Bravo. Gunn: "I'm practically delirious that Bravo has given me this incredible opportunity and together, we vow to redefine 'makeovers.' This series aims to be one-part education and two-parts fun, and you'll see me being a fashion therapist, not a svengali."

Houston considering moving gay pride parade out of gay Montrose neighborhood. Activist Ray Hill: "I mean, there's queer blood on most of these . There's lesbian blood on some of them. ... We may not all live here anymore, but this is where we built a community. And we built a community because we cared for one another."

Madonna threatened in high-speed Fifth Avenue car chase.

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News: Mark Foley, Condoms, Jake Gyllenhaal, Shanghai

Rumors flying on Capitol Hill that the Mark Foley report may be released imminently. UPDDATE: CNN is reporting the house Ethics Committee will hold a 2pm news conference.

The Associated Foreign Press deals a blow to male Indian self esteem: "Indian men's penises do not match international sizes and most condoms on sale in the country are too big, according to a medical study."

Shanghai gets a new gay bar, Pinkhome.

Rob Lowe devastated he coulda been McDreamy.

Rumors that Tim Gunn may not be appearing on next season's Project Runway appear to be false. Producer: "As we have in past seasons, we will find a way to work around everyone’s schedules, and are confident the team will be back." Project Runway would certainly not be the same without Tim Gunn.

The latest homophobic cartoon from the New York Post's Sean Delonas.

Brandon Voss named new editor-in-chief of New York publ. HX.

Jake Gyllenhaal dines out at Orso wearing special garment which appears to become partially see-through when flashbulbs go off. Tease.

Bette Midler blasts Britney for failing to wear panties.

Tom Ford, who always goes commando, is teaming up with Ermenegildo Zegna to introduce a new menswear line and shop in New York City next year. Ford: "Men are becoming more feminine. They enjoy shopping, they take more time over the way they look, they travel and they shop around, they finally are taking better care of themselves. Men are not only there to buy cars and art, they've realized there is also fashion."

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