This website is in no way the complete chronicle of supermodel Nora Ariffin's modeling career, but at least it's a start. I will try and constantly update this website, adding more and more information and pictures. Keep an eye out for the video icons throughout this entire site. Click the links to view TV clips and videos. Enjoy!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
News:
Joining
the 'Elite' league...
Supermodel Nora Ariffin's mother agency is now
Elite Model Management
(New
York). She can be booked by contacting her agent at 404
Park Avenue South 9th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA /
Telephone: (212) 529 9700 / Email: info@elitemodel.com
On the west coast,
Heffner Management (Seattle)
is her agent.
Coming soon!
Sky is the limit for Nora
As a
muse to legendary Vogue Paris photographer Guy Bourdin,
Nora will be featured in writer / producer / director Sean
Brandt's forthcoming feature film entitled 'When the Sky
Fell Down - the Myth of Guy Bourdin' (Visionary Films
International / Falling Skies Production), in collaboration
with Samuel Bourdin and Shelly Verthime.
This is
the definitive film on one of the most important and
influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries with
unprecedented access to Bourdin's incredible archive
including his private films, paintings and vintage works.
According to Sean Brandt, this film is tentatively
scheduled to be premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2011.
At the request of Antonin Baudry (Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy, and Jacques Bouhet (Chairman of FACE), on the evening of November 10, 2010 Nora attended the opening party of Guy Bourdin 'In Between' book launch, and photographic capsule exhibition curated by Shelly Verthime.
The party took place at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, located at 972 Fifth Avenue in New York City.
(from left to right) - Nora, Shelly Verthime and Charlie Scheips, photographed by Pablo Frisk.
The O, Oprah Magazine - August 2010
As VP at Halstead Property, Nora receives recognition as the power broker by The O, Oprah Magazine. She is one of 9 women who has achieved excellence in their chosen fields.
"Ariffin, knows better than anyone how to navigate New York City's ruthless housing market."
Halstead Property
Go girl... we are proud of you!
You want a piece of Nora (not literally)...?
a) You can buy ‘Zucca’ (1988) posters by Gianni Venturino / Studio Testa from Galleria L’Image, Italia.
b) You can also buy a print of the 'L'Oréal Féria'
billboard featuring Nora, taken in 2000 by photographer
Michael Berger of the Times Square Photo Project.
Email: michaelb@criticalimage.com
c)
Michael Hoppen Gallery
in
London (UK) is selling a selection of 'unseen' Guy
Bourdin prints, two of which feature Nora. One was
originally published in Vogue Paris (May 1987) and the
other in Harper's Bazaar Italia (December 1989 / January
1990). Each print carries a price tag of £20,000
(framed).
d)
SOLD... Lot 44! In
November 2010, Christie's London sold
an image from Guy Bourdin's award-winning Chanel 1988
advertising campaign. The highest bid was $10,787.
Originally published in Chanel Le
Journal D'Une Montre, the
black and white image features Nora's hand with a
Chanel Premiere
watch
on her wrist.
Her
World magazine 50th anniversary - July
2010
As one of Her World (Singapore)
magazine's favorite cover girls, Nora is featured in
their 50th anniversary issue which is on sale now!
NB -
Sorry guys, this magazine is only available in Singapore.
"I remember this 1989 shoot for Paris Capitale magazine. Of course, I remember the beautiful Nora. This shoot was particularly memorable because it was raining all day and we had to wait in the van until the rain stopped".
"Time would have gone very slowly if it wasn't for Nora's effervescent personality which kept us all entertained. We were at this disused railway station on the outskirts of Paris," recalled Jacques Beneich, photographer.
This photograph was featured on Nora's comp card for Flame agency (Paris) in 1989.
California Dreamin'
The majority of Ari-fans already know that renowned American fashion photographer / music video director Matthew Rolston was responsible for the iconic image of Nora in the 1998 L'Oréal Feria ad campaign.
Photo
courtesy of www.matthewrolston.com
According
to a reliable source, Nora and Matthew hark back to early
1986, when Nora was with Elite Model Management / John
Casablancas Inc. in Los Angeles. They worked together a
lot, and one image of Nora by Matthew made it to the cover
of a certain swimsuit catalog.
Whilst based in Southern California, Nora did a lot of
swimsuit / lingerie work, and she also landed modeling
assignments varying from fashion shows to catalog
photography work for major department stores such as
Macy's, Broadway and Emporium Capwell.
Strike a pose... Vogue Patterns!
Apart
from gracing the cover of Vogue Patterns (December 2000 /
January 2001), images of Nora have been used to adorned
many Vogue Patterns products including 2978 & 2979
(Issey Miyake, 1992), 2555 & 2483 (Donna Karan, 2001),
7742 (Elizabeth Gillett, 2003) and 2910 (Adri,
2006)
Music
to your ears...
Nora
slow
jams herself
onto the cover of four CDs from the 'Slow Jams: The
Timeless Collections' series (EMI Capitol / The Right Stuff
Records - 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2000). Photographs: Jeff
Dunas. Artwork: Marlene Bergman.
Ooh la
la! Rumor has it... when modeling in Paris, 19-year-old
Nora recorded a SINGLE complete with a music video.
Unfortunately
due to some contractual issues, the song was never
released, and left forgotten, becoming nothing more than an
urban myth.
When
I find it - you'll hear it here first!
Nora
in black & white and
blurred...
In April
1993, a rather blurred image of Nora was on display at
Gallery 21 in Singapore. It was shot by her friend,
photographer Gary Sng for his aptly named 'Black, White
& Blurred' exhibition.
"In
Nora, the model's elongated neck evokes Modigliani's
long-necked women, while her gaping mouth recalls
surrealist-influenced photos by Man
Ray",
explains Sng.
New
gem found on the web!
Nora's
comp cards from her time in Paris ('86 to '90) can be
viewed at this fabulous website of the Peter Marlowe Model Composite
Archives.
This website is a library of all the model agency books
and model cards published by Marlowe Press.
Photo
courtesy of Marlowe Press
Treasure
trove - The Washington Post magazine, Jan 11
1987
Nora,
alongside model Monica Foulks were featured in
The
Washington Post magazine
(Sunday Jan 11, 1987 - page 28 to 31) modeling various
designers swimsuits including Liza Bruce, Giorgio
Sant'Angelo, Adrienne Vittadini, Gottex and Body Glove. The
spread is called 'Cover-Ups' by Tina Bossidy. Fashion
Associate: Gaby Longhi. Photographer: Guy Bourdin. Hair:
Raymond Camacho. Make-up: José-Luis.
Obituary
for L'Oréal
Féria 58
Bronze Shimmer (1998 - 2009)
In 1998,
Nora became the face of L'Oréal Féria 58 worldwide. Earlier
this year however, after 11 years, disappointingly L'Oréal
USA Inc. relaunched Féria 58 with an unknown model.
Since its launch in 1998, Féria 58 has been the most
successful Féria "home haircoloring” product, particularly
among African Americans, Asians and Hispanics.
Féria 58
has appeared in countless magazines around the globe. In
2002, it was prominently featured in a TV ad with Natalie
Imbruglia and Beyonce Knowles. Most memorable of all, in
2000 Nora appeared on a huge L'Oréal billboard high above
Times Square!
“Yes, the model on L'Oréal Féria 58 scored measurably
higher versus other models on the Féria "home haircoloring”
kit box,” confirmed Cliff Ruffins, CEO of brandworksltd.
The good
news is… Nora remains the face of L'Oréal Féria 58 in the
UK (Féria 58 Bronze Shimmer), France, Spain and Italy
(Féria Préférence 58 Shining Bronze) -
Because She's Worth It!
2nd
Most Beautiful Woman in the World
"Nora is the 2nd most beautiful woman in the world. The 1st is my wife of course!" - Joe Duer, actor / model
Joe is a good friend of Nora. He played Dr. Lorenzo in "Ugly Betty", and recently starred as Roy in "The Crooked Eye", a film short selected to compete at the 26th Annual Miami International Film Festival (March 2009).
Ciao Italia!
These photographs of Zucca poster were taken in Milano, Italy in 1988 by Ari-fan Nashie Nash (The Netherlands).
GO
magazine covers from late 80’s
These
covers of now defunct Singapore’s GO magazine were sent to
me by Ari-fan Diana Ahmad (Australia).
"From
Supermodel to Superwoman" (Weekly News, Singapore, January
4 2009)
An
article entitled "From Supermodel to Superwoman" by Eri
Akbar was published in Berita Minggu (or Weekly News) in
Singapore on January 4th 2009.
Bobbi
Brown - Living Beauty (2007)
Ari-fan
Farhan Han (Singapore) informed me about Nora's appearance
in Bobbi Brown's 2007 'Living Beauty' Springboard
Press.
Agents
-
Angels or Demons?
Nora has
been represented by many agencies around the world. Her
modeling journey started with Carrie
Models International (Singapore).
The agencies that have represented her include such
prestigious names as Look
(San
Francisco), Elite
Model Management (LA),
Flame
(Paris),
Glamour
(Paris),
IMG
(New
York), Click
(New
York) and the highly reputable Ford
Models Inc. (New
York).
Image
courtesy of Marlowe Press.
Back in
1985, after winning Model of the Year / Glamour Awards
contest, Nora triumphed in the USA by clinching a contract
with Ford Model Inc. (New York), Look (San Francisco) and
Elite Model Management / John Casablancas Inc. (Los
Angeles). Towards the end of 1986, she jetted off to Paris
and took Europe by storm, joining Glamour and then Flame.
In 1990, Nora returned to New York and joined Click Model
Management. From June 2000 to April 2010, Nora was
represented by Ford Model Inc. New York.
At present, Nora is represented by Elite Model Management
(New York) and Heffner Management
(Seattle).
Nora
Ariffin is waiting... talkin' Italian
You can
freely download 'Sotto Il Vestito Niente
2'
(1988). Nora was hand-picked by cult director Dario
Piana to star in this movie as one of the protaganists.
The file is quite big (678.2 MB). After you have
successfully download the file, you should extract it
(To extract .rar, you can download this software
called Stuffit Expander for
free) and
type the password 'bloodlimbo' to unlock the
file.
Links:
Halstead Property
Elite Model
Management
Heffner Management
Fashion Model
Directory
The Internet Movie Database
The Goddess Says
Curses and Candor
River Island
Singapore
Diva - Shoulder
Season
Diva - I'm blessed with no
wrinkles
Peter Marlowe Model Composite
Archives
Guy Bourdin
Matthew Rolston