Top models are often flown in from New York to Paris or London for a day’s work. As one frequent fashion flier put it, Naomi Campbell “takes the Concorde like you and I take taxis.” In May, Victoria’s Secret hired a Concorde to fly top models from New York to the Cannes Film Festival for the lingerie show at the annual American Foundation for AIDS Research fund-raiser, hosted by Liz Taylor. “They use it like a shuttle,” says one model agent.
Will the fashion elite continue to fly the Concorde after last week’s crash? Reaction varied widely. Designer Marc Jacobs, who takes the Concorde regularly between Paris and New York and was scheduled to fly the day after the crash, was unfazed by the news. “I’m much more concerned with heel heights than with flying tomorrow,” he said. “My assistant wanted to change me to the regular flight. I said, ‘OK, make a reservation. If I freak out when I get to the airport, I’ll take that regular flight’.” But Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld was considerably more shaken. “I would never, ever take it again,” he told NEWSWEEK. “[The Concordes] should all go to space museums to show a futuristic dream of the 20th century that could not make it in the new millennium.” He’ll no doubt find another way; after all, the show must go on.
