![]() ![]() Eileen, who founded Ford Modeling Agency in 1946, kept a close eye on her models and would personally oversee everything from their meals to their education. The most prominent difference between the agencies was the models’ lifestyles. It was 1977 when Casablancas decided to move operations to New York City that the legendary rivalry began – “A period of model wars” ensued in which they poached each other’s signings Ford and Cooper sued Casablancas for breaking territorial treaties, but lost as the arrangements were not in writing.” (from John Casablanca’s obituary in The Guardian). A small industry at the time, Elite had a friendly relationship with New York-based agency Ford Modeling Agency run by husband and wife team Eileen and Jerry Ford and the two companies would cede or share models. Igniting even more controversy in 1993, he married a young 17 year old by the name of Aline Wermelinger when she was an entrant in Elite’s “Look of the Year” modeling contest in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and they later had three children together.Elite was founded in 1971 by John Casablancas and was initially a Paris-based agency providing models to the European market. The marriage soon ended and Casablancas was tied to many gorgeous women and known to romp around with the beautiful young models he worked with including his very public affair with 16 year old Stephanie Seymour. Christjansen in 1978 and they soon after had a son who they named Julian. While the business was booming, Casablancas married his model girlfriend Ms. The lawsuits were unsuccessful and only seemed to have catapulted the names of John Casablancas and the Elite Model Management into the world of high fashion, glitz, glamor and lots of money. Casablancas knew he and his business had to have a presence in the fashion capital of the world to hit it big, so in 1977 he moved back to New York and opened his offices there shortly before Ford and Wilhemina tried to sue Elite for $10 millioin saying Casablancas was infringing on their turf. In 1971 he and a former schoolmate from Le Rosey by the name of Alain Kittler announced that they were founding a new modeling agency that would focus on promoting only elite models which is why they decided to name the company Elite Model Management. He his first modeling business in 1969 and named it Elysee 3 after his Paris phone number. When she expressed to him how unhappy she was with her modeling agency it inspired him to start a business that would represent both photographers and models. Their marriage didn’t last long, although they did have one child during their short union who they named Cecile.Īfter having problems in their marriage around the year 1967, John found himself living in a small hotel when he met a young 19 year old model by the name of Jeanette Christjansen who was on assignment for Gunnar Larsen, a popular photographer, and soon began having an affair with her. He then married his French girlfriend Marie-Christine against his father’s wishes and they both lived in Brazil for a few years before returning to Paris where he took a public relations job with her brother at an architecture firm. This is when he started picking up jobs in finance, public relations and real estate, even accepting a position as a marketing manager for a Coca-Cola factory in Brazil at the age of 20 offered to him by the mother of a former classmate. When he was 8 years old, young John was sent to Le Rosey boarding school in Switzerland and then attended multiple universities in Europe where he studied economics, but never graduated. His parents had both fled to the United States during the 1930’s to escape the Spanish Civil War where his father Fernando was a popular textile businessman in the large city of Sabadell, Spain. The youngest of three children, John Casablancas was born in Manhattan, New York on Decemto Fernando and Antonia Casablancas. ![]()
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