Call it exploitation, post-colonialism, or poor marketing, but the image seen here is actually part of a high-end fashion spread. The editorial layout, which features a toothless gent identified only as "man" who holds a $200 Burberry umbrella, is part of Vogue India's attempt to capitalize on the nation's growing middle class.

The mag's August issue featured not models, but "average" citizens, all unnamed, holding designer bags and couture items.

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And this week's John Wiley Price Awards for foolish and embarrassing complaints go to:

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MTV has put out a casting call for their newest shockingly ill-conceived reality show, Model Makers, which will feature young girls being judged on how well they slim down in order to prove their love of the catwalk. So disturbing, but not anything new for reality television, which as of late actually seemed to be pulling back from the precarious brink of MILF Island.

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• Here's a sneak peek of Kanye West's new clothing line, Pastelle. Don't say anything bad about it. He's sensitive. [Clutch]

• Anyone who takes medical advice from Grey's Anatomy needs to see a doctor. [Jossip]

• F. Gary Gray has signed on to direct the film version of Julius, an urban graphic novel based on the story of Julius Caesar. [DS]

• Of course Britney's back to perform at the VMAs. [MG]

• Oh, Laurie Ann. That's so unfortunate. [NB]

Porny clothier American Apparel is now hawking goods printed with an ethnic design the company calls "Afrika." Perhaps unsurprisingly, AA has not used a single black model to help advertise the new print, despite the fact that it's all over their Web site in dresses, leggings, bras and headbands.

Barack Obama has Hollywood on lock, this much is known, but not every celebrity walks around with his face plastered on their chest.

Alicia Keys is among the diehards.

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Usually too bogged down by his own egomaniacal, impossibly-high expectations to enjoy or appreciate any career accolades that come his way, it's sort of a shock to see Kanye West so genuinely overjoyed and humbled after Vanity Fair included him on its "International Best Dressed List."

In fact, the honor has rendered him unable to adequately express himself on his blog: "I've sat in front of this computer for 20 minutes trying to put into words how I feel… who all to thank… and how to celebrate… this is a true honor and I am humbled by it!!!" He does know that acceptance speeches aren't required, right?

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

Michelle Obama was named to Vanity Fair brand new "International Best Dressed List." Who do you think is best dressed in Hollywood and beyond? Who is your "style icon?"

Eternal 12-year-old Mariah Carey reverted back to 1982, when she was at her ideal age, with this horrendous outfit at a TRL taping. You’re telling me Mimi has all the money in the world and she chose to go with an outfit (complete with glittery belt) one could find at a garage sale?

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When Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani announced her decision to create an all-black issue, she recognized that it might not go over that well in Italy."Maybe in our country it is not the best idea," she said. "But I don't care. I think it is not my problem if they don't like it — it's their problem." It's definitely not a problem at all. Even if it's the lowest-selling Vogue Italia of the year in Italy (although there's no indication that it is), it is certainly the best-selling Vogue Italia issue in the States. This explains why every one I've gone into for the past week has been sold out of them.

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The money, which often isn't as much as one might think, that recording artists make off of their music these days is enough to make the average person very happy, but not quite enough to fund the crazy, extravagant lifestyles that they like to publicly flaunt. Hence, the ubiquitous clothing lines, colognes, footwear lines, and other branding deals. In recent days there have been a flurry of such deals, from high brow to low brow

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Don't expect to see many black models at Paris Fashion Week. Top designers, who are doing some preemptive damage control, say so themselves. They blame the agencies, which they say have a limited selection of models and color and an overwhelming number of Eastern Europeans.

"I asked the modelling agency for black girls for our next show but there simply aren’t any," said Mario Lefranc, half of the Lefranc-Ferrant designer duo, one of 40-odd labels presenting couture collections in Paris over the coming week.

"I’m sick of blonde Russian girls," he told AFP. "Clearly the trend now is all for blue-eyed blondes."

And at Jean-Paul Gaultier’s, a designer renowned for using models of all ages, sizes, and origins, one assistant said: "It’s really very difficult at the moment. There are no black models on the market, the agencies have none."

In the last few years, she added, "there’s been an invasion of girls from Eastern Europe, of their type of beauty."

We all know there are black models, so either the agencies aren't sending them or the designers are blaming agencies for the fact that they simply don't want them. Either way, the fashion industry won't change unless it wants to. And it doesn't seem like it's particularly interested. [AFP]

Ashanti is so personable and boisterous in interviews, and over the years I often wished that her personal style matched her fun personality in a more classy way. From 2002 to 2008, her fashion sense, or her ability to hire a stylist who does not secretly hate her, has gotten slightly better. But there's always room for improvement.