Supermodel Crawford Hits a Wall--of Fans

Cindy Crawford turns heads in fashion capitals around the world, but few expected the hoopla she caused on a recent photo shoot in Israel. While posing with Capezio handbags, she caught the fancy of the locals from the Wailing Wall to the Bedouin desert. Crawford was mobbed by the paparazzi, posed for photographs with Israeli soldiers and even accepted an invitation to a 13-year-old boy’s bar mitzvah.

* MODEL MECHANIC: Amy Lumet, former fashion model and daughter of director Sidney, makes her writing debut this month with a car column in Seventeen magazine. Even though the column is humor- rather than techno-driven, Lumet is quick to say she is not “useless when it come to mechanics” and plans future columns on such manicure-marring tasks as changing the oil.

* NEVER TOO THIN: If you’ve been enjoying the Olympic pec fest this week, perhaps you’ve also noticed the competition swimmers’ shapely suits. The swimmers are wearing them three sizes too small to prevent drag in the water, says Candi Forman a spokesperson for TYR. The Huntington Beach swimwear manufacturer supplied some Olympic competitors with the company’s state-of-the-race style, printed with a small American flag. It is called “the paper suit” because the woven nylon Lycra fabric is tissue thin. It’s only good for a few races though. After that, Forman says the fabric starts to stretch and bag.

* IN LIVING COLOR: If you’ve ever wondered what the season’s hot color is, you’re not alone. Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, had the same question about this fall’s hot hue and set out to find some answers. The results of the company’s Consumer Color Preference Study were intriguing, if not surprising. By an overwhelming majority, an inky blue was chosen as the No. 1 color choice in apparel, especially for swimwear, activewear and sweaters. The most popular color choice in neckwear is red; in lingerie consumers prefer white, beige and black, and in men’s suits they opt for dark charcoal. More importantly, however, the study concluded that purples and red-violets will soon outsell blues.