Nastia Liukin for Max Azria S/S09

Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin is taking her gymnastic moves from the floor exercise into Max Azria’s spring campaign, which will debut online later this month. This is Liukin’s first fashion campaign and also represents the first time the brand has shot a well-known personality; model Tasha Tilberg appeared in the fall campaign. “For the Max Azria campaign, we wanted someone iconic — someone timeless. We met Nastia at our last runway show, and she was everything we were looking for,” said Lubov Azria, creative director of Max Azria. “The spring collection was inspired by movement and modern dance so she was perfect. It was meant to be, and the magic just sort of happened.” There are no plans to run the campaign in magazines, said a spokesman, who added the budget this season is flat compared with the fall campaign.





wwd / october 8, 2009