Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis and Linda Morand recently met at that chic New York "dive"
where Lost Weekend was filmed: P.J.Clarke's, and the two eyed each
other suspiciously. There was every reason for the prolonged glance!
of cool appraisal. The two are look-alikes 21-year-old Linda Morand
being the younger, prettier version. Linda, a successful Ford model
who hails from a little town on Long Island, now is one of Europe's
top models with her face currently, gracing the pages and covers of
the slickest fashion, magazines, such as Italian Vogue, Elle and
Jardin de la Mode.
Looking like Jacqueline from the neck up and Twiggy from the neck
down has catapulted her modeling career onward and upward. Linda,
barely 115 pounds, measures in at five feet, 10 inches' and she's
all flawless skin and well-placed bones with gangly legs. Designers
can't get enough of her.
During high-fashion openings in Rome and Paris she works 16 hours
daily at $30 an hour. In New York she would automatically get double
that price.
But the pay loss is leveled off by the fact that she hobnobs with
movie stars, aristocrats and European royalty, who look upon fashion
modeling as an art. "Europeans erase class distinction once success
has been achieved,", she says;' After all, my parents run little
restaurant in South Hampton, and here I am traveling the world." Ha
ha.!
In the past 18 months the highly eligible Prince Albrecht of
Liechtenstein has been a frequent escort. Linda has double-dated
with Princess Grace and Prince Rainier at Paris's famous Maxim's.
She also has socialized with Laurence Harvey, Rod Steiger and Fred
Astaire. But last week, the dating game came to an abrupt halt.
Linda is marrying French actor, Philippe Forquet, who recently did
a movie with Sandra Dee, "Take Her She's Mine' and is presently
starring in Aaron Spelling's new ABC television series "The Young
Rebels." Philippe is a cousin of the world-famous Italian haute
couturier ,Frederico Forquet. The wedding will take place in a tiny
community in southern France, St. Paul de Vance, in a
Matisse-decorated chapel. The bride will wear a Valentino pantsuit
for the religious ceremony. The Forquet de Dornes are upper-class
and moneyed.
In 1974 Linda retired from a very busy modeling career to remarry
and raise a family. The constant traveling was taking its toll on
her. She stayed marginally active in the modeling industry as the
owner of a small exclusive modeling school in the Eighties, a
national photography studio from time to time she appeared in
special bookings. In 2005 with her four children all grown up, she
moved back to New York City to research two books and launch an
anti-aging facial exercise program. |
Valentino, the star
of Italian high fashion, can boast that his most faithful and most
famous customer is Jacqueline Kennedy, but he doesn't. Instead his little
trick is to have Jackie's look-alike model in his press shows.
Valentino has never mentioned the obvious similarity In looks, but
always there's that subliminal advertising.
Linda can't help but
make comparisons. "Cappuci, another Italian designer, is much more
flamboyant about making the most of my looks," she says. "He
stubbornly insists that I ear wigs exactly like Jackie's lion mane
hairdo. I've practiced walking and smiling like her and Cappuci
tells me to go through the act on the runway. Valentino doesn't
treat me that" way. He "is cool, charming and polite, almost as if
I were you-know-who."
Morand as
Jackie French Vogue click to enlarge
  
The look-alike business came to a head a few years ago when Linda, a
teen-ager with no thought of being a mannequin, went to see the
Broadway show, "Carnival." During intermission an announcer roamed
the audience with a mike and unexpectedly came across Linda. "We
have Jacqueline Kennedy in the audience!' he announced. Linda says:
"I was just sitting there peacefully, in the balcony with Aunt
Martha and suddenly there was a minor riot over me. It was
wonderful!
When I got home, I went straight to the mirror and
started mimicking Jackie. It seemed like such a groovy thing to do.
Now, in high-fashion modeling, it has paid off.
Admittedly, looking like Jackie on and off the runway can be a bore:
During off hours she wouldn't touch a wig with a 10-foot pole. Her
hair is shorn close to the head. And skirts, her forte on the
runway, have no place in her private wardrobe which consists of 20
pairs of cuffed trouser made especially for her by Norwegian tailor,
Astrid, who has a shop on Rome's busy Via Sistina. Her impeccable
silk shirts, all 20 of them, are custom-made by Altertinelli of
Rome.
Linda's explanation of her all-pants wardrobe: "If I dressed
like Jackie in my private life, I would get too much attention on
the streets. Being mobbed has certain built-in disadvantages. Pants
and short hair are a route to anonymity."
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