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by
Steve
Siler
Inside General Motor's Annual Car Catwalk
What
do you get when you combine automobiles, celebrities, sports figures
and high fashion on the Tuesday before the Oscars? The "GM 10."
If you've not heard of it before, it's short for the General Motors Annual "Ten" Celebrity Fashion show, GM's
take on a fashion show. But this is no run-of-the-mill
runway rollout; it's where Cadillac meets Calvin on the catwalk.
This
was General Motors' fourth such Hollywood shindig (prompting some
of us to call it "10-4"). And it wasn't all just
for show; General Motors marked the occasion with a donation of
$100,000 to P.S. Arts, an organization dedicated to restoring
arts education in the public school system.
As
with last year, "GM 10" was pitched under the protection of a football-field-size
tent in a parking lot at the corner of Sunset and Vine in Los Angeles. And while
this year's event took place during the worst rainy season California
has seen in 115 years, the red carpet was nonetheless crowded
with the glitterati and paparazzi, and a few sexy GM vehicles
too, including a pristine '53 Corvette, a tricked red Chevrolet
SSR and three concepts: the cuddly Chevrolet Nomad (2004), the
stealth-fighter-inspired Cadillac Cien (2002) and the gorgeous,
hypnotizing Cadillac Sixteen (2004).
We
were among the lucky ones to be able to traipse the red carpet.
But no one behind the ropes called our names to stop and pose
for photos; they were too busy engaging real celebs, including
Jamie Foxx, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore,
Allison Janney, Wesley Snipes, John Stamos, David Schwimmer, and
Erika Christensen.
GM
ten showcased top celebrities wearing the latest in fashion matched
with General Motors products, including current concept cars and
production vehicles, showcased with a "seasons" flare.
Celebrity models who included Jamie Foxx, Anthony Keidis (lead singer of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers), Daisy Fuentes, India Arie, Haylie Duff,
Hilary Duff, Amber Tamblyn, Regina King, Eric Dickerson, Marcus
Allen, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Jon Heder, Julian McMahon, Rhona
Mitra and Vivica A. Fox wore designs by Oscar De La Renta, Robert
Cavalli, Calvin Klein, Valentino, Christian Dior, Tommy Hilfiger,
Vera Wang, John Varvatos, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Elie Saab,
Zang Toi and Dolce & Gabbana.
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According to GM, the event's 1200 attendees included Brooke Burns, David Spade, Aisha Tyler, Chris Judd, Bai Ling, Amanda Peet, Garcelle Beauvais, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, Dean Cain, John Salley, Kaley Cuoco, Orlando Jones, Dennis Hopper, Kelly Hu, Kip Pardue, Peta Wilson, Ione Skye, Kimberly Stewart, Nick Canon, Tori Spelling, Quentin Tarantino, Dax Shepard, Derek Luke, Camilla Belle, Penny Marshall, Shane West, Nicole Eggert, Flex Alexander, Chris Kattan, Eduardo Verastegui, Michelle Rodriguez, Rachel Hunter, and Tony Kanal were treated to a special performance by Kanye West with special guest performers Common Sense and Jamie Foxx. We can vouch that we saw at least half of those on that list with our own eyes.
As much as Hollywood types love to fawn all over each other, they were particularly taken by the cars that "walked the walk" behind the high-profile models. These included the Chevy SS Concept (2002), a custom Cadillac XLR, the hydrogen-powered Hummer H2H, a '53 Chevy Corvette, the 2007 Pontiac G6 Convertible, a modified Saab 9-3 Convertible, custom '41 Chevy Coupe, 2005 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible, the sexy Buick Velite Concept, the Pontiac Salsa Show Car, a hairy-chested '67 Chevy Camaro, the upcoming 2007 Saturn Sky roadster, a shockingly sexy customized Buick LaCrosse sedan, the new Saab 9-7X SUC, the upcoming Cadillac STS-V supersedan and Hummer H3.
"In a city where cars are seen as fashion accessories, people are able to express their individual senses of style with their cars and trucks," said Mike Jackson, General Manager of the GM Western Region. "The unique car culture of Los Angeles and the excitement of awards season made this the perfect night to toast Hollywood and showcase some of the hottest vehicles on the road today." |
