Shady shades: The case of the hot felon and the supermodel
Bar Refaeli's latest Carolina Lemke campaign is to feature a 'hot convict.'
By AMY SPIROUpdated: AUGUST 30, 2017 23:54Jeremy Meeks and Bar Refaeli(photo credit: PR)
Bar Refaeli is about to start spending time with a convicted felon.Refaeli, the Israeli model who has been the face of eyeglasses brand Carolina Lemke since 2013, will be teaming up with Jeremy Meeks for the company’s newest campaign.Meeks is best known as the “hot felon,” whose mug shot launched his international modeling career (after he was released from US federal prison).“Like we do every season, we select the most interesting faces in the world of fashion to meet the needs of our customers, who are looking for innovation and excitement in today’s fascinating world,” said Oren Bar-Gil, the company’s VP of marketing. To that end, he said, the brand selected “Jeremy Meeks, an interesting and intriguing personality who will lead this winter’s campaign alongside Bar Refaeli.”And by “intriguing,” Bar-Gil must mean “has spent several years behind bars.” Meeks gained international fame when a mug shot from his 2014 arrest – with an undeniably smoldering gaze and piercing blue eyes – went viral.In 2015, Meeks was sentenced to two years in federal prison on a felony weapons charge. While still behind bars, Meeks signed with an agent and management company geared to launching his modeling career. He previously spent two years in a state prison on assault and gang-related charges stemming from a 2002 arrest, and other shorter sentences related to 2005 and 2007 arrests.After being released from prison in March 2016, Meeks made his runway debut in February 2017 at New York Fashion Week, and appeared again in June at Milan Fashion Week.Meeks is expected to arrive in Israel – his first trip to the country – to take part in the photo shoot for the campaign.While Carolina Lemke is ostensibly a Europe-based brand, it has more than 70 locations in Israel and just a handful outside of the Jewish state. Refaeli reportedly owns a 5% stake in the glasses company.The fashion brand’s most recent campaign featured Refaeli alongside another, more famous face: Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler.
