Kitten Koffin Zombies

Over the past five years I’ve received more promotional material from artists, writers and musicians than I know what to do with. T-shirts, CDs, DVDs, stickers, books and calendars fill all sorts of nooks and crannies in our humble office and home. Not much surprises me anymore either. Then I received this e-mail from Frenchy St. Claire asking if The Sinner would be interested in a copy of her 2008 Kitten Koffin Zombies Calendar for review.

My God, I wondered. What kind of weird art this woman was into? Kittens. Koffins. Zombies. These are words that I never thought to find together, certainly not on a calendar. A strangeness entered my soul, milking all sorts of macabre thoughts from my mind. A minute later I was hitting the send button with our address attached.

Obviously you have realized that Frenchy’s 2008 calendar lacks zombies and coffins, and all of that macabre. While her clever title may chill spines, the pinup gals captured through out will make pages turn and grins grow.

Having worked on similar projects years earlier while in art school, Frenchy felt a creative release was needed from her daily graphics job, leading to the creation of her online retro-inspired pinup contest. “The calendar came about when I started formulating the contest in October 06. I wanted something for the winners of the pinup contest to be a part of that embodied the pinup culture. What better than a calendar?” She’s no stranger to the camera either. She’s the sexy blonde on the cover of KKZ’s 2008 calendar, which is also our cover. She’s the September 2005 Port Halcyon Cover Girl, featured as a modern pinup on the Atomic Pinup website, and a model for Torture Couture and Konformity Clothing.

As a full time graphic artist, Frenchy says KKZ is a passion of hers, not just a hobby. She also admits that it’s more than a one person job. “Well, having my husband involved has been a huge help but it is difficult because we do everything ourselves from designing everything for the contests, including the website, announcement banners for the girls in the contest, calendar, web coding, ordering, contacting companies for ad space, answering questions, etc. Its not difficult but extremely time consuming.” While she hopes to see KKZ expand in its next year to a photo studio with products and an agency for pinup models, she says that for now it’s a great avenue and resource for girls to get involved in the industry as well as the photographers they see on the site.

Kitten Koffin Zombies 2009 calendar contest is in full swing. To compete, you gals will need to contact her on MySpace (www.myspace.com/kittenkoffinzombies), and be prepared to prove you are over 18 with a valid driver’s license. Don’t be frightened to search her site for all the other details. There’s no zombies or ghouls to be found, only sexy pinups.