Cate Blanchett on Innovation, Creativity and Proof of Concept for Vogue China May 2024 AOC Fashion

Actor Cate Blanchett takes the spotlight, covering the May 2024 issue of Vogue China [IG]. Lisa Jarvis styles Blanchett with images by Szilveszter Mako [IG]. / Hair by Souleiman; makeup by Mary Greenwell

Georgina Graham conducts the interview.

Before VOGUE China‘s May 2024 Issue cover star landed in Shanghai for Louis Vuittton’s Nicolas Ghesquière’s Pre-Fall 2024 collection show, LV’s high jewelry ‘Spirit’ ambassador spoke to Graham from her East Sussex home.

“One of the first things Andrew did when we started at the STC was to take the desk out of the office.” she recalls. “He said, ‘The office needs to be a place of conversation, and if someone is sitting behind a desk with a computer on it, and the artist is on the other side, it speaks volumes.’” She describes her time there as “one of the most fulfilling creative periods of my career thus far.”

Wordsmithing and Defining legacy

Vogue China explores the idea of legacy in the May issue. What is the balance between legacy and innovation? What begets legend status? AOC adds . . . when every model is now a ‘supermodel’ and every breath she takes is an ‘iconic’moment.

With two Academy Awards under her belt, the thrill-seeking element of a new role remains paramount to Cate Blanchett.

“I think there has to be something terrifying in there, or unknown, or beyond my ken, in order to make me lean into it,” she muses. It also has to be a good conversation - a word she uses frequently to describe her collaborative nature.

Graham delivers a superb new descriptor about exceptional talents — a phrase that will be co-opted pronto. AOC is almost afraid to write the words . . . “Cate Blanchett is a titan of her craft”. Surely we can agree that only a select group of people are truly “titans of their craft.” With the word “iconic” totally polluted by the fashion press, surely we’re not all “titans”.

Proof of Concept Accelerator Program

The interview moves to Proof of Concept Accelerator Program founded by Cate Blanchett and Coco Francini, who are partners behind Dirty Films. The duo is collaborating with Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to promote the perspectives of women, trans and nonbinary people. Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity is backing the project.

Blanchett acknowledges that the program is probably headed for a big fight with Republicans arguing that projects like this one have now been declared unAmerican and illegal by our US Supreme Court.