Anja Rubik in Kering Brands YSL and Boucheron for W Korea Vol. 7 by Mok Jung-Wook

In the case of W Korea’s “women in motion” issue, supermodel Anja Rubik is part of a cover story lineup that also includes Carla Bruni, Han So-Hee, Julianne Moore and Yoona Lim.

The fashion stories are a project with Kering brands Boucheron, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Qeelin and Saint Laurent. The issue builds on Volume #5 2024, focused on Amelia Gray. All fashion shoots happened in the south of France during the Cannes season.

In this story, Anja wears YSL by Anthony Vacarello and Boucheron jewelry in images by Mok Jung-Wook [IG]./ Hair by Seb Bascle; makeup by Dariia Day

The Pursuit of Excellence

W Korea’s Volume #7 2024 summer issue joins the bandwagon of Asian and Southeast Asian magazines rolling into fashion-content excellence with impossible-to-ignore photography that surpasses their counterparts in America and Europe. The differences are also noteworthy among European issues that are locally-owned vs. the global fashion conglomerate we all know well.

AOC understands the concept of editorial independence from luxury brands. But if the degree of recycling images across multiple titles — while also operating with obviously-reduced production budgets — doesn’t result in editorial excellence commensurate with smaller titles, that is a long-term problem. Perhaps a worse result than the current situation for big fashion media. Obviously, one stable in particular is most at risk.

Additionally, we have ‘professional competence meets star power’ with people like Karlie Kloss entering the discussion with her titles at Bedford Media. I’m speaking of digital imagery as well, not only print.