Pharrell Williams Heads to Rome with Voices of Fire for Vatican City Unity Concert
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Maggie Maurer As Freyja in Vogue Czech September 2025 | Odinism and White Nationalism
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Maggie Maurer As Freyja in Vogue Czech September 2025 | Odinism and White Nationalism
Maggie Maurer is lensed by Hana Knizova for Vogue Czechoslovakia September 2025 issue dedicated to Fortune Telling.
Maurer wears Cartier High Jewelry on the cover with a Gucci dress and scarf. Vogue Czech fashion director Milena Zuravljova chooses Cartier jewelry throughout the story images, adding luxury fashion looks from Maison Alaia, Saint Laurent, Maison Valentino, Schiaparelli and more./ Hair by Malin Wallin; makeup by Johanna Nordlander
Vogue Czech Honors Freyja
The Nordic goddess Freyja was on my mind this spring, when I wrote about the ancient history of women in Scotland, connected to a post about the Dior Cruise 2025 collection ‘Highland Fling’ featuring Debra Shaw.
The Nordic mythology around Freyja is just one more example of belief systems in our pre-monotheism world. While we’re not ‘going there’ today, what is called Ancestral Odinism is being co-opted by right-wingers seeking an alternative to Christian nationalism.
Read MoreHumanism 101: Polo Ralph Lauren x Oak Bluffs: A Portrait of the American Dream
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Humanism 101: Polo Ralph Lauren x Oak Bluffs: A Portrait of the American Dream
Writing about the Ralph Lauren Pre-Fall 2025 Campaign in early July, I noted that the Ralph Lauren name — and especially Polo Ralph Lauren — carries great symbolism and respect in the Black community.
Two Humanists: Cucinelli and Lauren
My retraction comes from this early July 2025 statement in this post:
No one articulates humanist values like Brunello Cucinelli, but Ralph is way up there delivering major marketing changes but without a visual bullhorn.
With the release of Polo Ralph Lauren’s new Oak BluffCollection, its second collaboration with Morehouse College and Spelman College and their research and archival teams, I’m ending the competition in my mind between the two designers, great brand builders and global good guys. They are equal in my mind as global humanists after today.
Read MoreSydney Sweeney Talks New Films 'Eden' and 'Echo Valley' for W Magazine Summer 2025
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Sydney Sweeney Talks New Films 'Eden' and 'Echo Valley' for W Magazine Summer 2025
With a short but punchy interview Lynn Hirschberg runs a trifecta with the actor about her upcoming 2025 releases.
Professionally, Sweeney appears this summer in ‘Eden’, a survival thriller set in the Galápagos Islands. She also plays Claire, a devious and compelling character drug addict in Apple TV+’s new thriller ‘Echo Valley’.
Sydney Sweeney Plays Boxer Christy Martin
In her third upcoming 2025 release this fall, Sweeney gained more than 30 pounds to play breakthrough female 90s boxer Christy Martin.
The real story of the rise to welterweight champion of the coal miner’s daughter from West Virginia — is much more complicated than previously told.
Will Sydney Sweeney tell the entire story?
Read MoreReflecting on Abercrombie & Fitch Danzy Estates Tennis Closet Drop and Coco Gauff
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Abercrombie Danzy Estates Has Sporty & Rich Vibes
I’ve spent a couple hours really looking at Abercrombie — and I admit the Sporty & Rich connection in my brain got my attention. It’s valid as the first data bit, but another topic was working its way to my frontal lobe.
It seems that Danzy Estates has an open door to create very aspirational marketing — even if a luxury hotel in the south of France probably isn’t in the making. Mike Jeffries’ whites-only brand messaging — to say nothing about his sexual proclivities — will hang around Abercrombie’s neck for a long time.
Anne had an upfront and personal view of the brand’s struggles around race, as Jeffries built his ‘empire’. She is happy to know that Coco Gauff is welcome at today’s Abercrombie.
Read MoreDom Perignon's 'Creation is an Eternal Journey' Ode to Humanist Thinking
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Dom Perignon's 'Creation is an Eternal Journey' Ode to Humanist Thinking
The newest initiative from Dom Pérignon, titled "Creation is an Eternal Journey," is 2 minutes of video beauty, longing and enthusiasm for a life well-lived in a world infused with turmoil and conflicting values.
The distinguished champagne producer, part of the LVMH group, has collaborated with seven established creatives from various disciplines to reinterpret the Dom Pérignon narrative in nonmaterialistic self-expression and humanist values.
The Dom Perignon [IG] ‘Creation Campaign includes Zoë Kravitz - actor and director [film]; Tilda Swinton - actor and artist [cinema & art]; Iggy Pop - pioneering musician [punk rock legend]; Anderson .Paak - music producer and director [Grammy-winning artist]; Clare Smyth - Michelin-starred chef [gastronomy]; Alexander Ekman - dancer and choreographer [contemporary dance]; and Takashi Murakami - contemporary artist [visual art icon].
Most LVMH brands are adept at sophisticated marketing to clients for whom nuances matter. With anti-billionaire hate growing exponentially in America and around the world, brands must be extra careful in how they communicate their values. A new book ‘The Haves and the Have-Yachts: Disparities on the Ultra Rich’ offers a field guide to the ultra-wealthy, exploring their lives and influence.
Read MorePope Leo the 14th; The Augustinian Order; Renaissance Humanism; and Brunello Cucinelli
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Pope Leo the 14th; The Augustinian Order; Renaissance Humanism; and Brunello Cucinelli
The Catholic Augustinian Order, formally known as the Order of Saint Augustine, traces its origins to the early centuries of Christianity, inspired by the teachings and rule of Saint Augustine of Hippo. Saint Augustine, a pivotal figure in early Christian theology, emphasized a communal life dedicated to the pursuit of truth, charity, and devotion to God, principles that became foundational to the order.
America has delivered our 1st pope to the world community on this day May 8, 2025, and he is an Augustinian. In this moment, Anne of Carversville assures readers that this is a brilliant choice, one that does not surprise me at all, when I read his curriculum vitae over the weekend.
Read MoreBvlgari, Balmain and Johnnie Walker Whiskey Meet Up with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Olivier Rousteing
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Bvlgari, Balmain and Johnnie Walker Whiskey Meet Up with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Olivier Rousteing
The Met Gala 2025 debut of the Bvlgari Magnus Emerald Necklace a rare emerald of 241.06 carats, is the largest faceted stone ever set by Bvlgari. Officially debuting in Taormina, Sicily on May 19, Priyanka Chopra Jonas owned the green-envy, Bvlgari moment Monday night.
We share the main event story in Jewelry News, including Chopra Jonas wearing a Balmain Couture gown by Olivier Rousteing at the Met Gala. As my writing evolved — because I check everything and everybody’s IGs — Johnnie Walker US entered the visually-fantastic, high-credentials marketing drama anchored by Bvlgari.
It’s a subplot to the main event Met Gala, sponsored by Louis Vuitton and Instagram. But it’s a superbly-executed, multi-chapter read.
Read More'Superfine' Met Exhibition Catalogue May 2025 Dandy Images by Tyler Mitchell
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'Superfine' Met Exhibition Catalogue May 2025 Dandy Images by Tyler Mitchell
‘Superfine’ is the official catalogue published in conjunction with the Met Gala Monday night, May 5 and the ‘Superfine’ exhibition running from May 10-October 26, 2025. Rising star photographer Tyler Mitchell [IG],now represented by Gagosian, shot the ‘Superfine’ catalogue and this series of images from it.
In this presentation of catalogue story images, Mitchell works with top stylist Carlos Nazario [IG] to capture dandy-worthy images of artist Ike Ude and models including Abdou Ndoye, Craig Shimirimana, Lamine Seck and Mou Lam./ Hair by Dre Demry Sanders; makeup by Keita Moore; set designer Julia Wagner
Read MoreZara Introduces World to Chinese Artist Fanglu Lin in Her First Commercial Project
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Zara Taps Chinese Artist Fanglu Lin in Her First Commercial Project
The commercial alliance covers women, men, kids and home categories and represents the first time the artist has affiliated herself in a commercial venture.
In these Zara campaign images, models Chu Wong and David Yang are lensed by Chris Rhodes [IG] in Yangshuo, Builin [China], considered among the most beautiful locations in China.
Gaia’s Influence Dominates Fanglu Lin’s Artistic Universe
Fanglu Lin is known for her commitment to preserving and reinterpreting traditional textile craftsmanship through the ‘female’ [‘feminist’] eye and goddesses, especially Gaia.
Honoring the Yunnan-based Bai Minority
Lin’s artwork, ‘SHE’ [2016], spotlighting the sewing traditions of women from the Yunnan-based Bai minority ethnic group in China, earned Fanglu Lin first prize and a €50,000 purse in the Loewe Foundation’s Craft Prize 2021.
Zara is firing on all cylinders with this 5-stars collaboration. Learn more about it and Fanglu Lin’s artistry.
Read MoreA Brief Art History of Female Sexuality and Flowers Lensed by Alina Gross
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A Brief Art History of Female Sexuality and Flowers Lensed by Alina Gross
German-Ukrainian photographer Alina Gross [IG] knows that for thousands of years, flowers have been used as divine symbols in art and literature. In other eras of significant censorship, flowers thrived as unspoken symbols of erotism and sensuality.
In ancient Egypt, the white lotus was considered the original sacred lotus, existing as a transcendent symbol of creation, fertility and rebirth in the continuous cycle of life.
Similarly, in Greek and Roman mythology, goddesses like Aphrodite and Venus were frequently depicted with roses and other flowers, chosen not only to enhance their beauty but also as symbols of divine allure and sexuality.
Read MoreBrunello Cucinelli BC Duo Bag Campaign
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Brunello Cucinelli BC Duo Bag Campaign Shares a New Vision for a Feminine Ideal
The Brunello Cucinelli fashion business is built on the Italian values of humanism — a philosophy that AOC embraces fully now and always in my life. I am now clear in my own mind what other Italian-origin forces exist in opposition to humanism and are running wild across the US federal government.
I keep reading about alleged brilliance at work, but these beliefs run scarily close to the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who published the "Manifesto of Futurism" in 1909.
AOC first wrote about the Manifesto in the 2016 Democratic primary, and it’s now thriving in the Trump administration, where it unites the far left and far right far closer than we want to admit.
The house’s ‘BC Duo’ handbag represents a bit of a torch-passing moment, as the first bag to be designed by the Cucinelli daughters. The softly-structured tote might be the quintessential ‘ladies’ bag, especially the largest of the four sizes, which appeals to our own ‘throw in anything I might need today’ mentality.
Models Rim Tekle and Tara Halliwell together symbolize the purity of the feminine ideal in Brunello Cucinelli’s world. I will leave that statement hanging to give it oxygen, rather than death by asphyxiation. ~ Anne
Read MoreMichigan's Mallory McMorrow Is a BFD Anti-MAGA Firestorm in the 2026 Michigan Senate Race
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In April 2022, Republican State Senator Lana Theis claimed in a campaign fundraising email that State Sen. Mallory McMorrow wanted to "groom and sexualize kindergartners." On April 19, 2022, McMorrow took to the senate floor to defend herself against Theis's accusations, stating:
"I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme.”
This week State Sen. McMorrow announced her run for the open Michigan US Senate Seat created by the unexpected retirement of Democrat Senator Gary Peters.
AOC can’t imagine a better Michigan Senate candidate than the forceful, inspiring white-lady ballbreaker Mallory McMorrow, emerging as a tour de force political candidate against MAGA and for Michiganders. McMorrow is a Michigan-based nutcracker in the tradition of ‘Big Gretch’, Michigan Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Read MoreGustav Klimt Painting of Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona Forces Reflection on Human Zoos
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Gustav Klimt Painting of Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona and ‘Human Zoos’
A potentially lost forever, early artwork by renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, missing since the 1930s, is now being exhibited after its recent recovery. The painting portrays Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona, a leader of the Ga people from what is now known as Ghana in West Africa. Created in 1897, the portrait shows the prince in profile set against an abstract floral backdrop. Measuring just over 2 feet in height, the compact artwork is being showcased by the Viennese gallery Wienerroither & Kohlbacher (W&K) at the TEFAF Maastricht art fair in the Netherlands, with an asking price of €15 million (approximately $16.3 million).
The Rise of Ethnographic Showcases or ‘Human Zoos’
According to W&K, the painting was created by the artist amid the 1897 Vienna Völkerschau. These Völkerschau exhibitions were ethnographic showcases — also called human zoos — from the colonial era. These widely-attended exhibitions across Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries were often businesses created for financial profit.
Read MorePucci Taps Bibi Breslin for Spring 2025 Marmo Collection Campaign in Nod to Old Hollywood
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In Pucci’s latest images from the Marmo Spring 2025 campaign, model Bibi Breslin gone blonde seems to channel Marilyn Monroe and 1960s Palm Springs life in images by Drew Vickers [IG].
Pucci’s Gram writes: “Hollywood’s golden age meets the Italian coast” about Bibi’s images, styled by Jacob K. / Makeup by Lucy Bridge; hair by Eugene Soulemain
And the Pucci website writes: “The new Marmo Collection by Pucci, curated by [Artistic Director] Camille Miceli, showcases draped volumes, Roman influences, and a glamorous nod to the 1920s.”
The 1920s?
Read MoreWhen LOEWE’s Jonathan Anderson Was Inspired by The Glasgow School
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AOC is reviewing the totality of Anderson’s work for LOEWE, including work we’ve not shared before. These fashion images capturing the 2018 Loewe x Charles Rennie Mackintosh capsule collection are a perfect example of Anderson’s enormous respect for Arts & Crafts movements worldwide.
The handsome Felix Sueur joined with models Fran Summers and Giselle Norman in the Loewe x Charles Rennie Mackintosh capsule collection lookbook lensed by fashion photographer Craig McDean with styling by Benjamin Bruno. /Hair by Anthony Turner; makeup by Lynsey Alexander
Read MorePharrell Williams Carries the Olympic Torch Onwards to UNESCO for Louis Vuitton Men
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Pharrell Williams Carries the Olympic Torch Onwards to UNESCO for Louis Vuitton Men
The Louis Vuitton Men Spring 2025 campaign, lensed by Stef Mitchell with Gabriel Moses [IG] as photographer and director, The visual effects continue the major themes Louis Vuitton Men creative director Pharrell Williams introduced at his fashion show held in Paris at UNESCO House.
This season Vuitton Men teamed up with Air Afrique in Paris, a consultancy inspired by those glorious years when all things seemed possible, and a multicultural youth quake took hold around the world.
After his recent role representing Louis Vuitton and his adopted country of France at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Williams was feeling the love of his own humanrace [Pharrell’s skincare brand] family.
Read MoreThe Takashi Murakami x MLB Tokyo Series Launching by Fanatics x Complex Shop
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Japanese art star Takashi Murakami wants us to know he has more than one love besides Zendaya’s latest drop fronting his Louis Vuitton collaboration. With his new Major League Baseball collection, the artist hopes to build on what he sees as the “historical friendship between Japan and the United States.”
The Takashi Murakami x MLB Tokyo Series collection launches March 7, 2025 in advance of the series between the Cubs and Dodgers that opens the MLB baseball season at the Tokyo Dome on March 18-19.
Read MoreTyler Mitchell's Three Beauties -- Anok, Awar, Mona on Jekyll Island, Ga -- in Vogue Magazine
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Tyler Mitchell's Three Beauties -- Anok, Awar, Mona on Jekyll Island, Ga -- in Vogue Magazine
Top models Anok Yai, Awar Odhiang and Mona Tougaard surely had a deeply emotional experience, working with stylist Camilla Nickerson in this ancient roots fashion story for Vogue, shot by Tyler Mitchell [IG] in Jekyll Island, Georgia.
Key Points About Jekyll Island
1] the human and ecological history of Jekyll Island, which now dates back to 2500 BC and the indigenous Native American tribes, predominantly the Guale people who lived there; 2] the arrival of the Europeans and slavery on the island; 3] the rise on Jekyll Island of an aristocratic cafe society getaway culture in the 1920s that parallels the same rise in Europe
Read MoreBlame WWD: If Daniel Lee Is Taking a Final Burberry Bow Monday, AOC Is All In for Kim Jones
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