The June 2026 issue of Vogue Hong Kong paid tribute to Tiffany & Co. with new spectacular pieces from its ‘Hidden Garden’ Blue Book high jewelry collection. Invited also to join the festivities were animal actors/ambassadors Romey & Cookie, humanely trained animal actors since 1987 by Benaya Animals [IG]. Schanel Bakkouche styled model Bambi Northwood Blyth in subdued, high jewelry elegance, lensed by Petros Koulouris [IG].
We’ve pulled out this story focused on ‘The Silk Road’ to honor Avani Rai’s father, renowned photographer Raghu Rai and equally the work of her mother, conservation architect Gurmeet Sangha Rai.
A key plank of AOC’s vision of the original Renaissance Humanism vs New Humanism is its lack of a Eurocentric lens. This global embrace of humanity has motivated me my entire life, with travels and a career around the world more times than I can count.
The Place of Ladakhi in Silk Roads History
The fashion story takes us to Ladakh, which was never an isolated mountain kingdom; it was the vibrant pulse point of the Trans-Himalayan Silk Road from as early as the 2nd century BCE. Its primary town, Leh, acted as a massive commercial hub where the trade routes of Central Asia, South Asia, and Tibet converged.
Trust was the glue that bound these traders in successful commerce and the beginnings of international business communities. These ancient traders have so much to teach us about dealing with the ‘other’.
Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel is in high gear, manifesting clarity of vision, intention, artistry and modernity expressed in the Coco Beach 2026 Campaign.
Creative director Sheila Single [IG] and photographer Julien Martinez Leclerc [IG] deliver an atypical summer campaign that is driven by graphic composition and precise placement.
Blazy’s women are so on the move — much like Coco Chanel herself or Chanel’s fabulous CEO Leena Nair — that being suspended in stillness, lying motionless on black sand — they are out-of-predicted behavior mode.
AOC’s Mycelium Man outsmarts us with a hard stop. I know; I know. Here she goes again with the mushrooms. Get used to it.
Supermodel Ashley Graham graces the pages of ELLE Spain’s [IG] August 2026 issue, styled by Sylvia Montoliu in Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy, Maison Alaia, Marina Rinaldi, YSL and more. JUANKR [IG] is behind the lens, capturing the sophisticated fashion story in all its Ashley Graham sensual glory.
A New Challenge: Her Little Lucci
The supermodel mother of three boys was recently toasting her favorite bottle of Lambrusco, calling it her fourth child, her little Lucci.
Pastoral Perfect in Vogue Paris 2018
The minute Graham’s fashion story hit the queue, AOC thought of her scalding story lensed by Lachlan Bailey for Vogue Paris. Graham as Earth Goddess is in the top 10 ever fashion stories on Anne of Carversville.
Vogue Scandinavia [IG] June 2026 took an unusually elegant approach in its summer issue, creating a fashion story ‘Cancer Astrology Forecast’ lensed by Branislav Simoncik [IG]. The shoot featured models Anamaria Cioboata, Ateta Jok, and Renata Scheffer styled by Anya Ziourova with fashion and jewelry from Alexis Bittar, Deepa Gurnani, Elie Saab, Maison Valentino, Max Mara, Pierre Hardy, Shop Julietta and more./ Hair by Mirka Mysicka; makeup by LLoyd Simmonds
Congrats to top model Cindy Bruna, who married Congolese basketball player Blondy Baruti in December 2025. Follow our links below the new bride’s French Vogue [IG] cover for personal images.
Bruna wears a Candice Swanepoel Tropic of C bikini on her French Vogue cover, lensed by Purienne [IG]. Rising model Lennon Sorrenti takes the second cover for the fashion story ‘Bord De Mer’ and wears Prada. / Hair by Alexandrine Piel and Stephane Lancien; makeup by Aaron de Mey
Harper’s Bazaar Colombia [IG] makes its fashion magazine debut to major applause for their cover model Natalia Montero and her story in this first issue. Watching Montero’s videos on IG, she moves like a ‘60s-’70s model — which bares almost no relationship with today’s models, who seem to just stand there, more often than not.
In these images, Montero is styled by Pablo Correa in images by Andrés Oyuela [IG]./ Makeup by Lau Panto; hair by Javier Martinez
Lila Moss & Athiec Geng deliver joyful smiles in their Vogue Spain August 2026 cover story, also published in British Vogue. Poppy Kain styles the fashion story shot in Barcelona June 3-7, celebrating the 24th edition of the Primavera Sound festival. Sebastian Faena [IG] is behind the lens, documenting the event and catching live all those smiling faces./ Hair by David Harborow; makeup by Celia Burton
Elizaveta Porodina [IG] captures ‘The Shape Of Later’, a beauty story featuring Ivy Stewart, created in concert with Violet Papers [IG] and Lara Violetta for Stockholm-based BYREDO.
Vogue Australia [IG] July 2026 digital issue delivers one of the first fashion stories focused on Maria Grazia Chiuri’s debut collection since her return to Fendi as creative director.
In luxury fashion, the Italian concept of purity of form [purezza delle forme] refers to a design philosophy focused on impeccable tailoring, architectural lines, and the removal of unnecessary ornamentation to let the silhouette and material speak for themselves.
Considering ‘purity of form’ enters the fashion dialogue at the same time AOC is deeply immersed in a study of Italian futurism. Setting aside the ideological planks of Italian Futurism — including its deep disdain for women — it seems that these two concepts are connected functionally.
Soo Joo Park is styled by Kihoh Sohn in Cartier riches, lensed by Hyea W. Kang [IG] against a black modernism fashion statement for Vogue Korea [IG] August 2026 issue, closing out the magazine’s 30th anniversary year./ Hair by Tsuki; makeup by Yuki Hayashi
French model Anais Mali is styled by Ariane Lindhorst in high-summer, poolside looks for Harper’s Bazaar Greece [IG] August 2026 issue. Panayiota Ten provides creative direction with photography by Andreas Ortner [IG] on location in Comporta, Setubal, Portugal./ Hair and makeup by Helena Narra
Model Yanan Wan isstyled by Emis Lee in ‘New Generations, Old Pleasures’, lensed by Rambo Ding [IG] for Vogue China [IG] July 2026.
Folk Schools for All
Sharing this Vogue China fashion story was impacted by an excellent weekend story in The New York Times, ‘The Comforting Resurgence of ‘Grandma Hobbies’ [gifted 30-day link]. Written by Kate Brennan, with photography and video by Lindsey Makuwatsine, the article opens in Traverse City, Michigan at the Green Door Folk School, which opened in 2024.
Top models Bibi Breslin, Chloe Oh, Esther Kim, Felice Nova Noordhoff, Hyunji Shin, Luiza Perote, Natasha Poly and Soo Joo Park cover the August 2026 issue of Vogue Korea [IG]. Names are on the individual covers.
Hyea W. Kang [IG] is the sole photographer on the covers, with fashion direction by Eunyoung Sohn and styling by Dahye Kim and Kihoh Sohn./ Hair by Sebastien Le Corroller and Tsuki; makeup by Aya Murai, Hye Tyeong Park, and Yuki Hayashi
The votes are coming in with greater authority every day. Chanel is the big winner in the Dior v Chanel competition. Whether or not it’s a win built to last will reveal itself going forwards. But Chanel has taken the crown.
Not only has Blazy created stunning fashion choices for women with financial capital; he has put Stephanie Cavalli, age 50, into the spotlight. What is there not to love with this vibrant model who recalls:
“I never know how to put this without sounding crass, but I was too old to be young and too young to be old,”
In this global June 2026 ELLE fashion story, Cavalli wears key pieces from last December’s first Métiers d’Art collection by Matthieu Blazy. [The New York subway show].
Nicole Heiniger [IG] captures the model in all her glory for ELLE Brasil and ELLE Global.
Golden Goose differentiates itself in the global marketing universe, leading with action and real product, not only words. As a brand, it has always respected and tapped into a universal creative impulse of humans wanting to make things. ‘Golden Happens’ is a deeply personal message, within this reality and context.
Among creatives, there are varying degrees of an understanding that customers, clients and VICs increasingly act as the ultimate authentic intermediaries who reject the ‘empty words’ of corporate disruption, based on old models of the luxury brands business.
Today’s VICs are often traveling alongside us in their own minds. They want to experience synchronicity first hand, and not by reading fashion magazines or attending designer fashion shows.
The traditional concept of star designers and their — but usually HIS — muses is giving way to a much more creative and often democratic process that is horizontal and not vertical.
In the world of haute couture, VICs desire to know the makers, not only the designers. In the words of Maria Grazia Chiuri:
A trial underway in Hong Kong’s High Court has indirectly drawn attention to how Chanel handles unsold and discontinued inventory on a seasonal basis. Court documents reveal details of Chanel Hong Kong’s once-routine destruction practices.
Yes, it’s staggering to read that the house reportedly destroyed between 10,000 and 20,000 discontinued Chanel products every six months as a matter of standard business operation.
This allegation is not fake news! But it’s old news and should be treated as such.
AOC has covered this topic extensively and is pulling from the archives to give us all a reality check on the facts. Generally-speaking, all the major luxury houses have stopped destroying unsold products.
Legislation went into effect in the European Union on July 19, 2026, that not only puts a legal stop to the destruction of luxury house products but requires all the major houses to file regular documentation on how they have handled the issue of unsold goods every year.
Supermodel Irina Shayk is in the house, covering the July 18, 2026 issue of d la Repubblica [IG]. The cover story ‘A Modo Mio’ is a body-conscious, sensually-aware [literally!] fashion story lensed by Ethan James Green [IG].
Haley Wollens styles Irina, led by Dolce & Gabbana for the cover and throughout the fashion story, with insider appearances by Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Ermanno Scervino, Jean Paul Gaultier, Lanvin, Lewis Dussurget, Maison Alaia, Sportmax, Stella McCartney and more./ Hair by Sonny Molina; makeup by Kabuki
Top model Vivienne Rohner is lensed by Larissa Hofmann [IG] in Harper’s Bazaar France [IG] August 2026. Styling for ‘Vacances Romaines’ is by Helena Tejedor. / Hair by Andrea Marinelli; makeup by Simone Gammino
Models Honey Ordonez and Keny Salgado cover the July 2026 issue of Vogue Latin America/Mexico [IG] posing in a fashion story ‘De Aquil Somos’ [We Are From Here]. Ivan Dario Ramirez and Valentina Collado style the duo photographed by Emmanuel Sanchez Monsalve [IG].
