Nicole Kidman's Killer Instinct Knows Few Rules in Vogue Australia by Steven Klein

Nicole Kidman's Killer Instinct Knows Few Rules in Vogue Australia by Steven Klein

Nicole Kidman makes her ninth appearance on the cover of Vogue Australia February 2024 issue, styled by Christine Centenera. Photographer Steven Klein [IG] photographs Kidman’s well-established ‘Killer Instincts’ fashion style with an interview by Hannah-Rose Yee.

Let’s discuss the snake. “I think it’s something to do with the same way that I skydive or scuba dive,” Kidman explained about her request to be subversive in the fashion shoot. Kidman finds snakes “alluring”, leaving her fascinated by the way “they slither and move” and by the notion of shedding skins. “You can become and try different things, all the time, which is what excites me,” she reflects poetically.

Opening her arms to receive the snake — which was larger than Kidman expected — the actor explained that she is able to enter a trance in most situations. This skill exponentially expands her acting skill set, in a fearless, freedom-to-coexist with just about any situation.

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Bottega Veneta Embraces Sumptuous, Modern Elegance in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Bottega Veneta Embraces Sumptuous, Modern Elegance in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta opened its third store in Milan on Tuesday, with a design perfectly integrated into Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a landmark location between the city’s Duomo cathedral and the Teatro alla Scala.

Covering about 2,600 square feet over two levels, the store is AOC’s favorite to date. It’s modern without being cold and sumptuous without being overbearing. Even the huge gold planter works for AOC. Love the green leather.

“There are different experiences of space in the store,” Matthieu Blazy told WWD. “I wanted to express the idea of a domestic interior referring to Italian modernist architecture that contrasts with the aesthetic of a spaceship. And to capture the intimacy and the imagination of getting dressed.”

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Tory Burch SS2024 Campaign Starts a Ruckus in Marfa, Texas with Grace, Ida and Selena

Tory Burch SS2024 Campaign Starts a Ruckus in Marfa, Texas with Grace, Ida and Selena

Tory Burch [IG] strikes up the band, taking her Spring-Summer 2024 Campaign to Marfa, Texas, a small desert town in west Texas. population 1,748. Marfa has a very big reach both east and west as an arts center. Those damn liberals keep showing up in Marfa, trying to wreck the whole state of Texas, from the point of view of Governor Greg Abbott.

In fact, the arrival of this great campaign starring Grace Elizabeth, Ida Heiner and Selena Forrest is deeply political — perfectly timed as a clapback to the freakin’ absurd MAGA meltdown over Taylor Swift this week.

Only Taylor Swift appearing on horseback, disguised as a member of the Texas Rangers, but then jumping off her stallion and into the street guns blazing [in the air] to save Grace, Ida and Selena from an impending arrest would make this advert any better. What is their crime? Disturbing the peace.

Photographer Jamie Hawkesworth [IG] would be stupified over the entire scene but covering all the action from every angle. Meanwhile Brian Molloy does an excellent job styling this production, with hair by Jimmy Paul and makeup by Dick Page.

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Lana Del Ray Fronts SKIMS 2024 Valentine's Day Collection by Nadia Lee Cohen

Lana Del Ray Fronts SKIMS 2024 Valentine's Day Collection by Nadia Lee Cohen

SKIMS is now fearless about firing one volley after another into the prized territory of the once-great Victoria’s Secret lingerie brand.

SKIMS co-ounder Kim Kardashian has broken the Internet more than once, and it happened again this week. SKIMS said in a statement on Tuesday morning, January 23:

"Due to record breaking traffic and unprecedented demand for our Valentine’s Day launch, our Skims site has crashed. Shopify is working to resolve the issue asap.”

Kim Kardashian may be considering the outrageous possibility of suiting up for battle with Victoria’s Secret — as in an aggressive move to buy Victoria’s Secret with backing of the largest VS stockholders.

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LVMH Reports Record 2023 Financial Results Adding $30 Billion to Market Value

LVMH Reports Record 2023 Financial Results Adding $30 Billion to Market Value

Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon and Hennessy [LVMH] reported 2023 year-end sales of 86.15 billion euros [$93.46 billion], representing a 10% organic increase in fourth quarter and a 13% organic growth yearly increase against 2022.

Profit from recurring operations stood at €22.8 billion for 2023, up 8%. The current operating margin remained stable with respect to 2022. In addition, LVMH has advised the markets that it anticipates no further price increases across its business units in 2024.

Now that he is back to being the richest man in the world, thanks to a 12% rise in LVMH’s stock price on Friday, Arnault’s practice of engaging his children in collective conversations around every aspect of the entire LVMH business over Zoom lunches — early breakfast in New York — reminds us that the family is not a Rupert Murdoch-like clan of cannibals.

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Julianne Moore Reflects on Her 'Gig' Work, Lensed by David Roemer for Harper's Bazaar UK

Julianne Moore Reflects on Her 'Gig' Work, Lensed by David Roemer for Harper's Bazaar UK

Actor Julianne Moore is styled by Miranda Almond in her cover story for the February 2024 issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, lensed by David Roemer [IG].

In 2020, the New York Times named Julianne Moore one of the greatest actors of the 21st century. This Hollywood season Julianne Moore is playing opposite Natalie Portman in the controversial May December.

The film is the fifth time Moore has worked with director Todd Haynes.

Yesterday, we learned that Moore will star with Tilda Swinton in The Room Next Door, first English-language film from Oscar-winning Pedro Almodóvar.

In the world of fashion, Moore has been more devoted to Tom Ford than anyone else. Having just become an ambassador for Bottega Veneta, the actor says  "I’ve known Matthieu [Blazy, the designer] since he was an assistant at Calvin Klein," she says. "He’s a tremendous talent."

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Birgit Kos Wears Mermaids in Sergio Rossi's SS 2024 Campaign by Claire Rothstein

Birgit Kos Wears Mermaids in Sergio Rossi's SS 2024 Campaign by Claire Rothstein

Top model Birgit Kos fronts Italian shoemaker Sergio Rossi’s [IG] Spring-Summer 2024 campaign, where all-white leather Mermaid sandals deliver a seductive twist.

Photographer Claire Rothstein [IG] shot the campaign in Sorrento, a coastal town in southwestern Italy. CRothstein also has a long commitment to imagery of strong, sensual, confident women and is the genesis of Girls, Girls, Girls Magazine [IG].

Mermaids have captivated human imagination for centuries, touching ancient civilizations from Mesopotamia to Africa to China.

In ancient civilizations, tales of mermaids emerged as a way to explain the mysteries that lay beneath the vast expanses of water. They should not be confused with sirens, who are half human and half-birds.

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Candice Swanepoel Promotes Hailey Bieber's Rhode Skin Pineapple Refresh Cleanser

Candice Swanepoel Promotes Hailey Bieber's Rhode Skin Pineapple Refresh Cleanser

Candice Swanepoel and Hailey Bieber are two of the smartest women in the fashion and beauty sectors. Now they are teaming up in the launch of Bieber’s Rhode Skin calendar girls, with Swanepoel owning January and July.

Low-Key Cross Promotion

As of this moment, Candice has her @Rhode images on her personal IG, not Tropic of C. That may change in a few days, but Monday, this is Swanepoel’s only action. The sequence of three images and one video has 255,000 likes in 3-4 days.

No fanfare, no endorsements. Just the two women together as the friends they are in real life. Moving over to Rhode [IG], Candice appears again as Miss July and this time she’s carrying a big tube of the new Rhode Pineapple Refresh Cleanser.

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America’s Black Cowboys, As Tributed by Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men’s Collection: Pt 1 of a French-American Cowboys Story

America’s Black Cowboys, As Tributed by Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men’s Collection: Pt 1 of a French-American Cowboys Story

Historians estimate that in the latter half of the nineteenth century, one in four American cowboys was black. Anne of Carversville seriously doubts that this reality is taught in the history classes of American schools. Additionally, an estimated 12% of cowboys were Mexican.

Thanks to the January 18th Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men’s Collection show at the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris, this historical lens of exploration is opened wide. AOC is both incredulous and excited to tell this story. But first — a look at the highly-praised, Louis Vuitton Men Creative Director Pharrell Williams Fall-Winter 2024 show.

Black Cowboys and Slavery

The history of black cowboys in America is deeply intertwined with the legacy of slavery and the Civil War. Prior to Emancipation, many enslaved African Americans were forced into labor on plantations, including working with cattle. Other African Americans went west to California as slaves of gold miners and to Utah as slaves of Mormons.

Texas became the largest home to black cowboys.

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'Amor e Cia' for Vogue Portugal December 2023 Explores Skin Color Beauty

 'Amor e Cia' for Vogue Portugal December 2023 Explores Skin Color Beauty

Photographer Catharina Pavitschitz [IG] adds poetic beauty to the pages of Vogue Portugal’s [IG] December 2023 ‘Love and Hope’ issue with ‘Amor e Cia’ [Love and Company].

Vogue Portugal has an exemplary history in dealing with deeply-challenging issues of skin color, as it impacts racial identity and global culture images.

As European powers began to expand their empires through colonization, the concept of race as a hierarchical system based on physical attributes — particularly skin color — gained traction. This intellectual position was driven by the need to justify the subjugation and exploitation of indigenous populations and the mass enslavement of Africans across the continent.

The Vatican occupies a position of great prominence at the historical heart of the global slave trade, dating back to the 15th century when Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas in 1452, granting the Portuguese the right to enslave non-Christian peoples.

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