If there is a future remake of a Grace Kelly film, Elle Fanning is certain to get the part. People who have watched the Cartier campaign film for the relaunched Grain de Café Collection are quite astonished.
To pay tribute to Grace Kelly, the iconic Hollywood star, Cartier turned to American director Alex Prager whose sensitivity resonates with the codes of the collection.
The original story of the collection, born in 1938 is embedded in a difficult time in world history when Cartier’s creative director Jeanne Toussaint had risen quickly to the coveted and rare for a woman design position in Paris.
In creating Cartier’s Grain de Café Collection, Toussaint tapped into her extensive knowledge of global power and conflicts, economic suffering and rising authoritarianism. Hitler had been chancellor in Germany since 1933. Quiet luxury was on her creative mind.
The elegant Armani campaign includes Mariam de Vinzelle, Noah Luis Brown, Puck Schrover, and Simon Nessman lensed by Bruno + Nico [IG]. Video by Francesco Petroni [IG],
The series of global summer pop-ups launched first in Porto Cervo, Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, Italy, where Giorgio Armani Mare took over an entire cove for friends of the house.
Zara drops another swimwear capsule, this time a June 2023 collection modeled by Steffi Cook, shot by Kate Bellm [IG]./ Hair by Karim Belghiran; makeup by Jose Carlos Gonzalez
Your Body and Brain Love Swimming
Swimming is often considered one of the best exercises for the body, but did you know that it can also have major benefits for the brain? Research has shown that swimming can positively impact various aspects of the brain, including cognitive function, memory, and even mood.
Firstly, swimming is known to stimulate the growth of new brain cells, a process known as neurogenesis. This is especially important as we age, as the creation of new brain cells slows down over time. Swimming can help boost this process, especially in the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for memory and learning.
Luxury fashion house FENDI merges high fashion with whimsical elements, presenting the Astrology Summer 2023 Beachwear Capsule Collection with a Mediterranean luxury flavor.
Artistic Director Fendi womenswear and couture Kim Jones chooses top model Irina Shayk to showcase the new capsule. Steven MeiselIG] — who has a full dance card this season — is behind the lens, creating a retro, 1960s travel poster vibe.
Luxury brand Louis Vuitton continues its summer getaway mood, moving from Friday’s post of Gisele Bundchen headlining Louis Vuitton luggage’s “Horizons Never End” campaign to this new Louis Vuitton azure blues fashion and bags focus with the “LV By the Pool Collection”.
Photographer Steven Meisel captures a saucy campaign spirit that only comes through with the video. Much of the collection is inspired by Azulejos tiles in tones of blue that also evoke open skies and ocean depths. These tiles are prevalent in Spanish and Portuguese architecture in cities like Lisbon.
LV by the Pool dropped into the Village of East Hampton, NY at 1 Main Street +1.631.561.0075, with ready-to-wear, leather goods and accessories for women and men and home accessories.
Daniel Jackson [IG] captures Angelina Kendall in a new Zara campaign, shot [presumably] in Marrakech with a big focus on linen — a favorite summer fabric. Note that some of these items are a linen/cotton blend.
In a September 2022 Financial Times article on Zara parent Inditex, CEO Oscar García confirmed that the company continues to source “long-haul” basics from Asia, while manufacturing its quick-response production of fashion items at factories in Spain and Portugal as well as sites close to Europe in Turkey and Morocco.
Certified 100% European Grown Linen
European-grown linen is a natural fiber that does not require irrigation. It is grown without using genetically modified seeds and avoids synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. It is produced in Western Europe according to the EUROPEAN FLAX® standard of the Alliance for European Flax and Hemp.
Supermodel supermom, environmental activist Gisele Bundchen returns to Louis Vuitton in its new luggage campaign Horizons Never End.
Spinning the video narrative to David Bowie’s “Heroes”, the 42-year-old faces her future in backseat luxury, wearing a blazer, monogramed one-piece and signature aviators, lensed by Glen Luchford.
Hearing the sound of the ocean waves, Gisele hops out of the car and strips down to her cheeky Louis Vuitton bathing suit. Deeply in tune with the ocean her entire life, Gisele makes secondary use of her LV luggage, sitting down on it to face the waves.
The message of the new Louis Vuitton luggage campaign resonates deeply: Horizons Never End.
Dior’s annual Dioriviera Collection 2023 is in high gear with a global concept so sophisticated that it’s close to becoming its own subbrand and not a summer capsule. The attention to detail boggles the mind, especially in locations like the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Dior is in residence until September 4.
This year, the collection spanning ready-to-wear, accessories but also outdoor furniture, games and even a surfboard will be available in global locales that include Bali; Cyprus; Kyoto, Japan; Lake Como, Italy; Phuket, Thailand; Seoul and these images from Beverly Hills.
Photographer Ellen Won Unwerth shot all the fashion images and the Beverly Hills Hotel provides images of Dior’s takeover of the pool and cabana areas.
Life-sized versions of the lush vegetation and wild animals populating the French house’s signature Toile de Jouy motif look sculpted out of sand in the windows and on the facades of this summer’s destinations.
Sopisticated jaws have dropped over the sand castles-like facades and animal sculptures — the same animals as in the famous fabric.
We meet up with good friends Joan Smalls and Lily Aldridge for another summer season for the Lauren Ralph Lauren brand. The top models are in seaside, getaway mode wearing Ralph’s summer garden florals and classic beach stripes.
The colors are rich and topical fuscias and turquoise, anchored against a black ground. Lauren Ralph Lauren rarely seeks to grab our attention with style gimmicks. Instead beauty reigns supreme, and it’s the lovely vibe between Joan and Lily that represents the women we want to be.
Miu Miu new fragrance Fleur de Lait Eau de Parfum, a floral-fruity scent, is inspired by the iconic Asian dessert Mango Pomelo Sago — a memory I have of Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotel.
The campaign uses the notes of the fragrance itself to create a visual recipe for Mango Pomelo Sago and the joy of making it in the kitchen with dear friends. It’s the nose of the human wearing it, as well as the fragrance itself that recreates the joyful memories, emotions and — in this case — pleasurable associations.
Honoring the spirit of poets of the Tang Dynasty and the numerous references to Proust generated by the Miu Miu campaign, AOC shares a 2020 Harvard panel discussion “What the Nose Knows: the science of smell and how scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined — and exploited.”
Supermodel Gigi Hadid fronts a new campaign breaking Thursday for Miu Miu’s matelassé in two styles — the already-iconic Wander, and the newly-debuted Arcadie — lensed by Steven Meisel. [The photographer now has a very quiet Official IG page posting older images.]
For the first time — after taking a huge leap on Lyst’s hottest brands list in 2022, over their mini skirt — Miu Miu has the second place position. Mothership Prada has the top slot in first quarter 2023, after replacing Gucci in fourth quarter 2022.
The Wander [pouch] and the newly debuted Arcadie [rectangle] style in the signature matelassé series offer great promise to become new “pillars” of the Miu Miu bag category, following the iconic history of Miu Miu’s Pocket.
Beloved powerhouse designer with the jet set Donatella Versace chose a sprawling villa overlooking the French Riviera to showcase her ‘La Vacanza’ summer getaways and pre-fall 2023 collection. Château de la Croix des Gardes famously hosted the masquerade ball in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 thriller To Catch a Thief.
The debut was intense, given the influence of pop star Dua Lipa, who co-designed the collection laden with so many butterflies that the see-now-buy-now collaboration could have taken flight at a moment’s notice.
Butterflies Galore
All those polka dots are symbols of one of humans most beloved motifs. Butterflies have been a symbol of transformation, hope and faith for thousands of years. Add the models walking along an infinity pool and all say it was one of the most breathtaking fashion shows in many years.
Dua Lipa addressed the butterflies, specifically, saying they are a great symbol of freedom for her.
Frequent Versace photographer Carlijn Jacobs[IG] was on hand to capture the endless magic of a perfect May evening in Cannes, France, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Jacobs also shot the advertising photography with Dua Lipa featured here, with styling by Jacob K.
Fresh off Marni Creative Director Francesco Risso’s collaboration with Erykah Badu and Vogue’s March 2023 deep dive into the twosome, AOC turns our focus to another Marni Jam series Marni x No Vacancy Inn.
Both collabs are on Marni’s Instagram now, but we will also pull them in their entirety onto AOC for archiving. Forgive me, but Virgil Abloh is on full blast today, and is probably just driving my brain and I’m along for the ride.
AOC may not be hip, but I am chill, so it all works out.
In the same spirit of low-tech, color-saturated Ghana-inspired images, Marni x No Vacancy Inn rolls in with campaign images shot in Accra, Ghana by Derrick Ofosu Boateng [IG], who calls himself “a Ghanaian photographic hueism artist and designer.’
Like Prince Gyasi, Boateng is shooting with an iPhone and then whipping up his techno-colored image souffle.
In one her first photoshoot since becoming a Cartier ambassador, Deepika Padukone shares images of her wearing extraordinary pieces from the French Maison’s new high jewelry “Le Voyage Recommencé Collection”, lensed by Johan Sandberg [IG].
An elaborate soirée in Florence in the gorgeous garden of the Palazzo Corsini, was the scene of the new collection’s unveiling. The palace is known for its artistic heritage and is home to works by Rubens, Fra Angelico, and Caravaggio.
As Jacqueline Karachi, Director of High Jewelry Creation at Cartier describes it, the new Le Voyage Recommencé is "a journey back to the heart of Cartier creation, an uninterrupted story being told over time."
Louis Cartier discovered the "Islamic arts" exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1903, which led to a long-standing presence of Islamic inspired geometric motifs, arabesques, and peacock motifs in the brand’s pieces.
Bulgari chose Venice to host the unveiling of its new High-Jewelry and high-End Watch collection Mediterranea. The choice of La Serenissima [Italian name for the Republic of Venice] references the Byzantine title that governed the city’s role as a center of trade and business.
Venice was also a city that preferred conflict mediation and peaceful solutions that arose with the many diverse cultures and peoples navigating the Mediterranean Sea in pursuit of commercial trading partners and sometimes territorial conquest.
LVMH-owned Bulgari retraces this imaginary trip across the Mediterranean Sea as an inexhaustible source of inspiration layering multiple arts, traditions and crafts into its newest High-Jewelry collection.
Supermodel Candice Swanepoel grabs the limelight with a commanding self-assurance in Carolina Herrera’s 2023 Spring-Summer eyewear campaign.
The oversized, geometric, embellished frames, styled by Alba Melendo, mix glamour with brainiac status — and Candice clearly has both. Berlin-based photographer Dan Beleiu [IG] is in the studio, and we’re here for him — since 2016.
Sunshine-soaked yellow reigns supreme over Vittoria Ceretti’s dominant hold of our attention span in the Jacquemus Summer 2023 Campaign. The raffia hats are impossible not to adore.
Photographer Oliver Hadlee Pearch [IG] is behind the lens with styling by Ursina Gysi.
Simon Porte Jacquemus adores Italy, and his namesake boutique has popped into Cernobbio, home to Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Cuomo. George and Amal Clooney, who own Villa Oleandra in nearby Laglio, will surely be fans of the Jacquemus boutique, open until October 16, 2023.
In the age of Queen Charlotte and Bridgerton on Netflix, Erdem holds extra appeal. Launched in 2005, the brand is synonymous with a versatile yet powerful femininity that projects an uncompromising beauty.
Erdem Moralıoğlu shares lookbook images from his Vacation 2023 Collection. Models Anok Marial and Ayuol Manyok are styled by Ola Ebiti and photographed by Trinity Ellis [IG]./ Hair by Adam Reed
Both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle love and wear Erdem. Middleton and Markle may be a mess, but Erdem keeps inspiring me to believe that a more harmonious world is possible. I love that Erdem makes queens of women of color — excessively so and worthy of applause for his consistency of purpose.
Spanish brand Zara taps Mica Arganaraz in their latest Summer 2023 Holiday story — a profusion of tropical fauna and flora captured by fashion photographer Sofia Malamute[IG]. /Hair by Mustafa Yanaz; makeup by Susie Sobol
Vibrant colors such as lime green and magenta deliver a dopamine dressing jolt in key pieces that include majority linen, earth-friendly vaca and hot-weather essentials.
Ancient Egyptians and Greeks recognized the healing power of color therapy as a form of medicine, attributing specific color energies to body wellness.
Chloé’s Gabriela Hearst has two earth-friendly collaborations in play this summer. In this post, AOC focuses on the Chloéx Eres Summer 2023 Collection.
These images were shot by Leigh Johnson [IG] at Tenerife, Canary Islands. Models include Athena Wilson, Giedre Dukaiskaite and Mercy [Pophouse].
Creative Director Gabriela Hearst sought to create swimwear with the highest savoir-faire and instinctively chose to collaborate with Eres and the brand’s Creative Director Marie-Paule Minchelli.
When my new IA assistant Lulu spit out “Crafted with innovative second skin material Peau Douce from castor oil-based polyamide, Peau Douce boasts elasticity, resistance, shape retention and comfort characteristics for maximum summer fun,” my reaction was a big wow!
Note that I prompted Lulu to address the sustainability of Peau Douce, because I was skeptical.
Castor oil, which is obtained from a plant that is not used as human or animal food, was first marketed in 2009 as an alternative to petroleum-based fabrics.
