Supermodel Irina Shayk covers V148 [see the fashion credits], V Magazine’s Summer 2024 issue. George Cortina styles Shayk in key pieces from pre-Fall and Fall 2024 luxury brands Balenciaga, Duran Lantink, Fendi, Gucci, Tom Ford, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Valentino and more.
Nathaniel Goldberg [IG] photographed Lea’s mom in Paris in the fashion story ‘Irina Shayk’s It Up’ at Espace Lumiére Studios. / Makeup Tom Pecheux; hair by Joseph Pujalte
Luxury brands and thoughtful fashion writers like AOC are studying this last issue of Vogue China under the signature and vision of departed EIC Margaret Zhang.
The June 2024 issue features supermodel Liu Wen on three covers. The towering-influence Chinese model is styled by Vivienne Sun, with creative direction by Matt Mcdonald and images by Hong Kong based Wing Shya [IG].
What Vogue China watchers are analyzing is how ‘New China Style’ — and AOC adds the ‘thoughtful expression of Chinese government values’ — is expressed by luxury fashion and media going forward.
Expressing China’s 21st century modern identity through the lens of traditions thousands of years old is key for the next EIC of Vogue China.
Issues Around Gender Identity, Masculinity and Feminism in China
Generally speaking, ‘male identity’ has been under the microscope in China, even more than ‘female identity’ and feminism itself. There is a statistical problem with China’s birth rate created with its old one-child, government policy.
Additionally, the Chinese government has not hesitated for one moment to demand changes and shut down media that projects images of men through the LGBTQAI+ lens. Many readers may not know that the Chinese government banned effiminate men on TV in September 2021.
Whether luxury brands acknowledge this topic or not, it’s on their minds, given the importance of the Chinese market in future growth plans.
Zendaya adds another Vogue cover fashion story to her May 2024, ‘Challengers’ movie tour, fashion story portfolio. Sydney, Australia was the first stop on the 27-year-old’s publicity tour and Hannah-Rose Yee sat down with the actor on behalf of Vogue Australia.
Photographer Josh Olins [IG] takes incredibly-poignant and deeply-personal images of the actor, styled by Law Roach. The one below is one of the most intimate, unrehearsed and unique images in my AOC memory.
It has intimacy, vulnerability, a bit of exhaustion or letting-go in the moment. There is no tension in her shoulders, signifying to me great trust and comfort with the photographer. The image has an old masters, British museum quality to it.
Photographer Dan Beleiu [IG] captures great summer images for the Missoni Eyewear [IG] Campaign. Models Ana Portela and Valeria Duldini bask in the kaleidoscope of Beleiu’s color-rich, modern eye. Styling by Lorenzo Poscocco with creative direction by Filippo Grazioli./ Hair by Lorenzo Barcella
There’s no person in fashion who has contributed more art imagery to the topic of sexual healing and body positivity — defined as embracing your body with love, including your sexual energy — than supermodel Anja Rubik.
In these images Rubik covers the pages of Poland’s K Magazine [IG],working in concert with Anja’s nonprofit foundation devoted to sexuality. Karolina Gruszecka styled Rubik in artful, modern images by Marcin Kempski [IG].
A sultry Tess McMillan covers the June 2024 issue of ELLE UK [IG] with a fashion story called ‘Focal Point’. Hasse Nielsen [IG] photographs McMillan with styling by Aurelia Donaldson. / Hair by Yoshitaka Miyazaki; makeup by Celia Evans
The highest paid model in the world for the last six years is supermodel Kendall Jenner, and she is celebrating her 10-year anniversary in the fashion business on the cover of Vogue Magazine’s June/July 2024 issue. Jenner is interviewed by Rob Haskell in ‘Kendall Jenner Is in Her Feelings’ following her New Year’s trip to Barbados.
Kendall is styled by Tabitha Simmons with images by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott [IG], who shot the fashion story at the One&Only Mandarina on Mexico’s Pacific Coast./ Hair by Jimmy Paul; makeup by Mary Phillips
There is absolutely no joy expressed in Jenner’s decade of building a successful career that put her on top of the Forbes 2023 list, with estimated annual earnings related to fashion and style projects at $40 million.
The Power of Negative Thinking
Jenner’s biggest goal over these 10 years has been to prove people wrong about her — which AOC agrees doesn’t sound like much fun for such a successful person. We all know that haters online are not kind to women in the spotlight. But Kendall also agrees that she is not a positive person generally.
Model Africa Garcia is styled by Nicholas Georgiou in ‘Rebel Rebel’, lensed by Thanassis Krikis [IG] for Vogue Greece [IG] May 2024. / Hair by Christos Kallaniotis; makeup by Athina Karakitsou
Garcia’s summer wardrobe is inspired by the Italian-American photographer, model, actor, and activist Tina Modotti, whose retrospective at Jeu de Paume in Paris is closing Sunday, May 12.
The photographer’s young life took a dramatic turn in 1920, when Tina Modotti met Edward Weston.
The couple moved to Mexico City in 1922 and opened a portrait studio. They lived in the energized intellectual life of Mexico City in the interwar years, surrounded by a circle of friends that included Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein and Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician Leon Trotsky, as well as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
Dutch model Mirthe Dijk is styled by Pawel Jastak in ‘Como Azzurro’, lensed by Olivier Kervern [IG] in the familiar foggy mist for Vogue Poland [IG] May 2024./ Hair by Marco Braca; makeup by Martina D’andrea
Miss Fame graces the pages of Vogue Scandinavia’s [IG] May 2024 issue. Why?
Because Miss Fame is one quarter Danish, just like Anne. She doesn’t have my Swedish blood, though. Too bad, Miss Fame. Another quarter or more would give you the cover.
Søren Kolborg Sørensen styles New York fashion’s ‘teacher’s pet’ femme in Dior, Maison Margiela, Prada, The Frankie Shop [brand] and more./ Hair by Kasper Andersen; makeup by Kate Our
Rising model Ajak Dhieu is styled by Thea Lewis-Yates in ‘Adaptations - Pink’, an elegant fashion story lensed by Daniel Benson [IG] for Vogue Poland [IG] May 2024. / Hair by Emil Zed; makeup by Kim Brown
Lachlan Bailey [IG] and Brunello Cucinelli [IG] make perfect sense together. We find Bailey behind the lens for Brunello Cucinelli’s May 2024 drop.
The cast includes Cate Underwood, Lucky Blue Smith, Nour Rizk and Ryan Porter with styling by Michela Buratti. / Hair by Werner Amort; makeup by Pedro Pianto
While much luxury retail has stumbled in the first quarter of 2024, Brunello Cucinelli posted a 16.5 revenue percent increase through March 31. Based on current orders, the gentle luxury house is projecting revenue growth of 10 percent in 2024.
‘Twilight Saga’ franchise star Kristen Stewart is styled by Bojana Kozarevic in a fashion story ‘Laid Bare’, a collection of sultry separates from Acne Studios, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Dries Van Noten, JW Anderson, Saint Laurent, Tom Ford and more. Stewart covers Porter Edit’s May 6 issue, lensed by Zoey Grossman [IG]./ Hair by Adir Abergel; makeup by Jillian Dempsey
Billie JD Porterinterviews Stewart, fresh off her press tour for ‘Love Lies Bleeding’, where she plays “Lou – a seemingly nihilistic gym manager, whose world is turned upside down when she falls hard and fast for a female bodybuilder.”
The actor has spoken multiple times about the challenges of bankrolling ‘The Chronology of Water’, the film she is about to direct and one she has struggled to finance until now.
Stewart jazzes up the descriptors, saying the movie "is about incest and periods and a woman violently repossessing her voice and body, and it is, at times, hard to watch ... but it’s gonna be a f---ing thrill ride."
Marseille-based model Erin Wasson poses for Aussie brand Spell’s Bohème 2024 campaign. Photographer Jamie Green[IG] writes that Wasson rolled out of a cab 90 minutes from Marseille, saying “You’ve got me for 8 hours, babe.”
If you don’t know Spell, they have one store in Byron Bay and a global internet business. Sustainability has been at the heart of Spell for over a decade, and they lead with fibers that are circular, regenerative and renewable.
In spite of the brand’s ‘California Girl’ in Australia positioning, Spell uses words atypical for PR campaigns. On the topic of sustainability, Spell says they are ‘braver, clearer and frankly – gutsier’.
Nice . . . especially the gutsy part. Fashion needs more gutsy people. Less facade; more guts . . . PLEASE. And thanks, Spell for being a Certified B Corporation.
2023 was a banner year for Khaite with the brand opening a store in Soho, New York, and a second one in Seoul. Khaite popped into Water Mill, New York — at Holstein’s summer home — to show the pre-Fall collection. [See image above.]
In an amazing sequence Holstein sold another stake in her company to growth equity firm Stripes, after being launched in 2016 by brand incubator Assembled Brands. In 2023, as part of its Stripes presentation, Khaite announced plans to open 10 additional brick and mortar stores in the next five years.
In a well-written 2006 New York Times headline, ‘To Barneys, and Step on It’,Eric Wilson detailed the life-changing events for the 22-year-old Parson’s student Catherine Holstein, who had designed six sailor dresses.
Distilled to its essence, Holstein and Khaite is a wonderful New York story, filled with true grit determination and also the power of connections. Lots of them. AOC delights in sharing the details.
Vogue China +[IG] May 2024 issue features a fashion story ‘Laufey On The Up and Up’, focused on the young talent Laufey, born in Reykjavik to a Chinese mother violinist and a Icelandic economist father, who was a devotee of Chet Baker.
Alvin Yu styles the singer in images by Arseny Jabiev [IG]./ Hair by Gonn Kinoshita; makeup by Mélanie Inglessis
Rolling Stone headlines their recent story ‘Laufey: Cozy, Classic Pop’. Vanity Fair’s says ‘A Celebration of Modern Girlhood, Laufey Brings Jazz to a New Generation’.
On February 4, Laufey won her first Grammy for Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Life is good for Laufey.
Models Achol Ayor, Ali Dansky, Amelia Gray, Canlan Wang and Wali Deutsch rise to a haute couture moment in ‘Higher Ground’, styled by Carlos Nazario. Photographer Sam Rock [IG] is in the studio for Harper’s Bazaar US [IG] May 2024./ Hair by Benjamin Muller; makeup by Kanako Takase
Photographer Carlijn Jacobs [IG] and stylist Katie Burnett create a splendid accessories fashion story in D magazine for d la Repubblica [IG] May 4, 2024.
Model Mila van Eeten wears high jewelry pieces from the Bulgari Serpenti Collection on the cover. Other models for ‘The Art of Gold’ include Lilli Cummings, Madja John Peter, and Yacine Ferroudj./ Hair by Olivier Schwalder; makeup by Lucy Bridge
Taylor Hill takes the spotlight in Banana Republic’s Summer 2024 ad campaign. Hill, who married Daniel Fryer in 2023, poses with Ibby Sow, Marlon Teixeira and Melodie Vaxelaire for the fashion shoot in Mérida, Mexico.
Banana Republic CEO Sandra Stangl was relieved of her position late last week, by Richard Dickson, Gap Inc. president and CEO. Stangl arrived at Banana Republic with a strong background in home retail at both Restoration Hardware, now RH, and Williams Sonoma.
Top model Mona Tougaard is styled by Carlos Nazario in ‘New Directions’, lensed by Renell Medrano [IG] for Harper’s Bazaar US [IG] April 2024./ Hair by Claire Grech; makeup by Ana Takahashi