Lara Stone Covers Vogue Poland March 2022, Lensed by EIC Ina Lekiewicz

Lara Stone Covers Vogue Poland March 2022, Lensed by EIC Ina Lekiewicz AOC Fashion

Top model Lara Stone is back in the pages of Vogue Poland, posing in a large fashion story ‘The Return Of An Icon’. Simply stated, that’s great news because Lara Stone is sorely missed in fashion world.

Always a woman shattering glass, Lara was among the first models to deal with being “too fat” to model in a patriarchal-values fashion world that prefers flat-chested women. The Dutch model was very comfortable expressing her sensuality at a time when fashion was ready to dial down the volume. We are moving out of that long, dark winter.

Ashlee Barrett-Bourmier styles Lara in images lensed by Ina Lekiewicz, who is also Vogue Poland’s EIC./ Hair by Tomi Roppongi; makeup by Mel Arter

Lara married property developer David Grievson in July 2021. Lara Stone also covers the Vogue Czech March 2022 issue, lensed by Sonia Szostak and she appeared in Balmain’s SS 2022 campaign. Without a doubt, the 38-year-old sensual goddess is back!

Angelina Jolie Signs Powerful Media Deal With Britain's Fremantle

Angelina Jolie Signs Powerful Media Deal With Britain's Fremantle AOC She

UNHCR Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie arrives in Yemen today on a visit to help draw attention to the catastrophic consequences of the seven-year conflict on the people of Yemen. She will be visiting Yemeni families, including displaced families and refugees, to hear directly from them how the conflict has ripped their lives apart.

The Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

UNHCR hopes her visit will highlight the increasing humanitarian needs in Yemen and help mobilize urgent support for humanitarian work ahead of the annual High-Level Pledging Conference for Yemen on 16 March, and call for regional and international actors to commit to an end to the conflict.

"Everyone deserves the same compassion," Angelina Jolie wrote of the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Yemen, where she's assisting the United Nations Refugee Agency

Reality is that the people of Yemen probably will not be the focus of increased humanitarian commitments on March 16, with Russia’s war on Ukraine causing the greatest refugee crisis since WWII. It’s so important, though, that Angelina Jolie went to Yemen as planned.

According to the U.N. refugee agency, about 66% of Yemen’s 30 million people rely on humanitarian assistance for their daily survival, including over 4.2 million displaced people and 102,000 refugees and asylum-seekers.

The head of the World Food Program, David Beasley, told The Associated Press last month that around 13 million people were heading toward starvation in Yemen due to the protracted conflict and lack of funding.

The U.N. humanitarian office has reported that its 2021 humanitarian plan for Yemen received $2.27 billion out of its $3.85 billion requirement, the lowest funding level since 2015.

Angelina Jolie and Fremantle

Angelina Jolie’s life changes on a dime from day to day. The news on Friday was Angelina Jolie signing a powerful media deal with Britain’s Fremantle.

Under the three-year agreement, which commences immediately, Jolie and Fremantle will jointly develop a sophisticated, powerful, and internationally focused slate of feature films, documentaries, and original series in which she will produce, direct, and/or star – based on each individual project.

Under the deal, Jolie will produce and direct the feature film ‘Without Blood’, commencing this May in Italy. The actor adapted the script from the acclaimed international bestselling novel by Alessandro Baricco – praised as an unforgettable narrative about war, revenge, memory, and healing.

Angelina Jolie Signs Powerful Media Deal With Britain's Fremantle AOC She

Laetitia Casta and Vogue France March 2022 Celebrate Post-Feminist Freedom | Really

Laetitia Casta and Vogue France March 2022 Celebrate Post-Feminist Freedom | Really AOC Fashion

Vogue France online acknowledges the juxtaposition of this joyful March 2022 cover story featuring French icon Laetitia Casta lensed by Carlijn Jacobs [IG] with the realities of Ukraine.

Moving from Kim Kardashian in Vogue US March to Laetia Casta in Vogue France March is not too shabby, Carlijn. Double congrats this month.

The Vogue France statement is perfect:

Free! A wonderful word on our March cover. It was joyful, in the energy of our new issue. It takes on a serious resonance in the face of the tragic situation we are witnessing. The hindered freedom of a country. Freedom! A powerful and fragile word. The fragile freedom to live in peace. Vogue France supports its colleagues at Vogue Ukraine in the face of the horrific attacks on their country. We also share the sadness of Vogue Russia where many in the team have family and friends in Ukraine and some are Ukrainian themselves. The Vogue community is united, and the blue, white, and red of our issue is united with the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, the symbol of a country that is defending its freedom right now.

Right Turn Coming

Speaking of freedom, we are about to make a sharp right turn, as I read further into the Vogue France editor’s letter. Hang tight, here we go.

Chanel Sends "A Certain Notion of Femininity" with Spring 2022 Campaign

Chanel Sends "A Certain Notion of Femininity" with Spring 2022 Campaign AOC Fashion

Like so much of fashion branding, the CHANEL spring 2022 campaign evokes a world far different than the one we’re living in. It begs the question, though, about the world of the Chanel customer and whether events like rising autocracy and now Putin’s war on Ukraine impacts them at all. Do they even care?

Vivienne Rohner is center stage in images by Inez & Vinoodh [IG].

In the words of CHANEL

The campaign for the CHANEL Spring-Summer 2022 Ready-to-Wear collection is an ode to youth whose nonchalant grace resonates with the endless days of summer. Within the discreet charm of a villa in Provence, Inez & Vinoodh [IG] capture the model Vivienne Rohner and through her a certain notion of femininity.

My advice to Chanel is to proceed carefully with this “nonchalant grace” and a “certain notion of femininity” attitude.

A nuclear plant is on fire in Ukraine, started by Russian forces on March 3, ordered to action by Vladimir Putin. Russia’s autocrat is threatening nuclear attacks on the rest of the world. Ukraine’s citizens are suffering heroically, as they fight for democracy and hold a torch of light that is inspiring nations to action worldwide.

Will One De Beers Cullinan Blue Diamond Price Exceed Five Monets?

Will One De Beers Cullinan Blue Diamond Price Exceed Five Monets? AOC Jewelry News

The De Beers Cullinan Blue

On April 27, The De Beers Cullinan Blue diamond will be auctioned by Sotheby’s Hong Kong. This extraordinary 15.10 carat step-cut blue diamond has a preauction estimate of $48 million and could generate a significantly higher price, leaving five Monet paintings in the dust in the value of acquisitions in the art world.

In April 2021 an exceptional rough stone weighing 39.34 carats was discovered at South Africa’s Petra Diamonds Cullinan mine. This phenomenal blue diamond was sold in July 2021 for $40.1 million to the De Beers and Diacore partnership, achieving a price of $1,021,357 per carat.

Cullinan is known as the world’s most important source of blue diamonds, as well as being the birthplace of the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, which was cut to form the 530-carat Great Star of Africa.

The operation also yielded the 317-carat Second Star of Africa. They are the two largest diamonds in the British Crown Jewels. De Beers divested itself of the mine in 2007, part of a larger business strategy to turn to the marketing and selling of diamonds, while turning over mining to more local ownership.

It’s noteworthy that $40 million of the $48 million estimate did go to the Petra mining operation. There is significant loss in ‘waste’ created in cutting the De Beers Cullinan Blue. Presumably there is some value in the ‘waste’ but common sense suggests that the perfect blue diamond will sell at a price higher than $48 million, the highest estimate ever for a blue diamond.

Kendall Jenner by Luis Alberto Rodriguez in i-D Sp 2022 'Out of Body' Issue

Kendall Jenner by Luis Alberto Rodriguez in i-D Sp 2022 'Out of Body' Issue AOC Fashion

Supermodel Kendall Jenner rocks strawberry blonde, short hair in most of the images in her sensational photo shoot for i-D Magazine’s Spring 2022 ‘Out of Body’ issue No 367. Carlos Nazario styles Jenner in images by Luis Alberto Rodriguez [IG]. / Hair by Tina Outen; makeup by Yadim

Hopes are High for Release of Saudi Arabia Blogger Raif Badawi

Update: March 7, 2022: There is no word on the release of Raif Badawi, even though he has served his sentence in Saudi Arabia. Amnesty urges release of blogger after sentence expires Middle East Eye

As Vladimir Putin launches an unprovoked assault on Ukraine — stunning global citizens who see Putin as a malevolent war criminal gone wild in his barbarity against the totally innocent people of Ukraine — there is hope that Saudi blogger Raif Badawi might be released.

Badawi was arrested in 2012 on accusations of insulting Islamic religious figures on his blog Free Saudi Liberals. In a 2014 court decision that stunned human-rights activists as unjust, Mr. Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The further sentence of 1,000 lashes for blasphemy — a sentence that would absolutely kill him — created gasps of horror worldwide, including on Anne of Carversville. The author was also fined $266,000.

Badawi received the first 50 lashes in April 2015 — which did nearly kill him — and was not subjected to further flogging scheduled in June of 2015, as his body hadn’t healed. In April 2020, Saudi Arabia bowed to international pressure and abolished flogging. The result was the cancellation of the remaining 950 lashes of Raif Badawi’s sentence.

Hopes are high that Raif Badawi may be released from jail in days. Badawi has spent almost ten years in prison, and often total isolation. The dissident was sentenced using the Islamic — or hijri — calendar. By that calendar's reckoning, on Rajab 26 1443, he will have spent 10 years in jail. The actual date on the Georgian calendar is February 28.

Human rights group Amnesty International has campaigned for Badawi’s release for years, along with other organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders. Amnesty International believes that the release could be imminent.

Givenchy Spring 2022 Campaign with Kendall Jenner Erupts with Kenny Bag and Artistic Energy

Givenchy Spring 2022 Campaign with Kendall Jenner Erupts with Kenny Bag and Artistic Energy AOC Fashion

Supermodel Kendall Jenner returns to Givenchy’s Spring Summer 2022 campaign, accompanied by He Cong, Iselin Steiro, and Steinberg. Photographer Heji Shin [IG] captures the campaign with art direction by Sarah Jayne Todd. Panos Yuapanis styles the shoot, which includes a campaign film, executed also by Heji Shin, set to the music of Surkin./ Hair by Duffy; makeup by Lucia Pieroni

Two Big Engagement Ring Trends for 2022: Art Deco Emerald Cut and Lab Grown Diamonds

Two Big Engagement Ring Trends for 2022: Art Deco Emerald Cut and Lab Grown Diamonds AOC Fashion

For over 20 years, I’ve been focused on three major subsets of Americans: the traditionalists, the moderns, and the cultural creatives. Hearst’s Diego Gravinese Fractalia 5 is deeply rooted in the Cultural Creatives mindset. Most of us reading AOC are Cultural Creatives and/or Smart Sensuality women.

The latter are women who are sexy and smart; focused on achievement; and possessed with deep empathy for people and our planet. Often they are modern values women [you just can’t be rich enough or wear enough stuff on your back] who have crossed over to a much more progressive-values way of thinking. We are not show horses.

I’ve called us “lipstick liberals”, which the AOC crowd might deride. But AOC the Congresswoman has herself perfected the pouty red mouth.

Looking at Hearst’s Diego Gravinese painting Fractalia 5 brings other trailblazing women in this mold to mind, women we’ve written about for years at AOC. Think Beyonce, Amal Clooney, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez: They are all women who smash through the fractal panes of imaginary glass that keep them in check.

In a moment of serendipidity, I searched for information about the rings they wore. Among women I admire deeply, one shape — the emerald cut — emerges like a phoenix rising out of the ashes.

Dior's Spring 2022 Ad Campaign and New Bergdorf Goodman Shop Explode with Optimism

Dior's Spring 2022 Ad Campaign and New Bergdorf Goodman Shop Explode with Optimism AOC Fashion

Dior releases its Spring 2022 campaign, with its show-stopping, jewel-like colors and sporty vibe. Marc Bohan’s 1961 ‘Slim Look’ wasn’t the only important heritage reference mined for Maria Grazia Chiuri’s spring 2022 show. Bohan’s Dior Sport line was also center stage.

The Dior design vision represents a 180-degree turn in the road from Dior’s Olympics Grecian goddess resort show. As opposed to enduring the pandemic, Chiuri chose to fight back with bold colored, contagious optimism and the ‘60s global spirit of female liberation.

Seeing the unity of dress among young women from America to Britain, Sudan and Afghanistan — YES, Sudan and Afghanistan — reminds us of the perilous, patriarchal attempts worldwide to deny women their own self-determination. The images from that time period are almost impossible to believe, and they certainly created a horrific backlash against women’s fashion integration into global public spaces, previously occupied by men.

Italian artist Anna Paparatti and the legendary Roman nightclub the Piper Club inspired Chiuri’s design direction, one that pays homage to 1960s pop style with a crayola-colors explosion of boundary-crashing, purposeful ‘60s design.

The Spring 2022 campaign is lensed by Brigitte Niedermair [IG] and is timed with the opening of Dior’s new boutique at Bergdorf Goodman New York. References to the new Dior Bergdorf shop — see end of post — are lensed by Francis Dzikowski [IG] courtesy of Bergdorf Goodman.

Music for the events is set to the beat of Daft Punk’s ‘Around the World’, with video by Fabien Baron and choreography by Matilda Fleberg.

The Campaign

Models include Maryel Uchida, Naomi Ekindi, Sculy Mejia and Steinberg. Performers Angela Arcueno, Ahtayaw Ea, Soleila Chaou, Nicolas Huchard, Shirwann Jeammes, Laureen Parruitte and Julia Spiesser also appear in the Dior Sporty runway and campaign images.

Tod's Post First 2021 Increase in Six Years Under Designer Walter Chiapponi

Tod's Books 40% Revenue Increase in 2021 under Creative Director Walter Chiapponi AOC Fashion

Italian luxury brand Tod’s defied financial analysts forecasts, booking a 40% increase in revenues to 883.8 million euros ($997 million) in 2021. This was the first increase in sales since 2015, boosted by strong fourth-quarter growth in Europe and the United States. This good news catches our attention because major sales increases in the luxury market aren’t being driven by Europe.

Walter Chiapponi at Tod’s

Analysts haven’t yet credited Tod’s creative director Walter Chiapponi for the sales performance, but the topic should be front and center in Tod’s talk. The Italian luxury market veteran — who showed his first collection for the House in February 2020 for fall/winter 2020 — is Tod’s first creative director to be responsible for men’s and women’s fashion as well as leather goods.

“I think it’s a matter of maturity,” the soft-spoken designer told the press about his Tod’s arrival. “When you’ve been creative in a very extreme way for so long, you want to do something more grounded, more elegant, more sophisticated. I’m in my 40s, and now I really detest seeing [fashion] that gets old in a few weeks.”

Tod’s Pre-Fall 2022 Lookbook

Walter Chiapponi’s pre-fall 2022 lookbook caught AOC’s eye. Model Kathie Lam is styled by Margherita Moro, then lensed by Anton Gottlob [IG]. / Hair by Massimo Gamba; makeup by Tanja Friscic

Chiapponi described his Tod’s assignment as one of updating traditional Italian casualwear with what he calls “a dirtier, more modern take on bon ton.” Tod’s gains an inner wild child and a bit of edge without disrupting their core identity of bourgeois propriety.

The new creative director supports strongly Tod’s commitment to responsible sustainability practices. Beyond using certified organic fabrics, Chiapponi presented “a new furry texture, lining an oversized sweatshirt/bomber hybrid. Made with a yarn woven from the upper and fluffier part of the fleece of the sheep, which is not harmed when shearing, it was extra-soft to the touch.” via Vogue