Desiree Mattsson Captures Helena Balder Mendez in 'Midnight Noir' for Vogue Arabia

Desiree Mattsson Captures Helena Balder Mendez in 'Midnight Noir' for Vogue Arabia AOC Fashion

Model Helena Balder Mendez is styled by Pablo Patane in ‘Midnight Noir’, uber-sophisticated beauty images lensed by Desiree Mattsson. for the September 2021 Vogue Arabia. / Hair by Ilham Mestour; makeup by Linda Wickmann

Elina Kechicheva Flashes Poetic Modern Maidens Seaside for Numéro France

Elina Kechicheva Flashes Poetic Modern Maidens Seaside for Numéro France AOC Fashion

Models Anna Pepper, Britt Van Den Herik and Pleun Keijsers drift into view in ‘Contre Vents Et Marées’, another of photographer Elina Kechicheva’s poetic, romantic young women fashion stories. Samuel Francois styles the modern life beauties for Numéro France September 2021./ Hair by Kazue Deki; makeup; by Eny Whitehead

Meghan and Harry Thrill Global Citizens to Action in Central Park As TIME 100 Icons

TIME 100 Icons Meghan and Harry Call Global Citizens to Action in Central Park AOC She

Global Citizens Held Hands September 24th in Central Park

AOC’s dot-connecting came full circle on Saturday with the truly epic Global Citizen concert that ran for 24 hrs. moving around the globe. The New York City Central Park action went live post-Paris at about 5pm. An hour or two in to the concert, it was clear that someone was in the house. Cries of glee, clapping — some rock star had arrived.

Well, they are rock stars — Meghan and Harry — and it was our chance to claim them as our own. The crowd was in love with the couple — as is AOC. Are they perfect? No, for heavens sake. And who is? We are so happy to have these global activists making their home now in America. We need them here, as America tries to get our act together once again.

“My wife and I believe that where you’re born should not dictate your ability to survive,” Prince Harry said. “So Global Citizens, we ask you tonight: Do you think we should start treating access to the vaccine as a basic human right?

“When we start making decisions through that lens, where every single person deserves equal access to the vaccine, then we can achieve what is needed together for all of us,” he added. 

And then who did Harry and Meghan introduce next at the Global Citizen ? UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who they met for the first time earlier in their New York City visit.

Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are headliners in this year’s TIME 100. Their own narrative was written by Spanish chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, a non-profit devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters.

The trio combined their activist energies in December 2020, when José Andrés and his non-profit, World Central Kitchen, became the first major charitable contribution of Harry and Meghan’s Archwell charity.

Harry and Meghan | Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweaka | UN Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield

AOC wrote about Harry and Meghan’s activist work on COVID vaccinations worldwide in our introduction of TIME 100: Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization. Prince Harry and Meghan asked the question: what will it take to vaccinate the world? “Unity, cooperation and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,” is their answer.

Writing about the Trump administration’s blocking of Okonjo-Iweala’s rise to head of the WTO, we noted her close relationship with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, now US President Biden’s UN Ambassador. As we predicted, one of the very first initiatives in the new Biden Administration was to end the Trump blockade against Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Read On: TIME 100 Icons Meghan and Harry Call Global Citizens to Action in Central Park AOC She

Nicole Kidman Covers Harper's Bazaar US October 2021 by Collier Schorr

Nicole Kidman Covers Harper's Bazaar US October 2021 by Collier Schorr AOC Fashion

American-born, Australian actor and producer Nicole Kidman covers the October 2021 issue of Harper’s Bazaar US. Stella Greenspan chooses a rich collection of fashion and Bulgari jewelry from Balenciaga, Burberry, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, Prada, The Row, Valentino and more. Collier Schorr [IG] photographs the 5’11” tall actor with creative direction by Laura Genniger./ Hair by Tamas Tuzes

Amanda Fortini speaks trans-Pacific with Kidman on the degree to which prestige TV has fueled a stunning period of reawakening and reinvention in the interview ‘The Golden Age of Nicole Kidman’.

If you’re a Nicole Kidman fan, the interview is 5-stars. Amanda Fortini shares a compendium of Kidman’s current projects and it’s a long list. The exchange probes Kidman’s deep psychological involvement in her characters, a reality that also impacts her family. The actor has spoken previously on this topic, one that is accentuated by a profound empathy that she has for humans generally.

Kidman’s visceral ability to feel her surroundings and people deeply — reading the room intuitively and not in a calculating, rational-mind manner — has placed her in the flow with American television writer and producer David E. Lynch. Kelley is involved in ‘Big little Lies’, ‘The Undoing’ and Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’.

“Her characters in these series are difficult, often inscrutable women who, in less skilled hands, would not be remotely sympathetic: spoiled women, insufferably out-of-touch women, a woman who defends her murderous husband, another who oversteps her guests’ boundaries and, at times, infringes upon their safety,” writes Fortini.

Rereading the interview for the third time, I don’t find throwaway paragraphs. Especially if you are a creative, each segment will speak to you.

“I suppose the artist spirit, a lot of times, is saying, ‘I don’t care what it’s gonna cost me as a human being, because my thrust is deeply artistic,’” Kidman says, pulling her hair down and putting it up again. She tells me that while filming the intense marital altercations in Big Little Lies, she would come home with bruises and have to explain to her young daughters where they came from. “And that’s probably just a massive push-pull in any person who’s a painter, a writer, you know?” she says contemplatively, treating the notion with the gravity it obviously holds for her. “If you’re really dedicated to it over a lifetime, that push-pull will collide with your existence and your connections with your family and all the people in your life. How much will that cost them? How much will it cost you personally? And how important is that artistic contribution?”

Aliet Sarah Plays with Rain Drops by Txema Yeste in Numéro #225 October 2021

Aliet Sarah Plays with Rain Drops by Txema Yeste in Numéro #225 October 2021 AOC Fashion

Rising model Aliet Sarah — born in South Sudan, refugee in Uganda, given refuge in Canada with her four siblings and both parents dead — blooms with inner radiance, style and grace in ‘Orage Tropical’. Waiting on a storm was never so stylish, thanks to Bernat Buscato.

Photographer Txema Yeste [IG] captures Aliet Sarah in deeply personal, fashionable images for Numéro #225 October 2021. / Hair Jordi Fontanals; makeup by Victor Alvarez

Gabriela Hearst Adds Navajo Nation Women to Spring 2022 Artistic Artisans Orchestra

Gabriela Hearst Adds Navajo Nation Women to Spring 2022 Artistic Artisans Orchestra AOC Fashion

Gabriela Hearst showed her spring 2022 collection Thursday in New York, a deeply personal mix of arty details; sustainable materials, and multiple handcrafted-collabs from the Americas.

In the crowd were Naiomi Glasses and TahNibaa Naataanii members of the Navajo Nation. The two women collaborated with Hearst on the woven swatches that were inset into the bodice of a sleeveless dress and the shoulders of a trench.

Glasses organized the arrangement (she’s a graduate of the Creative Futures Collective, which is dedicated to empowering creatives from disenfranchised communities). Glasses is also gaining major notoriety as a skateboarder, creating her own skatepark in Arizona. Teen Vogue did an exciting profile of Naiomi in March.

Naataanii, who is a sheepherder and a weaver, did the hand work, with the help of her mother and daughter.

Ursula Corbero Fronts 'Historia De Un Sueño' by Txema Yeste for Vogue Spain September 2021

Ursula Corbero Fronts 'Historia De Un Sueño' by Txema Yeste for Vogue Spain September 2021 AOC Fashion

Spanish actor Ursula Corbero covers the September issue of Vogue Spain, wearing Loewe on the cover styled by Bernat Buscato, with Dior, Kenzo, Prada, Valentino and more in the fashion story ‘Historia De Un Sueño’. Photographer Txema Yeste [IG] captures the fashion imagery that envelopes Ursula Corbero, who is busy reinventing herself with her leap to Hollywood.”

Corberó is new to English-speaking audiences, having only learned to speak the language two years ago. We would never know this fact, after watching her in ‘Snake Eyes’ earlier this summer. W Magazine writes that “Corberó had even herself fooled. Speaking over Zoom from her apartment in Madrid, she recalls her reaction upon seeing her final performance: “Who is this person? You liar!”

Clearly, Ursula Corbero is a woman to watch.

A Sensual Sara Grace Wallerstedt by Jean-Baptiste Mondino for Numéro #225

A Sensual Sara Grace Wallerstedt by Jean-Baptiste Mondino for Numéro #225 AOC Fashion

Top model Sara Grace Wallerstedt is styled by Babeth Djian, founder and editor-in-chief of Numéro magazine. Djian, who is almost always photographed in black, chooses modern femme fatale, edgy style looks with an occasional hit of angelic white. The EIC infuses erotic tension with a delicate balance in the images lensed by Jean-Bapiste Mondino as ‘Stairway To Heaven’ in Numero #225./ Hair by Odile Gilbert; makeup by Lili Choi

Gong Li Is Out of This World in Futuristic Fashion by Feng Hai for Vogue China October 2021

Gong Li Is Out of This World in Futuristic Fashion by Feng Hai for Vogue China October 2021 AOC Fashion

Gong Li is a Chinese-born Singaporean actress, often regarded as one of the finest actresses in China today. Gong Li covers the October 2021 issue of Vogue China — and a very fine issue it is! The fashion stories go sci-fi and futuristic under the new leadership of Margaret Zang, 27. Audrey Hu styles the actor in images by Feng Hai for ‘Gong Li Is Out of This World’. / Hair by Yuehui Jiang; makeup by Alice So

Lexi Boling Is 'Wild and Free' by Clara Balzary for i-D Magazine 364 F2021

Lexi Boling Is 'Wild and Free' by Clara Balzary for i-D Magazine 364 F2021 AOC Fashion

Model Lexi Boling is styled by Matt Holmes in ‘wild and free’ looks lensed by Clara Balzary [IG] for i-D Magazine The In Real Life issue, no. 364, Autumn 2021. Order your copy here. Brands featured include COACH X SCHOTT, Chanel, Emporio Armani, Givenchy, Khaite, Louis Vuitton, Moschino, Ports 1961, Prada, Rick Owens, SC103 and more.