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Karmen Pedaru Covers ELLE Espana in Summer Style by Mario Sierra AOC Fashion
Top model Karmen Pedaru is styled by Sylvia Montoliú in casual, hot-weather athleisure looks. Photographer Mario Sierra flashes Pedaru for ELLE Espana August 2021./ Hair and makeup by Raquel Costales
A Seductive Natasja Madsen by Henrik Purienne for Vogue Russia July 2021 AOC Body NSFW
Model Natasja Madsen is styled by Katerina Zolototrubova in deeply sensual images of Madsen relaxing seaside. Photographer Henrik Purienne [IG] captures the sultry mood images for Vogue Russia July 2021.
Debra Shaw Delights in Harper's Bazaar US August 2021 by Charlie Engman
Top model Debra Shaw is styled by Vittoria Cerciello in ‘Through The Looking Glass’. Photographer Charlie Engman [IG] captures the surreal images of delightful, beautiful co-existence between humans and the animal kingdom for Harper’s Bazaar US August 2021. One hopes that the clothes are all sustainable but AOC can’t verify the possibility. Hair by Latisha Chong; makeup by Tracy Alfajora
Maria Borges on Life's Journey by JD Barnes for Harper's Bazaar Vietnam July 2021
Model Maria Borges covers the July 2021 issue of Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam. Danielle Hawkins styles Borges in Bronx & Bronco, Christian Siriano, Dolce & Gabbana, Miu Miu and more lensed by JD Barnes [IG] in St. Croix. Hair by Hos Hounkpatin; makeup by Porsche Cooper
Maria Borges was born in 1992 in Angola, a country devastated by civil war lasting from 1975 yo 2002. Borges became a model in 2010, winning runner-up in the Angola Elite Model Look competition. Just three years later, Forbes Africa Magazine placed her at the top of their rising models list.
The Angolan beauty’s mom died at age 11 and her father wasn’t part of Maria’s life. Her sister took over managing the family household at age 16, with help from their uncle to paid for school. Maria’s 2010 win with Elite Model Look Angola tethered her to an agency in Portugal, allowing her to travel to Europe for work.
Eventually Borges settled in New York in 2013, signed to Supreme Management after she booked 17 shows in her first New York Fashion Week. In August, 2013 Fashionista first sat down with the model in New York, where she credited Riccardo Tisci, James Scully and Katie Grand as her ‘godfathers’ and ‘godmothers’.
Alina Bolotina's Airy Modern Style Covers Harper's Bazaar Russia by Pavel Kharatyan
Model Alina Bolotina wears modern architecture, sleek columns in airy fabrics styled by fashion director Katya Tabakova. Photographer Pavel Kharatyan [IG] captures the cover fashion story for Harper’s Bazaar Russia July 2021.
Luigi + Iango Lens Countless Vogue Japan September 2021 Covers
Photographers Luigi & Iango capture 12 covers and counting, styled by Anna Dello Russo, for the September 2021 issue of Vogue Japan./ Hair by Luigi Murenu; makeup by Georgi Sandev
See the fashion cover story preview: Luigi + Iango Capture 'Live Your Dreams' with Sora, Ugbad, Vilma in Vogue Japan
Luigi + Iango Capture 'Live Your Dreams' with Sora, Ugbad, Vilma in Vogue Japan
Models Amane Taniguchi, Britt Oosten, Leon Dame, Malika Louback, Sora Choi, Ugbad Abdi and Vilma Sjöberg hold a fashion court preview of ‘Live Your Dreams, styled by Anna Dello Russo. Photographers Luigi & Iango capture the first the September 2021 fashion presentations for Vogue Japan./ Hair by Luigi Murenu; makeup by Georgi Sandev
See the growing fashion bushel of covers: Luigi + Iango Lens Countless Vogue Japan September 2021 Covers
Rianne Van Rompaey in Night Opulence by Lachlan Bailey for Vogue Paris June-July 2021
Rianne Van Rompaey and Andrés Velencoso Segura pose as the dazzling Parisian couple in ‘Joyaux de Nuit’’. Emmanuelle Alt chooses a high-society, luxury brand lineup including Alexandre Vauthier, Chanel, Dior, Falke, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Society Room, Victoria Beckham and more,
Photographer Lachlan Bailey captures the couple for Vogue Paris June/July 2021 issue./ Hair by Damien Boissinot; makeup by Christelle Coquet
Vita Mir in 'Riviera' by Signe Vilstrup in Vanity Fair Italia July 2021
Model Vita Mir is styled by Simone Guidarelli in ‘Riviera’, lensed by Signe Vilstrup [IG] for Vanity Fair Italia July 2021.
Pyoenchen's Uber-Modern Luxe Images of Gia Tang for ELLE Taiwan AOC Fashion
AOC puts our fashion post-exploration roadster in reverse, backing into the April 2021 issue of ELLE Taiwan. Model Gia Tang is lensed by Pyoenchen [IG] , with styling and creative direction by Yii Ooi. / Makeup by Wini Chen
By Anne Enke, Anne of Carversville
Republish via AOC at FeedBurner CC 3.0 License Attribution Required: Daily Fashion Design Culture News
NBA star MIchael Jordan has made over $1.3 billion from Nike, an estimated sum Forbes magazine calls "the biggest endorsement bargain in sports".
As the richest athlete endorsement deal ever, the Chicago Bulls superstar NFL player Michael Jordan did as much for Nike, as the Nike Swoosh did for him. Note the the Swoosh disappeared in the second year of the shoe, prompting Air Jordans and Jordan Brand to thereafter draw "inspiration from jets and sports cars, jazz and even wildlife," writes the Chicago Tribune, who offers one of many histories of Air Jordans on the Internet.
Icarus: Perhaps you’ve heard about Icarus. In Greek mythology, Icarus attempted to escape from Crete flying with wings made of feathers and wax. His father Daedalus warned Icarus first of complacency and then of hubris and lack of awareness.
Literally, Icarus was to fly in the middle of the sky. Too close to the water, the wax would harden and clog his wings. If Icarus flew to high and close to the sun, the wax in his wings would melt, After takeoff, Icarus did indeed fly high into the sky.
Unable to resist the hubris of defying gravity and flying on a divine trajectory, Icarus lost his wing power as the sun melted the wax in his wings. He fell into the sea and died.
Read more about how Michael Jordan became America’s heroic Superman
After agreeing to a deal that sent heart palpitations through the bodies of high-level Nike executives, Michael Jordan, the Brooklyn boy who grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, walked away with a five-year deal at an annual base pay of $500,000.
Sounds good, right? It was triple any other NBA sneaker deal in 1984. To sweeten the deal, Jordan also got his own shoe line: Air Jordan was born.
Bauhaus-Inspired Nike Air Max 270 Sneakers Inspired Toilet Paper Magazine Posters AOC Fashion July, 2019
Unlike blogs, websites, video-makers and more people, who just copy the work of others, Nike is seeking creatives with an Apple-mentality, involved in the relentless pursuit of perfection. Without being paid a dime — or with only the original creative spark being paid — communication players built-out the story around the new Air Max lifestyle sneaker.
Knowing from Fast Company that the posters honored the Bauhaus, AOC (as always) went intellectual. We don’t assume that especially younger readers necessarily know or care about the Bauhaus. How can we use the campaign to teach them?
The Bauhaus was founded by Weimar-based architect Walter Gropius, who combined both arts and crafts and the fine arts worlds in a democratic, populist intellectualism. The Art Story describes the Bauhaus movement in terms that resonate today:
The origins of the Bauhaus lie in the late 19th century, in anxieties about the soullessness of modern manufacturing, and fears about art's loss of social relevance. The Bauhaus aimed to reunite fine art and functional design, creating practical objects with the soul of artworks.
AOC didn’t know that the performance basketball shoe market peaked in 2015 and has experienced double-digit declines since then, according to NPD.
Read all the details of Air Jordans’ staggering financial performance in Nike’s fiscal 2021 revenues and profits. Also, we share eye-opening details about the decline of basketball performance shoes and the rise of retro.
Air Jordan drops are huge events in the sneaker world. Countless communities have grown up around the world of sneakerheads. Social psychologists write about them. There are calendars online with all the drop dates organized with images. Determined fans look for ways to get a pair of targeted Air Jordans months before the releases.
Back in 2018, Nike brand president Trevor Edwards stated, “We want to keep Jordan icons coveted and special, which is why we are proactively managing the exclusivity of specific iconic styles.” This means that these shoes will continue to be hard to get your hands on, making them unique to say the least.
The more AOC digs and explores the Air Jordan brand DNA — including this incredible new place for Air Jordans in the world of activist fundraising — call us speechless.
Image by Mike Von, Downtown Los Angeles, CA via Unsplash
Studying the Nike press release on fiscal 2021 sales, Air Jordan has been very much with us in America’s darkest hour in decades. In all honesty, I don’t have an emotional relationship with Nike. But I’ve definitely developed an attachment to Air Jordan and Jordan Brand, especially when we get to the section on values and activism.
Who did ordinary people turn to for comfort and a sense of hope and security — but also a shot in the arm to keep us running in COVID-world 2020? ‘His Airness’ Michael Jordan — that’s who.
There is no debate around this issue. The Nike fiscal report on sales and profitability tells us all we need to know about how “we the people” felt about Air Jordan and Jordan Brand in 2020. Businesses were reeling, and in saunters Air Jordan to take a Wall Street bow.
I daresay, Jordan Brand’s influence was even more critical to our bleeding hearts, because Michael Jordan got seriously in the game on the topic of racial justice post George Floyd’s May 2020 murder in Minnesota. That’s the focus of AOC’s future post on values and activism in Air Jordan and Jordan Brand.
Read our in-depth series on Air Jordan to find out.
Our kids need Air Jordan as an example of American grit and determination to overcome not only COVID, but the drive to end American democracy and the disenfranchisement of million of voters of color.
Each of us is obligated to use our best skills to stop this march of Trumpism in America, and I EXPECT Nike to be in this game of American politics that has become a scary blood-sport.
I can’t think of a better tactical move to make this minute for Anne of Carversville, than to start bird-dogging Nike and Air Jordan. Regular readers expect us to bird-dog brands on sustainability.
Now we will be tracking brands taking a stand for “we the people politics” in America and worldwide.
Fasten your seat belts, because AOC intends to fly high in this new endeavor. We won’t fly into the sun — Icarus, we are not. But we will fly in the face of business. In the words of the great Muhammad Ali, we will “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
16 years after playing his last professional basketball game, Michael Jordan out-earns every current NBA player in the sneaker income category. Earning $130 million from his Nike deal, Jordan made four times the No. 2 ranked LeBron James, who made $32 million in 2019.
Note the music in the Gatorade commercial. It transcends America. Heck I expect Nelson Mandela to enter stage left any second. The commercial is deeply Black in its powerhouse influence on global culture and yet it transcends race.
That was Nelson Mandela’s approach, too — pure ubuntu. Mandela found that the power of Ubuntu, the inner core of every person's humanity, could move mountains.
Our young people don’t really know and understand the power of Nelson Mandela’s message. But they DO want to be like Mike. So do I. So should you. ~ Anne
Leyna Bloom, Naomi Osaka, Megan Thee Stallion Cover 2021 SI Swimsuit Issue AOC Body
Is the Sports Illustrated Swimwear issue the new barometer on American women’s sexuality?
The Sports Illustrated Swimwear cover release was a time for celebration, with trans model Leyna Bloom spotted in first place on photographer Yu Tsai’s IG. Bloom publicized her inclusion in the magazine in March, but Monday’s cover news was a fresh delight.
Tennis champion Naomi Osaka also has a SI swimsuit cover, days ahead of the kickoff of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Today’s third Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover goes to hip hop star Megan Thee Stallion.
We note that all three women identify as Black women, and this reality also must be a first ever, even though few are talking about it. Too much to celebrate, I guess.
As the first trans person to land on the front page of SI’s annual special issue, Leyna Bloom is breaking new ground.
"I have dreamt a million beautiful dreams, but for girls like me, most dreams are just fanciful hopes in a world that often erases and omits our history and even existence," Bloom wrote of the honor in a lengthy statement on Instagram. "This moment is so powerful because it allows me to live forever even after my physical form is gone. Not a lot of people get to live in the future, so at this moment, I'm proudly choosing to live forever."
As Naomi Osaka prepares to play tennis for the Japanese team at the Olympics, she has now spoken of the not so compassionate world she has faced as a mixed-race Haitian Japanese woman identifying as Black. I noted in these pages that Osaka’s depression had to encompass the pride — but also the potential suffering — she would experience not representing the US at the Olympics.
Megan Thee Stallion is only the second musician to be on the cover, and she's the first rapper. Beyoncé covered the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2007.
According to Nielsen Music, "WAP" accrued a record-breaking 93 million streams in the US the week after its release in August 2020.
Before debuting her single "Body" at the American Music Awards in November last year, the rapper preached a motivating message of self-love, and she’s not flying solo in the community of Black women.
Madelyn Cline Covers Harper's Bazaar Vietnam by Sarah Krick
Actor Madelyn Cline wears Fendi on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam’s July issue. Mimi Cuttrell styles the fashion story of sleek tailored day looks lensed by Sarah Krick [IG]./ Makeup by Jenna Kristina; hair by Rena Calhoun
The 23-year-old actor Cline left South Carolina at age 18 and has now traveled back as the lead role in the Netflix-original series ‘Outer Banks’.
Gossip Girl Zion Moreno Covers Vogue Mexico August 2021 by An Le AOC Fashion
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Zión Moreno, a trans, Mexican-American actor who plays Luna La in on HBO’s ‘Gossip Girl’ reboot, covers the August issue of Vogue Mexico. Aryeh Lappin styles Moreno in images by An Le [IG]./ Hair by Gonn Kinoshita; makeup by Kuma; art director Victoria Pavon
The 26-year-old Moreno, born in El Paso, Texas and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is now trans and living in LA. Before ‘Gossip Girl’, she starred in the Mexican teen Netflix drama ‘Control Z’.
‘Gossip Girl’ boss Joshua Safran dished with Variety on the new show in early July, confirming that Moreno’s character Luna is a trans woman in the show. But the show is not focused on Luna transitioning into her authentic self. “That’s just not our story. Luna is Luna to these people, and that’s that,” said Safran.
The topic of Luna and disclosure is addressed later in the show. Safran, an executive producer of the original ‘Gossip Girl’ and the showrunner of the new production, stresses that “Gossip Girl is not weaponizing anyone’s gender or sexuality in the show, or race or identity.” Simply stated, these are not key themes of the show.
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Simone Biles Bends Excellence to Her Will in WSJ Magazine by Rahim Fortune AOC Fashion
At 4’8” tall, Simone Arianne Biles is called “the most powerful gymnast in history”, by WSJ Magazine. Biles is headed to the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo — the goddesses willing — where she will continue her head-spinning ascent in a sport where she already holds a combined total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals.
Globally, Biles is widely considered to be among the greatest and most dominant female gymnasts of all time.
As WSJ Magazine’s August 2021 cover star, Biles is styled by Jessica Willis in luxury ready-to-wear looks from Chanel (cover), Del Core, Fendi, Jil Sander, Kwaidan Editions, Y/Project and more. Austin, Texas born, New York-based photographer Rahim Fortune captures Biles in Houston. / Hair by Tylaria Thomas; makeup by Cinthia Moore
Louise Radnofsky interviews the superstar gymnast and activist about defying all expectations as she becomes even stronger after “surviving abuse, enduring a family ordeal and overcoming her own doubts.”
AOC shares the interview highlights.
Lorena Rae Wears Modern Luxury Tailoring for ELLE Germany August 2021
Model Lorena Rae wears modern luxury looks styled by Pia Léonie Knoll in a fashion story ‘Gut In Schwung’ [in good shape]. Photographer Alex Walti [IG] captures Rae for ELLE Germany August 2021.
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