Feli Rasztar's Modern Art Images by Gregoire Alexandre for Vogue Portugal September

Feli Rasztar's Modern Art Images by Gregoire Alexandre for Vogue Portugal September AOC Fashion

German model Feli Rasztar is styled by Joana Dacheville with images by Gregoire Alexandre [IG] for Vogue Portugal’s September 2021 ‘New Beginnings’ issue./ Hair by Christos Vourlis

VA Supreme Court Says Dead White Men Do Not Rule: Remove the Damn Statue!

Republish via AOC at FeedBurner CC 3.0 License Attribution Required: Daily Fashion Design Culture News

The statue of Confederate military leader, anti-United States successionist General Robert E. Lee has loomed six stories tall over Virginia’s state government and its citizens in Richmond since 1890. After a never-ending series of court battles, the VA Supreme Court ruled definitively last Thursday that the state of Virginia may now begin to disassemble the infamous, 12-ton statue.

The court ruled that "restrictive covenants" in the 1887 and 1890 deeds that transferred the statue to the state no longer apply. In June 2021

Virginia Solicitor General Toby Heytens argued before the court for less than a minute last June, regarding one of two cases seeking to block removal of the Lee statue that “no court has ever recognized a personal, inheritable right to dictate the content of poor government speech about a matter of racial equality, and this court should not be the first one ever to do so.”

"Those restrictive covenants are unenforceable as contrary to public policy and for being unreasonable because their effect is to compel government speech, by forcing the Commonwealth to express, in perpetuity, a message with which it now disagrees," the justices wrote.

Gov. Ralph Northam said upon the announcement of the court’s ruling: “Today it is clear—the largest Confederate monument in the South is coming down.”

In its own legal documents before the court, the current state of Virginia wrote:

“Symbols matter, and the Virginia of today can no longer honor a racist system that enslaved millions of people. Installing a grandiose monument to the Lost Cause was wrong in 1890, and demanding that it stay up forever is wrong now.”

Related: Virginia Museum Will Lead Efforts to Reimagine Richmond Avenue Once Lined With Confederate Monuments Smithsonian Magazine

Dead Men's Property Heirs Argue Confederate Statue Rights in New VA Court Move AOC Eye

Hirschy Grace Is 'Spaced Out' by Tom Schirmacher in ELLE UK October 2021

Hirschy Grace Is 'Spaced Out' by Tom Schirmacher in ELLE UK October 2021 AOC Fashion

Photographer/director Tom Schirmacher [IG] captures model Hirschy Grace in ‘Spaced Out’. Charles Varenne styles the shoot for ELLE UK October 2021./ Hair by Romina Manenti; makeup by Dotti

Isabeli Fontana Covers Harper's Bazaar Brazil September 2021, Lensed by Lufré

Isabeli Fontana Covers Harper's Bazaar Brazil September 2021, Lensed by Lufré AOC Fashion

Isabeli Fontana’s name is spread all over the covers of Harper’s Bazaar Brazil’s September 2021 issue. So it must be her. .Marcel Maia styles Fontana in images by Lufré [IG]/ Hair and makeup by Helder Rodrigues

Isabeli’s sexy [IG] beach snap from four days ago confirms that the sensual goddess is alive and well. She has not been kidnapped by aliens who traded her in for a new model.

Naomi Osaka Suffers Upset at US Open, Says She Will Take Another Timeout

Republish via AOC at FeedBurner CC 3.0 License Attribution Required: Daily Fashion Design Culture News

Naomi Osaka lost to Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez in Friday’s third round of the US Open tennis tournament. Born to an Ecuadorian father and a Filipino Canadian mother, the 18-year-old ranked 66 in the world of tennis currently trains in Florida.

At her new conference on Friday, Naomi Osaka apologized for her “childlike behavior” on the court, which included throwing her racket. She then said she would be taking another break from tennis.

“Normally, I feel like I like challenges. But recently I feel very anxious when things don’t go my way, and I feel like you can feel that. I’m not really sure why it happens the way it happens now,” said Osaka, who earlier this year acknowledged she has battled depression since she won the US Open in 2018, beating Serena Williams. It was Serena who lost her composure in that match over disagreements with the referee.

Responding in English to a question posed in Japanese, Osaka continued to explain her troubled state of mind.: “I feel like for me recently, like, when I win I don’t feel happy. I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don’t think that’s normal. I didn’t really want to cry, but basically I feel like ...” She teared up but insisted on continuing.

“Basically I feel like I’m kind of at this point where I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match,” she said, again tearing up. “Sorry. OK, yeah. I think I’m going to take a break from playing for a while.”

In the words of Matthew Futterman writing for The New York Times:

“Careers cut short because of broken minds rather than aging bodies haunt tennis like ghosts.”

Tennis is a lonely sport — not a team sport — with only one winner.

Naomi Osaka’s year has been filled with complexity. It began in the world of COVID — few sympathies there — but it built on Osaka’s Black activism after the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. After the shooting of Jacob Blake, Naomi single-handedly brought tennis world to a standstill announcing she would not play her semifinal match in the Western & Southern Open as scheduled.

The last six months have been very challenging for Osaka.

Refusing to participate in post-match news conferences at the French Open, Osaka faced an ugly confrontation with the tournament organizers. She withdrew after the first round and became more open about her mental health challenges.

In Japan, where Osaka has become a symbol of a “new, multiracial vision of a traditionally homogeneous society”, she became the face of the games, accepting the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron. It was her first competition since the French Open, and Naomi lost in the third round.

In August Naomi Osaka announced that she would donate her prize money from the Western & Southern Open to Haiti earthquake relief efforts. Again, Osaka struggled and was upset in the third round.

Daria Abramowicz, a sports psychologist interviewed in the Times piece, who has spent about two years on the pro tour with another player , has concluded: “that players can survive careers — inevitably filled with losses and disappointment — only by working every day to build self-worth and self-confidence that is not measured by wins and rankings points but rather relationships. Only then can they find a way to enjoy the process, as enervating as it might be.

“You need to maintain the core values, because without that there is nothing,” Abramowicz said. “There is just burned ground.”

Maggie Maurer Is 'Queen of the Canyon' in Numéro France September 2021

Maggie Maurer Is 'Queen of the Canyon' in Numéro France September 2021 AOC Fashion

Model Maggie Maurer is styled by Samuel Francois in Fendi, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and more for ‘La Reine Du Canyon’, [Queen of the Canyon]. Photographer Lee Wei Swee [IG] is behind the lens for Numéro No.224 September, 2021./ Hair by Pierre Saint Sever; makeup by David Lenhardt

Adut Akech Smolders in Vogue Hong Kong September Cover Story by Luigi and Iango

Adut Akech Smolders in Vogue Hong Kong September Cover Story by Luigi and Iango AOC Fashion

Supermodel Adut Akech shares her images from Vogue Hong Kong’s September 2021 ‘New Beginnings’ cover story. Adut is joined by Jill Kortleve, Sora Choi and Vittoria Ceretti in the September fall fashion quartet. Schanel Bakkouche styles Adut in images by Luigi & Iango [IG].

Luigi and Iango Flash Adut, Jill, Sora, Vittoria On Vogue Hong Kong September Covers

Luigi and Iango Flash Adut, Jill, Sora, Vittoria On Vogue Hong Kong September Covers AOC Fashion

Adut Akech, Jill Kortleve, Sora Choi and Vittoria Ceretti cover the September 2021 issue of Vogue Hong Kong. Schanel Bakkouche styles the quartet in Louis Vuitton for images by Luigi & Iango. [IG]/ Hair by Pawel Solis; makeup by Lloyd Simmonds

Signe Veiteberg's Luxe Life Style by Luca Campri for Vogue Espana August 2021

Signe Veiteberg's Luxe Life Style by Luca Campri for Vogue Espana August 2021 AOC Fashion

Model Signe Veiteberg is styled by Marta Bajo in city woman, tailored Chic elegance, lensed by Luca Campri [IG] for Vogue Espana August 2021./ Hair by Astor Hoxha; makeup by Giulia Cigarini

Milya Kudo Wears Dior by Yusuke Miyazaki for Harper's Bazaar Japan September 2021

Milya Kudo Wears Dior by Yusuke Miyazaki for Harper's Bazaar Japan September 2021 AOC Fashion

Rising model Miiya Kudo is styled by Tamao Iida in a Dior fashion story ‘Disturbing Beauty’, lensed by Yusuke Miyazaki for Harper’s Bazaar Japan September 2021./ Hair by Kenichi; makeup by Nobuko Maekawa

Joshua Woods Flashes Fall Fashion's Sunny Spot Knits for NYT: T Magazine

Victoria Fawole Finds Fall Fashion’s Sunny Spot by Joshua Woods for NYT: T Magazine AOC Fashion

Model Victoria Fawole finds a fall fashion ‘Place in the Sun’, styled by Delphine Danhier in bright, big-easy knits. Photographer Joshua Woods [IG] is behind the lens for T: The New York Times Style Magazine September 2021.

Arizona Muse Moves Family to Ibiza As Ambitious Farmers in ELLE Espana September 2021

Arizona Muse Moves Family to Ibiza As Ambitious Farmers in ELLE Espana September 2021 AOC Art of Living

Top model and sustainability expert Arizona Muse covers the September 2021 issue of ELLE Espana. Sylvia Montoliú styles Arizona in country woman luxury looks from Celine by Hedi Slimane, Chanel, Dior, Fendi, H&M, Isabel Marant, Max Mara, Louis Vuitton, Oscar de la Renta in images by Mario Sierra [IG]./ Hair & makeup by Kley Kafe

Reading the translated interview in ELLE Espana, AOC learned that Arizona Muse, her husband, Boniface Verney-Carron, whom she married in 2017, Arizona’s son Nikko, and little Cy Quinn, 2, have moved to Ibiza.

AOC has written about Arizona Muse’s deep commitment to regenerative agriculture. The concept of regenerative agriculture involves a series of farming and grazing practices that rebuild soil organic matter as the foundation for rehabilitating and enhancing the entire ecosystem. Beyond its bedrock focus on soil, maintaining excellent practices in animal welfare and farm workers fairness are fully integrated into regenerative agriculture.

Forbes has an article tonight Regenerative Agriculture: The Next Trend In Food Retailing.

Arizona tells ELLE Espana’s Laura Somoza that her ambition is to be a farmer, and there’s a lot of regenerative agriculture in the Balearic area. “It is incredible what farmers are doing, reclaiming previously desert areas and turning them green again. It is exciting to see how it happens, and I want to be part of this movement.”

More Arizona Muse projects include founding her new charity ‘Dirt’ in June 2021, which sees farming as the future of sustainable fashion. Muse made the announcement coordinated with Sustainable Angle’s Future Fabrics Expo in London, an organization where Muse is a board member.

Arizona will be linking fashion brands to sustainability projects connected to regenerative farming. She notes that certification by Demeter will be required in any projects that she oversees in [another name] biodynamic farming.

In January 2021 Arizona Muse became Aveda’s first-ever global ambassador. She also is a Greenpeace ambassador and recently collaborated with Extinction Rebellion. Muse continues to work closely with Livia Firth, founder of Eco-Age. Call me inspired. ~ Anne

Related: We’ve expanded the Arizona Muse narrative about biodynamic farming with a more detailed and VERY interesting explanation of the origin and beliefs of biodynamic farming. ‘Holistic’ is an understatement. Why Is Arizona Muse So Passionate About Biodynamic Farming in Ibiza? AOC Sustainability