Models Jo Ann Bitagcol, Lukresia and Rina Fukushi cover the September 2023 issue of Vogue Philippines [IG], celebrating the magazine’s first anniversary.
Sharif Hamza [IG] is behind the lens, so proud of this anniversary issue cover story styled by Melissa Levy under fashion director Pam Quinones. / Hair by Mong Amado; makeup by Gery Penaso
In the words of Ticia Almazan, the first anniversary cover story ‘Origins: Retracing Our History in the Highlands’ invited over a dozen designers and artists to interpret their beloved country’s homegrown high craftsmanship and artisanal techniques.
In Batanes, “a microcosm of a sustainable world,” we find our people’s beginnings—a story of earth, sky, craft, and boundaries broken.
Top talent Dua Lipa covers the September 2023 issue of Vogue France, wearing ALAÏA in a 180° turn away from her bushy, dark brows. Barely-there nude makeup and a blonde no-brows, visual closeup launches a fashion story portrait of Dua Lipa by Mert Alas solo [IG] to kick off the fall 2023 fashion season with austerity.
In contrast to her center stage May 2023, joyful butterflies, exquisitely beautiful Versace ‘La Vacanza’ Magic in Cannes, a joyless darkness has settled over Dua Lipa’s France. It is perhaps a sign of the times.
Dua Lipa has a mini Oprah operation going on with her Service95 website, a place of intellectual ideas and commentary — and her podcast.
Even more consequential are her words about homophobia and transphobia and how close they are to misogyny.
Dua Lipa is highly articulate in how she sees this challenge :
“Homophobia and transphobia are close to misogyny. A lot of people, deep down, are just afraid of themselves. The freedom of others confronts them with what they do not have the courage to express. The beauty of a free, true and proud being paralyzes them.”
Top model, social activist and Gurl Talk founder Adwoa Aboah makes an absolutely-lovely, up-front-and-personal, “I’ve got this” appearance in Net-a-Porter’s August 21st fashion pages.
We have some utterly gorgeous images of Aboah, lensed by Ronan McKenzie [IG].
Aboah could light up a cigar in this moment, like some seven-figure, boys club lawyer — and she is believable. She’s taken the male gaze and turned it inside out on a journey to self-love that has been challenging at times.
In 2022, Aboah’s acting classes paid off with her debut in the much-loved east London-based drama ‘Top Boy’. And she tells her ‘Fresh Take’ interviewer Liv Little that high on her list of priorities is doing a ‘TED Talk’.
Uber talent Zendaya tells ELLE US September 2023 writer Clover Hope, that at the impending age of 27, she’s “entering an era of risk.”
Stepping into the role of Tashi in director Luca Guadagnino’s R-rated, tennis-pros tryst drama ‘Challengers’ leaves her fans asking ‘Disney who?’
Clover Hope uses a new-to-AOC term that we admire and understand: ‘sensual chaos’. And who better to photograph the layers of sexual heat, ambiguity and self-revelation — but also misunderstanding— embedded in human sexuality, than the master of such images Steven Klein [IG].
It’s been a real drought of edgy images like Klein’s, but human sexuality itself has evolved mightily. Hence the repressive, hair-on-fire tactics of the right-wing extremists, who are always lurking under our bedcovers.
In a fashion story and interview for Out magazine, cover stars Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey, Jelani Alladin, and Noah J. Ricketts reflect on the familial bonds formed by the actors in the upcoming limited eight-episodes series ‘Fellow Travelers’, with its premier October 27 on ‘Showtime’.
This fashion story and narrative by Mey Rudewas created for Out before the Hollywood actor’s strike. The quartet is styled by Michael Miller in images by Jason Hetherington [IG].
A mindblowing fact about the focus of the Showtime series ‘Fellow Travelers’ is the probable deceptions between the two leading figures in the purge of homosexuals in the US federal goverment in 1953: Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his chief counsel, Roy Cohn.
Even then, Roy Cohn was the subject of hush-hush, anecdotal rumours about his homosexual identity. Cohn was eventually diagnosed with AIDS and died in 1978.
Two more men with interesting biographies are tied to the key figures of ‘Fellow Travelers’. The first is America’s head of the FBI during the 1950s J. Edgar Hoover. The second — years later — is a younger man named Donald J. Trump.
The Hollywood strike disrupted actor Sydney Sweeney’s ability to speak about her past and future projects with the September 2023 issue of S Moda for El Pais [IG].
Readers do get a lesson in just how fervently Sydney Sweeney knew at the young age of three that she had a gift for acting. Once she understood people had actual jobs in acting, her young vision was fully-formed.
It was then that the 10-year-old took control of the situation with her five-year plan — which she presented to her parents. Key steps included “meeting casting directors, auditioning for short films, student films, or commercials.”
The Bloomsbury Group, widely known for their boundary-pushing approach to art, literature, and culture, found inspiration in the intricate beauty and meticulous detail of Flemish floral painting.
One of the key artists influenced by Flemish floral painting was Vanessa Bell. As a founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and a prominent painter, she adapted the Flemish technique to create her own unique style.
Flemish floral painting provided a departure from the formal academic art conventions of the time, just as the Bloomsbury artists, sought to break free from traditional norms, inspired by the freedom and creativity exhibited in the Flemish works. They recognized that flowers possessed a profound energy and vitality that could be unleashed through artistic expression.
Gathering before their Apple TV+ four-part documentary Vogue US and British Vogue’s September 2023 issues honor ‘The Greatest of All Time’ models, the ‘Supersonic Supers’. The interviews and shoot predated the SAG-AFTRA strike.
British Vogue EIC Edward Enninful styles the fashion story with supers Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Naomi Campbell.
Enninful will be changing his role within Condé Nast, where the March 2024 issue of British Vogue will be his last as EIC, while simultaneously overseeing the editorial content of Condé Nast-owned European issues.
Vogue Brasil calls Gisele the only übermodel, activist for environmental causes.
In her interview with EIC Maria Laura NevesIG], Gisele expresses her own view of her success: “I believe that it has a lot to do with my personality and the choices I’ve made. I was faithful to my values and my essence, always giving my best. I took the profession seriously and I was always very professional.”
“I am naturally more reserved and ended up choosing projects that I deemed more meaningful for me to showcase myself. Perhaps this has contributed to the longevity in a career that is typically so fleeting.”
AOC adds that like so many young models today, Gisele suffered from extreme anxiety, although she didn’t talk about it endlessly. The mother of Benjamin, 13, and Vivian, 10, has spoken for decades about the importance of mental health and her healthy-food, yoga-filled and martial arts, gratitude-to-the-universe lifestyle for decades now.
British actor Naomi Watts, with 90 films in her portfolio, has a digital cover in the July 27th issue of Elle France. Watts isn’t taking the magazine’s spotlight to speak about her June 2023 marriage to long-time love Billy Crudup. She’s not talking the Hollywood strike.
Naomi Watts, now 54, wants to talk about menopause. In her own words on IG, Watts says “Adding this to the list of things I never thought I’d get to do: Gracing the cover of ELLE France, all while talking about the joys of menopause.”
Since October 2022, Naomi Watts, the entrepreneur, has launched the Stripes brand, a beauty and well-being center focused on women’s health. Stripes has a specific mission of de-stigmatizing “the sometimes thorny subject of menopause.”
Top talent, activist and humanitarian Cara Delevingne covers the September 2023 issue of ELLE UK. The Dior ambassador is styled by Aurelia Donaldson in ‘I Finally Feel As Though I Can Be Free’, lensed by emerging creative Quentin Jones [IG]./ Hair by Harry Josh; makeup by Hung Vanngo
Hannah Marriott sits down for the interview at an arts venue in Manhattan. Cara says “I’m resilient as hell.” That is good news because Cara has a global squad cheering for her.
Cara shares that traditional therapy has never worked for her — although she has tried everything including the Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12-steps program. In Cara’s case, seeing her yoga instructor Colin Dunsmuir — with her for 12 years —via Face Time three times a week has brought very solid results.
Margot Robbie delivers her fourth cover story for Vogue Australia [IG] with a special format that pairs writer Hannah-Rose Yee with Barbie star Robbie and the film’s director and screenwriter Greta Gerwig.
Master photographer Mario Sorrenti [IG] is behind the lens as Vogue Australia — like M Le Magazine du Monde — takes Robbie off pink style patrol./ Hair by Shay Ashual; makeup by Pati Dubroff
Read on at Vogue Australia: “Margot Robbie in conversation with Greta Gerwig on the Seismic success of Barbie”.
Supermodel Imaan Hammam takes two covers for the August 2023 issue of ELLE USA. Imaan wears bralette and earrings from Fendi Couture above with a corset from New York Vintage. The second cover below features Imaan wearing an Armani Prive black gown with Van Cleef & Arpels necklace.
Leah Faye Cooperinterviews Hammam in her Brooklyn apartment during Ramadan, explaining how 2023 is a year for her to connect more deeply with her Muslim faith. Imaan is not only fasting by day but also not working.
The very top model became an Estée Lauder Global Brand Ambassador in May, and she reports fainting on the set during Ramadan 2022. “They’d be having you doing so much on these shoots, girl. It’s like dancing, jumping around, running—and then there’s a room for TikTok, doing all these TikTok videos….”
Today, we meet up with Anitta in the June-July 2023 issue of Harper’s Bazaar US, where she wears Dior on the cover in a fashion story lensed by Emmanuel Sanchez-Monsalve [IG].
Anitta’s Very Fine Mind
Anitta sings in Portuguese, Spanish and English, and she is also conversant in French and Italian. In her increasingly storied adult life, Anitta’s skills in being a polygot [one who speaks five or more languages] make her an important candidate for brain science. Neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts and also the University of Geneva in Switzerland might like her to find time for functional MRIs (fMRIs), brain scans, to measure Anitta’s brain activity.
Spanish-Argentine social media influencer Georgina Rodriguez [IG] brings the Fall 2023 GUESS campaign to her 50M followers. The glamorous images were shot at Madrid’s Santo Mauro Hotel by Nima Benati [IG], who just shot Sharon Stone for Vogue Arabia’s September 2023 cover.
Georgina Rodriguez met her life partner, soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, working in a Gucci store after his five-year relationship with Irina Shayk ended. At the time, Ronaldo was playing for Real Madrid.
As part of her Netflix series I am Georgina, now in season two, Ronaldo tributes his partner, reflecting on their meeting: "I didn't think at the beginning that [the relationship] would be this strong. That I would fall in love with her," Ronaldo shared during the first episode. "I didn't expect it honestly. But after a while I felt that she was the woman of my life."
4% of Women and 6% of Men in America Murdered by an Intimate Partner
In America, of the 4,970 female victims of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in 2021, law enforcement agencies reported that 34% were killed by an intimate partner. By comparison, about 6% of the 17,970 males murdered that year were victims of intimate partner homicide. About 16% of female murder victims were killed by a nonintimate family member—parent, grandparent, sibling, in-law, and other family member—compared to 10% of male murder victims.
We are familiar with the absurd but widespread belief that women of color can handle greater pain. But this device deals with the very real problem of not even seeing or detecting bruising, when a doctor has the best of intentions to offer quality healthcare in communities of color.
Angelina received a demonstration of how a handheld device can highlight bruising on darker skin tones that had been previously invisible to the naked eye.
The simple, portable device directed “alternate light”—in this case violet light with a yellow lens—toward the skin. The technique is up to five times more effective at detecting bruising than white light, as much as four weeks after injury.
Jennifer Lopez photographs well most days of the week, but her Vogue Mexico July 2023 images are particularly gorgeous. They were shot by Norman Jean Roy [IG] the day after last May’s Met Gala.
If Lopez was out partying half the night, we would never know it.
María José Gonzálvez and Angel Emmanuel Ramirez worked with Lopez’s own stylist Rob Zangardi.
It is a true statement to say that Jennifer has earned every inch of her success with merit and a backbone of steel in dealing with the reality that envelopes her then and now.
Not only did Lopez become the first actress with Latina roots to earn a million dollars with the film Selena, or the first woman to have a movie and a No. 1 album simultaneously, she is probably the first Latina woman to know what her worth is in the North American market, redefine it and reclaim it.
Gal Gadot, Hollywood's reigning action heroine, is set to command the attention of action-film movie audiences with her upcoming movie 'Heart of Stone', opening on Netflix USA Aug. 11.
Gadot, who is also a Tiffany & Co ambassador, wears stunning jewels on the second, blue-ground cover and throughout the fashion story lensed by Hollywood fav Greg Swales [IG]. Tiffany and YSL are the main style features. / Makeup by Jo Baker; hair by Jenny Cho
Directed by renowned filmmaker Reed Morano, the mastermind behind acclaimed series like 'The Handmaid's Tale', 'Heart of Stone' promises to deliver a gripping and adrenaline-fueled cinematic experience.
With refreshing honesty and a sense of self-awareness, the 27-year-old supermodel and entrepreneur Kendall Jenner details her transformative journey from reality television star to global icon in the online edition of [comp link] WSJ Magazine’s Summer 2023 issue.
Great News on 818
Launching 818 has given Kendall her freedom, writes WSJ. “In modeling you are what someone wants you to be. Where you show up on set, the makeup, the hair. You wear what they tell you to wear, and you take the photo that they want to see,” she says. “So, for sure, being my own boss is really cool.”
On the topic of Kendall’s co-owned tequila brand 818, AOC steps out of the WSJ Magazine interview and over to the 818 website.
Just as we were pleasantly shocked to learn Sunday [reading all the fine print] that sibling Khloé Kardashian’s Good American Jeans has B-Corp status, let’s sound the trumpets for Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila brand also just achieving B-Corp status.
KhloéKardashian covers L'Officiel Italia's Summer 2023 #50, styled by her sister Kim Kardashian in a Dolce & Gabbana corset dress, lensed by The Morelli Brothers [IG]
Good American Jeans B-Corp Status
Good American Jeans are made in Los Angeles, which does not confirm that they have no labor issues. However, Good American Jeans is a certified B Corp.
No matter how often AOC hammers away on this B-Corp issue, Khloé discusses size inclusivity at Good American Jeans but not this important certification. I went looking for facts apart from the interview.
Meet the ‘Ambivert’ Personality
Khloé Kardashian introduces us to a new word in the personality types lexicon, describing herself as an ‘ambivert’ in the interview led by her sister Kim Kardashian.
