Anna Ewers in Vogue Italia Lensed by Bruno Staub Says "I Love Brigette Bardot"
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"Oh, Penelope! Oh, Rosalía!" Stellar Performance by Katie Burnett for Vogue Spain November 2023
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Rosalía covers Vogue Spain’s November issue, styled and photographed in lush grandiosity by Katie Burnett [IG].
With candles, white birds and Louis Vuitton jewelry in the sink, it’s as if we’re entering an astral plane of being, postulated by classical, medieval, oriental, and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions.
“I hope that what I do makes sense to other women”
These words are a core message of the interview, which got me thinking about Rosalía using feminine energy to try to dilute the male energy that is so destructive right now. Everywhere we look, testosterone is raging and we need our own iron shield to repel it.
Read MoreAnja Rubik Sheds Tears of Joy Over Poland's Political Reset as the EU Exhales
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What makes a true supermodel? Anja Rubik voting in Poland’s national elections last weekend, October 15, 2023.
AOC doesn’t keep precise track of individual model’s activism but Anja Rubik, one of the world’s most successful models, has led the way for many years. In her own words:
“How political parties address sexual education issues will have a huge impact on what country we will live in.”
To that end, Anja Rubik is deeply connected as its founder to FUNDACJA SexedPL [IG] FEDERA, a NGO committed to sex education on matters of abortion rights and LGBTQ issues — but also endometriosis, for example.
AOC goes deep on the supermodel’s activism, as we celebrate the 75% turnout that resulted in a reset of Poland’s politics last weekend and a prospective stabilizing of of Poland’s relationship with the European Union.
Read MoreKristen McMenamy in Sunday Times Style October 15, 2023 by Melanie + Ramon
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Nineties fashion star Kristen McMenamy has always challenged traditional beauty standards, appearing as a good witch, an ethereal divine goddess or the consummate, goth fashion vampire to her adoring fans.
In 1993 Kristen McMenamy told Harper’s Bazaar "All I ever wanted was for people to not pick on me."
Thirty years later, the similar refrain of young fashion models on Instagram is rebroadcast in Gavanndra Hodge’s new interview with the 58-year-old, Pennsylvania-original in today’s October 15, 2023 Sunday Times Style [IG].
Read MoreTop Model Anok Yai Talks Knife Fights and Finding God in Africa for W Magazine #4
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Returning to W Magazine’s Volume #4 2023, Mert Alas turns his lens to very top model Anok Yai.
Anok describes herself as a prolific artist, working mostly in oils but now experimenting with fire. Yes . . . fire. She has also taken up knife fighting lessons as a way of coping with restlessness. I believe she is now at a level of expertise in knife fighting, that she can land movie roles in major scenes.
“When I’m fighting, it feels like a dance that goes so fast, you have to meditate,” she says. “Because the second you lose focus, you’re hit with a knife.”
Read MoreLegend Pat Cleveland's Brilliant Past and Present in V Magazine 144 by Nick Thompson
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Model legend Pat Cleveland strikes a pose in V Magazine 144, October, 2023. Oliver Volquardsen styles the now 73-year-old global daughter of diversity who is part African American, part Cherokee, part Swedish and part Irish.
V’s John Kopp writes that “André Leon Talley once dubbed her “the Josephine Baker of international runways.”’
On the topic of moral courage, in 1971, the elder Cleveland moved to France and refused to live in America again until US Vogue featured a Black model on its cover. After Beverly Johnson landed a cover in 1974, Cleveland returned to New York.
Read MoreTarlisa Gaykamangu Covers Vogue Australia September by Robbie Fimmano
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Rising model Tarlisa Gaykamangu covers the September 2023 issue of Vogue Australia [IG], as she embarks on her career as a fashion model.
The bilingual model, who speaks English and Djambarrpuyngu — one of the many languages of East Arnhem Land, had a helping hand from her Aunty Liandra, interviewed previously by Vogue Australia.
Tarlisa Gaykamangu at Bottega Veneta
In their cover story about Tarlisa Gayamangu, Vogue Australia notes that slowly, “the idea that models need to fit a predetermined mould and work in with the existing system, and not the other way around, is being rewired in the fashion industry at large.”
AOC agrees but also believes deeply that the fashion industry is much too reliant on South Sudanese models.
Read MoreSofia Coppola Talks Priscilla Presley in W Magazine Vol-5 2023 by Steven Meisel
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Reading about Sofia Coppola’s young-girl life, we learn just how much time the entire Francis Ford Coppola family spent away from their home in California’s Napa Valley.
Coppola is styled by Karl Templer in an abundance of Chanel Haute Couture in images by Steven Meisel [IG]. Additional luxury names include Dries Van Noten, Hermes, Prada, Schiaparelli and more. Spectacular jewelry is from Cartier.
Priscilla Presley is the focus of the younger Coppola’s new film Priscilla, in theaters November 3.
Millions of women can relate to the director’s reflection about her own young woman’s life. Pining for a young man who wasn’t interested in her, Coppola says she can relate to Priscilla’s short-term lack of need to develop her own self-identity because it was so much easier to be the girlfriend of some guy and assume his identity.
Read MoreKim Kardashian Muses with Carine Roitfeld in CR Fashion Book 23 Cover 1 of 11
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If 21st century culture and spirituality had goddesses, Kim Kardashian could easily be she who presided over social media, reality television, fashion and entrepreneurship. These thoughts open her interview with Carine Roitfeld in a CR Fashion Book Issue 23, with 10 more muses besides Kardashian to follow.
With this new CR Fashion Book 23, Kardashian takes her fourth cover — and what an amazing fashion story this is. Ben Perreira works with Carine on styling, choosing DSQUARED, Jacquemus, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Prada, Nensi Dojaka, and more. Photographer Nadia Lee Cohen [IG] is in the studio, capturing Kim Kardashian in a total transformation of the woman we know.
Kardashian refers to her own soul multiple times in the interview, which fascinates Anne. After the two mega voices in fashion talk about much needed needed reforms in America’s criminal justice system, Roitfeld asks Kardashian: “When do you feel most free?”
KK answers:
Read MoreWhen I make business choices that are from the soul and not a quick, easy decision. I’d rather take the longer route and go with the journey than an easy choice that seems expected.
Catching Up with Lupita Nyong'o No 1 : Chanel, Selema Masekela, Meeting Alek Wek
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As part of Anne of Carversville’s ongoing years-long renewal of our deep, pre 2020 archives, this ‘Catching Up With . . . ‘ series will take people we love and issues we care about into the ‘now’ world.
August 28: A Key Day in Lupita’s Life
Take note of the two lovebirds sitting in the salon of Coco Chanel’s apartment, in a series of images from the actor’s IG. Dear Lupita is in a deep-love relationship with Selema Masekela, born on my birthday August 28.
If the name sounds familiar, Selema is the American-born son of Hugh Masekela, often described as "the father of South African jazz".
It’s also the day of Lupita’s ‘Black Panther’ co-star Chadwick Boseman’s passing: August 28, 2020.
The story of how Lupita and Selema first met is priceless. That alone is worth the read.
Read MoreHelen Mirren Talks Golda Meir in DuJour Magazine Fall 2023 by Nick Thompson
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Esteemed actor Helen Mirren is not accustomed to being the center of controversy. But she knew that criticism of her decision to play the plum role of world leader Golda Meir, the founding first and only woman leader of Israel’s history, was certain to invite controversy. Mirren is not Jewish and she has called the criticism of her being tapped by Oscar winner Guy Nattiv to play the lead in ‘Golda’ as “utterly legitimate”.
‘Golda’s focus is the 19 days of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973.
The film is in theaters and online now, released on August 25 and with a modest box office of $4.4 worldwide.
Read MoreDebra Shaw in 'Red Hot' Fall Fashion Lensed by Fabien Montique in The Sunday Times Style
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In the words of Laura Craik, writing for The Sunday Times Style magazine September 3, 2023, Debra Shaw “thrums with good energy”. A key reason for Shaw’s longevity as a couture model lies in her humanist spirit.
Fabien Montique [IG] captures Shaw in the fashion story ‘Red Hot’, wearing Celine by Hedi Slimane on the cover. Note an outtake from Montique that is very VROOM VROOM. “I like wearing red — it’s a powerful colour,” says Shaw.
For AOC, Shaw’s self-analysis of her secret to her longevity is a life lesson for all of us. It involves:
“. . . being open, being flexible and not having the ego involved in areas that it doesn’t need to be involved in. You can have the ego on stage because that helps the performance, but coming in and demanding things? That doesn’t work with this [younger] generation. It should never have worked, because the reality is we’re all pulling together. So be a team player.”
Read MoreVogue Philippines 1st Anniversary Issue Takes Us to Batanes in 'Origins' Story
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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.
Read MoreDua Lipa Covers Vogue France September, Wearing Style Austerity Lensed by Mert Alas
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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.”
Read MoreAdwoa Aboah in 'Fresh Take' by Ronan McKenzie for Net-A-Porter August 21, 2023
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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’.
Read MoreZendaya Enters an Era of Risk, Lensed by Steven Klein for ELLE US September, 2023
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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.
Read More'Fellow Travelers' on Showtime Explained in Out Magazine September/October 2023
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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 Rude was 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.
Read MoreSydney Sweeney for S Moda El Pais September 2023 by Thomas Whiteside
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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.”
Read MoreMadame Germany's 'Tableau VIVANT' Fashion Story and the Bloomsbury Artists
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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.
Read MoreThe Greatest of All Time: Christy, Cindy, Linda, Naomi Cover Vogue US & UK September 2023
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