Metal Magazine Highlights Pyer Moss' Kerby Jean-Raymond's 'Wat U Iz' FW 2021 Couture Show

Metal Magazine Highlights Pyer Moss' Kerby Jean-Raymond's 'Wat U Iz' FW 2021 Couture Show AOC Fashion

Models Adeng Nyamam, Raven Wallace and Symone Lu bring grace the pages of Metal Magazine, styled by Romina Herrera Malatesta in the buzziest couture fashions of the fall 2021 season. NYC photographer Andy Jackson [IG] captures the trio wearing much-discussed highlights from Pyer Moss founder Kerby Jean-Raymond’s Fall 21 Couture Collection./ Hair by Akihisa Yamaguchi; makeup by Ayaka Nihei

'Source' Says Kanye Is Headed to LV Men's; Ye Worked with Donald Trump to Overturn GA Election; Kanye Tells Kim K to 'Run Right Back to Me, Baby' Pt.1

'Source' Says Kanye Is Headed to LV Men's; Ye Worked with Donald Trump to Overturn GA Election; Kanye Tells Kim K to 'Run Right Back to Me, Baby' Pt.1 AOC Fashion

In 24 hrs. starting Thursday evening December 9, 2021 to Friday morning December 10, 2021

• Rumors are that Kanye West is headed to Louis Vuitton because he and creative mastermind Virgil Abloh made an agreement that West would take over after Abloh’s death.

• Kanye West joined Drake in a LA-benefit concert for Larry Hoover, currently serving a 150 - 200 years sentence at a high security prison in Colorado. At that concert, Kanye went off script and sang ‘Runaway’, dedicating the song to his estranged wife Kim Kardashian, asking her to 'Run Right Back to Me,Baby'.

• This morning Reuters broke the story that Kanye West’s publicist became very involved in trying to overturn the Georgia election results by giving total credence to Donald Trump’s accusations against Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter.

Anne of Carversville does not presume to know what makes Kanye West tick. For all we know, he’s headed towards another mental health episode, which we wouldn’t wish on anybody — even Kanye’s best buddy Donald Trump.

Since Kanye jumped on Donald Trump’s bandwagon and declared that God came to him in the shower, telling him to shut down Planned Parenthood, we have little time for Kanye West. A decade ago, we were big Kanye fans.

However, everywhere I’ve turned since 11pm last night, Kanye West is in my face.

Kanye fancies himself — like Trump — a great manipulator of simple minds like ours. After all, God speaks to him in the shower, so he’s a VIP on planet earth, knighted by God to do men’s work of keeping women subordinate to male rule.

To me he’s just another misogynist in the long-line of so-called men of God running roughshod over women’s bodies, but I’m sure Kanye knows best. After all, he has a direct line, and I have none — being a scarlet woman.

I’m about to do a brain dump on Kanye West and will divide it into two parts. We start with my Thursday night reading and pleas of “No, no, no . . . don’t do it.”

1) Kanye at Louis Vuitton Mens

AOC is still reeling from Virgil Abloh’s death, and last night Kanye West rumors broke that he’s headed to Louis Vuitton Men’s. In quotes from ‘The Sun’ that troubled me deeply, an unnamed source said: “Kanye is devastated about Virgil’s death because they had been friends for years and worked together a lot. They shared a similar vision and now Kanye feels he owes it to Virgil to continue his work at Louis Vuitton.”

Besides expected sources like Hypebeast, Highsnobiety, then the Daily Mail, Yahoo and scads of syndicated local publications by Friday morning, CR Fashionbook just picked up the Kanye West to Louis Vuitton Men’s story.

Kanye West Was Jealous of Virgil Abloh

AOC has a long memory and we recall distinctly Kanye West’s assertion that HE — and not Virgil Abloh — deserved the LV Men’s position. West expressed jealousy to DJ Zane Lowe during a 2015 interview for Beats 1 saying, "I felt like it was supposed to be me. I was the Louis Vuitton Don. People still called me the Louis Vuitton Don on the street."

None of us have forgotten this story, and it’s one that keeps getting resurrected.

In October, 2019 W Magazine wrote Kanye West Thinks He Should Have Virgil Abloh’s Job at Louis Vuitton.

When Kanye West sat down for an interview with DJ Zane Lowe in 2015, he proclaimed himself “the greatest living rock star on the planet.” In his latest interview with Zane, released today, West has upped himself to “unquestionably, undoubtedly the greatest human artist of all time.” His greatness, apparently, now transcends both mediums and eras. Leonardo Da Vinci, who?

“It’s just a fact,” he added for emphasis.

Let me say for the 27th time — Kanye West has a God complex, just like his good friend Donald Trump. If Kanye is unquestionably the greatest human artist of all time, Bernard Arnault would have hired him, because Bernard Arnault is one of the world’s most brilliant business executives.

Of course, there are many additional skills required to be a successful creative director and not seeing yourself as the center of the universe from sunrise to sundown is typically one of them. Temperment is an issue today, as we were recently reminded with the departure of the most talented designer Daniel Lee from Bottega Veneta.

Bernard Arnault doesn’t need Kanye West in his face now and probably ever.

Louis Vuitton is the biggest, most successful luxury brand in the world. Seriously, Kanye West called for a boycott of Louis Vuitton almost a decade ago. West is a loose cannon; and now he is tied to the Jan. 6 insurrection against the US government, as Trump’s man in Georgia.

Bernard Arnault Does NOT Need Kanye West

Arnault can have a trusting relationship with Rihanna and Jay-Z, and with Jay-Z comes his uber-talented wife Ms. Beyonce-Knowles — for advice on what to do in this matter.

They roll just fine with Mr. Arnault and his kids and are excellent sounding boards, who don’t belong to the “I am God” club. They are talented businesspeople-creatives, and they are genuine activists and philanthropists capable of looking at life from perspectives not their own.

This fine team of advisers is far from being alone on the LVMH roster.

Virgil Abloh was very tight with the new design director at Kenzo Nigo of A Bathing Ape fame. In reading about Nigo a few nights back, of course my man Pharrell Williams popped into the picture.

While Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rihanna and Pharrell Williams are running around town trying to create positive change in the Black communities of America and beyond — while they are giving of themselves for humanity and practicing some real Ubuntu Nelson Mandela style in their businesses and personal lives — Kanye West was trying to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.

Laurence Ellis Captures 'Celebrations' with London's Global Tribes for HTSI Magazine

Laurence Ellis Captures 'Celebrations' with London's Global Tribes for HTSI Magazine AOC Fashion

Photographer Laurence Ellis [IG], founder of Unity @ unityforest.land, divides his time between London and New York. Ellis’ passionate studies in Social Anthropology informs his interest in photography. His world view is expressed in countless exhibits and books; just one taste of Laurence Ellis is experienced through his contribution to Atmos.earth in December 2020 called ‘Humus to Human’.

Laurence Ellis brings to life his social anthropology skills in this How To Spend It Magazine November 2021 cover story for FT’s ‘Celebration’ issue. Ellis captures Britain’s multiculturalism “in his joyful fashion story, which focuses on groups of families, friends and different social tribes. Each unit, captured on their way out to a party, celebrates the brilliant idiosyncrasies and intimacies that help to shape our personal lives,” writes EIC Jo Ellison.

Players making up these London tribes, styled by Hanna Kelifa, include: Models, Brigett English, Donnika Anderson, Fern Gray and Rhys Claxton at Xdirectn; Ai Zheng Rui, Goi Manase and Simon Deu Thiong at PRM; Apollo Yom Alier at Milk Management; Caitlin Foden at The Hive; Keyla Harewood at Wilhelmina Models; Louis Simmonds at Tomorrow Is Another Day; Romi Peled at Established; Jade Monrose at Kult; Anya Pascaud at Anti Agency; Antara Naidoo at Elite; Arthur Griffiths, Bruce Anderson, Cole Quirke, Hardy Churchill, Joel Kerr, Leah Anderson, Lilith Newson and Saoirse Davis.

Read the countless product credits at How to Spend It Magazine.

Capturing the beauty and resilience of London’s Southall community Document Journal

Tom Ford Pre-SS2022 Holiday Images by Carlijn Jacobs with Nyarach Abouch Ayuel

Tom Ford Pre-SS2022 Holiday Images by Carlijn Jacobs with Nyarach Abouch Ayuel AOC Fashion

Model Nyarach Abouch Ayuel is styled by Alice Goddard in Tom Ford Pre-SS22 Holiday fashion images lensed by Carlijn Jacobs [IG].

Brooke Shields by Eduardo Rezende for NY Post Alexa Magazine

Brooke Shields by Eduardo Rezende for NY Post Alexa Magazine AOC Fashion

Actor Brooke Shields appears in the NY Post’s Alexa Magazine, lensed by Eduardo Rezende [IG]. Anahita Moussavian, Alexa’s deputy fashion editor with a self-described “fetish for tiaras, tutus and tulle’ styles the fashion story. Shields appears in ‘A Castle for Christmas’, a modern-day Netflix romance.

Philip Messmann Shot H&M Fall 2021 Outerwear with Gorpcore Design Vibe

Philip Messmann Shot H&M Fall 2021 Outerwear with Gorpcore Design Vibe AOC Fashion

Photographer Philip Messmann [IG] captured H&M’s Fall 2021 Outerwear campaign, styled by Lisa Lindqwister. The cast included models and actors Jessica Dalliah , Lily Newmark, Mustapha, and Olivia Vinten in a gorpcore design mix of functional outerwear and utilitarian garments with a sprinkle of mountain chic. Lisa Lindqwister styled the shoot./ Hair by Linda Shalabi; makeup by Ignacio Alonso

Candice Swanepoel's Sustainable Tropic of C 'Sail Away' Swimwear Classics Resort 2021

Supermodel and Tropic of C sustainable swimwear entrepreneur Candice Swanepoel share a new December 2021 collection ‘Sail Away’. The vibe is distinctively classic in Tropic of C’s crisp, black and white high-seas sophistication.

On her landing page, Candice stresses — as always — that Tropic of C is not about a sustainable swimwear capsule. Sustainability is the essence, the heart and soul of Tropic of C swimwear and movement clothes. Good friend and regular photographer Eduardo Bravin [IG] captures Candice in the ‘Sail Away’ Tropic of C Collection in Miami.

Candice also fronts The Daily Front Row’s December edition devoted to Art Basel and the increasingly influential south Florida scene — and that’s before the snow birds land for the season.

Monica Bellucci Embraces Aging in a Peaceful Way in Sunday Times Style by Sonia Szostak

Monica Bellucci Embraces Aging in a Peaceful Way in Sunday Times Style by Sonia Szostak AOC Fashion

Actor Monica Bellucci covers the December 5, 2021 issue of The Sunday Times Style Magazine [IG]. The star of Cartier’s holiday ‘Love Is All Film’ is styled by Verity Parker for a fashion story ‘Drama Queen’, wearing designs from 16Arlington, Giorgio Armani, Khaite, Miu Miu, Nensi Dojoka and more.

Aging in a Peaceful Way

Photographer Sonia Szóstak [IG] captures Bellucci, who at age 57 says that she doesn’t fear the aging process. “There are so many women who are feeling free to get old in a different way,” Bellucci explains, introducing the concept of aging “in a peaceful way”.

Charlottesville, VA Will Donate Robert E Lee Statue for Meltdown into New Art

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center is a cultural arts and history center whose mission is to honor and preserve the rich heritage and legacy of the African-American community of Charlottesville-Albemarle, Virginia. Additionally, the heritage center promotes a greater appreciation for and understanding of the contributions of African Americans and peoples of the Diaspora locally in Charlottesville, across America and globally as well.

In a modern-day Confederate statue cremation, the controversial statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee will be donated to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Plans are for the statue, which lived at the center of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, to be melted down into materials for a new piece of public art.

Support Indie-GoGo Fundraising Campaign

An Indiegogo campaign page for the project said that its leaders wanted to “transform a national symbol of white supremacy into a new work of art that will reflect racial justice and inclusion.”

Related: Charlottesville’s Statue of Robert E. Lee Will Be Melted Down New York Times

Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue will be melted down by city’s African American history museum Washington Post

Janet Jumbo Gives Life to Sixième Sens Par Cartier Collection in V Magazine

Janet Jumbo Gives Life to Sixième Sens Par Cartier Collection in V Magazine AOC Fashion

V Magazine’s winter issue V133 shares a gorgeous Cartier jewelry fashion story called ‘Nature’. ‘Soul’ means so much at AOC, leaving me to smile when reading “with the new Sixième Sens Par Cartier collection, luxury is made for the soul.”

Model Janet Jumbo is styled by Gro Curtis in luscious, sensual, blooming imagery lensed by Melanie + Ramon [IG].

Sam Rollinson Plays the 'Scandalous' Duchess of Argyll in Tatler's January 2022 Issue

Sam Rollinson Plays the 'Scandalous' Duchess of Argyll in Tatler's January 2022 Issue AOC Fashion

Model Sam Rollinson captivates, leading a double life as Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, in the company of Harry Gozzett and Michael Reed. Hannah Teare styles the world of Britain’s old aristocracy in ‘Full Exposure’, lensed by Luc Braquet [IG] for Tatler UK’s January 2022 issue./ Hair by Federico Ghezzi; makeup by Pablo Rodriguez

Lara Mullen Poses for Txema Yeste in 'La Pionniere' for Numero December 2021

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Model Lara Mullen poses for photographer Txema Yeste [IG] in ‘La Pionnière’, perhaps an unintended commentary on the fight for women’s rights for the last 13,000 years. AOC tries not to assume artistic motive and message.

Upon further reflection, Mullen may be channeling Furiosa in the Mad Max spinoff. Or Joan of Arc. Whatever the inspo, AOC loves the fashion story— especially arrows in Mullen’s gut. A full-frontal attack.

Art affects each of us differently; and the sad part of this fashion story for AOC is that American women are going backwards. And ‘yes’, that makes young women joining the fight ‘pioneers’ in what is a sad state of global affairs, frankly.

Bernat Buscato styles Mullen for Numero France’s [IG] December 2021/January 2022 issue

Elisa Sednaoui in 'La Dolce Vita' by Laura Sciacovelli for ELLE Italia November 20, 2021

Elisa Sednaoui in 'La Dolce Vita' by Laura Sciacovelli for ELLE Italia November 20, 2021 AOC Fashion

Model, actor, activist and social entrepreneur Elisa Sednaoui [Dellal] of Italian, Egyptian and French descent, is styled by Monica Curetti in ‘La Dolce Vita’, lensed by Laura Sciacovelli [IG] for ELLE Italia November 20, 2021./ Hair by Satoshi Klein; makeup by Martina Bolis

Karlie Kloss Has Grand Plans for Life Purpose: Teaching Girls to Code and PIE

Karlie Kloss Covers WSJ Magazine December/January 2022 Digital by Ethan James Green AOC Fashion

Supermodel, philanthropist, new mom and — adoring, best- buddy wife to Joshua Kushner — Karlie Kloss covers the December/January digital covers of WSJ Magazine. Who better than Karlie Kloss to launch the new year of 2022 in these turbulent times.

Karlie is styled by Charlotte Collet in images by Ethan James Green for Inside Karlie Kloss’s New Life. In Karlie’s own words: “I wanted to change how I was using my job and my platform as a model.”

Elisa Lipsky-Karasz conducts the interview, which is rich in new thinking about the modeling industry and Karlie’s desire to transform herself yet again by switching modeling agencies, joining The Society, which also represents Amber Valletta, Adut Akech and personalities such as musician Willow Smith and reality star–turned-model Kendall Jenner.

“I wanted to change how I was using my job and my platform as a model.”

Karlie Kloss Investments

Kloss has invested in W Magazine, as well as in companies including Therabody, a wellness via technology leader; Mirror, the New York-based startup known for selling interactive workout mirrors, with Lulelemon also an investor; and Reformation, the sustainable fashion brand that had a rocky 2020 in a post-George Floyd world.

Accusations of “traumatizing” racism from staff members and store management against Yael Aflalo, who founded Reformation in 2009, created deep division around the Reformation brand and general public resulting in Aflalo stepping down from her CEO role in June 2020.

Karlie Kloss Activist and Philanthropist

Kloss now works with Greg Propper, the co-founder of Propper Daley, a strategic social-impact and consulting agency that advises brands and philanthropists, including stars like John Legend.

Their joint objective is to develop Karlie and other clients as forces for progressive social change.

Through Propper, Kloss is now connected to philanthropies such as New Profit, an organization that puts together venture philanthropy funds—essentially donations that are granted to social-impact entrepreneurs.

I’m somebody who is not formally educated. I am a student of life.”

Karlie has openly discussed the reality that because she was scooped up at a young age into the modeling industry, she is not formally educated.

Today the superstar is working with New Profit on an ambitious new initiative, the Postsecondary Innovation for Equity (PIE), that creates career pathways for nontraditional job candidates via investments in organizations that provide skills training and mentorships. Kloss can relate: “I’m somebody who is not formally educated. I am a student of life.”

Kode With Klossy

AOC has followed the full trajectory of Kloss’s career and social activism, including her Kode With Klossy project —a program Kloss launched in 2015 offering free computer coding camps to female-identifying and nonbinary 13- to 18-year-olds.

This summer 2021, Kode With Klossy awarded 3,000 scholarships to students from 70 countries, and Karlie’s working to expand it further. “It is all interwoven… [even though] to somebody on the outside it might not make sense,” Kloss tells WSJ Magazine.

15 Years of of Karlie Kloss news and modeling work can be found in our extensive Karlie Kloss’ AOC Archives. And we pull out Karlie’s Kode with Karlie organization, whose work with girls in STEM benefits the entire world. There are Twitter activists and then there is Karlie Kloss.

Like her mentor Christy Turlington, Karlie Kloss puts a capital ‘A’ on the word activism. To think that Karlie moved from 20 scholarships when she launched in New York in summer 2015 to over 3000 scholarships in 2021 is a tribute to women who get things done.

Yes, Kode With Klossy, along with the Malala Fund, was honored by Apple on International Women’s Day 2020.

Luca Meneghel Flashes Valeria Chenskaya for Numéro France December 2021

Luca Meneghel Flashes Valeria Chenskaya for Numéro France December 2021 AOC Fashion

Model Valeria Chenskaya is styled by Clement Lomellini in a throwback to the 2000s lensed by Luca Meneghel for Numéro France December 2021.

NYC Sues L'Officiel USA for Not Paying Freelancers On Time or Ever

Note from Anne: As a result of this NYC lawsuit and learning about L’Officiel USA’s pattern of not paying freelancers, AOC will no longer promote any fashion stories or lifestyle posts associated with L’Officiel USA magazines until there is a resolution to this lawsuit. We will research this alleged pattern and practice in other L’Officiel magazines worldwide and not post any further materials associated with L’Officiel magazines until we understand both the scope and the organizational, corporate structure that governs L’Officiel media.

AOC shares a summary of key points in a press release from the Office of the Mayor of New York City, which filed suit against L’Officiel USA on December 1, 2021.

NYC Sues L'Officiel USA for Not Paying Freelancers On Time or Ever AOC Fashion for entire discussion

The Freelance Isn't Free Act is a local New York City law passed by the New York City Council in 2016 that protects the labor rights of freelance workers. The bill was enacted on May 15, 2017 and is now the basis for a new lawsuit filed by New York City ’s Law Department and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) against L’Officiel USA, the American subsidiary of the French-owned global media company.

The lawsuit was announced by outgoing New York City mayor Bill de Blasio on December 1, after its filing in New York County Supreme Court.

NYC ’s Freelance Isn ’t Free Act, the first law of its kind in the country, gives freelance workers the legal right to written contracts, timely payment, and freedom from retaliation. The Law also established a Court Navigation Program as one avenue to assist freelancers in getting paid and accessing other resources, but it also authorizes New York City to file cases against businesses with a systemic pattern and practice of violating the Law.

In this first court case derived from NYC ’s Freelance Isn ’t Free Act. The lawsuit, which was filed in New York County Supreme Court, alleges that L ’Officiel has “engaged in a pattern of failing to pay freelancers on time or at all, including writers, editors, photographers, videographers, graphic designers and illustrators.”