Top model Sora Choi covers the January 2023 issue of Vogue Italia. How great for this South Korean born, consistently gracious and on point, fashion pro to cover Vogue Italia — in the spirit of Franca Sozzani. It’s a choice she would have made.
Choi is styled by Imruh Asha and lensed by Carlijn Jacobs [IG] in artistic images to launch 2023, with input by Juan Costa Paz, Vogue Global Creative Director.
Gisele Bundchen returns for another Brazilian jewelry brand Vivara holiday campaign. Gisele’s Vivara Holiday 2022 images resonate with extra meaning, because the supermodel spent the Christmas holiday in Brazil with daughter Vivian Lake, 10, and son Benjamin Rein, 13.
It was the family’s first Christmas since the divorce of Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady.
"It's my Rio Grande do Sul Heaven, Sun, South, Earth and Color Where everything that is planted grows and what blooms the most is love. It's always so good to come back home❤️," wrote Bündchen on IG as translated from Portuguese to English.
Nicole Heiniger [IG]photographed Bundchen in a return shoot for her as well.
Models Amar Akway, Ella McCutcheon, Luca Biggs and Maty Drazek take a silvery winter spotlight, styled by Suzanne Koller in glimmering modern tones of marine blue. Sam Visser [IG]creates a softly-dramatic makeup tableau that also taps marine blue for a nod to eccentric artistry punctuated with rose, silver, and black.
The shimmering festive vision is yet another nod to Zara — this time Zara Beauty Winter 2022.23, lensed by Robin Galiegue [IG].
The Banana Republic Holiday 2022 Campaign is terrific, as are the images by Richard Phibbs [IG]. I see the Polo vibe here, but it feels like sound ground Banana is standing on.
Note that as recently as August 2022, Fast Companywas asking if Banana Republic will ultimately be forced to change its name. This question comes within a larger America’s public school’s movement whereby students, parents and some civic leaders argue they shouldn’t have to go to a school named after presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
AOC does not support the eradication of all references to America’s past, because our past is very complicated. Our role is to move forward.
The cast of the Banana Republic campaign includes Cherokee Jack, Chinchin Hsu, Louise de Chevigny, Nya Gatbel and Ryan Porter and the campaign was shot in Iceland.
Many in the cast have worked on other Banana Republic campaigns this year.
Actor Julia Butters is styled by Anna Schilling in a cover story for Grumpy Magazine, established in 2016 to challenge people to “get out of your grumpy mood.”
Julia Butters has received critical acclaim for her role as Trudi Frazer in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. From 2016 to 2020, she starred as Anna-Kat Otto on ABC's sitcom American Housewife.
The actor is interviewed by Maxwell Jenkinsin Grumpy and photographed by Emily Sandifer [IG] grounded in Los Angeles and Scotland.
Model Qun Ye layers on colorful gold and enamel fine jewellery styled by Annie Hertikova with plenty of charm. Photographer Clark Franklyn [IG] is in the studio, using tinted backgrounds to maximum effect in Net-a-Porter, December 20, 2022.
Olympic champion Eileen Gu covers the December 2022 issue of Harper’s Bazaar Singapore. Now age 19 and working with Louis Vuitton on the runway as well as campaigns and events, Gu is styled by Christopher Maul in top luxury brands heavy on Louis Vuitton and also Dior, Tiffany & Co, Givenchy and more.
The Stanford student wears Louis Vuitton on the cover for a fashion story ‘Golden Girl’, lensed by London-based, Maltese photographer Stef Galea [IG].
Model Lauren Wasser is styled by Shaojun Chen in cozy sophistication for Glass Magazine China Issue 16. LA-based Korean-American fashion and fine art photographer Sam Spence [IG] is behind the lens.
In her bio Spence says that she is the second youngest photographer in history to shoot a Vogue cover. Adopted from Korea as a baby, and raised in the Midwestern United States, Spence became a creative at a young age, frustrated by a lack of diversity in her circle of people. Her training as a contemporary dancer has influenced her love for capturing movement and the human body in its unique form.
Casa Degli Atellani has been purchased by Bernard Arnault the chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Built around 1490, the landmark was donated by Ludovico “Il Moro” Duke of Milan to Leonardo Da Vinci in 1498. The legendary artist was in Milan working on his masterpiece ‘The Last Supper’.
The 15th century townhouse hides a verdant courtyard that has been restored to its centuries-old status as home to Da Vinci’s vineyard. Casa Degli Atellani is presently the “only existing wine-producing estate in the center of a metropolis”.
Dominican model Ysaunny Brito strikes leggy poses the pages of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia [IG]. The very chic December 2022 issue celebrates the magazine’s 15th anniversary.
Luca Falcioni styles Brito in ‘Code Red’ sensual, luxury-rich sophistication from Dolce & Gabbana, Emporio Armani, Prada and Moschino.
Daniele CarettoniofEspresso Productions [IG] is in charge of the fashion shoot, photographed by Randi Childs [IG]. /Makeup by Walter Obal; hair by KMiller
Vogue Netherlands gets the jump on fashion stories centered on the Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama collaboration, a sequel to the 2012 first project between the two global juggernauts.
Critically-acclaimed artist Yayoi Kusama has been breaking new ground for more than six decades and is now 93 years old. Known for her use of dots in multiple artistic media, do not think for one minute that Kusama’s art is created as a fashion statement.
Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity. –Yayoi Kusama
Drop Dates
The initial drop will launch on New Year’s Day, January 1 exclusively in China and Japan, followed by the rest of the world on the 6th.
The second drop of the Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama 2023 collab will only be available in Louis Vuitton stores from March 31, 2023.
Kanye West, legally known as Ye, seems to have gone underground, although TMZ reported a single Kanye citing in LA in December. A former business manager for the rapper Thomas St. John has filed a $4.5 million lawsuit against West but is unable to serve him with papers. St. John has requested an extension from the court.
Yeezy Rent Eviction Looming
Reports are that West’s Yeezy offices in California are on the verge of eviction after missing both November and December’s rent payments of $31,477.40 per month.
Model Belle Pierson is the lady in red, styled by Veronique Tristram in ‘Faites vos Jeux’ [place your bets]. Photographer Sabine Villard [IG] is in the studio for Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine [Seduction Magazine] November 2022.
Delilah Belle [Hamlin] tributed the Netflix movie ‘Blonde’ in these sensual, elegant images styled by Aleksandra Markovic. Photographer Dean Isidro [IG] is behind the lens for Grazia Italia’s November 2022 issue.
Gucci has opened its first permanent boutique dedicated to its Gucci Valigeria luggage and travel collection. Located in Paris at 229 Rue Saint-Honoré, the 2,900-square-foot-location was previously dedicated to Off-White.
“Gucci Valigeria is a powerful reminder of our Florentine roots and our timeless craft,” said Marco Bizzarri, the president and CEO of Gucci, calling the Paris store collection a “symbol of [the Gucci] legacy, reinterpreted through the ages for the travelers and modern-day explorers of every era.”
Adidas Is ‘Re-Evaluating’ its partnership with Balenciaga, “pausing” all co-created product launches “until further notice.”
The news came quietly, with customers supplying Sneaker Freaker with copies of emails they’ve received from adidas regarding the pre-order of Balenciaga/adidas Stan Smith trainers.
In a bit of irony, Balenciaga tells customers a different story, that the “trainers will be delayed in shipment” and that “We will notify you again once the item is shipped.”
In case you thought this might be a coordinated message between the two brands to the same customers, it obviously was not.
Top model and ceramic artist Raquel Zimmermann is a fashion and culture focus for The Travel Almanac FW2022 issue. Clare Byrne styles the restrained, modest fashion silhouettes with Bottega Veneta on the cover.
The organic sensuality of Raquel Zimmermann’s ceramics is almost visceral to AOC eyes. There are artists and talents who are very focused on outward visualization, while others channel the unconscious mind and ancestral voices, compelled to go deeper into the human experience in a universal way.
To celebrate her influence on American design and architecture, Mattel collaborated with the design magazine PIN-UP on a limited-edition art book, “Barbie Dreamhouse: An Architectural Survey.”
“Barbie’s house is infinitely more exciting than Barbie herself,” writes Elvia Wilk, a cultural critic. “The structures we live within — fantasize about living within — say more about our lives and dreams than plastic bodies ever will.”
The New York Times breaks down the Barbitecture story with A Six-Decade Tour of Barbie’s Dreamhouses and AOC gifts readers the link.
Wilk is one of many critics who contribute to the book’s analysis of Barbie’s huge influence on American culture.
