December is the month for Harper’s Bazaar country-specific WOTY [Women of the Year] 2025 awards for women who inspire. AOC opens with Harper’s Bazaar Spain’s [IG] selection of Simone Biles for the Sport Icon Award.
Claudia Laukamp styles Biles in images by JUANKR [IG].
In the case of Simone Biles, she is a model of women who have embraced their vulnerability and “turned their wounds into feats of courage”.
From dealing with two — not one — cases of “the twisties” as we learned just recently; to the absolutely savage way Biles was treated by men when she withdrew from Tokyo Olympics for fear of breaking her neck; to Simone Biles testifying before Congress on September 15, 2021, in the Larry Nasser case of her own sexual abuse by the doctor of women gymnasts — Simone Biles is the inspiring type of woman Harper’s Bazaar Spain is honoring this December.
Rising model Stella Hanan returns to Harper’s Bazaar France [IG], for a faux-fur December fashion story followup to her personally-engaging October Bazaar France style overview. Berenger Pelc styles ‘Un Jour de Neige’ [A Snowy Day] with faux-fur coats from top luxury houses, lensed by Marie Deteneuille [IG]./ Hair by Joseph Pujalte; makeup by Christine Corbel
Designer Simon Porte Jacquemus delights fans with the Nike x Jacquemus Après Ski Collection [IG], modeled here by Bibi Breslin and Joe Baker, with styling by Katie Burnett./ Hair by Louis Ghewy; makeup by Eva Louis
The 18-piece Nike x Jacquemus Après Ski apparel collection is designed to offer “uncompromising winter sport performance and style, snowboarders and all athletes, who lean into the mountain lifestyle,” writes Nike.
The theme and focus of Atmos [IG] Volume 12 is ‘Pollinate’. As if on cue, one of our most talented photographers Elizaveta Porodina [IG] enters the Atmos conversation.
Models Aimee Byrne and Akuol Deng Atem are styled by Charlotte Buchal in this Gaia-sponsored fashion shower of radical beauty./ Hair by Claire Moore; makeup by Porsche Poon
Traveling ancient, global trade routes with her technology-unleashed, creative genius and inner visual anthology of past, present and future wisdoms, Porodina is herself a pollinator of us — her fellow creators.
Model Hannah Motler appeared in ‘Surréel’, a fashion story for Numéro France [IG] #255, September 2025. Rebecca Bleynie styled Motler in Chanel, Dries Van Noten, Ferragamo, Givenchy, Guess, Issey Miyake, Louis Vuitton, Maison Alaia, Moschino, Prada, YSL and more in images by Koto Bolofo [IG]./ Hair by Annesofie Begtrup; makeup by Maria Olsson
Circling back with Koto Bolofo to see what we missed in 2025, AOC discovered BOLOVISION, now in its fourth issue release. You can purchase all four volumes of BOLOVISION on ArtbooksOnline.eu.
Models Anne Floor Wetemans and Luna Yohannan are styled by Virginie Benarroch in ‘Un Dimanche à la Montagne’. Photographer Krisztián Éder [IG] captures the rapture for Harper’s Bazaar France [IG] December 2025/January 2026./ Hair by Kalle Eklund; makeup by Karin Westerlund
Hallelujah! AOC bumped into Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2026 Men’s Pre-Collection video and it’s so joyful. Pharrell brings his humanity into everything he does.
Styled by Matthew Henson, the campaign is fronted by English footballer playing for Real Madrid CF, Friend of the House Jude Bellingham and English actor and producer Callum Turner, a House ambassador.
Photographed and filmed by Oliver Hadlee Pearch [IG] the footballer and actor are seen in scenes from aristocratic life — with no aloofness.
The international model lineup in Vogue’s Chanel story includes Abény Nhial, Achol Ayor, Aditsa Berzenia, Awar Odhiang, Bhoomi Yadav, Charlotte Boggia, Dru Campbell, Feng Jiao Long, Luiza Perote and Zaya Guarani, styled by Amanda Harlech in images by Rafael Pavarotti [IG]. / Hair by Karim Belghiran; makeup by Ammy Drammeh
Blazy is an empath; hands down. AOC has written about his leadership style, mixed with his creative curiosity, and prior overt gestures to get the recognition for the women in his Bottega Veneta atelier that they deserved.
Jonathan Anderson is supposed to be the boy wonder creative designer we’re all trying to swoon over, but increasingly it seems like Blazy’s the one to watch.
Vogue December 2025 shares ‘The Debutants’ a fashion story built around the Spring 2026 collections, styled by Amanda Harlech. Models include Ajus Samuel, Alex Consani, Angelina Kendall, Awar Odhiang, Charlie Jones, Ella Mccutcheon, FeiFei Sun, Jill Kortleve, Lulu Tenney and Stella Hanan.
Photographer Mikael Jansson [IG] captures fresh runway looks from Balenciaga, Celine, Dior, Loewe, and Maison Margiela./ Hair by Eugene Soulemain; makeup by Karin Westerlund
The CasablancaParis Ski Campaign Winter 2025-26 is easy on the eyes, with models Fares Ben M’barka and Nadine Kirilova fronting designer Charaf Tajer’s classic — even patriotic — retro color palette. There’s only one color scheme with equal appeal on both sides of the Atlantic, and that’s red-white-blue.
Casablanca teamed up with Faction Skis [IG] in their first-ever ski capsule, created with Tajer and Steve Grimes, Casablanca’s brand and art director. Photographer Per Appelgren [IG] captured the luxury brand campaign created with its Gen Z audience in mind.
Rising star actor and Dior ambassador Deva Cassel covers the November 2025 issue of Harper’s Bazaar España [IG] in a fashion story ‘La Buena Musa’ [‘The Good Muse’]. Alba Melendo styles Cassel in key pieces from Jonathan Anderson’s spring 2026 Dior collection, lensed by Pablo Saez [IG]./ Hair by John Nollet; makeup by Jolanta Cedro
WSJ writer Chavie Lieber catches up with Bieber a few hours away from her Sephora launch. By every press report, the LVMH-owned Sephora launch was successful with $10 million in two days of sales. It was not only the best launch ever for the beauty stores and online retailer, it beat the prior record-holder by 2.5 times, selling 3 Rhode items per second.
Returning a few days later, Lieber reports the shelves were empty as a little girl with a British accent was close to tears, as she wailed: “There’s no more blush from Haaayley Biebaaa!”
Kim Kardashian brought her L0 Series SCMaglev,high-speed train self to the pages of Perfect Magazine [IG] 8.5 March 2025. We missed it. Running at 375 mph, Kim teamed up with photographer Steven Klein in an edgy form of Bot-driven eroticism that this duo understands.
Jahleel Weaver, who is a contributing fashion editor at ‘Perfect’, styled this photoshoot and has been Kardashian’s stylist since the 2025 Met Gala. Rihanna’s stylist for years, Weaver knows how to balance Kim’s desire for notoriety without drowning in the deep end of the pool.
Vogue Czechoslovakia [IG] calls Alexa Chung the ‘It’ girl of all the It girls; “every girl’s muse”; and also “the muse of an entire generation.” What a resumé! Alexa Chung also means business, as she promotes her new holiday collection in the December 2024/January 2025 issue.
Chung is styled by Rachel Bakewell wearing MiuMiu on the cover with images by Melanie Rodriguez [IG]./ Hair by Emilie Bromley; makeup by Wendy Rowe
Banana Republic [IG] released its Fall 2025 Campaign ‘San Francisco, 1978’, with a series of images that mean more if we look under the hood of human events that year, including the brand’s founding.
Banana Republic ‘San Francisco 1978’ models Andreea Diaconu, David Corenswet [actor playing Superman], Giacomo Cavalli, and Paula Soares are lensed by Sonia Szostak [IG] with creative direction by Michael Scanlon. / Hair by Michal Bielecki; makeup by Dan Duran
Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in 1978
AOC queried whether 1978 in San Francisco-Mill Valley was a good year. The response was ‘not really’. Surely millions of Californians living in Banana Republic country would disagree. So we ran down why the response to our question was so glum.
The Oscar-winning Malaysian actor and action star known for doing her own stunts is presently making her ‘Wicked’ character terrifying to all who view her.
The film ‘Wicked: For Good’ brought in $150 million in North America and $226 milion worldwide, over its Friday opening blockbuster weekend.
What do everyday people think of the movie? Mid-afternoon on Monday, ‘Wicked: For Good’ had a positive critic’s score of 70% but the audience rating is 95%.
American model, born in New York City, Kai Schreiber is a fresh face on 2025 runways. The transgender daughter of Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber was introduced to the world by Valentino’s creative director Alessandro Michele at his Fall /Winter 2025 show In Paris.
V Magazine November 2025 taps Kai Schreiber in ‘The Fairest of Them All’, a couture fashion story styled by Anna Trevelyan with images by Nick Knight [IG].
Swedish model Sara Eirud is styled by Amelianna Loiacono in ‘Quel Tocco Ribelle’, a fashion story lensed by Gautier Pellegrin [IG] on location at Arctic Bath for Vanity Fair Italia [IG] November 2025./ Makeup by Sara Eriksson
Austrian model Greta Hofer is styled by Kasia Mioduska in Loro Piana for a fashion story ‘Greta in Kyoto’, lensed by Ina Levy [IG] for the November 2025 issue of Vogue Poland [IG]./ Makeup by Takenaka
Model Fábio Tavares poses in ‘Fair Tale: a story of style between dandy and saudade” shot at Feira de Espinho, in a little town in Portugal. Pablo Patane styles Tavares in fresh looks from the fall 2025 menswear collections, creating more context and fashion jazz around them, than is obvious on the runway. Luxury brands include Bottega Veneta, Dior, Ferragamo, Loro Piano, Prada, Valentino, Versace and more.
L’Officiel Hommes Italia Fashion Director Giulio Martinelli works with photographer Carlos Teixeira [IG] to deliver this dynamic but also understandable fashion statement. You can review the entire October 2025 fashion story here.
