Set in a cocaine-drenched Los Angeles in 1981, ‘The Shards’ follows a fictionalized, closeted, teenage version of novelist Bret Easton Ellis [played by Igby Rigney] during his final year at an elite prep school.

The film is central to American Vogue’s [IG] September 2026 fall fashion issue. We live in a moment when putting two ‘nepo babies’ — one a total newbie — on the September cover of American Vogue is expected to generate more revenue and controversial buzz than an exclusive fashion focus.

Fashion and culture have been related for hundreds of years, if not thousands. And while the issue may have a soft hue of Vanity Fair, it’s also a reflection of Chloe Malle’s emerging editorial direction. Considering that Malle is the daughter of Candice Bergen and late French director Louis Malle, nepo-baby screamers should probably accept reality. The question is — what important stories aren’t covered because of Malle’s alleged bias?

There is plenty of fashion, styled by Spencer Singer, in the cover story with Gerber and Gere wearing Chanel on the September cover. Kaia wears more Chanel in the story, with a Gerber/Gere shot of both actors wearing Dior; another of the duo in Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, and lastly a Gerber in Chloe and Gere in Prada. Add Gerber in Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy by Sarah Burton, Loewe, Louis Guitton, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Valentino. A Gere solo in Georgio Armani.

Rob Haskell pens the narrative ‘Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere Have Heard It All Before’. Steven Meisel [IG] is behind the lens with creative direction by Raul Martinez./ Hair by Guido Palau;makeup by Pat McGrath

Plot of the Film

As a serial killer called "the Trawler" stalks local youth, Bret becomes paranoid that a shadowy new classmate is connected to the gruesome murders.

Two more characters are central to the plot of ‘The Shards’.

Robert Mallory [played by Homer Gere] is the charismatic, mysterious new arrival at school. Bret becomes fixated on Mallory and suspects him of the ritualistic killings.
Susan Reynolds [played by Kaia Gerber] is Bret’s close friend caught up in the wealthy, high-stress social circle of affluent Los Angeles teens.

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Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere

‘The Shard’s’ plot is not the heat source, as most of us know. Kaia Gerber’s mom Cindy Crawford was married to Homer Gere’s father Richard Gere in December 1991 in Las Vegas. The couple met in 1988 at a barbecue hosted by American photographer Herb Ritts, when Crawford was 21 and Gere was 38.

It was Ritts, born in Los Angeles in August,1952 and died in Los Angeles in December, 2002, who photographed Crawford-Gere for the November 1992 issue of Vogue. Today August 13 is Herb Ritts [IG] birthday and his IG picture was taken by Richard Gere in Bali in 1987.

Vogue shares the Julia Reed story ‘The Model and the Movie Star’ from the 1992 issue. Richard Gere was the first man to be on the cover of Vogue and now he and his son Homer are the first father and son to share the cover gigs.