The return of supermodel Lara Stone is real, with appearances in the November 2025 issues of both Bazaar France and Vogue France. In this Bazaar France story ‘Les Yeux De Lara’, Berenger Pelc styles animal-inspired coats, jackets, big pants and body con tops from Chanel, Duran Lantink, Maison Alaia, Schiaparelli and more.

Photographer Vito Fernicola [IG] captures Lara’s animal-loving instincts [no real animals involved] in a global, perennial, fashion synergy between women and the natural, sensual world for Harper’s Bazaar France [IG]./ Hair by Kalle Eklund; makeup by Anthony Preel

European aristocrats wore real furs as a status symbol, introducing the concept of using animal hides in clothing. In the 1920s, animal prints, particularly leopard, were worn by flappers and global stars like Josephine Baker, one of significant numers of Americans choosing to live in Paris, rather than a segregated America.

Update: a truly exciting alliance between Anne and a French woman of color from New Orleans, living in Paris and known as a voice of ‘Black Paris’, will get major exposure on Anne of Carversville in 2026. We hope to be live in December, but absolutely we will celebrate New Years 2026 in a live project that hopefully has no end in sight.

She has been in Louisiana three times this year researching her own family history. You may or may not know that Pope Leo’s family history is deeply impacted by Louisiana. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Norval Martinez, was born in Haiti.

So you know where we are going with all this, right? Right on is the plan . . . the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Paris, here we come in search of the gifts you gave Black Americans that their own country refused them.

Rather than being all over the place on race and culture on AOC, our focus will be a Virginian [Anne] deliberately moving to a former Confederate state post George Floyd murder; Anne’s new friend’s roots and family history in New Orleans; and our shared love of all of Paris — past and present.

I’ve touched on these themes for years on AOC — ever since our collective-beloved Virgil Abloh opened the door wide for discussion on Louis Vuitton Men. My man Pharrell Williams has continued the tradition beyond its original mission and AOC will follow Pharrell anywhere on Earth.

But Anne’s focus will be an intense excavation and documentation of American Black migration to France. Louisiana past and present, with its influence on American culture and politics. And what is it about France, in particular, that inspires so much love from so many of us. Does that France still exist today?

I am besides myself with thoughts of where this project might go. Madame Black Paris and I have not taken any shared blood oaths to each other yet, but we just must succeed together, even when we differ. This is a ‘failure is not an option’ project for Anne. So stay tuned.