The Rebirth of Thandiwe Newton, 'Beloved' in Shona, for British Vogue May 2021

Westworld star Thandiwe Newton covers the May 2021 issue of British Vogue, lensed by Mikael Jansson. EIC Edward Enninful styles Thandiwe — who is now going by her birth name and not Thandie — in a fashion story that explores her Zimbabwean and British heritages.

In the purple hues cover below, Newton is wearing Fendi Haute Couture and a ring by Tiffany & Co. For the red hues cover above, the 90s star Black actor wears Isabel Marant with Tom Ford sandals, and jewelry by David Morris.

In her interview with Diana Evans, Thandiwe Newton speaks of almost giving up her fight for an ‘authentic’ acting career. She has made her way back to original herself with a new purpose — “to tell the stories that matter.” Reclaiming her original name with the ‘W’ is part of that emotionally and invigorating process.

Edward Enninful claims the word ‘legacy’ to articulate the thread running through the May 2021 issue of British Vogue.

The first paragraph of the Diana Evans begins with old-school journalism brilliance. We’re so inspired by its vitality that a history lesson required. We will take readers to Shona people shortly.

The story begins with the thundering mist of Victoria Falls, 1972. A Zimbabwean princess and a lab technician from Cornwall were driving along a bumpy road about to enjoy a sardine snack. When the sardine can was opened, the oil spilled all over the woman’s dress and she laughed her head off. The man thought, “I need to be with this woman,” and there were rainbows criss-crossing the sky from the magic of the mist and the sun above the crashing water. On that trip, contained in this magic, a child was conceived. They named her Thandiwe, meaning beloved in Shona. She grew up to be one of the most successful Black-British actresses of her time.

AOC previews Thandiwe Newton by Mikael Jansson for British Vogue May 2021

Eiza González Fronts Louis Vuitton's 'On the Beach' Fragrance in Painted Body by Alex Israel

Louis Vuitton debuts the fifth unisex fragrance in its Parfums de Cologne line, called ‘On the Beach’. The Jacques Cavallier Belletrud-crafted fragrance is positioned as a light, citrusy, sensory California getaway to warm sand and roaring waves. Images are by Thomas Whiteside; Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Actor Eiza González is the face of the new fragrance, posing nude with her own skin covered with sunset-inspired body paint by multimedia artist Alex Israel [IG].

“It looks like I rolled on magical rainbow sand!” González, 31, told Vogue of the end results.

“It took eight full hours, almost nine actually, which is insane. And then it took almost four hours to get rid of it … You can imagine taking it off was like the ultimate scrub. My skin was, no joke, the softest it’s been in my entire life.”

Gonzalez appreciates her role as a Mexican actor and singer being featured amidst the clarion call for greater representation in the world of fashion, style and beauty.

“I grew up watching all these beauty campaigns in the ’90s and I wouldn’t see a lot of Mexican women in them, especially in these large-scale brands,” she explains of what it means to work with the iconic French fashion house. “It was always kind of sold to me that I had to be a specific style of woman to be it, and the fact that girls in Mexico who are brown and Latina like me will see a campaign like this and recognize themselves in it with the scale of the brand makes me so honored and happy. It’s normalizing an image for people and making people feel included and seen.”

The On the Beach fragrance features citron as the key scent, with notes of yuzu, neroli and aromatic herbs thyme, rosemary and pink pepper. The cent is rounded out with a touch of cypress to replicate the feeling of a tree’s shade.

Yuzu is a citrus fruit and plant originating in central China and widely cultivated in East Asia. It’s considered to be a hybrid of mandarin orange and the ichang papeda, the latter being a slow-growing, citrus shrub or small tree that produces a bitter, sour, acidic, unpalatable fruit of limited commercial value. in Japan the fruits are traditionally left floating on hot bath water to add fragrance to the air.

Neroli is an essential oil produced from the blossoms of the bitter orange tree, also the source of orange blossom essential oils. Neroli is extracted through distillation, with Orange Blssom [flower] Absolute extracted using solvents. Neroli is sharper and more ‘cologne’ like while, Orange Blossom Absolute is headier, heavier and more herbaceous in scent.