As mused upon here, I love fashion magazines. I am, quite frankly, an addict. I adore the photography, the glamour, the bright acid colours winking at me from those glossy thick pages. The other day I was meandering down Ponsonby Rd after an appointment and was lured by the siren call of one of my favourite stores, Mag Nation. I stood transfixed by the glossies for at least 10 minutes until I finally made the reckless decision to forgo waiting for the cheaper sea freight issue and buy the brand spankers LOVE magazine. I didn't go for the Kate & Lea T cover which I blogged about here previously - I really loved the Kate cover above shot by Mert and Marcus, so I snaffled it up. Whilst there I had to restrain myself from buying one of more of the following latest issues whose covers seduced me.
Yay, my fave mag's latest issue is out! the Theme 'This is Hard Core' aligns several of my favourite things - Kate Moss, Mert & Marcus, and Pulp! The song 'This is Hardcore' by Pulp, one of my favourites, is featured in the promo.
Kate Moss on the cover - great to see her back in an edgy shoot, with amazing styling from the faux-hawk to her clear, freckled skin. She looks beautiful. Kate is photographed by Mert & Marcus with Lea T, a trans gender model who is in the process of a sex-change. Lea - born Leonardo - was discovered by Givenchy Creative Director Ricardo Tisci.
LOVE Ed Katie Grand saw Lea (above, second from right) at the Copacabana Pool Hotel, clad Givenchy: "At first I didn’t notice her gender, just that she was wearing Givenchy couture and looked amazing!'"
Riccardo Tisci insists that, despite the impact of the decision, casting a trans gender model in his latest campaign is not intended purely to raise fashion eyebrows. The model, Lea T, is his long-time personal assistant and former fit model - and Tisci insists she perfectly embodies the collection. "She's always been very feminine: superfragile, very aristocratic. She's part of the family," Tisci told WWD, adding that including a trans gender person in the campaign exemplifies the masculine-feminine dichotomy that has become one of his design signatures." Vogue.com. French Vogue features a nude Lea T in this confronting image. The fashion industry may discriminate against larger models, but it is admirable that more often than not don't discriminate against gay, trans sexual or trans gender people.
"When you are a transsexual, you look for your future, and you can't see it," Lea told the New York Times. "I thought this would be a nice message for another tranny: 'Look, we can be the same as other girls and boys.' It's small, but it makes you feel like you have a little chance. Maybe a transsexual will open a magazine and think: 'That's cool. We can be whatever we want.' That's why I did the Givenchy campaign." Vogue.com
Carrying on from my previous post, I love a curvy girl. And leading up to Christmas, this email has been sent to me by many a girlfriend. How very true. Curvy girls seem to always be smiling, they look like they shag a lot, eat good food and have a dam good time. Not angsting over how many calories they have ingested and pinching at their skin. Surely the stress would send you to an early grave, if that lack of nutrition didn't first.
It seems the fashion world has taken a shift lately in praise of models who are over a size 0. Last year, Size 18, Beth Ditto appeared on the cover of the inaugural LOVE magazine, and now has her own plus size line for sizes 14-32 at British store Evans.
'Curvy' Lara Stone goes from strength to strength (although she is not exactly large - but is quite Amazonian with those amazing legs and boobs).
In quite a scandalous statement for the fashion industry, in April this year Creative Director of Calvin Klein Francisco Costa vowed not to use any models under a size 0. "Calvin Klein has discontinued their use of the Size 0-2 Models and traded them in for a 2-4...a sign of the times indeed," Even 'Kaiser' Karl Lagerfeld - who has long been a lover of the skinnier models (saying in 2009 "Skinny models just look better") - featured 'plus size' model Crystal Renn three times on his catwalk this year:
The brilliant Andre Leon Talley from American Vogue said "Lagerfeld had cast the show with a slightly more curvaceous model named Crystal Renn, not seen on any Chanel catwalk before. This in itself was groundbreaking for the house, but there was also the return of personality models encouraged to be themselves instead of robotic look-alikes. 'Each girl was cast because of her sense of individuality,' Lagerfeld said enthusiastically."
Crystal Renn is also a firm fave of Jean Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana and Tom Ford, who says has long been a fashion fave for her crazy curves, although she has shrunk somewhat of late. In her shoot for Tom Ford she is veritably tiny - but I love this shoot for ELLE Canada by Leda and St Jacques. The light, the colour, the angles, the makeup, the clothes,the pretty horses! Absolutely beautiful.
In another leap for normal sized women, Robert Duffy of Marc Jacobs announced in August this year that they will be creating a line of clothes for Size 14. "We are in talks now. For plus sizes," Duffy Tweeted. "Listen, we are in the very beginning stages of talking to a partner about plus sizes...We gotta do larger sizes" Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi and YSL are rumored to follow suit. For his Fall 2010 Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs featured 'real women, using famously sexy, curvy models on the catwalk in an homage to 'and God Created Woman':
Alessandra Ambrosio, Coco Rocha, and Adriana Lima walking for Louis Vuitton Fall 2010French babe Laetitia Casta (fresh from her role as Brigitte Bardot in upcoming film) leading the charge, followed by a rare return to the catwalk by 'The Body' Elle MacPhearson and Victoria's Secret gals Bar Rafaeli, and my two faves, Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima.
Laetitia Casta, Bar Rafaeli, Adriana Lima, and Elle Macpherson, Louis Vuitton Fall 2010
Marc says of the show “I wanted a variety of ages and sizes. We set out to cast gorgeous women, women who feel happy to put their make-up on, get dressed up, get all their accessories.” “It’s a bit old-fashioned, I know, but I think it’s nice for a change.” French Vogue used a nude Crystal Renn here, and it is interesting to note that curvy bombshell Penelope Cruz guest edited the issue. Speaking of which, love these actresses with killer curves like Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Sofia Vergara, Scarlet Johansson, Christina Hendricks and Eva Mendes. They have figures like real girls - hips, boobs and bum. Va va voom!
I am obsessed with the work of photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Turk Mert and Welshman Marcus met in 1994 and their style gelled so well they decided to work as a duo. "Marcus was a photographer's assistant, and I had a little design shop," says Alas. "We did some tests, and some were cool, so we showed them to [the London cult fashion magazine] Dazed and Confused, and next thing you know, they had published them. And they never looked back. To be honest quite often I find myself rapidly leafing past pages of fashion editorials that really don't catch my eye. Blank, vacant looking models, dull colours, lifeless poses and odd styling. Their work with Kate Moss first captured me. One of my favourite editorials of all time is this stunning beach shoot for Vogue UK, Castaway. Truly one of the sexiest, best shoots of Kate Moss I've seen, all tousled beach hair, glossy tan and swathes of salty sand with that amazing bikini - a cross between Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC in and Pocahontas! Maybe I'm a classicist when it comes to fashion photography, and that's why I adore the photographers who shoot glossy, glam images of strong sexy women - not miserable looking waifs slumping in a dark corner. Most of my favourite images from the last ten years always seem to be by Mert & Marcus - Julianna Moore for Bulgari, Kate Moss for Cavalli, Victoria & David Beckham for Armani, LOVE Magazine, Interview and W covers, Kate Moss for Top Shop.
Mert & Marcus have such a way with their depth of lighting, deep, rich colours, and striking poses that leap off the page. Case in point - Mert & Marcus'es Gucci Spring 2010 campaign - I mean how can these stunning images not totally capture and transfix the eye? Visual candy!
As mused upon here, I love fashion magazines. I am, quite frankly, an addict. I adore the photography, the glamour, the bright acid colours winking at me from those glossy thick pages. The other day I was meandering down Ponsonby Rd after an appointment and was lured by the siren call of one of my favourite stores, Mag Nation. I stood transfixed by the glossies for at least 10 minutes until I finally made the reckless decision to forgo waiting for the cheaper sea freight issue and buy the brand spankers LOVE magazine. I didn't go for the Kate & Lea T cover which I blogged about here previously - I really loved the Kate cover above shot by Mert and Marcus, so I snaffled it up. Whilst there I had to restrain myself from buying one of more of the following latest issues whose covers seduced me.
