Siri Tollerod | Andreas Sjödin | Vogue Paris, April 2011

Emmanuelle Alt is on record saying that she wants a lot more clothes and less skin in her French Vogue. That was obvious in her pretty debut issue. Here Siri Tollerod is lensed for the April 2011 issue of Vogue Paris wearing pretty and chaste boudoir clothes.

The first issue feels like Marie Claire or Madame Figaro, safe and secure. Did I say demure? Yes, definitely demure. The global beacon of sensuality seems to be hopping on board with the Republicans, telling women to put away the hot pants and zip up like good girls.

Granted Carine Roitfeld pushed the envelope in sync with much of the fashion world — not American Vogue, of course — but many other titles. All reports about Roitfeld’s financial performance as editor in chief are that she produced significant revenue increases for the title, which has a circulation around 130,000.

Even if Alt wants to pursue a more discrete sensual vision, there are clever ways to do it, without resorting to prim and proper. There was no real twist in her first issue of French Vogue, nothing out of line, not a bit of Diana Vreeland-inspired revolt.

We await Emmanuelle Alt’s next issue of French Vogue. This first issue is not the France that has loved me, caressed me and inspired my senses for years. That is my real point: forget Carine Roitfeld for a moment. Where is the complex sensual vision that is France? I do not recognize this country in the totality of the first Alt issue. Anne

See also: Emmanuelle Alt & Nudity | Will Vogue Paris Remain a Sensual Beacon?