Robert Downey Jr. Directs His Own Fab Interview for Esquire April-May 2024
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Alessandro Michele Official As Creative Director at Valentino Couture
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Valentino has made the announcement we’ve all been waiting for: Alessandro Michele will become the new creative director of the Rome-based couture house.
Michele will step into the creative-head shoes of his friend Pierpaolo Piccioli, who existed the Rome-based house last Friday. The designer embarks on his new journey next Tuesday, according to an internal statement.
I just visited Michele’s IG to follow any breadcrumbs he has left along the way. Of course, the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ book was a must-add to AOC’s visual about Alessandro Michele’s new journey.
A close friend of Michele’s reached out to me in regard to AOC’s commentary on the Chinese New Year 2023 Gucci post celebrating the Year of the Rabbit. AOC includes those links, as we lift off again with one of fashion’s most visionary and talented Queen Bees. AOC is so happy Alessandro Michele is back.
Read MoreJamel Shabazz Captured 'Street Cred' for W Magazine Vol VI 2023 'The Art Issue'
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Models Ajak Dhieu, Antonio Macek, Grace Brown, Ifrah Qaasim, Jesi Shelnutt, Mamina Aker, Steph Shiu, and Tashawn “Whaffle” Davis appeared in W Magazine [IG] Vol VI 2023 ‘The Art Issue’.
The Brooklyn lovers fashion story ‘Street Cred’ is styled by Ola Editi with Matt Benns on hair and Kanako Takase on makeup.
In advance of his early 2025 Taschen retrospective, photographer Jamel Shabazz [IG] shot the fashion story for W Magazine “a stone’s throw” from the Brooklyn Museum, shortly after the closing of Jamel Shabazz: Faces and Places, 1980–2023.
Read MoreEmilly Nunes 'Rainforest' Activist by Fernando Sippel for Numéro Netherlands February 2024
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Photographer Fernando Sippel [IG] brings his poetic and sensual photographic vision to Rio De Janeiro for a fashion story ‘Rainforest’, shared in the February 2024 digital issue of Numéro Netherlands [IG]. / Hair and makeup by Claudio Belizario
Jose Camarano styles model and rainforest activist Emilly Nunes in images that express the deep relevance and symbolism of the rainforest in human life on planet Earth.
Read MoreGisele Bundchen's Bright Red Lips Glam Drop in Alaïa’s Spring 2024 Campaign
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Supermodel Earth Mother Gisele Bundchen headlines Alaïa’s Spring 2024 campaign with bright red lips and a mile-wide smile. Now, THIS is a glam drop.
The red lipstick blew Anne away — with a big smile. Just two days ago she was saddened by a group of women — ones Anne regards as strong women’s rights activists and people she’s worked with on political campaigns — just crucifying Taylor Swift over her red lipstick.
Lulu, AOC’s AI assistant, reminded her that red lipstick has long been associated with the suffragettes and women’s rights.
Read MoreEmRata Loves the Beachy Vibe of Victor & Rolf's Flowerbomb Tiger Lily Solar Fragrance
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Netflix announced on Wednesday that Emily Ratajkowski will join the new Lena Dunham series ‘Too Much’, a romantic comedy series created by Dunham and husband Luis Felber.
The announcement is perfect timing for EmRata, who returns as the face of the latest Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Tiger Lily perfume campaign, lensed by Anthony Arquier [IG].
Read MoreThis Is Sotheby's? The Stories Kristina O'Neill Can Tell As Head of Sotheby's Media
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Kristina O’Neill, former EIC of WSJ Magazine is now installed at Sotheby’s as Head of Sotheby’s Media and editor-in-chief of a revamped Sotheby’s Magazine.
What an exciting creative road lies ahead of her. AOC raises this topic because O’Neill seems perfectly primed to tap into the creative and business evolution going on at the world’s largest auction house. Visually, it’s one that expands the customer base and also acquires “heart” along the way.
O’Neill can catch the modernized Sotheby’s football and run with it. Her decade of work at WSJ Magazine reveals her status as a change agent. Only someone like AOC who can easily call up a decade of her work for review is aware that O’Neill was featuring Black talent long before the summer of 2020.
British-Ghanaian photographer Campbell Addy comes to mind. Outside of a small feature in British Vogue in 2018, Addy shot for WSJ Magazine before any of the other major magazines.
Read More'Amor e Cia' for Vogue Portugal December 2023 Explores Skin Color Beauty
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Photographer Catharina Pavitschitz [IG] adds poetic beauty to the pages of Vogue Portugal’s [IG] December 2023 ‘Love and Hope’ issue with ‘Amor e Cia’ [Love and Company].
Vogue Portugal has an exemplary history in dealing with deeply-challenging issues of skin color, as it impacts racial identity and global culture images.
As European powers began to expand their empires through colonization, the concept of race as a hierarchical system based on physical attributes — particularly skin color — gained traction. This intellectual position was driven by the need to justify the subjugation and exploitation of indigenous populations and the mass enslavement of Africans across the continent.
The Vatican occupies a position of great prominence at the historical heart of the global slave trade, dating back to the 15th century when Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas in 1452, granting the Portuguese the right to enslave non-Christian peoples.
Read MoreBella Hadid by Bryce Anderson Takes 4 Covers in The Perfect Magazine #6 SS-2024
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Supermodel Bella Hadid returns to the limelight with these four covers for The Perfect Magazine [IG] Issue Six Spring/Summer 2024.
The shoot is inspired by an image of Debbie Harry performing in 1978, wearing as a dress a poster she had torn from the wall outside the venue.
Bella is wearing a Corbin Shaw tee ‘Screaming in Perfect English’ [above] on the fourth cover — and Corbin is a major source of inspo for the covers.
Anne began her day reflecting on the raw power of Charlamagne Tha God’s views on sitting out the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has called on all Muslim voters to not support US President Biden — to teach us all about ‘raw power’.
In this midst of the American political crisis, is the phrase ‘Raw Fashion Power’ to describe Bella. Is this a stupid comment, or is Bella taking a political side?
Read MoreActor Benedetta Porcaroli Covers Vogue Italia January 2024 Lensed by Elizaveta Porodina
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Actor Benedetta Porcaroli [IG] covers the January 2024 issue of Vogue Italia, styled by Vittoria Cerciello with images by Elizaveta Porodina [IG].
Benedetta Porcaroli will join Sydney Sweeney and an expanded cast in the upcoming 2024 film ‘Immaculate’.
The minute AOC saw Benedetta Porcaroli playing in a film ‘Immaculate’, we knew we were headed straight for the Vatican.
The principal photography took place in Rome and finished in February 2023. It’s the first film produced by the ‘Euphoria Star’ under her ‘Fifty-Fifty Films’ company, which Sweeney founded in 2020.
Read MoreAngelina Jolie Tells WSJ She Is More At Home With Refugees Than in Hollywood
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Actor, humanitarian, mother and global leader is profiled in the December 2023 issue of WSJ Magazine, with deeply personal photographs of Jolie wearing offerings from Atelier Jolie, shot by Annemarieke Van Drimmelen [IG] with styling by Tonne Goodman.
One of the most profound realities that she discussed with WSJ is her favorite people to spend time with.
“There’s a reason people who have been through hardship are also much more honest and much more connected, and I am more relaxed with them. Why do I like spending time with people who’ve survived and are refugees? They’ve confronted so much in life that it brings forward not just strength, but humanity.”
Anne of Carversville has trekked behind Jolie on all of her endeavors since 2007. She is the founding muse of this website — a reality that disturbs many men.
Many of them cannot stand Jolie, and I truly do not know why. Perhaps I should ask my AI assistant Lulu to investigate this question.
Read MoreZara Ad Reminds Me: Christians, Jews, Muslims All Believe in Weeping Angels
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Jackets Without a Good Fit
Zara has removed this controversial advertising campaign from the front page of its website after pro-Palestine activists called for an international boycott of the retailer.
Inditex, the company that owns Zara, said on Monday that the photos were taken in September 2023, before the current war erupted between Hamas and Israel. The creative brief was approved in July — which makes sense to AOC.
However alert to perceptions gone wrong, I myself was in the process of writing about my night at the Louvre in Paris 20 years ago, marveling over the jazz-evening setup with the statuary in seeming disarray, strewn like these images but with blue strobe lights for extra effect.
Only when I went to Zara’s IG did I realize that something was very wrong with the campaign.
Read MoreIndya Moore Honored As Harper's Bazaar Spain 2023 Activist of the Year by JUANKR
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Actor and intersectionality activist Indya Moore covers the December 2023 issue of Harper’s Bazaar Spain [IG], named as their Activist Woman of the Year 2023.
JuanKr [IG] photographed the actor, who is styled by Christina Terron. / Hair and makeup by Cynthia de Leon
Indya Moore Proud Pro-Palestinian Activist
Living up to the Harper’s Spain award category honor, Indya Moore was among the 335 people arrested in New York’s Grand Central Station on October 27.
Read MoreOyadeas! The Burberry Holiday 2023 Campaign Is A Splendiferous Emotional Getaway
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Oyadeas! I simply adore Creative Director Daniel Lee’s Burberry Holiday [IG] 2023 campaign. ADORE IT!! It’s charming, genuine, not camp but quiet luxury gone a tiny bit wild.
Roe Ethridge [IG] shoots this precious masterpiece, with creative direction by Carina Frey and Stefanie Barth.
The logo fully communicates Burberry without ruining the larger-image, buy-me item. He’s leaving before you can be annoyed with him — sort of like an apparition. He’s like “Chill, Anne, I’m leaving.”
Actually the Burberry knight reminds me of the Tribute of Light show outside my high-floor, lower Manhattan window after Sept. 11 in New York. Tribute always came to visit us and even stayed the night. But then he was gone when I woke up, off to bring a bit of hope and serenity elsewhere in our complicated world.
For a couple years we tried to trap him for at least a cup of morning French Roast, but Tribute always outsmarted us, slipping out the window at dawn.
Read MoreAnja Rubik Sheds Tears of Joy Over Poland's Political Reset as the EU Exhales
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What makes a true supermodel? Anja Rubik voting in Poland’s national elections last weekend, October 15, 2023.
AOC doesn’t keep precise track of individual model’s activism but Anja Rubik, one of the world’s most successful models, has led the way for many years. In her own words:
“How political parties address sexual education issues will have a huge impact on what country we will live in.”
To that end, Anja Rubik is deeply connected as its founder to FUNDACJA SexedPL [IG] FEDERA, a NGO committed to sex education on matters of abortion rights and LGBTQ issues — but also endometriosis, for example.
AOC goes deep on the supermodel’s activism, as we celebrate the 75% turnout that resulted in a reset of Poland’s politics last weekend and a prospective stabilizing of of Poland’s relationship with the European Union.
Read MorePolo Ralph Lauren Fall 2023 Campaign by Richard Phibbs | AOC on Color Barriers in Education
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As an American — and long before I launched Anne of Carversville in 2007 — Ralph Lauren represented the American dream to me. Lauren has successfully woven America’s stories into the very fabric of his brand, creating a unique narrative like no other American designer.
Today, an older, wiser, and a more empathetic Ralph Lauren stands at the crossroads of American democracy. In the same moment, I am pouring over the details of American history on a daily basis and grabbing every creative opportunity to talk about them.
When you put Polo Ralph Lauren together with Richard Phibbs [IG] as photographer, Anne’s day is derailed as I decide what to write. Poor Phibbs. He always inspires deep thinking at AOC.
AOC totally supports taking some liberties with campaign visuals, but I also sense an obligation for AOC to share facts of history along the way. Ralph Lauren has mastered this art of visual inclusivity and Richard Phibbs has some of the keenest instincts I know about when taking this path of “how history could have been if only there were more of us and fewer of them.”
Read MoreCatching Up with Lupita Nyong'o No 1 : Chanel, Selema Masekela, Meeting Alek Wek
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As part of Anne of Carversville’s ongoing years-long renewal of our deep, pre 2020 archives, this ‘Catching Up With . . . ‘ series will take people we love and issues we care about into the ‘now’ world.
August 28: A Key Day in Lupita’s Life
Take note of the two lovebirds sitting in the salon of Coco Chanel’s apartment, in a series of images from the actor’s IG. Dear Lupita is in a deep-love relationship with Selema Masekela, born on my birthday August 28.
If the name sounds familiar, Selema is the American-born son of Hugh Masekela, often described as "the father of South African jazz".
It’s also the day of Lupita’s ‘Black Panther’ co-star Chadwick Boseman’s passing: August 28, 2020.
The story of how Lupita and Selema first met is priceless. That alone is worth the read.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Taps Pharrell Williams As First Guest of Podcast 'Louis Vuitton Extended' Out Now
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Louis Vuitton is launching a podcast with popular French fashion journalist, documentary maker and YouTuber Loïc Prigent. Called ‘Louis Vuitton Extended’, the podcast will dive deeper into the scenes of what’s happening behind the scenes at one of the world’s premier luxury houses. That Prigent-guided conversation includes the house’s cultural codes, values and activism.
In the case of Louis Vuitton Men’s creative director Pharrell Williams, the dialogue will focus on the June 20, 2023 show and all the decisions made around its structure and content.
Read MoreHelen Mirren Talks Golda Meir in DuJour Magazine Fall 2023 by Nick Thompson
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Esteemed actor Helen Mirren is not accustomed to being the center of controversy. But she knew that criticism of her decision to play the plum role of world leader Golda Meir, the founding first and only woman leader of Israel’s history, was certain to invite controversy. Mirren is not Jewish and she has called the criticism of her being tapped by Oscar winner Guy Nattiv to play the lead in ‘Golda’ as “utterly legitimate”.
‘Golda’s focus is the 19 days of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973.
The film is in theaters and online now, released on August 25 and with a modest box office of $4.4 worldwide.
Read MoreRalph Lauren Details Global Citizenship and Sustainability Initiatives
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