Salma Hayek's 3 Covers for Vogue Arabia May 2024 with Penelope Cruz Interview
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LVMH and CFDA Launch 'Voices of Impact' Six-Part Series on Sustainability
/LVMH and the Council of Fashion Designers of America launch ‘Voices of Impact’, a co-created video series of conversations about sustainability as it intersects with fashion and luxury.
The six-part series goes live on Tuesday, airing on cfda.com and CFDA’s YouTube channel, as well as lvmh.com. The series consists of six digital episodes with specific, sustainability topics: Powering a Just Transformation; Biodiversity; The Heart of Innovation; Circularity x Regeneration by Design; Creative Capital: Designing Purposeful Growth, and Climate Action: Fusion Energy.
Read MoreNylon Magazine SS 2024 Returns to Print with Gwen Stefani Fresh Off Coachella Reunion
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NYLON Magazine [IG] has landed, publishing its first print issue since 2017. Landing with a BOOM, NYLON put pop star Gwen Stefani, now 54, on the cover of their new Spring/Summer 2024 issue.
The pop star is styled by Jan-Michael-Quammie in images by Domen & Van de Velde [IG]. / Hair by Suzette Boozer; makeup by Anthony H Nguyen
Today, Nylon is available at Barnes and Noble bookstores and online. My copy via Amazon is on the way. I see no subscription offer on the Nylon website or send option on the Barnes and Noble website. This could be good news.
This story of a return to print in a digital world is gaining major momentum, triggered perhaps by the growth of book clubs led by people like Kaia Gerber. Book club event listings grew 24% in the United States in 2023 annually, according to ticketing platform Eventbrite; and Meetup saw a 10% increase in book club listings, according to CNN.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Flight Mode Summer 2024 Honors New Paris LV Flagship Élysée Palace Hotel
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Louis Vuitton introduces its Flight Mode summer 2024 collection for global travelers. The colorful collection is inspired by vibrant colors like yellow and also prints inspired by travel stamps connected to the famous Élysée Palace Hotel in Paris.
The newly-introduced Monogram canvas bags, like the Keepall and Side Trunk, are decorated with colorful Élysée Palace Hotel stamps. Built in 1896 in the Art Nouveau style, the Elysée Palace hotel — most recently the headquarters of HSBC Bank in Paris — is under a spectacular renovation as the first Louis Vuitton flagship hotel, scheduled to open in 2026. Read more details in our January 2024 post.
Apparently this ‘insider information’ about the reason Louis Vuitton is inspired in its Flight Mode summer 2024 collection by the Elysée Palace hotel was not in the LV press release. It’s not in their IG either.
Read MoreKim Kardashian for SKIMS by Nick Knight and Carine Roitfeld Is a Rocket Ready for Takeoff
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SKIMS [IG] has pulled out all the stops in the new swimwear campaign shot by British fashion photographer Nick Knight [IG] founder and director of SHOWstudio.com. Knight is joined by stylist Carine Roitfeld [IG] the former EIC of Vogue Paris, founder of CR Fashion Book and its consulting agency.
Nick Knight and Carine Roitfeld together are as good as it gets, and we see the very visible results in these images.
Knight was the creative force behind the shoot, tasked with capturing the collection “in a style reminiscent of his classic and avant-garde fashion campaigns from the 2000s,” according to a press release from the brand.
AOC also raved about the Steven Klein ‘swimweat manifesto’ featuring Kim in the SKIMS June 2023 campaign. But the photography is very different in the two projects.
Read on at the AOC Body link. I compare the two campaigns from Steven Klein and now Nick Knight.
Read MoreRobert Downey Jr. Directs His Own Fab Interview for Esquire April-May 2024
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Last year Robert Downey Jr. hired the host of the television show ‘My Cat from Hell’ to create Catification Zones on the Malibu property the actor shares with his wife Susan, kids Avri and Exton and cats Monty and two little kittens Willow and Winifred.
Reality is that there are hawks in Malibu and Downey knew he would be kicked to the curb if anything happened to the little felines.
Writer Ryan D’Agostino brings this Hollywood family to life with Robert Downey Jr. Doesn’t See Things the Way You Do in the April-May 2024 issue of Esquire. The actor is styled by Alison Edmond in images by Norman Jean Roy [IG].
Read MoreAlessandro 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 MoreGemma Ward Takes Her 38th Vogue Cover While AOC Heads for the Australian Outback
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Australian model and actor Gemma Ward, mother to three children with her partner David Letts, covers the April 2024 issue of Vogue Poland [IG]. It’s Ward’s 38th cover, lensed by Virginie Khateeb [IG], with styling by Lorna McGee./ Hair by Roku Roppongi; makeup by Sandra Cooke
Knowing that AOC featured Gemma and David and their [then] two kids Naia and Jet in a cover story of the December 2019 issue of Vogue Australia, we made it our Renewed feature for March 27.
The family is photographed in the Australian Outback at Ti Tree Lake, and AOC was on the trail. Who did we discover in Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, on the ground in a huge restoration project? Louis Vuitton.
Read MoreStella McCartney Summer 2024 Garbage Heap Campaign by Harley Weir
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Designer and eco-activist Stella McCartney [IG] releases her summer 2024 campaign, starring fellow Gaia lover Cara Delevingne.
The summer 2024 collection is Stella McCartney’s most sustainable ever, crafted from 95% conscious materials. Below, Cara holds the Frame bag, crafted from a leather alternative, made from apple waste.
Photographer Harley Weir [IG] captures the model-actor at VeoliaUK’s [IG] South London recycling center.
Read More'Commune' [2015] from Interview Magazine Prompts a Look at Women Farmers Worldwide
/!['Commune' [2015] from Interview Magazine Prompts a Look at Women Farmers Worldwide](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55f45174e4b0fb5d95b07f39/1711484107579-AI2J0KUWYPCGBR23CC44/Mikael-Jansson-Commune-2-Interview-Magazine-2015-Mikael-Jansson.png)
In this 2015 fashion story ‘Commune’ lensed by Mikael Jansson for Interview and renewed March 25, AOC’s sassy side wrote:
In developing countries the women are often in charge of agriculture until the tractors arrive. Then men hop on board.
Models Caroline Trentini, Constance Jablonski, Daria Strokous, Julia Nobis and Lina Berg toil the soil and tend the artichokes in ‘Commune’, lensed by Mikael Jansson for Interview Magazine February 2015./ Makeup by Mark Carasquillo; hair by Tom Jidai
Fast forward nine years, and we wonder if anything has changed. AOC sets new goals for our readers.
Read MorePierpaolo Piccioli's Humanist-Focus Chapter Ends at Maison Valentino
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Responding to a request for comment from WWD, Valentino confirmed on March 22, 2024 the departure of Pierpaolo Piccioli as creative director of Maison Valentino.
Kering’s Role is Unclear in the Mayhoola Decision
We don’t know what the role of Gucci-parent Kering has in this decision. Kering acquired 30% of Valentino in July, 2023, with an option to purchase the whole of Valentino's share capital no later than 2028.
Luxury Stocks Are Holding Steady with Kering Plunge of $6.8 Billion
As fashion’s titanic luxury brands ship rocks in a week that witnessed Kering stock lose $6.8 billion of value on Wednesday, following news of a 20% revenue decrease at Gucci, Kering is the hardest hit.
LVMH is holding steady and positive, along with other key brands like Brunello Cuccinelli and Ralph Lauren.
AOC believes that very different luxury brand marketing positions at these more ‘humanist-centered luxury brands’, coupled with deep bench strength in executive talent at LVMH — but also individual luxury brands like Cucinelli and Lauren — are positioning them to weather storms in the luxury sector.
Read MoreChristy Turlington and Crew in Valentino, by Herb Ritts for Vanity Fair US F/W 1995.96
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Italian luxury brand Valentino is making headlines today, with news that the maison’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli has come to the end of his Valentino tenure after 25 years.
Related: Pierpaolo Piccioli's Humanist-Focus Chapter Ends at Maison Valentino AOC Daily
The Italian humanist was not a member of the Maison Valentino family in 1995, when esteemed photographer Herb Ritts [IG] created this series of elegant but sensually provocative images anchored by Christy Turlington of the Valentino F/W 1995.96 collection for Vanity Fair US.
AOC wonders if fashion scholars have explored this transition of sexual mores, especially within the Italian brands, who historically and geographically lived closer to the Levant-based lands of the goddess worship that predated monotheism.
What is true is that the woman — Turlington here — is the center of this ritualistic fashion ritual, captured for Valentino in 1995 by Herb Ritts.
Read MoreVivienne Rohner in Zara Spring 2024 Beachwear Drops Anchor in Palma De Mallorca
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Top model Vivienne Rohner docks in Palma De Mallorca, Spain, luxuriating in warm waters lapping over the capital city of the Balearic Islands in Spain. Rohner is styled by Katie Burnett in Zara’s new Spring 2024 beachwear arrivals, lensed by Carlijn Jacobs.
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 MoreRumor: Louis Vuitton Is At Bat for Beverly Hills Cheval Blanc Property
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WWD shared the unconfirmed rumor that Louis Vuitton hopes to take over the defeated proposal for a 109-key Cheval Blanc hotel on the 50,000 sq foot property on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
LVMH thought they had a deal going last spring for the Cheval Blanc in Beverly Hills. AOC knew LVMH had the wrong team negotiating on their behalf, long before we wrote the end of the very close vote story.
Weekend Paris Protests at New Louis Vuitton Hotel Site
The circumstances of the 2023 Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills no-vote is even more relevant today, after protesters took over the Paris construction site of the new Louis Vuitton hotel and store in Paris this weekend.
Read MoreCandice Swanepoel's Tropic of C x Agua Bendita Swim in Mushrooms Lovefest
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Today, supermodel Candice Swanepoel and Carolina Sanchez [IG] deliver divine new images lensed by Jerome Duran [IG] for the Tropic of C x Agua Bendita swimwear collaboration.
A Gaia Love Letter
Respect and joy over the gifts of the natural world are center stage for both brands: Tropic of C and Agua Bendita. Sustainability and a deep-seeded respect for Gaia are key brand planks.
Equally important, connections among mothers and their children send precious Gaia statements about human connections on earth.
Mushrooms on Two Levels of Symbolism: Ancient Worship and a Global Mushroom Network
The creation of a charming mushroom print for the Tropic of C x Agua Bendita drop has deep roots in many ancient cultures around the world.
In particular, our focus on psilocybin or ‘magic mushrooms’ is fundamental to the much-acclaimed rise of western civilization.
Read MoreImaan Hammam for Zara Swimwear | Even Stone Age Humans Loved Swimming
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Top model Imaan Hammam fronts the late February 2024 release of Zara Swimwear. The images remind us that spring is coming in to the northern hemisphere, and swimming is on our minds.
Some of the earliest examples of ancient swimmers include the frescoes in the Cave of Swimmers in Egypt, dating back to around 10,000 years ago.
These paintings in Egypt’s Al Wahat Al Dakhla Desert depict figures swimming in a naturalistic style, suggesting that swimming was already a part of human culture at that time.
Additionally, water holds immense symbolic significance in various global religions due to its powerful and transformative nature. In many belief systems, water is seen as a source of life and purification.
In Christianity, water plays a central role in rituals such as baptism, symbolizing spiritual purification, rebirth, and the washing away of sins. It is viewed as a medium through which believers are cleansed and enter into a new life of faith.
Read on about the role of water in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and indigenous cultures.
Read MoreVogue China Editor-in-Chief Margaret Zhang Departs End of March 2024
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Margaret Zhang’s tenure as editor-in-chief of Vogue China will be a short one.
Condé Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour shared the news with Vogue China staff in an email on Friday that Zhang will be leaving the publication at the end of March when her contract expires.
Youngest EIC Ever
Zhang’s appointment to the prestigious position of editor-in-chief in February 2021 redefined the career skills propelling a professional talent into such a prestigious position. Not only was Zhang the youngest Vogue editor ever at just 27, she was the first influencer — and one with little magazine experience — to be named a top editor at any Vogue edition.
Read MoreDevyn, Doutzen, Imaan, Lily, Mayowa: New Body by Victoria 2024 Campaign
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Models Devyn Garcia, Doutzen Kroes, Imaan Hammam, Lily Aldridge and Mayowa Nicholas invite us into Victoria’s Secret 7.0, or whatever version we’on at this point. Anne is totally lost.
It’s great, though to see such a high-quality cast assembled on behalf of the new Body by Victoria 2024 Campaign.[IG] Photographer Mikael Jansson [IG] captures the quintet, styled by Camilla Nickerson. / Makeup by Mark Carrasquillo; hair by James Pecis
We don’t know the annual results for VS, which had another very tough year in revenue and profitability in 2023. Those results will become public on March 7, 2024.
It seemes that the global fashion show documentary did not fare particularly well, as VS chief executive Martin Waters said — speaking about a list of VS actions to reinvigorate the entire business, not only the renewed 2023 fashion show: “Despite everyone’s best endeavours, it’s not been enough to carry the day.”
Read MoreAOC Revisits Jennifer Garner's Once Upon a Farm As PBC Kids Food Company
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