It's OK for intellectual feminists to like fashion

April 17th 2013

US Vogue cover or cinema poster?

Carey Mulligan is covering the May issue of US Vogue looking suitably 1920s for someone about to impersonate The Great Gatsby’s Daisy Buchanan on the big screen.

Mixing a real-life actress with the character she plays is nothing new for Anna Wintour, oft credited with starting the film star as cover girl trend.

From Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Pots to Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, the Vogue covers seem to be dictated by the actress with the biggest film out, and Wintour is never scared to spell out in the styling and titles where the inspiration came from.

Posted at 9:01pm and tagged with: us vogue, cinema, Anna Wintour,.

August 2nd 2011

Sarah Jessica Parker for Mayor?

Sarah Jessica Parker is on the cover of the August issue of US Vogue, her sixth cover with the magazine. Anna Wintour clearly is a fan - and why wouldn’t she be? Via Sex and the City, Parker has done as much for the fashion industry and its popularisation as many a fashion magazine. Numerous brands, starting with Jimmy Choo, owe her their household name position.

However, I can’t agree with Wintour when she suggests the following in her editorial:

Personally, I’m fascinated to see what she [Parker] will do next. Movies, for sure, but perhaps on the other side of the camera? Or politics? SJP for mayor of New York? Why not?

Parker has a lot of qualities required of a politician. She’s a talented actress with popular appeal and a consummate PR maestro. The shoot she did for Vogue in itself is a brilliant exercice in owning and controlling her public image. She’s also very active with the arts and has been a vocal advocate of causes ranging from gay rights to UNICEF. She is an active member of the Democratic National Committee. I also don’t doubt Parker is smart - you don’t get her career by being an idiot.

So why am I so against the (hypothetical) idea of Parker running for mayor of New York? I can’t quite explain it myself. Is it a simple knee-jerk reaction to how celebrity has become a passport to everything, from design to politics, in lieu of training and sweat and blood? Considering how much heat Parker got when she started at Halston Heritage, I doubt her campaign would be a smooth ride. My worry is that people would vote for Parker as Carrie Bradshaw rather than Parker, the woman. Being a good actress and a mother without live-in help doesn’t qualify anyone to be a mayor. However, this is how many grassroots political vocation start, juggling a career with a family life and attending political meetings in the evening.

More importantly maybe, how likely is this candidacy? Is it just a sentence thrown in an editorial? Wishful thinking on Wintour’s part? Something Wintour and Parker have discussed? A way to test the water and see reactions?

Photos: Sarah Jessica Parker: Show and Tell editorial ; Andy Cohen, Sarah Jessica Parker & Mayor Bloomber @ the Sheraton New York Towers from Next Magazine

Posted at 8:00am and tagged with: Anna Wintour, Vogue, us vogue, politics,.

August 20th 2010

Magazine: Carine’s Marion vs Anna’s Marion

1 note

Marion Cotillard is on the cover of the September issue of Paris Vogue (which actually comes out in September, rather than the month before). When I first saw the picture on Vogue Paris’ Twitter, I didn’t recognise her. Carine Roitfeld’s ability to reinvent celebrities and models issue after issue is one of the reasons why her magazine is one of the best Condé Nast publications. The Paris team’s take on Cotillard, with its vintage-feel big hair and big make-up and face-focus is a lot more interesting than her celluloid pose for US Vogue last July. The accompanying Mario Testino photoshoot was warm, beautiful and exciting and made up for the cover. I am sure however that Paris Vogue will have no trouble outdoing Tonne Goodman’s styling with a story which, judging by its cover, will be a lot darker than Goodman’s Provence-soaked editorial.

Posted at 12:00am and tagged with: Vogue, US Vogue, Paris Vogue, Magazine,.