The news that US Glamour managed to bag an interview with President Obama for their November issue was slightly baffling. Granted, the magazine's readers are the female votes that he wants to appeal to as his campaign gets underway, but the decision to talk to Glamour over some of the more serious fashion magazines is questionable. After all, the magazine have admittedly increased their fluffy, throw-away celebrity content over the last few months so talking to the President about serious issues like health care seems at odds with that. By the sounds of things, I'm not the only one that had that feeling.
On the whole the critics have been unncessarily harsh with some going as far as saying that he deliberately opted for the magazine to avoid having to talk about the serious issues but as The Cut points out, whether you like the magazine or not, he was hardly talking about mascara. However, I can see what National Review contributor Jim Geragthy was coming from when he told WWD that, 'the grumbling about Obama's fluff interviews would be quieter if the country were in a time of peace and prosperity or if he hadn't gone close to eight weeks without a press conference.'
What do you think? Was the Glamour interview a good move?
With September around the corner, just about all of the major September issues have already dropped but Interview magazine's all-important issue was the only one we hadn't seen. That all changed yesterday when they unveiled the cover for the first time with Emma Stone as the star of choice.
The actress, who was shot by Mikael Jansson and styled by Karl Templer, sports one of the statement necklaces from Chanel's Fall 2012 collection in what is definitely her edgiest cover to date. Her most recent shoots have steered within the safe and familiar feminine kooky territory so it was nice to see the team shake things up and style her in strong, bold, masculine pieces.
It's officially that time of year again. The September issues are just around the corner and the first few are already out. As always, Vogue Australia have released their first and stars Bella Heathcote and Numero Tokyo's CandiceSwanepoel cover has also hit the net. While both magazines have opted for models, their covers are by no means representative of what you can expect from other titles. All of the rest have gone for celebrities and while that does bug me, the fact that Kim Kardashian doesn't appear on any is a bonus.
As we all know, Lady Gaga has been shot by Met & Marcus for American Vogue, as she continues to drum up attention around her debut fragrance. Glamour have confirmed that they've booked Victoria Beckham to cover theirs and I'm excited. Beckham's covers have been really strong lately and she just might be what the magazine needs after those disappointing covers with Mila Kunis and Amanda Seyfried. InStyle has opted for Jennifer Lopez, Marie Claire have gone for Miley Cyrus, W for Penelope Cruz, Interview for Emma Stone and V for Nicole Kidman.
Vanity Fair's decision to book Jessica Chastain makes sense. The actress looks incredible in statement designer pieces and does old school Hollywood glamour like nobody else. Also good is the news that GwenStefani will cover US Harper's Bazaar. Anyone that's followed the magazine since their revamp earlier on this year will know that their covers have been bang on, and their main fashion stories even stronger so I'm sure that's going to be a good'un.
The general feeling about Mila Kunis' August cover of ELLE UK wasn't a positive one. Considering that the magazine has been on such a winning streak with covers lately, Kunis' miserable expression and general lack of enthusiasm let them down in what has on the whole been a good month for covers.
Sadly the same is true of her August of Interview. Like her Miss Dior ads, the cover feels easily forgettable and that's despite the fact that it was shot by Craig McDean and styled by the always impressive Karl Templer. Kunis is extremely good at what she does and is undoubtedly beautiful but for some reason that doesn't seem to translate in photos.
While we've all probably long admired Julianne Hough for her dancing skills, it's only recently that the 'Dancing with the Stars' star has really made us take notice of her style too. It's been the promotional tour for her latest movie, 'Rock of Ages', and the events and appearances along the way, where we have seen her style really evolve.
First up was that Chinese red stretch-crepe Kaufmanfranco gown that she wore to the CFDA Awards last month and ever since, things have only got better. Interview magazine has been the first to take note of her transition and featured her in the latest issue of the magazine shot by Patrick Demarchelier and styled by Karl Templer. Something tells me this is only the first of many big fashion spreads to come.
Kim Kardashian isn't the only cover star of L'Uomo Vogue's July/August issue because today, these images of Katy Perry's cover of the issue hit the net.
Perry's editorials can be a bit and hit and miss but this, along with her recent Interview cover, is definitely one of my favourites and she pulls the styling off perfectly. In the accompanying editorial, the 27 year-old talks about being inspired by Madonna, being pleased that President Obama is supporting same sex marriage and explains where her style comes from.
For years French Vogue had always been my favourite magazine in so far as their fashion editorials were concerned but with the change in direction towards a more commercial vision under Emmanuelle Alt, Interview has filled the void.
Not too long ago they released that incredibly stand out mental asylum story starring Crystal Renn and Karolina Kurkova and now they've done it again with their cover story with 'Snow White And The Huntsman' stars Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart.
Karl Templer styled the pair to perfection in all black looks in the Mikael Jansson-lensed shoot. And despite the fact that Stewart has appeared on several covers in the past few months, this is by far the best editorial I've seen her in a long time.
With Scott Schuman and Garance Doré gearing up to receive the media award at this year's CFDA Awards, the pair have been in the press a lot recently. This week Schuman spoke to GQ about everything from the problems created by sitting front row at that Dolce & Gabbana show to the failings of street style blogs today. In a joint interview with Style.com, the pair criticise the eagerness that showgoers have to be photographed and Schuman talks about how he feels when people criticise them.
On choosing not to shoot purely at the shows:
SS: Other people do this and they shoot very much at the shows—and that's great and that's very fashion. Where for me, that's an element of it, but also people on the street, people in different places. Still to this day, the most fun is just getting on my bike, going out, and shooting. Sometimes I don't get anything—yesterday I didn't get anything—but it's still that absolute search and challenge to go out and see someone.
GD: He really loves that. It's really his thing. I'm not like that. It's rough! You spend hours outside—it's like hunting. You're so frustrated. You don't like that comparison?
I was just younger and a little bit more irreverent, and I was quite "fuck you." You know, I was quite angry at the beginning of my life ... I guess I felt the eyes ... I just think it was the irreverence of youth, and I was just a London girl who was really trying not to pay too much attention to everyone else’s issues ... I probably didn’t have permission to be a fashion designer because I had a famous set of parents, even though I’d done the exact same training as every other fashion designer I’d known ... It probably looks great on paper, the fact that I was angry. But what’s the right word for how I was? Maybe defensive is better.
”She told Tim Blanks in the latest issue of Interview magazine
