Older European women are very difficult. Older women, in general, say no all the time. They're just very vain. And girls who are pretty, who've always been pretty. Not models — like the prom queen. They're like, 'Oh my god my beauty is such a curse! Nooo!' They're not really into fashion, because they've always been pretty. It doesn't happen very often, because they rarely dress well. They dress so-so, because they've always gotten attention whether they want it or not. But I almost always know those girl[s] are going to be like, 'No! Not again!
Elle are undoubtedly going to clean up with their circulation numbers for August with that perfectly timed Katie Holmes cover but US Harper's Bazaar will not too far behind. Since shaking things up earlier on this year, the magazine has had a string of strong covers and their latest one starring Rihanna is no exception and besides, the singer's covers always tend to go down well on the newsstands.
Last week I showed you a preview of the subscriber's cover showing the singer sporting a Fall 2012 Tom Ford dress but recently, the full editorial was released online. On the official cover, which was shot by Camilla Akrans, Rihanna looks refreshingly paired back wearing a simple but classic Calvin Klein dress and a gold Neil Lane bracelet. This is by far, the best editorial we've seen from her a long while.
This past year has been an interesting one as celebrity magazine covers go. First up, we saw Marie Claire under pressure after Kim Kardashian announced her divorce before her cover and loved-up interview in the magazine had dropped. InStyle experienced the same thing shortly after with Heidi Klum and now US Elle is the latest joining the group. Luckily for them though, Katie Holmes' interview seems to hint that the split was was on the cards.
The New York post managed to get a hold of some snippets from the interview and one thing that instantly becomes clear is that she is definitely a new woman and was ready to start a new phase of her life. 'I definitely feel much more comfortable in my own skin...I'm starting to come into my own. It's like a new phase.' Even more interestingly, when she was asked about what it's like to be Mrs. Tom Cruise, she said: 'He has been Tom Cruise for 30 years. I know who I am and where I am and where I want to go, so I want to focus on that.'
I've never been a huge fan of US Elle's covers and sadly, their Kristen Stewart June cover was noticeably weaker than the actresses over covers this month. For July, though, they're on good form. For the issue Selena Gomez takes centre position wearing a strapless Dolce & Gabbana dress on one cover and a Balmain top on another.
The shoot is just as good as the cover and sees her looking all grown-up wearing brands like Lanvin and Yves Saint Laurent. In the accompanying cover story she talks about all the things you would expect, ranging from her relationship with Justin Bieber to trying to fight the 'Disney' image.
While the cover works, it does leave you asking questions. Granted, Gomez has a huge loyal following but as Coco's Tea Party points out, that audience is completely different to Elle's readership so why they decided to book her for the cover is a mystery.
Earlier on this month Britt Aboutaleb confirmed that she was leaving her role at Elle magazine to serve as the beauty director of Who What Wear and now another Elle staffer has joined a big digital site. Today The Cut confirmed that Nick Axelroyd has left his post as senior news editor at Elle to work for Emily Weiss on her blog, Into the Gloss.
The news is big for Weiss, especially considering that the blog was only a side project to her main gig assisting Vogue contributor Elissa Santisi and the fact that Axelroyd is prepared to leave his steady role at Elle shows just how big things are getting. Talking to The Cut Weiss explained that there's a lot of new things in the works. 'Besides ramping up daily content, we'll be launching a newsletter, adding new features, contributors, and components, and continuing to develop video,' she revealed.
Last week it emerged that just about all of the key players at Elle.com have jumped ship and moved on. It has long been one of the best magazines sites so I did wonder how they would be able to make up for the major losses but it looks like they will be okay after all.
Today WWD confirms that Amina Akhtar is their first big appointment and will replace Keith Pollock as editor. Securing Akhtar is a major step in maintaining the success of the site. After all, she was the person responsible for launching The Cut (I love The Cut) and has since served as the editor of Fashionetc.com.
Anyone that followed my live tweets during the Met Gala will know that I was slightly relieved not to see Kim Kardashian turn up with Kanye West. I like 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' as much as the next person but her endless search for a photo-op doesn't sit well with me. It looks like Anna Wintour feels the same way because reports emerged yesterday alleging that the Vogue editor deliberately didn't invite her.
'Anna hates Kim,' a source told RadarOnline.com. 'Why would she be invited to the event? It is all of the biggest stars in the world and Kim doesn't fit that bill at all.' The source added: 'The Met Gala is $25,000 a ticket but Kim can't even buy her way in [because] Anna Wintour does not want her there...Kim and her camp will deny that she wasn't invited by saying that she had business in L.A. [but] she would have done anything to be there with all the A-listers.'
Wintour isn't the only editor not particularly charmed by Kim. When asked about the reality star hasn't covered US ELLE, Joe Zee made it clear that there hasn't been a reason too. 'I just wish she would do something, but she's not doing anything,' he said. 'If she actually did something, we would thnk about Kim for the cover. It's not about, so much, a reality star.'
ELLE UK have been experimental when it comes to their cover stars recently. This month they gave us small clues over Twitter before announcing that David Beckham will be the first male solo cover star on the women's title. Before that, they used Twitter again to reveal that Kristen Stewart would be on their June cover.
Some criticised the move for removing the excitement and suspense about who the various cover stars would be but I don't think it detracts away from the issues at all. Far from taking something away, the news actually got me excited about what they would do with both stars and Kirsten's cover finally dropped. For the June issue cover, which hits newsstands on May 2nd, she appears wearing a white Jil Sander look on what is her second cover for the magazine. The actress definitely looks fresh and pretty but whether this is a cover that will stay in mind is another thing.
As covers go Dolce & Gabbana and Louis Vuitton have been leading the pack. The Italian brand's embellished leotards have been everywhere this season, mainly on the body of Jennifer Lawrence, and those feminine Vuitton pastels have made the rounds on all of the big covers too. For May though, it's all about Versace. The brand was sported by Charlize Theron on the cover of British Vogue and Rihanna wore that statement yellow two piece number for the cover of American ELLE.
I've always been a fan of the international titles. While Elle has always been my favourite British magazine, for as long as I can remember French and Italian Vogue have been amongst my montly magazine purchases but now my attention is turning to the the Australian editions. The April issue of Vogue Australia explains why.
It's really taken for granted today but it's so refreshing to see a fashion publication focus on using models on their covers rather than the current obssession with celebrities. Vogue Australia have also been a bit slow on embracing ethnically diverse models so it's great to see that Joan Smalls is being embraced on that side of the pond too. It's interesting to see the April issue take special attention to young designers, especially since fresh Australian brands like Dion Lee are starting to gain traction.
