W is one of the few magazines that has been consistently good this year but sadly, their ad pages have been the worst hit with the numbers being 'flt or slightly off' the numbers for last year despite most magazines seeing an improvement. It's against this backdrop that left me questionning why they opted for Penelope Cruz to cover their September issue and sadly, having seen the cover, I'm still asking the same question.
As Candy Patts Price said in 'The September Issue', 'September is the January in fashion' and the cover star is the key factor driving those circulation numbers, which is what makes W's choice so confusing. While Cruz knows how to rock a killer red carpet look, she doesn't exactly have the power of Lady Gaga or any of the other September stars and that aside, the cover itself looks mediocre and frankly pretty forgettable. To their credit, W have always gone the less obvious route with their cover stars but sadly, even with that bein true, I think they're going to suffer with this one.
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.
W magazine is in a roll. While I've always been a fan of the American title, everything seems to have gone up a notch since Edward Enninful joined as fashion director last year. Aside from bringing his own stylistic eye to the magazine, one of the good thing that Enninful did when he arrived was build a strong team around him and Giovanna Battaglia is amongst the good additions to the team.
This latest editorial that she styled for the magazine is a case in point. Battaglia styled Naomi Campbell to perfection in some of the statement prints that have been doing the rounds for Fall like an embroidered jacket from Etro and one of the printed trouser suits that we saw at Prada. If there's a stylist that knows how to do more-is-more and construct statement looks it's her, so it's unsurprising that the shoot worked out so well.
I haven't been crazy about any of Campbell's spreads in a long time but this is by far one of my favourites and is hopefully the sign of more to come.
Tom Cruise's W magazine cover, which I posted recently, was strange for many reasons. Firstly it showed him topless and sporting several tattoos and secondly, he appears to tower over both Abbey Lee Kershaw and Edita Vilkeviciute who appear alongside him on the cover. While his sudden height remains a mystery, what we do know is that the cover was to support his new movie, 'Rock of Ages'.
'If he didn't approach the role with sincerity and intensity, Cruise could easily look like a joke,' W's Lynn Herschberg wrote in relation to his make-over. While that's true, I'm still not convinced. The full editorial, which hit the net this week, doesn't do much to make convince me that Cruise is Stacee Jaxx but maybe I'll feel differently after seeing the film.
Tom Cruise has always been a bit of a strange character in my eyes, what with his jumping up on sofas and cringey public display's of attention, and his latest cover of W magazine hasn't done much to change that view.
Before you get concerned about the actor's new hair style and tattoos, don't worry - they're not real. The cover is geered to promote his latest role in the screen adaptation of the big Braodway musical 'Rock of Ages'. If you were wondering why Abbey Lee Kershaw and a very hands-on Edita Vilkeviciute are in the shot too, Cruise said that it was all about upping the sex factor. 'I knew we had to push the sexuality because of the nature of the character and the songs,' he explained.
I've always been a fan of W magazine but ever since Edward Enninful arrived at the magazine last May, it only seems to be getting better. This March cover is a case in point. Kate Moss appears shot by Steven Klein championing the issues 'Good vs. Bad' theme or 'Bad Kate and Good Little Katie' as write Will Self puts it.
You've probably seen the cover but now the accompanying fashion story for Elle andDakota Fanning's December spread in W is finally out. From Kate and Pippa Middleton to Beyonce and Solange Knowles and The Kardashians, stylish sisters have dominated this year but none quite like Elle and Dakota Fanning.
This year the pair have bagged spreads in Vogue and have been embraced by everyone from Karl Lagerfeld to Marc Jacobs and their appearance in W is by far my favourite spread from the magazine this year. The styling by Lori Goldstein is both age appropriate and stylish and Mario Sorrenti's photography is spot on as always.
Life isn't too bad for Nicki Minaj. Over the past two years she managed to front a W cover, bagged a campaign and cosmetics partnership with MAC and now she has her sights on developing her presence in the beauty market. Today the rapper announced that she's collaborated with OPI on a line of nail varnishes. As you would expect, the range is far from muted and subdued. One comes in neon green, two come in glitter, one in metallic, another in pink and one in a deep purple.
Her business-savy definitely needs to be commended. Unlike many other celebrities, she's said yes to projects that work because they are an extension of her aesthetic. Now with MAC and OPI under her belt, who knows what her next move will be....
The seating plan at Carolina Herrera all got us talking - and creating ridiculous (but funny) captions - as Nicki Minaj was seated next to Anna Wintour. But this cover shows that our attention was focused in the wrong place. If you remember, to the right of Minaj was W's Stefano Tonchi who obviously took a liking to the rapper as he's chosen her for one of the two November cover's for the magazine.
This is a real bag for Minaj. Although she's appeared in editorials for fashion magazines like US ELLE, this is the first time she's graced the cover on a leading fashion magazine and she has some big shoes to fill. If you cast your mind back to last year, Kim Kardashian's nude cover for the issue this time last year was a sell out.
Props are definitely due to Edward Enninful and artist Francesco Vezzoli who transformed Minaj beautifully into some of the most prominent courtesans in history like Madame Rimsky-Korsakov, Marquise de Montespan and Madame de Pompadour. And whilst Minaj isn't the first person that would have sprung to my mind to cover this issue, once you go go through the full editorial the choice quickly begins to make sense. After all, love or hate her, Lady Gaga aside, nobody quite does drama like Nicki Minaj.
I admired him and didn’t want to meet him because I am quite shy, but Isabella [Blow] said I must. But I didn’t want to be a groupie. It had to happen organically. You don’t have to know someone to love their work. One day he saw me walking across the street in his kimono and he ran up to me and said, 'I’m the person you don’t want to meet!' We went to a pub and hit it off. Of course after that I was so irritated not to have known him before!
