Not all magazines are playing it safe while waiting out the economic gloom. Lucie Goulet finds reason to smile flicking through the surprisingly provocative April issue of Paris Vogue (did you sense the irony?)...Carine Roitfeld puts Scarlett Johansson on the cover and all everyone can talk about is the handwritten signature across her Mario Sorrenti shot picture. Creatively speaking, the April issue of
Paris Vogue is all about experimenting with fonts. The art department has ditched the usual ones for a more creative take on typography, mostly a variation on the possibilities of handwriting.
The issue's theme is the family, the “ultimate luxury” cocoon against the recession, but don’t expect a serene, boring family portrait. Paris
Vogue takes a familiar theme and revisits it with its own dose of sexiness and provocation.
The ‘Montres’ (Watches) editorial features descendants of famous people, from Hemingway’s great-granddaughter to Danielle Steel’s daughter, while ‘Mère & Fils’ (Mother and Son) is a sleek photo shoot starring Malgosia Bela and her son.
Emmanuelle Alt styled her as a modern princess, wearing long, sleeveless, colourful dresses and Chanel No.5 against the sunset and an outdoor pool.
Patrick Demarchelier photographed the ‘Sept familles’ (Seven Families) of the art and fashion world. Forget yummy mummies, those mothers take style and success to a whole new level.
Meanwhile, Lily Donaldson is having a ‘No Smoking’ faux pregnancy. In a timely contemporary parody of motherhood, perhaps channeling the likes of Victoria Beckham and other celebrity 'moms', Carine Roitfeld has Donaldson (Roitfeld’s son’s girlfriend) throw a
Bonpoint-clad baby doll and poke her tongue at it. Donaldson seems to juggle the demands of motherhood to breaking (Britney) point. Is it the fault of those crazily high Prada platform sandals? It’s one of the most hilarious editorials
Vogue Paris has produced in a long time.
In ‘Comme Frère et Soeur’ (Like Brother and Sister), Emmanuelle Alt styles Anna Selezneva as both man and woman. Selezneva's striking features act as a blank canvas for androgyny and extreme femininity.
But no family issue would be complete without family portraits. Bruce Weber’s ‘Family Album’ stars David Bailey and son; Kate Moss and mother; and Stella Tennant and grandmother, etc. The pictures are intimate and the layout has the simplicity of a real family album, with white borders and handwritten captions included.
Of course, the Kennedys are the ultimate family. In ‘Famille Modèle, Carole Sabas reminds us of everything we already knew about them, from the tragedies to the glamour.
The Azzedine Alaia family (‘Tel père telles filles’; ‘Like Father like daughters) is less conventional. Alaia tells Loic Prigent how Naomi Campbell, Veronica Webb and Stephanie Seymour call him "papa". The article is fuelled with anecdotes drawn from his own childhood and tales of looking after off-duty supermodels.
THE GLOSSARYThe good bits:
- ‘Prénom, Lauren’ (Surname, Lauren) shows you how to dress like Lauren Hutton. Laura Blokhina models looks with a 1970s feel.
- All little girls have dreamt of their ‘Noces Blanches’ (White Wedding). Sophie Volanges explains how Haute Couture houses can produce catwalk dresses in white if the bride wishes so, even if the original was black or red.
Blink and skip it:- ‘Une Fille un Style’, deciphers Atlanta de Cadenet Taylor’s teen style. She loves Marc Jacobs, vintage dresses and her large fedora hat “found in a charity shop”. Bonjour, cliche!
- Spring is back, and with it the features on slimming devices. ‘Mécanique de fonte’ introduces four machines which can, allegedly, help you loose weight. If technology isn’t enough, you could always try the ‘Régime liquide’ (Liquid Diet) that's all the rage in Hollywood. Drink the pounds away!
Pretty pages: - Scarlett Johansson might not have any film due
out in the immediate future, but she will be coming to a beauty counter near you as the face of the new Dolce & Gabbana make-up line. In her photoshoot, she wears trademark garments from the Italian brand, with a bit of Maison Martin Margiela and Cartier Jewellery thrown in for good measure. The article could be interesting if it didn’t feel so out of place in the family context of the issue.
- Basquiat and Warhol inspired Carine Roitfeld and Mario Sorrenti for the dark romanticism of ‘Noces de diamant’.
- ‘Agricouture’ was one of the most expected editorials of this issue. It featured prominently in Carine Roitfeld’s
CNN Revealed interview. Haute Couture goes green and rural among hay stacks, broken eggs, donkeys and cheese. Agriculture meets couture for a rendez-vous of French flagships.
Glossy stats: April 2009, #896, 242 pages. £4.95
Glossy bosses: Carine Roitfeld, Condé Nast
Glossy ads: Lancome, Estée Lauder, Miss Dior Chérie, Gucci, Rouge Allure Chanel, Rolex, Emporio Armani, Miu Miu, Burberry, Boss Hugo Boss, United Colors of Benetton, Louis Vuitton
Glossy rating: 5. I generally avoid this kind of hasty judgement, but this is one of my favourite Paris
Vogue issues ever.
Read Jezebel's positive take on the same issue
here (thank you for the pic lend!).
Yours truly,
Lucie/Girl With a Satchel
Emmanuelle Alt styled her as a modern princess, wearing long, sleeveless, colourful dresses and Chanel No.5 against the sunset and an outdoor pool.
out in the immediate future, but she will be coming to a beauty counter near you as the face of the new Dolce & Gabbana make-up line. In her photoshoot, she wears trademark garments from the Italian brand, with a bit of Maison Martin Margiela and Cartier Jewellery thrown in for good measure. The article could be interesting if it didn’t feel so out of place in the family context of the issue.
