New Fashion, Design, Jewelry Stories and Campaigns @ AOC
/ Anne Enke
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AOC Pre-2020 Curated Archives
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Read on: AOC Pre-2020 Archives: Refreshed and Never Posted
Jewelry News
Louis Vuitton Awakened High Jewelry | Conie Vallese in Cartier’s Nature Sauvage High Jewelry | Taylor Hill Is Messika’s Face of ‘So Move’ Collection | Bella Hadid Named Chopard Global Ambassador
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Brand News
Sporty & Rich Drops Core Collection October 2024 | Louis Vuitton Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds High Jewelery | Zara X Stefano Pilati Fall 2024 Collab Is Sizzling
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Brunello Cucinelli released a strong 2024 nine-months revenue performance that runs counter to generally sluggish financial performance in the luxury sector.
In the third quarter itself, revenues rose 9.2% to 300 million euros ($325 million), with an increase even in China where the brand has limited exposure compared to brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
"With the substantial orders already placed for the Men's and Women's Spring-Summer 2025 sales campaign, we can reaffirm our plans for healthy, sustainable growth, projecting a revenue increase of around 10% for both 2025 and 2026," Executive Chairman Cucinelli said in a statement.
Sporty & Rich founder Emily Oberg has dropped her new Core Collection, two months after filing a trademark application for a brand called Sensual Sport.
Top model Andreea Diaconu showcases the Core Collection, lensed by Dudi Hasson [IG].
Oberg isn’t selling a sustainability message for Sporty & Rich — although her approach to fashion itself may be more sustainable. But seeing Diaconu reminded me of her 2023 C2C Certified® cashmere campaign for Ralph Lauren. That campaign is very in sync with Oberg’s Sporty & Rich mindset.
SCMP Style [South China Morning Post] [IG] September 2024 issue turns its attention to Louis Vuitton’s ‘Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds’ high jewelry collection.
The all Louis Vuitton fashions are styled by Brit Cato for models Biliny Mabil and Myriam Chenesseau. Photographer Marco Cella [IG] captures the high-minded jewelry in all its splendor. / Hair by Anne Sofia Begtrup; makeup by Anga Borodina
The first chapter — ‘Awakened Hands’ — is comprised of 100 unique pieces inspired by an important moment in world history. The French Revolution of 1789 brought down the Monarchy and the ancien régime, resulting in the beheading of King Louis XVI and his famous wife, Marie Antoinette.
With the end of royal court rule in France, artisans were free to explore their own creativity and ‘savoir faire’. This cultural explosion in artisan experimentation and free-thinking — coupled with an expanding wealthy clientele supporting their efforts — greeted 16-year-old Louis Vuitton when he arrived in Paris in 1837.
Read On: Brand Analysis and Fashion News
Women’s News and Interviews
Lupita Nyong’o for Harper’s Bazaar UK Talks Voting for Harris and Praying for White Skin | Conie Vallese in Cartier’s Nature Sauvage Collection | Lady Gaga Is Here and Talking in Vogue October |
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Fresh off her runway walk at this week’s Victoria’s Secret fashion show, Adriana covers the November 2024 issue of Vogue Espana [IG], wearing Dior on both covers. Photographer Dan Jackson [IG] photographs Lima styled by Jorden Bickham. / Makeup by Frank B; hair by Tomo Jidai
Adriana has been devoted to boxing for years, with several of her fashion stories organized around the sport. AOC isn’t surprised by the health benefits of boxing, but they are actually extraordinary beyond our knowledge.
Read our recent deep dive into boxing in Body. Also in Body, this Adriana Lima 2019 Numéro Russia fashion story.
Adriana Lima Throws a Fashion Punch in Numero Russia 055 Women's Empowerment Issue AOC Body
Beloved actor Lupita Nyong’o has not taken up painting. But today’s Harper’s Bazaar UK[IG] November 2024 cover story reminds us that not all fashion photography sets are created equal. Nyong’o covers Bazaar UK’s ‘The Art Issue: a celebration of colour, craftsmanship, pattern and print.’
Photographer Alexi Lubomirski [IG] hits all the high notes in a fashion story styled by Miranda Almond for Chanel’s newest global ambassador.Gorgeous and right on the money in terms of a huge trend emerging.
White Skin Does NOT Reflect God’s Will
Lupita again speaks of the issue of skin color — one we’ve written about many times, along with featuring her mind-changing interview with Alek Wek.
The actor has frequently told the stories of praying to God as a young woman, beseeching the divine to make her skin lighter.
Anne has done a lot of research on this topic and puts a new spin on this set of outrageous Christian beliefs about skin color.
The allure of Conie Vallese [IG] [Buenos Aires, 1986] is both compelling and rare. AOC has never heard the artist speak live, but her clarity in both art and life evokes admiration always and a small amount of envy whenever I write about her.
Xavi Gordo [IG] is in Vienna, photographing the artist for Bazaar Spain. Vallese is adorned with key pieces from Cartier’s Nature Sauvage collection.
From serpentine forms coiling with primal elegance to verdant foliage encrusted in dazzling jewels, Nature Sauvage invites wearers to experience a deeper connection with the earth's wild and timelessly beautiful landscapes.
Vallese's life embraces this same connection.
Read On: Interviews: Models, Artists, Business
Body: Wellness, Sexuality, Politics
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It’s a truism about Anne of Carversville that it’s typically written ‘stream of consciousness’.
Whenever we’re in Vogue Greece [IG] — like now with the October 2024 beauty feature ‘Red Kisses’ — we just get Anne on speed dial.
Models Lucy Rosiek and Naomi Apajok are styled by Glen Mban in ‘Red Kisses’, lensed by Johan Sandberg [IG].
Red Lipstick In Ancient Mesopotamia
In the annals of ancient history, the use of red lipstick finds one of its earliest origins in Mesopotamia, a cradle of civilization that flourished in the regions of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The people of ancient Mesopotamia, notably the Sumerians and later the Assyrians and Babylonians, were among the first to transform the act of adorning one's lips into an art form.
Lip Color and the Divine Feminine
Beyond social stratification, lip color also conveyed aspects of femininity and allure, playing a role in rituals and rites associated with love and attraction. The divine feminine was celebrated in Babylonian mythology, where goddesses were revered for their beauty and grace; by adorning themselves with lip color, women could symbolically align themselves with these powerful deities.
AOC turns our attention to ‘Ring Parade’, and we’re not talking diamonds — although model Karlina Caune is sporting some serious watches in this fashion story for the September 2024 issue of Madame Figaro Paris [IG].
Stylist Sylvie Clemente is ringside, preparing Caune to fight, fight, fight — as women did in Sparta. Photographer Thiemo Sander [IG] photographs the fashion action for Madame Figaro; and AOC takes a seriously-informed deep dive into the health benefits of boxing. / Hair by Kazuko Kitaoka; makeup by Maria Olsson
Historical records and artwork from different civilizations reveal women engaging in activities like wrestling, running, and even boxing. Ancient Minoan artifacts, for example, depict women participating alongside men in athletic competitions, while the society of Sparta in ancient Greece famously encouraged women to train in physical exercises to strengthen them as future mothers of warriors — male and female.
All AOC can say is “Thank goddess for cave paintings.” Let’s go.
