Alessandro Michele Official As Creative Director at Valentino Couture
/Valentino has made the announcement we’ve all been waiting for: Alessandro Michele will become the new creative director of the Rome-based couture house.
Michele will step into the creative-head shoes of his friend Pierpaolo Piccioli, who existed the Rome-based house last Friday. The designer embarks on his new journey next Tuesday, according to an internal statement.
I just visited Michele’s IG to follow any breadcrumbs he has left along the way. Of course, the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ book was a must-add to AOC’s visual about Alessandro Michele’s new journey.
A close friend of Michele’s reached out to me in regard to AOC’s commentary on the Chinese New Year 2023 Gucci post celebrating the Year of the Rabbit. AOC includes those links, as we lift off again with one of fashion’s most visionary and talented Queen Bees. AOC is so happy Alessandro Michele is back.
Read MoreJamel Shabazz Captured 'Street Cred' for W Magazine Vol VI 2023 'The Art Issue'
/Models Ajak Dhieu, Antonio Macek, Grace Brown, Ifrah Qaasim, Jesi Shelnutt, Mamina Aker, Steph Shiu, and Tashawn “Whaffle” Davis appeared in W Magazine [IG] Vol VI 2023 ‘The Art Issue’.
The Brooklyn lovers fashion story ‘Street Cred’ is styled by Ola Editi with Matt Benns on hair and Kanako Takase on makeup.
In advance of his early 2025 Taschen retrospective, photographer Jamel Shabazz [IG] shot the fashion story for W Magazine “a stone’s throw” from the Brooklyn Museum, shortly after the closing of Jamel Shabazz: Faces and Places, 1980–2023.
Read MoreEmilly Nunes 'Rainforest' Activist by Fernando Sippel for Numéro Netherlands February 2024
/Photographer Fernando Sippel [IG] brings his poetic and sensual photographic vision to Rio De Janeiro for a fashion story ‘Rainforest’, shared in the February 2024 digital issue of Numéro Netherlands [IG]. / Hair and makeup by Claudio Belizario
Jose Camarano styles model and rainforest activist Emilly Nunes in images that express the deep relevance and symbolism of the rainforest in human life on planet Earth.
Read MoreGisele Bundchen's Bright Red Lips Glam Drop in Alaïa’s Spring 2024 Campaign
/Supermodel Earth Mother Gisele Bundchen headlines Alaïa’s Spring 2024 campaign with bright red lips and a mile-wide smile. Now, THIS is a glam drop.
The red lipstick blew Anne away — with a big smile. Just two days ago she was saddened by a group of women — ones Anne regards as strong women’s rights activists and people she’s worked with on political campaigns — just crucifying Taylor Swift over her red lipstick.
Lulu, AOC’s AI assistant, reminded her that red lipstick has long been associated with the suffragettes and women’s rights.
Read MoreEmRata Loves the Beachy Vibe of Victor & Rolf's Flowerbomb Tiger Lily Solar Fragrance
/Netflix announced on Wednesday that Emily Ratajkowski will join the new Lena Dunham series ‘Too Much’, a romantic comedy series created by Dunham and husband Luis Felber.
The announcement is perfect timing for EmRata, who returns as the face of the latest Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Tiger Lily perfume campaign, lensed by Anthony Arquier [IG].
Read MoreThis Is Sotheby's? The Stories Kristina O'Neill Can Tell As Head of Sotheby's Media
/Kristina O’Neill, former EIC of WSJ Magazine is now installed at Sotheby’s as Head of Sotheby’s Media and editor-in-chief of a revamped Sotheby’s Magazine.
What an exciting creative road lies ahead of her. AOC raises this topic because O’Neill seems perfectly primed to tap into the creative and business evolution going on at the world’s largest auction house. Visually, it’s one that expands the customer base and also acquires “heart” along the way.
O’Neill can catch the modernized Sotheby’s football and run with it. Her decade of work at WSJ Magazine reveals her status as a change agent. Only someone like AOC who can easily call up a decade of her work for review is aware that O’Neill was featuring Black talent long before the summer of 2020.
British-Ghanaian photographer Campbell Addy comes to mind. Outside of a small feature in British Vogue in 2018, Addy shot for WSJ Magazine before any of the other major magazines.
Read More'Amor e Cia' for Vogue Portugal December 2023 Explores Skin Color Beauty
/Photographer Catharina Pavitschitz [IG] adds poetic beauty to the pages of Vogue Portugal’s [IG] December 2023 ‘Love and Hope’ issue with ‘Amor e Cia’ [Love and Company].
Vogue Portugal has an exemplary history in dealing with deeply-challenging issues of skin color, as it impacts racial identity and global culture images.
As European powers began to expand their empires through colonization, the concept of race as a hierarchical system based on physical attributes — particularly skin color — gained traction. This intellectual position was driven by the need to justify the subjugation and exploitation of indigenous populations and the mass enslavement of Africans across the continent.
The Vatican occupies a position of great prominence at the historical heart of the global slave trade, dating back to the 15th century when Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas in 1452, granting the Portuguese the right to enslave non-Christian peoples.
Read MoreBella Hadid by Bryce Anderson Takes 4 Covers in The Perfect Magazine #6 SS-2024
/Supermodel Bella Hadid returns to the limelight with these four covers for The Perfect Magazine [IG] Issue Six Spring/Summer 2024.
The shoot is inspired by an image of Debbie Harry performing in 1978, wearing as a dress a poster she had torn from the wall outside the venue.
Bella is wearing a Corbin Shaw tee ‘Screaming in Perfect English’ [above] on the fourth cover — and Corbin is a major source of inspo for the covers.
Anne began her day reflecting on the raw power of Charlamagne Tha God’s views on sitting out the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has called on all Muslim voters to not support US President Biden — to teach us all about ‘raw power’.
In this midst of the American political crisis, is the phrase ‘Raw Fashion Power’ to describe Bella. Is this a stupid comment, or is Bella taking a political side?
Read MoreActor Benedetta Porcaroli Covers Vogue Italia January 2024 Lensed by Elizaveta Porodina
/Actor Benedetta Porcaroli [IG] covers the January 2024 issue of Vogue Italia, styled by Vittoria Cerciello with images by Elizaveta Porodina [IG].
Benedetta Porcaroli will join Sydney Sweeney and an expanded cast in the upcoming 2024 film ‘Immaculate’.
The minute AOC saw Benedetta Porcaroli playing in a film ‘Immaculate’, we knew we were headed straight for the Vatican.
The principal photography took place in Rome and finished in February 2023. It’s the first film produced by the ‘Euphoria Star’ under her ‘Fifty-Fifty Films’ company, which Sweeney founded in 2020.
Read MoreAngelina Jolie Tells WSJ She Is More At Home With Refugees Than in Hollywood
/Actor, humanitarian, mother and global leader is profiled in the December 2023 issue of WSJ Magazine, with deeply personal photographs of Jolie wearing offerings from Atelier Jolie, shot by Annemarieke Van Drimmelen [IG] with styling by Tonne Goodman.
One of the most profound realities that she discussed with WSJ is her favorite people to spend time with.
“There’s a reason people who have been through hardship are also much more honest and much more connected, and I am more relaxed with them. Why do I like spending time with people who’ve survived and are refugees? They’ve confronted so much in life that it brings forward not just strength, but humanity.”