News: Boss Lady Fundraising Haul for Rihanna's Savage X Fenty

Before hopping to Rihanna’s latest fundraising haul of $115 million, AOC doesn’t recall ever writing that Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners LLC was key in launching Savage X Fenty’s initial $50 million investment in 2019.

With Las Vegas now open and Culver City, Calif. opening on Feb. 12, Riri is rolling. Other 2021 locations include Houston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. More details at WWD.

Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners Was Original Savage X Fenty Investor

Reading that Jay-Z was on the investor’s list led by Neuberger Berman this week, I checked back on prior participation and note our error in not crediting Marcy Venture Partners previously as a key player on Savage X Fenty’s birthing team.

To be honest, this factoid is just another data bit on the deep roots and exciting synergy that LVMH and the Arnault family personally have into Black culture in America and beyond.

For those who don’t know, Jay-Z sold 50% of his champagne brand Armand de Brignac, aka Ace of Spades to LVMH in 2021.

While Kanye West runs his mouth around town about having final say on everything Ye, Jay-Z not only got a board seat in his LVMH financial transaction but the deal is an unusual 50-50 transaction.

In simple terms, Jay-Z and Bernard Arnault’s LVMH team must find consensus in a common brand marketing and financial strategy for Armand de Brignac. Both parties will create a new business investment paradigm in select cases — a team of equals — if they can pull off this unusual agreement without a massive boardroom fight.

To understand now that Jay-Z also had a hand in Savage X Fenty’s original funding is equally impressive.

Rihanna Unleashes Savage X Fenty Lingerie Valentine's Day 2022 with Lourdes Leon

Rihanna Unleashes Savage X Fenty Lingerie Valentine's Day 2022 with Lourdes Leon AOC Fashion

Superstar talent Rihanna amps up the sexual heat with her “Bring the heat this Valentine’s Day and you’ll be the treat.” The lingerie and beauty mogul combines her two business into a single Valentine’s Day 2022 campaign for the first time. lensed by Dennis Leupold.

The megastar is joined by models including Lourdes Leon, Quannah Chasinghorse, Tess McMillan, and more with a clear message to she, he and they, who wear the Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty brand: ‘Slip Into Som’m Sexy To: You From: You.

As Victoria’s Secret continues to revamp its marketing, toning down the male gaze vision that came to dominate the brand, there remains a critical difference between the VS and Savage X Fenty approach. The VS Collective remains a third-party talking about their problems and issues in a way for all women to understand. But the models remain the message and the focus.

Message From Black Women: I’m Talkin’ to YOU

Rihanna takes a different approach from the lady bikers to her ‘Slip Into Som’m Sexy’ message. It’s the same ‘I’m Talkin’ to YOU’ message I referenced in my comments about the new British Vogue nine African women cover and inside fashion story.

The message is 1) I’m talkin’ to YOU, dear reader, SM follower; wannabe like me. 2) Are you listening? Because you can’t become this she, he, they lingerie lover, if you don’t hear me.

Get out of your comfort zone and fly. Goddess knows I had to learn this life lesson as a Black woman. So RISE, girl. Enough with all this self-doubting, crowd-pleasing anxiety.

This was the original Victoria’s Secret direct-to-women message, one that I worked very hard to craft. We were leaders in that self-empowerment drive — and around the trickiest subject of all: sexuality and typically female-identifying sexuality.

As Rih says: “Keep it in the fam.”

Backed by Bernard Arnault via the $115 million series B round of financing led by LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton to help the lingerie brand scale up, the Savage X Fenty lingerie brand is ready to rumble.

Savage X Fenty Stores

Rihanna just announced the first five inaugural store locations in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia and Washington DC. The Vegas store will provide fans with a direct-to-consumer shopping experience that’s billed by the Savage X Fenty team as the “next step” in the brand’s aim of providing a “fuller expression” to its clientele.

OMG! Rihanna Says ‘Keep It in the Fam!’

My mind is now on fire. Rhanna’s “keep it in the fam” comment and the Catterton investment, plus writing about Virgil Abloh last night, the most brilliant idea popped into my mind.

Sorry, Kanye. You’re not going to Louis Vuitton Men, and please don’t have a breakdown.

Among the options to replace the beloved Virgil Abloh is the concept of a curator in charge of Louis Vuitton Men — as no one can follow in Virgil Abloh’s steps. Let Virgil Abloh live on in 3-D. Keep him alive and deeply embedded in the brand’s DNA.

The talent I mentioned in my earlier post ARE three of the perhaps five names on the list. So Anne is already swinging the bat quite well, win or lose.

BUT, if Louis Vuitton wanted to be truly daring, they would put Rihanna as the curator in charge of Louis Vuitton Men. They would ‘Keep It in the Fam!”

Working on the collections a la Moncler with all the creative talent she knows and LVMH knows, she can develop a huge rival to Victoria’s Secret at the same time in the Savage X Fenty business. AND, unlike some of the names mentioned, Rihanna can easily become an ‘ambassador’ for Virgil Abloh’s memory. Her own me-me-me halo doesn’t need burnishing.

Kanye West is too “I, I, I, I, I should have had the Vuitton Men’s job in the first place” to EVER promote Virgil Abloh’s memory and values. Forget Kanye West being up to his eyeballs in Republican scum politics. Kanye thinks he’s God.

Rihanna Is Virgil Abloh’s Ubuntu Goddess

Rihanna — on the other hand — knows she’s a goddess and is perfectly situated to advance Virgil’s thinking and vision. And she’s got her own thing goin’ on — already backed by LVMH — and Bernard Arnault loves her.

If he didn’t think she had tremendous talent and promise as a merchant, he wouldn’t have invested $115 million in Savage X Fenty via L Catterton.

Bernard Arnault is dying to take on Victoria’s Secret with Rihanna. Seriously! This move would give her a reach far beyond these first five stores. CONSTANT engagement with activism and young talent, a halo that can bring new customers to Savage X Fenty.

Yes, Anne is ALWAYS thinking out of the box. I LIKE this new box that just popped into my mind. If such a hair-brained option ever happened, you know who expressed the idea first. Suddenly my other three options sound perfectly reasonable. But this one??

Woah! Even I’m impressed. But it’s so LOGICAL. It’s rational.

Related: EXCLUSIVE: Louis Vuitton CEO Talks Final Virgil Abloh Collection, Succession Plans WWD

Like I keep sayin’ “You better buckle up, VS. These people are coming for you. And I still don’t think you have a plan figured out. Nor do I think the VS Collective is the answer to your problems, but I love all those women. Don’t get me wrong. And, for the record, that new store design looks like Kohl’s. But I do want you to succeed. Make no mistake. I want you to succeed.” ~ Anne

Naomi Osaka Says She's Not God, Could Drop to 84 in Rankings After Australian Open

Naomi Osaka was overflowing with sass this week, heading into the Australian Open, after her early withdrawal from the warmup tournament Melbourne Summer Set 1. Osaka has said that her primary goal in 2022 is to have fun and never cry again in front of the press.

Losing her third round match Friday night to the promising 20-year-old, 60th-ranked American Amanda Anisimova, Osaka was disappointed but also looking on the bright side of things.

Osaka: “I’m Not God. I can’t win every match, you know.”

“I fought for every point; I can’t be sad about that,” Osaka said. “You know, like, I’m not God. I can’t win every match, you know. So I just have to take that into account and know that it would be nice to win the tournament, but that’s, like, really special.”

Having fun was also important to Anisimova, who said that by the third set against Osaka, she was no loner nervous.

“I love playing in these high-pressure moments, and I think it’s really fun to play in Melbourne in front of a crowd like that. So I was just trying to enjoy every moment really. I kept reminding myself, ‘I’m at a Grand Slam playing against Naomi Osaka, just try to enjoy it, because it’ll be over soon.’”

Naomi Osaka, the defending champion of the Australian Open lit up digital space earlier in the week, saying that she has proved herself enough and that she doesn't give a f--- anymore about those who have something negative to say about her.

Osaka responded directly to a fan who wrote on Instagram: "Enter every match in this tournament like you have something to prove.” It’s not clear that the remark was so snarky or disrespectful, but Osaka fired back:

"Respectfully I don't have anything to prove," Osaka said. "Before my first slam I was told I had potential but probably not gonna capitalize on it. After my first slam I was told I got lucky and I was a one-hit wonder.

After my second Slam I was told I could be great but I was unsure. After my third and fourth slams I was told I will only be good on hard courts. Moral of the story - people are always gonna have something to say and idgaf [I don't give a f***] anymore."

Is Kanye West Headed to Russia, Inviting Putin to His Church Service? For Real?

Is Kanye West Headed to Russia, Inviting Putin to His Church Service? For Real? AOC The Wokes

Ye [formerly Kanye West] made headlines every day this week. Nothing new about that fact, but Billboard’s January 11, 2022 story that the entertainer intends to grow his business in Russia with billionaire developer Aras Agalarov and Agalarov's musician son, EMIN was picked up by Forbes and Business Insider giving it credibility.

AOC found the story totally plausible, given Ye’s relationship with the Trump family and Trump’s relationship with the Agalarovs. Kanye dined with Jared Kushner one-on-one in Miami Beach on January 7, with both parties denying that any business was discussed. The story broke four days later.

Trump and the Agalarovs

In 2013, the Russian oligarch and his son EMIN arranged the kind of spectacle in Moscow that Trump adores. Trump arrived as a surprise guest, with an armored Mercedes stretch limo driving off a freight elevator fight into a ballroom where 3000 Russian guests couldn’t believe their eye as Trump emerged to greet them.

Politico refreshed our memories about Trump and Agalarov in 2016. As Trump sought the nomination for the US presidency, the political website published When Donald Trump brought Miss Universe to Moscow. The article fills in much more background about the 2013 event.

It was West’s confidant and strategic advisor Ameer Sudan who told Billboard that they were working on the arrangements. Russia is going to be “a second home” for Ye, Sudan said: “He will be spending a lot of time out there.”

There’s no disagreement that Sudan is tied closely to West.

Heidi Klum Sizzles with Snoop Dogg in Dance Video 'Chai Tea with Heidi'

Top model, businesswoman and wife of Tokio Hotel guitarist Tom Kaulitz, Heidi Klum Sizzles with Snoop Dogg in Dance Video 'Chai Tea with Heidi', which also features Los Angeles-based DJ-Producer duo WeddingCake.

The ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge, cohost on Amazon’s version of Project Runway called ‘Making the Cut’ and former Victoria’s Secret mega star, Heidi Klum hasn’t done anything musical since her 2006 track ‘Winter Wonderland’. Pushing 50 and madly in love with her 17 years younger husband, Klum delivers an impressive performance. And she owns the camera.

Heidi explained to People Magazine that it all began innocently enough. In planning the next season of Germany’s ‘Next Top Model’, someone suggested “to do something fun”, like perhaps Heidi could “record the theme song for the show.”

The supermodel’s idea of fun was to do a duet with Snoop Dogg, because she "loves him" and is his "biggest fan." Martha Stewart might take issue with the “biggest fan” part, but let them fight it out over Snoop.

The song pays homage to Rod Stewart’s Rod Stewart’s ‘Baby Jane’. Heidi and Snoop were finished with the entire production when she finally was able to make contact with Stewart who was delighted with 'Chai Tea with Heidi'.

The musical result has caused a wave of head-nodding, and the video is WOW! There are so many things AOC wants to say, but we are zip-lipped and very WOKE! LOL. ~ Anne

As for Snoop Dogg’s tight friendship with Martha Stewart, well she told Andy Cohen on a Thursday night interview on ‘Watch What Happens Live’ that she has a new boyfriend, and the details are none of our business.

Snoop and Martha go way back as good friends off screen and working together on many food-related projects. Snoop’s long-time wife since 1997 Shante Broadus became his manager in June 2021.

Martha and Snoop made it into our June 2021 article on biophilic design. Fake Poser Plants vs the Health and Wellness Benefits of Real Plants AOC Eye.

Returning to the long and joyous friendship between Martha and Snoop, I wondered if they ever get out of the kitchen. Googling “Martha+Snoop+green plants”, I said “silly me” over Google’s top returns. They include: Martha Stewart is teaching Snoop Dogg to grow plant-based food and more recently in Jan 2021 Martha Stewart’s New CBD Line Was Inspired by Snoop Dogg. Ah yes, Martha’s latest venture.

Dior Lunar New Year 2022 Campaign Celebrates Butterflies with Sun Yi Han

Dior celebrates the Lunar New Year 2022 with new women’s fashion designs that speak to the beauty of nature, dotted with red butterflies and flowers. The color red was dear to Monsieur Dior. The Dior Lunar New Year 2022 campaign [IG] is lensed by Wing Shya [IG] and features actor Sun Yi Han.

Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival, and red is found in abundance as both the cultural color of the Chinese people, but also their primary color associated with gala celebrations and good fortune.

In choosing the butterfly motif to decorate Dior’s signature bags like Lady Dior, the Saddle bag, and Dior Book Tote, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri honors the beauty of nature with a decidedly feminine approach. And while these products honor Lunar New Year 2022, they are part of Dior’s Resort 2022 collection.

Butterflies are prolific in global cultures as symbols of transformation, resilience and triumph. Butterfly migrations are legendary with caterpillars born into Monarch butterflies in North America and then taking flight. Weighing less than a single gram, a butterfly takes off on a journey of more than 2000 miles from Mexico to Canada.

In many aspects, butterflies are also symbols of global immigration patterns, as these increasingly endangered and climate-imperiled creatures don’t know national boundaries.

In China and numerous other cultures around the world, butterflies symbolize transformation, rebirth and resurrection, fertility, triumph and endurance, metamorphosis, immortality and the soul.

LV x NBA: AOC Catches Up With a Brilliant Virgil Abloh 'For the Ages' Collaboration

AOC is working to define the key creative concepts of the esteemed and beloved, now departed into the cosmos, Louis Vuitton Men’s Artistic Director Virgil Abloh. At no point did we cover Abloh’s work with the NBA.

Looking Back to Move Forward

Rather than just post-date articles into the past — which we typically do in posting archival material, in order to keep the model, photographers and now brand archives sequential by date — AOC shares this new article about a collection that actually debuted in May 2021. More will come.

Pretend you are reading this article, as we would have written it, had we known about the second LV x NBA collaboration [or the first one!!!]. Having just looked at three collections — this one is the second drop — the product design is just gorgeous.

We will pull together other elements of the collab, because AOC’s marketing/branding instincts are having a big WOW moment over this concept.

Note also that the $2200 late May drop basketball that AOC references at the end of this article is now on sale at Sotheby’s for $8000. This discovery prompted me to ask Google if Sotheby’s is now in the resale market, as opposed to exclusively bidding auctions. The answer is “yes”. Read on.

AOC Writes About a May 2021 LV x NBA Drop

Louis Vuitton sharee its second collection created in collaboration with the NBA called Louis Vuitton x Capsule Collection II in May 2021.

LV artistic director Virgil Abloh delivered a collection that merges American sports and fine French craftsmanship, as well as uniting the signature emblems of the two iconic institutions in a sophisticated and male elegance way.

Abloh referred to the process as “transversal”, a concept fundamental to his design approach in fashion as well as architecture.

In geometry, a transversal is a line that passes through two lines in the same plane at two distinct points. If the angles created by the intersection are identical, then the lines are running technically parallel in geometry-speak. Abloh sought to create ideas that intersect seemingly parallel lines not automatically guaranteed to intersect at some future point. He created the intersection of seemingly ‘of little interest to each other ‘entities.

The three-year partnership between the NBA and Louis Vuitton was announced in January 2020.

“Fashion muses aren’t predictable. Ideas of luxury can be found in the sports world and its champions as much as in traditional forms of artistry. This collection celebrates the cultural contribution of basketball and its diverse characters, and the idea of relatability as a force of unity today,” Abloh said in announcing the exciting collab.

The second LV x NBA collection for Pre Fall 21 alluded to the way basketball players dress as they travel to games, conduct their many business affairs off the court and often speak at press conferences. Many NBA players manage businesses directly related to their sports prowess, but also in unrelated categories like real estate. Many are investors in major new business concepts and especially ones looking for seed money — translated startups.

Louis Vuitton hopes that NBA fans will identify with and support the collab, rich in sophisticated merchandise that goes far beyond the mass market concept of NBA merchandising.

NBA Playoff Winners Meet Louis Vuitton Trunk Makers

WWD reported, when the project was announced in early 2020, that The Larry O’Brien Trophy, presented annually to the NBA team that wins the final championship game, “now travels in a case custom-made by six craftsmen working more than 100 hours at the Vuitton workshops in the Paris suburb of Asnières. Coated in the house’s signature monogram canvas, it is lined with microfiber in the NBA’s trademark blue.”

In another brilliant move, Vuitton has created a matching double-door wardrobe trunk for the players who won the championship, designed to house clothing, accessories and footwear.

Given the rich sophistication of the merchandise, it deserves a worthy trunk to travel in.

Virgil Abloh and Don Crawley

The Louis Vuitton x Capsule Collection II also featured selected pieces designed together with Don Crawley, known professionally as Don C, an American streetwear designer from Chicago, Illinois. Crawley has a long relationship with Kanye West.

The collection also introduced the first ever Louis Vuitton basketball [LV x NBA] at a cool price of $2200. The Louis Vuitton x NBA Capsule Collection II dropped in stores worldwide on May 28th, 2021.

AOC loves the Louis Vuitton collaboration with the NBA in a heart-felt way, because it gives the NBA players the respect they deserve in a post Colin Kaepernick [NFL, we know] world. There’s no NBA-related “shut up and dribble” BS attitude in this LV project. Call AOC inspired. ~ Anne

Joan Smalls Takes Paris, Lensed by Chrisean Rose for InStyle December 2022

Joan Smalls Takes Paris, Lensed by Chrisean Rose for InStyle December 2022 AOC Fashion

Seeing supermodel Joan Smalls wearing a Louis Vuitton coat with magnificent Bettina Vermillon boots, in a December 2021 InStyle Magazine fashion story headline that reads: Joan Smalls Turned the Streets of Paris into Her Personal Catwalk — well my heart literally tightened with emotion.

Sandy Armeni styles Smalls in images by Chrisean Rose {IG} / Makeup by Hila Karmand;hair by Hos

"It's where I broke through," says the Puerto Rican model, recalling the gig that launched her career: a place in Givenchy's spring 2010 haute couture show. "That was one of the most memorable moments I've ever experienced." It was an opportunity she had to fight for.

Paris is challenging and nurturing at the same time for all of us. Then we add on the reality of Joan Smalls being a person of color battling for more diversity in a fashion industry that wasn’t. However Paris has challenged me, it has challenged Joan Smalls even more so.

When I write that Paris understands certain people, Smalls articulates the feeling.

"Looking back, I appreciate what I have that much more because of what it took to get here," she says. "It wasn't handed to me easily. I had this hunger in me to achieve more and not just settle for what I was given."

In the days after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the rise of BLM protests, Joan Smalls raised her voice loudly and in ways that resonated deeply. In February, 2021 Joan was joined by IMG and the Black Fashion Council to Launch #Change Fashion.

WWD explains the new organization, dedicated to encouraging companies to take responsibility for their impact on the world and provides concrete steps that will ensure the industry is working toward racial justice.

'Squid Game' Star Hoyeon Jung Covers Vogue Japan March by Harley Weir

Supernova Hoyeon Jung, Star of 'Squid Game' Covers Vogue US February 2022 by Harley Weir AOC Fashion

South Korean model turned actor Hoyeon Jung covers the March 2022 issue of Vogue Japan. In her role of north Korean defector in the Netflix hit ‘Squid Game’, the 27-year-old is part of an established cast of South Korean actors who comprise Netflix’s most-viewed series ever.

Louis Vuitton’s newest Global House Ambassador for fashion, watches and jewelry wears a Vuitton cape and dress on her Vogue cover, accented with Alexander McQueen earrings. Alex Harrington styles the fashion story [Vogue US February link interview link in English] ‘From Squid Game to Supernova: Inside the Whirlwind with Hoyeon Jung’ with gorgeous elegance from Acne Studios, Givenchy, Junya Watanabe, Loewe, Miu Miu, more Louis Vuutton, Prada, Stella McCartney, Vera Wang and more.

Harley Weir [IG] is behind the lens, shooting a new cover and at least one new editorial image / Hair by Holli Smith; makeup by Thomas de Kluyver for Gucci Beauty.

Vogue’s Monica Kim catches up with Hoyeon Jung at New York’s Soho Grand.

Note to AOC regular readers: As Vogue Global develops a shared content strategy [a policy we understand given Conde Nast recent financial losses in excess of $100 million annually] we want to give our high-level creatives an understanding of one Vogue issue to another edition. At the same time, we are respecting Google’s content redundancy SEO, policy so as to stay on the right side of the cyber law, so to speak.

In this case, the images that are showing are the ones published so far by Vogue Japan March 2022. AOC is not writing new commentary from the interview. We link back to AOC’s US Vogue February 2022, at the end of post, where there will be a duplication of three of these images but also multiple more not appearing in Vogue Japan so far images. Surely there’s a Google penalty in here somewhere, but then Google hasn’t faced these kinds of real-world financial content revenue challenges, so they can have all the rules they want. As a side note, Amazon has been deeply cutting into Google ad revenue.

If you are an AOC reader who speaks Japanese, this link takes you that the Global Vogue interview with Hoyeon Jung in Vogue Japan.

Original story on Vogue US February 2021

Supernova Hoyeon Jung, Star of 'Squid Game' Covers Vogue US February 2022 by Harley Weir AOC Fashion

'Don't Look Up' Star Jennifer Lawrence by Lachlan Bailey for Vanity Fair Magazine

Actor Jennifer Lawrence covered the December 2021 issue of Vanity Fair, wearing Dior on the cover and Balenciaga Haute Couture, Celine by Hedi Slimane, Courrèges, Hermes, N°21, Tom Ford, Valentino Haute Couture and more in her fashion story. George Cortina styles Lawrence in images by Lachlan Bailey [IG].

All the buzz in the Lawrence interview centered on her time out from on-screen dominance, being pregnant with her first child with husband, art dealer Cooke Maroney, the ongoing challenge of managing her fame and ongoing internal psychological fallout from the infamous leaks of her private photos. We learned about what could have been an early-death plane crash for the star.

As for her career, Lawrence professed nervousness about walking back into the spotlight.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, the 31-year-old star said: "I'm so nervous... I haven't spoken to the world in forever. And to come back now, when I have all of these new accessories added to my life that I obviously want to protect."

"Every instinct in my body wants to protect their privacy for the rest of their lives, as much as I can. I don't want anyone to feel welcome into their existence. And I feel like that just starts with not including them in this part of my work," Lawrence explained to Vanity Fair’s Karen Valby.

Speaking about movies like ‘Passengers,’ ‘Mother!’, and ‘Red Sparrow’, Lawrence was eager to self-critique. "I was not pumping out the quality that I should have," she said. "I just think everybody had gotten sick of me. I'd gotten sick of me."

What Jennifer Lawrence didn’t know at the time of her Vanity Fair interview is that her new movie ‘Don’t Look Up’ is beyond blockbuster. It tallied a record-breaking number of hours viewed in a single week, according to Netflix.

Even more impressive, the satirical film described by its director Adam McKay, as aimed to be “a kick in the pants” that prompts urgent action on climate change, already sits at Netflix’s second biggest film ever.

In ‘Don’t Look Up’, a planet-killing comet hurtling toward Earth is a metaphor for the global climate crisis. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play distraught scientists scrambling to get politicians to act, and the public to believe them. This includes Meryl Streep, who represents US President, an uber-narcissistic President Orlean. Ahem. And Streep is back to being a babe. . . in red glasses and red suits.

We share a trailer of the film ‘Don’t Look Up’.

The film ‘Don’t Look Up’ has created tremendous joyous discussion and disagreement among scientists and activists, but also consensus that the film could be a jump-starter in the culture’s comparative inaction around climate science. Read more about the film in these articles.

Don’t Just Watch: Team Behind ‘Don’t Look Up’ Urges Climate Action New York Times

Don’t Look Up Is a Climate-Change Comedy That Hates Having to Entertain Vulture

Don’t Look Up: four climate experts on the polarising disaster film The Guardian

Official Site ‘Don’t Look Up’ Netflix

China's Skiing Demon Eileen Gu Eyes Beijing 2022 Gold in Louis Vuitton Twist Bag Campaign

China's Skiing Demon Eileen Gu Eyes Beijing 2022 Gold in Louis Vuitton Twist Bag Campaign AOC Fashion

Louis Vuitton ambassador Eileen Gu has closed in on two key life goals at age 18.. The two-time freestyle world champion has always wanted to attend Stanford University — and she will be, as a legacy applicant. Second for Gu was to qualify for the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, leaving Team USA to represent China.

In these images for Louis Vuitton, Eileen Gu is styled by Victoria Sekrier in images by Carlijn Jacobs. Creative direction by Charles Levai and Kevin Tekinel./ Hair by Olivier Schawalder; makeup by Min Kim

In 2019, the U.S.-born Gu announced she would switch national affiliations and compete for China in 2022. Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal probed the topic of whether Eileen Gu has given up her American citizenship, so represent China. The situation for Gu is largely similar to Naomi Osaka’s, who did give up her American citizenship to represent Japan at the 2021 Summer Olympics. Gu deflects any questions on her actual citizenship status, writes WSJ.  Osaka did give up her American passport.

“This was an incredibly tough decision for me to make,” Gu wrote in an Instagram post at the time. She said she hoped her move would help “inspire millions of young people where my mom was born,” especially young girls. Through skiing, she added, she wanted to “unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations.”

Gu is such a high-flying IMG ace, that her background puts her at the top of marketing opportunities in the world’s two largest economies. And she could help China whip the US in the upcoming medal count.

Naomi Osaka Pulls Out of WTA Semi-Final After Body Gets 'Shock' Over Playing Tennis

Australian Open champion, and women’s sports’ highest-paid athlete ever Naomi Osaka pulled out of the Melbourne WTA tournament, considered a run-up to the Open starting January 17 in Melbourne. The Japanese tennis superstar, with a difficult year behind her, entered the semi-finals looking like her mojo was coming back. Osaka left the US Open last September and took four months off from the game of tennis.

“Sad to withdraw due to injury from my match today, my body got a shock from playing back-to-back intense matches after the break I took,” Osaka said on Twitter. “I’ll try to rest up and I’ll see you soon!”

Osaka’s statement continued:

“I had a lot of fun playing here in Melbourne. Unfortunately, I have an abdominal injury which I need to rest and prepare for the Australian Open.”

Related: Naomi Osaka becomes highest-paid female athlete in history after earning $37 million last year CNN

How Naomi Osaka Became Everyone’s Favorite Spokesmodel New York Times

Read all the details about Naomi’s return to tennis.

Karen Elson's Spring Fashion Lamp 'Brighter Future' for Harper's Bazaar UK February 2021

Karen Elson's Spring Fashion Lamp 'Brighter Future' for Harper's Bazaar UK February 2021 AOC Fashion

Very independent supermodel Karen Elson covers the February 2021 issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK. Photographer Erik Madigan Heck [IG] packs up his equipment and heads to Oxfordshire with stylist Leith Clark, a long-time friend of Elson’s. Clark chooses a wide range of dramatic fashion from Alberta Ferretti, Dior, Ermanno Scervino, Etro, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Salvatore Ferragamo and more/ Hair by Hiroshi Matsushita; makeup by Andrew Gallimore

Lydia Slater conducts the interview of words spun around the spring 2022 fashion fest: Karen Elson on a brighter future.

"It felt like falling headfirst back into British life," the red-headed model activist says. "There was a house with a moat around it, built in the 1700s, there was a graveyard from the 1500s. Even the cold, the rain – give it to me! I’ve had more cups of tea this week than I ever have. And with the hair and the make-up and the beautiful location, there was a sort of wildness about it.”

Peng Chang in 'Heat Wave' by Zhong Lin for Vogue Taiwan January 2022

Peng Chang in 'Heat Wave' by Zhong Lin for Vogue Taiwan January 2022 AOC Fashion

Model Peng Chang covers the January 2022 issue of Vogue Taiwan’s new sustainability issue. Zhong Lin [IG], who previously lensed Vogue Taiwan’s September 2021 issue cover story , captures Peng Chang in ‘Heat Wave’. Joey Lin is in charge of styling — and the clothes are not sustainably made, as part of the fashion story presentation./ Hair by Miley Shen; makeup by Sting Hsieh

AOC has referenced previously sustainability-focused fashion stories that channel ‘Water & Oil’ , lensed by Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia and featuring model Kristen McMenamy.

‘Heat Wave’ is no exception. In AOC’s opinion, it’s the first environment-focused fashion story to have equal visual impact . . . and perhaps more than ‘Water & Oil’.

The difference to AOC between ‘Heat Wave’ and ‘Water & Oil’ is ironic, within the larger issue of a profound analysis I read on the New York Times this morning. Nicole Lee writes about the January 2022 ‘Heat Wave’ story for The Vogue Taiwan website:

"A person who knows how to think about the beauty of the earth will get the concentration of power from it. As long as life continues, the power will never stop. In the constant recurrence of nature, it will bring infinite healing power-the dawn will finally be seen after the dark night , Always spring after the cold winter.” Rachel Carson said in "Silent Spring" released in September 1962. She used poetic narrative and rigorous research to introduce the concept of environmental conservation to all living beings in the most gentle way, and even realized it before our eyes like an oracle. The irony is that you and I are all beings who have not escaped, and live the days when they are responsible for themselves.

When AOC first saw the new ‘Heat Wave’ fashion story, the ‘poetic’ visual approach by the creative team was the most startling difference between it and Vogue Italia’s ‘Water & Oil’. I’ve written about Steven Meisel’s images on multiple occasions.

Nicole Lee continues:

The gloomy smog sky, the coastline full of waste, the stranded mermaid princess tail is covered with industrial oil, the water is full of dark foam, and the popsicle on the girl's hand is a mixture of sewage and garbage. This visual shock does not only exist in imagination. If you and I continue to ignore environmental issues, such a scene may not be far from the reality of the future. When the earth becomes a huge greenhouse and seawater gradually invades our life scenes, even in the foreseeable future, we all need to develop the skills of an amphibian in order to survive in the flooded country of Zee.

Two fashion approaches to the reality of environmental degradation. Top: Zhong Lin ‘Heat wave’ for Vogue Taiwan January 2022. Bottom: Steven Meisel’s ‘Water & Oil’ for Vogue Italia, August 2010,

The two fashion stories are dealing with nearly identical material and visual symbolism. Note that AOC is NOT suggesting that Zong Lin’s images are less worthy because of Meisel’s earlier ones. NOT for one moment is this a message we wish to convey.

What intrigues me, as it relates to my morning reading about ‘disgust’, is the reality that Meisel’s ‘Water & Oil’ images scream revulsion and disgust overall. Lin’s do not.

Both editorials seek to raise our consciousness around our global environmental peril. But they take very different visual approaches.

While I have embraced Meisel’s images as being of epic relevance, they also repulse me in a way that Zhong Lin’s do not.

Admittedly, I initially read ‘How Disgust Explains Everything’, with a feminist patriarchal analysis. The connections between disgust over women’s body and functions is a defining fact of human thought patterns. Psychologists who study disgust go deeper, calling it a primal emotion the defines — and explains — humanity.

“Part of disgust is the very awareness of being disgusted, the consciousness of itself,” the scholar William Ian Miller wrote in 1997. “Disgust necessarily involves particular thoughts, characteristically very intrusive and unriddable thoughts about the repugnance of that which is its object.” Think of women being considered unclean while menstruating and sent to live for days in cold, shockingly barren of comfort huts, so as not to contaminate men and the larger society.

I’ve taken ‘disgust’ tests over the years, and like so many liberals, we register lower on the disgust scale than conservatives. In a 2014 study, participants were shown a range of images — some disgusting, some not — while having their brain responses monitored. With great success, researchers could predict a person’s political orientation based on analysis of this f.M.R.I. data.

The research has not concluded why liberals are less impacted by disgust than conservatives. People typically attribute the difference to cultural upbringing, but the science has not confirmed that assertion. We know that the more education people have, the more liberal they become.

Nevertheless, plenty of easily-disgusted, Ivy-league educated conservatives exist. Many are now serving on the US Supreme Court.

Returning to the relevant discussion at hand, a simplistic overview of both Steven Meisel’s and Zhong Lin’s imagery commentary about environmental peril is a perfect, real-world study on theories of disgust and their relevance in political persuasion. I have no answers, but this is very fertile territory for image-makers to explore. ~ Anne

Gucci [Water] Tiger Collection Welcomes Lunar New Year on February 1, 2022

Gucci [Water] Tiger Collection Welcomes Lunar New Year on February 1, 2022 AOC Fashion

Luxury brands including Gucci, Nike, Prada and more are launching special collections to honor and celebrate the Lunar New Year arriving on February 1, 2022.

Gucci Tiger Collection

The Gucci Collection leaves no doubt that soon we will herald the Year of the Tiger, with an 80-piece collection. Creative director Alessandro Michele is giving new life to a 1960s archival design of a tiger print by Vittorio Accornero, the artist and illustrator behind the House’s signature Flora design.

Christopher Simmonds worked on art direction for the campaign. The Gucci Tiger collection can be viewed at Gucci.com. As with its recent The North Face collab, all packaging in this collection is eco-friendly.

Gucci Supports Lion’s Share Fund

In February 2020, Gucci joined The Lion’s Share Fund, a unique initiative raising much-needed funds to protect endangered species and their natural habitats.

A third-party animal welfare organization, @americanhumane, monitored the set on which animals were present in photographing Gucci’s Year of the Tiger campaign. The organization verified that no animals were harmed in creating this visually-exciting campaign

Chinese Zodiac Tiger Traits

The third animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac and calendar, the Tiger is known as the king of all members of the animal kingdom in China. If you were born in 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, or 2010 — or are a baby in the making — you are a Tiger.

The Tiger represents strength, courage and the power to rid the world of evil. This year’s tiger specifically is called a Water Tiger, which inspires a strong sense of self-esteem and desire to acquire knowledge .

Gucci Tiger Pop-Ups

Retailer Holt Renfrew Yorkdale and Holt Renfrew Vancouver will host dedicated Pop-Up experiences in Canada that feature the Gucci Tiger collection, while stores in New York Wooster, Chicago Michigan Ave, Las Vegas Forum Shops, Santa Clara Valley Fair, and Manhasset boutiques will also feature Pop-In creativity to bring the Gucci Tiger into closets across North America.