Kiko Mizuhara in 'By Her Rules' Lensed by Zhong Lin for Vogue Taiwan April 2024
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Penelope Cruz Covers ELLE Spain April 2024 in Very Best Images by Xavi Gordo
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Penélope Cruz covers the April 2024 issue of ELLE Spain, working with photographer Xavi Gordo [IG] to deliver some of the most precious images of the actor I remember. Cruz turns 50 on April 28, and Gordo has captures her inner spirit, as well as her physicality in these simple but so revealing images. He and Penelope have quite a dance going on.
Penelope Discovers Women’s World
Cruz’s mother was a hairdresser and she and her sister spent a great deal of time in a salon after school. It was there that Penelope observed the women carefully, understanding not only their desire to be pretty in their lives, but practicing rituals thousands of years old. The young daughter Penelope developed insights that would fuel her future success as an actor, after she first paid her way and contributed to the family finances as a model.
Read MoreAlessandro Michele Official As Creative Director at Valentino Couture
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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 MoreSailing to Paris 2024 Olympics with Louis Vuitton Nautical Summer Capsule, Crewed by Women
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Louis Vuitton is in Olympic Games Paris 2024 countdown, as a lead brand in LVMH’s role as a top sponsor of this summer’s games.
Dropping the new Louis Vuitton Nautical Capsule 2024 this weekend reminds us that some fashion trends truly possess heritage status — in the way that the Olympics are heritage.
Women, Sailing and the Olympics
The world has changed almost beyond recognition since the summer of 1924 — the last time Paris hosted the summer Olympics. One simple statistic grabs our attention immediately: 2954 men competed in the 1924 games and 135 women. AOC digs deep into women in competitive sailing a century ago.
Louis Vuitton's foray into the prestigious realm of sailing and its premier position in the LVMH sponsor umbrella of the Paris 2024 Summer Games spills next into Barcelona, where Louis Vuitton hosts in late August 2024 the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series. Hosting the event since 1983 and subsequently renamed the Louis Vuitton Cup, it culminates in the race for a new America’s Cup Winner.
Read MoreGemma Ward Takes Her 38th Vogue Cover While AOC Heads for the Australian Outback
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Australian model and actor Gemma Ward, mother to three children with her partner David Letts, covers the April 2024 issue of Vogue Poland [IG]. It’s Ward’s 38th cover, lensed by Virginie Khateeb [IG], with styling by Lorna McGee./ Hair by Roku Roppongi; makeup by Sandra Cooke
Knowing that AOC featured Gemma and David and their [then] two kids Naia and Jet in a cover story of the December 2019 issue of Vogue Australia, we made it our Renewed feature for March 27.
The family is photographed in the Australian Outback at Ti Tree Lake, and AOC was on the trail. Who did we discover in Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, on the ground in a huge restoration project? Louis Vuitton.
Read MoreStella McCartney Summer 2024 Garbage Heap Campaign by Harley Weir
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Designer and eco-activist Stella McCartney [IG] releases her summer 2024 campaign, starring fellow Gaia lover Cara Delevingne.
The summer 2024 collection is Stella McCartney’s most sustainable ever, crafted from 95% conscious materials. Below, Cara holds the Frame bag, crafted from a leather alternative, made from apple waste.
Photographer Harley Weir [IG] captures the model-actor at VeoliaUK’s [IG] South London recycling center.
Read More'Commune' [2015] from Interview Magazine Prompts a Look at Women Farmers Worldwide
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In this 2015 fashion story ‘Commune’ lensed by Mikael Jansson for Interview and renewed March 25, AOC’s sassy side wrote:
In developing countries the women are often in charge of agriculture until the tractors arrive. Then men hop on board.
Models Caroline Trentini, Constance Jablonski, Daria Strokous, Julia Nobis and Lina Berg toil the soil and tend the artichokes in ‘Commune’, lensed by Mikael Jansson for Interview Magazine February 2015./ Makeup by Mark Carasquillo; hair by Tom Jidai
Fast forward nine years, and we wonder if anything has changed. AOC sets new goals for our readers.
Read MorePierpaolo Piccioli's Humanist-Focus Chapter Ends at Maison Valentino
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Responding to a request for comment from WWD, Valentino confirmed on March 22, 2024 the departure of Pierpaolo Piccioli as creative director of Maison Valentino.
Kering’s Role is Unclear in the Mayhoola Decision
We don’t know what the role of Gucci-parent Kering has in this decision. Kering acquired 30% of Valentino in July, 2023, with an option to purchase the whole of Valentino's share capital no later than 2028.
Luxury Stocks Are Holding Steady with Kering Plunge of $6.8 Billion
As fashion’s titanic luxury brands ship rocks in a week that witnessed Kering stock lose $6.8 billion of value on Wednesday, following news of a 20% revenue decrease at Gucci, Kering is the hardest hit.
LVMH is holding steady and positive, along with other key brands like Brunello Cuccinelli and Ralph Lauren.
AOC believes that very different luxury brand marketing positions at these more ‘humanist-centered luxury brands’, coupled with deep bench strength in executive talent at LVMH — but also individual luxury brands like Cucinelli and Lauren — are positioning them to weather storms in the luxury sector.
Read MoreChristy Turlington and Crew in Valentino, by Herb Ritts for Vanity Fair US F/W 1995.96
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Italian luxury brand Valentino is making headlines today, with news that the maison’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli has come to the end of his Valentino tenure after 25 years.
Related: Pierpaolo Piccioli's Humanist-Focus Chapter Ends at Maison Valentino AOC Daily
The Italian humanist was not a member of the Maison Valentino family in 1995, when esteemed photographer Herb Ritts [IG] created this series of elegant but sensually provocative images anchored by Christy Turlington of the Valentino F/W 1995.96 collection for Vanity Fair US.
AOC wonders if fashion scholars have explored this transition of sexual mores, especially within the Italian brands, who historically and geographically lived closer to the Levant-based lands of the goddess worship that predated monotheism.
What is true is that the woman — Turlington here — is the center of this ritualistic fashion ritual, captured for Valentino in 1995 by Herb Ritts.
Read MorePucci Spring 2024 Campaign with Vittoria Ceretti | House Update
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