Hérmes 2024, Second Chapter ‘Faubourg Calling’ Campaign by Craig McDean
/Creative directors Charles Levai and Kevin Tekinel have their luxury brand imprint on another top tier brand, the Hérmes [IG] 2024, Second Chapter ‘Faubourg Calling’ campaign.
Models He Cong and Amanda Murphy are lensed by Craig McDean [IG], with styling by Rae Boxer. /Hair by Jimmy Paul; makeup by Francelle Daly
Read More'Margiela Artisanal' Couture Story for W Magazine China June 2024
/W Magazine China’s [IG] June 2024 icon issue shares a fantastic fashion story featuring the ‘Margiela Artisanal’ 2024 couture collection starring model He Cong lensed by Zhong Lin. W also makes high-impact points in their commentary about creativity.
Creative Directors Examined
For the second time this week, my own brain has been interrupted externally with the reinforcement of thoughts already playing out here on AOC.
In preparing this W Magazine China fashion story over the course of two months, six sets of haute couture fashion traveled across the seas. The magazine “exclusively” documented this fashion moment, along with its fascinating behind-the-scenes story.
Read MoreConspiculous Luxury Consumption in China Challenges Growing Income Inequality
/Top model He Cong graces the pages of Marie Claire China’s [IG] June 2024 issue. The Hunan-region beauty is styled by Austin Feng in red-inspired, fashion elegance lensed by Zhong Lin [IG].
China’s Monitoring of Flaunting Money on Social Media
This month [May 2024], China’s new ‘Clear and Bright’ campaign swung into action on social media. The campaign vows to crack down on influencers who create "ostentatious personas to cater to vulgar needs, and deliberately display extravagant lifestyles filled with money".
Jing Daily weighed in this morning, writing that across Chinese social media platforms like Weibo, Tencent, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu all reflect suspended accounts this week.
China Tackles Its Growing Income Gap Culture
The drive to reduce ostentatious displays of wealth [or internet cleanup, as Jing Daily calls it] “is part of a larger effort by Chinese authorities to curate and control social cultures to tackle China’s widening income disparity and wealth inequality.”
Read MoreHe Cong Covers Harper's Bazaar Italia 11 Imagination Issue, Lensed by Ben Toms
/Chinese model He Cong covers Harper’s Bazaar Italia 11, the April 2024 issue dedicated to expressions of imagination.
Katie Shillingford styles He Cong in ‘The Bubble’, lensed by Ben Toms [IG] and with creative direction by Marc Ascoli and fashion direction by Sissy Vian.
He wears Ferragamo in the pink ground cover and Balenciaga on the black and white cover below.
Read MoreBurberry Lunar New Year 2024 Campaign Shot by Ryan McGinley in Chendu, China
/Burberry brand ambassadors Chinese actor Tang Wei and actor, singer, producer Chen Kun, along with models He Cong, Wang Xiangguo and Alex Schlab, front the Burberry Lunar New Year 2024 campaign.
The Burberry Prorsum knight rides on every piece, and has not been replaced in this Year of the Dragon. The Chinese celebration images were lensed by Ryan McGinley [IG] in the city of Chengdu, one of China’s fastest growing cities.
Read MoreChu Wong, He Cong, Lina Zhang by Zhong Lin for W Magazine China Vol.5 2024
/Models Chu Wong, He Cong and Lina Zhang cover the January 2024 issue of W Magazine China. Austin Feng [IG] styles the trio for The Great Performances edition Vol.5, with creative direction by Cathy Dong.
Top-tier photographer Zhong Lin [IG] captures the three ‘major Chinese models’ in yet another example of the high aesthetic dominating China’s fashion media.
Read MoreBurberry Spring 2024 Campaign by Tyrone Lebon Enlists Unique, Inspiring Cast
/After spreading its British wings to international cities with its ‘Burberry Streets’ sightings, Burberry’s Daniel Lee again heads home, assembling a motley British-related and credentialed crew for the brand’s Spring 2024 campaign.
Tyrone Lebon again is the photographer for Burberry, rowing in total synchronocity with Daniel Lee.
One sports figure in the campaign is professional boxer Somali-British Ramla Ali, who is also a Dior ambassador. She’s rather dear to AOC’s heart.
The founder of Sisters Club, Ali scored a vindicating win over Julissa Guzman, in early November. The luxury brands boxer suffered a ‘shocking’ defeat to Guzman in June 2023, which is why we use the word ‘vindicating’.
Read MoreThe Power of Sport on Fashion: Vogue China September 2023 with He Cong by Leslie Zhang - 2
/Part 1 The Power of Sport on Fashion: Vogue China September 2023 with He Cong by Leslie Zhang - 1
Beloved Chinese supermodel He Cong covers Vogue China’s September 2023 issue, lensed by Shanghai-based fashion photographer Leslie Zhang [IG]. Vivienne Sun styles the photoshoot with creative direction by Matt McDonald.
Part 2 The Power of Sport on Fashion: Vogue China September 2023 with He Cong by Leslie Zhang - 2
Anne has written at length about this excellent fashion story and the many topics it touches in Part One of the Vogue China September 2023 fashion story. They include:
Fashion and Sport
Hangzhou and the Silk Roads
Fashion and Sport: Nike, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren
Brands, Self and Community
The Savvy Margaret Zang, EIC Vogue China
Tom Ford's Edgy Spring 2023 Campaign by Steven Klein Probes Deep, Sexy Questions
/Designer Tom Ford was among the 150 newcomers to the annual Forbes list of the world’s richest people released last week. The 61-year-old with a deep understanding of human sexuality — and women’s sexuality in particular — entered the list with LeBron James. That’s kind of cool.
The first time Moore met Ford, she was nominated for an Oscar and had checked into the Beverly Hills Hotel with her two-month old baby. “I wasn’t really in Tom Ford shape,” the actor told Vogue. “The first thing Tom did was pick up my little boy—who’s now 21—and said, ‘I want one of these.’”
There are many layers to Tom Ford and these layers drift through every element of his work and life.
Signing a one-year-contract last November with Estee Lauder, agreeing to stay with the brand as Lauder digests their big-leagues’ purchase, it’s very Tom Ford to get edgy on his way out the door in this Spring 2023 campaign film. It’s equally edgy to have Steven Klein behind the lens, creating this tableau of subtle, erotic tension and beauty that provokes questions.
Models for the Tom Ford Spring 2023 Campaign include Akbar Shamji, Annemary Aderibigbe, Felice Noordhoff and He Cong styled by Carine Roitfeld. K Studio acted as Creative Director./ Hair by Jawara; makeup by Yadim
Read MoreHe Cong Channels Style in Art by Leslie Zhang for Marie Claire China April 2023
/Marie Claire China’s April 2023 issue turns to the world of art for inspiration in styling its cover story. Model He Cong poses as the muse channeling world-reknown artworks.
Shanghai-based photographer Leslie Zhang [IG] captures He Cong in an exceptional effort by Marie Claire China’s entire creative team to reach for the high bar. It’s inspiring to observe./ Hair by Zhao Wenzhi; makeup by Yang Kaichun
Read MoreZara Studio's 'Spirited Romance' S/S 2023 Campaign Imagines Women in Solidarity
/A‘Spirited Romance’ swept through global cyberspace this week, as Zara Studio launched its S/S 2023 Campaign. The limited-edition, top tier of Zara’s spring offering inspires a spiritual pause on sleepless nights and digital frenzy.
Do you still remember the smell of fresh grass? Did you ever eat clover? How about just lying on on a blanket and seeing a sky so beautiful, it seems impossible that a climate emergency is at hand?
Models Annemary Aderbrigbe, Ava Christian, He Cong and Ida Heiner are the spring muses lensed by Steven Meisel. Frequent collaborator Fabien Baron acts as creative director in a moment where fashion swings back to sensual elegance and beautiful clothes, styled here by another Meisel-Baron collaborator Karl Templer.
There will always be contrived fashion around us, but the trend to clothes that we wear as honest pleasure — as opposed to them wearing us as artifice, an IG photo op and to feed some designer’s ego is real.
Read MoreVogue Celebrates the 'Year of the Rabbit' with Artist Cai Guo-Qiang and Plenty of Gunpowder
/Models He Cong, Sherri Shi, Sora Choi and Yumi Nu are styled by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson in a celebratory, fashion-extravagance happening that was ignited by gunpowder.
New York-Paris based artist Theo Liu [IG] packed up his photography studio essentials, as the creative entourage assembled at contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang's studio in a ‘Year of the Rabbit celebration running globally on multiple Vogues, including in the US.
Under Cai's guidance, the models became his interns, hand-carving stencils using a utility blade and extinguishing the flying sparks of the gunpowder explosions with cotton pompoms.
Read MoreAdut Akech, Gigi Hadid, He Cong, Imaan Hammam V139 Magazine by Adrienne Raquel
/Adut’s five-year rise from a South Sudan, Australian Refugee to REAL supermodel status is well known by now. Being a Global Ambassador for Estee Lauder, announced in June 2021, goes a long way in wearing the real-deal supernodel crown.
Adut’s career was launched when she closed the Saint Laurent spring/summer 2018 show in Paris. Many young people in fashion — or outsiders with lots to say — think the industry only turned towards models of color post-George Floyd and the rise of BLM.
This is not true. Demands for change and the topic of racism in the fashion industry was much discussed and acted upon before the brutal murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
Read MoreTory Burch SS 2022 Campaign with Fran Summers, He Cong, Ugbad Abdi by Johnny Dufort
/American fashion brand Tory Burch shares her Spring Summer 2022 campaign featuring Fran Summers, He Cong, and Ugbad Abdi. Benjamin Bruno styles the campaign shot by fashion photographer Johnny Dufort. Polly Philip provides the set design with art direction by Jaime Perlman.
Read MoreHe Cong's Flower Power Style by Leslie Zhang for Wallpaper China March 2022
/He Cong's Flower Power Style by Leslie Zhang for Wallpaper China March 2022 AOC Fashion
Model He Cong fronts an exquisite, color-drenched fashion story, styled by Quan Zhuoran. Shanghai-based photographer Leslie Zhang [IG] is behind the lens in this stunning style statement for Wallpaper Magazine China March 2022./ Hair by Zhao Wenzhi; makeup by Valentina Li
Givenchy Spring 2022 Campaign with Kendall Jenner Erupts with Kenny Bag and Artistic Energy
/Givenchy Spring 2022 Campaign with Kendall Jenner Erupts with Kenny Bag and Artistic Energy AOC Fashion
Supermodel Kendall Jenner returns to Givenchy’s Spring Summer 2022 campaign, accompanied by He Cong, Iselin Steiro, and Steinberg. Photographer Heji Shin [IG] captures the campaign with art direction by Sarah Jayne Todd. Panos Yuapanis styles the shoot, which includes a campaign film, executed also by Heji Shin, set to the music of Surkin./ Hair by Duffy; makeup by Lucia Pieroni
Ralph Lauren Shot Purple Collection Fall 2021 Campaign in Milan, Home to New Flagship
/Lachlan Bailey [IG]captures the model-rich Ralph Lauren Purple Fall 2021 campaign, with creative direction by Jack Becht and directing by Bon Duke. Models include Birgit Kos, Freek Iven, Hamid Onifade, He Cong, Joy Islam, Lucky Blue Smith, Merlijne Schorren, Mica Arganaraz, Oulimata and Virgile Elana.
Read MoreHe Cong and Artist San Yu Paintings by Trunk Xu for Marie Claire October 2021
/He Cong and Artist San Yu Paintings by Trunk Xu for Marie Claire October 2021 AOC Fashion
He Cong’s fashion story for Marie Claire China October 2021 juxtaposes art work by the late artist Sanyu against elegant fashion looks styled by Austin Feng. Photographer Trunk Xu [IG] creates the visual masterpiece. / Makeup by Yooyo Keong Ming; hair b Minghu Zhang
See full size fashion images w/o paintings.
The artist Sanyu’s paintings are represented by Sotheby’s who writes that the artist was: among the first wave of Chinese artists of the Paris School during the 1920s. Picasso, Miró and Dalí arrived from Spain, Brancusi came from Romania, joined by Chagall from Russia and Kandinsky from Germany. From across the globe, creative immigrants took up residence in the world’s art capital of Paris.
The stories of the Chinese artists like Sanyu, Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun is of particular interest because their ancient cultural traditions were vastly different from those of the European painters.