V140: A LILY’S BLOSSOMING W/ LILY COLLINS

D I O R . C O M - 8 0 0 .9 2 9. D I O R ( 3 4 67 )

D I O R . C O M - 8 0 0 .9 2 9. D I O R ( 3 4 67 )

D I O R . C O M - 8 0 0 .9 2 9. D I O R ( 3 4 67 )

Table of Contents

In this Issue: Heroes, 26 V News, 30 V Girls, 32 V Trends, 36 A Lily’s Blossoming, 38 Full Force, 48 The Marvel of Maye, 56 Saddle Up, 64 Beyond a Shadow of Doubt, 76 Back For More, 82 What V Want, 88

Cover 1 Lily wears dress HARRIS REED Hat YOHJI YAMAMOTO All jewelry CARTIER Clash hoop earrings, necklace, rings (in rose gold, onyx, diamonds) Cover 2 Lily wears dress and gloves SAINT LAURENT All jewelry CARTIER Panthère de Cartier necklaces, bracelets, ring (in yellow gold, onyx, tsavorite garnets) Cover 3 Lily wears all clothing ALEXANDER MCQUEEN Headpiece NEW YORK VINTAGE All jewelry CARTIER Juste Un Clou earrings (in white gold and diamonds) Brooch (in white gold, onyx, diamonds) On eyes LANCÔME Drama Liqui-Pencil Dramatic Eyeliner in #01 Café Noir

PHOTOGRAPHY GABRIELA WOROSZ SET DESIGN BRIAN PRIMEAUX

On this page GIORGIO ARMANI Violet Clutch (in satin and crinoline) ($2,095, available at select Giorgio Armani boutiques.)

Masthead

COME INTO BLOOM EDITORIAL Stephen Gan

Editor-in-Chief / Creative Director

Melissa Scragg

Czar Van Gaal

Mathias Rosenzweig

Managing Editor / Production Director

Editor / Sales and Distribution Director

Mini V Editor-in-Chief / Digital Director

Dania Curvy

Kevin Ponce

Matthew Velasco Kala Herh

Greg Krelenstein

Managing Digital Editor

Digital and Beauty Editor

Associate Editors

Entertainment Editor

PHOTO / ART Photo Director Goran Macura Director of Creative Services Jennifer Rosenblum Art Director Tobias Holzmann Consulting Creative / Design Greg Foley FASHION Fashion Director Gro Curtis Fashion Market Editor Emma Oleck Contributing Fashion Editors Nicola Formichetti Anastasia Barbieri Patti Wilson Anna Trevelyan George Cortina Amanda Harlech Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele CONTRIBUTORS Nathaniel Goldberg Inez & Vinoodh Richard Burbridge Blair Getz Mezibov Peter Siskos Daniella Midenge Anastasiia Duvallié Gabriela Worosz Hannah Khymych Katie Qian Kendall Bessent Melissa Renée Leamon Zachary Gray Lindsey Hartman Bailey Bujnosek Kayla Curtis-Evans Michael Anthony Hall Derek Blasberg

Lynda Szpiro

Olivia Ayl

Contributing Editor-at-Large

Copy and Research Editor

Office Manager

ADVERTISING / FINANCE Magazine International (Advertising Office for Italy and Switzerland) Luciano Bernardini de Pace luciano@bernardini.it Grazia Mortari mortari@bernandini.it

Eleni Gatsou Bureau (Advertising Office for France and America) Eleni Gatsou eleni@elenigatsou.com Marie-Loup Faggioli marie-loup@elenigatsou.com

Todd Kamelhar

David Renard

Managing Director

Distribution

PRESS AND EVENTS Purple PR Andrew Lister andrew.lister@purplepr.com Amy Choi amy.choi@purplepr.com SPECIAL THANKS Blanc Alexandre Lamare VLM Studio Kim Pollock Art + Commerce Arnault Kononow Amanda Fiala Elite Pedja Govedarica The Society Liza Barlow NEXT Arthur DeMarchelier CAA Elizabeth Mitchell Midland Brian Helm Muse Derek Troy New York Models Nicole Abt Q Management Miguel Olivares WYO Artists Karen Long Home Agency Christine Lavigne Daphne Vargas Andrew Bruggeman SEE Management Leigh Sikorski Laura Groudine De Facto Michelle Marana Quadriga Karine Quadriga The Wall Group Mandy Smulders Humberto Petit Tal Chesed Lillie Blaustein The Visionaries Yan Javeri Opus Beauty Steeve Foussard A-Frame Margaret Park Hannah Hardison Lexi Aguirre Judy Casey Doni Miller INTERNS Ava Manson Erica Marrison Olivia Novato Nicholson Baird Margaux Halloran Adria Luo Jewel Baek May Chen Cecelia Connelly Giulia Bartolotta Nicholas Cafua Sofia Naranjo Josh Mooiweer Noelia Rojas-West

LOEWE Small Puzzle Monochrome Bag (in pale yellow glaze and satin calfskin) ($3,500, available at select Loewe boutiques or loewe.com.)

Digital technician Bob Moyers Photo assistant Tom Cinko Set design assistant Brendan Galvin Location Highlight Studios

CHANEL Messenger Bag (in lambskin shearling, calfskin, metal) ($5,300, available at select Chanel boutiques.)

Editor’s Letter

TURNING A NEW LEAF

BEING A MAGAZINE THAT BLENDS POP CULTURE WITH FASHION, V LOVE A GOOD REINVENTION. FROM MILEY CYRUS TO LADY GAGA AND NICKI MINAJ, ONE OBVIOUS CONNECTION HAS HELD TRUE: THE MORE SOMEONE OR SOMETHING IS ABLE TO SHAPESHIFT, TO REINTRODUCE ITSELF AS THE CENTERPIECE OF A VENN DIAGRAM THAT MERGES FAMILIAR ELEMENTS WITH THE EXCITING AND NOVEL, THE MORE CAPTIVATING AND LONG-LASTING THEIR CAREER AND NARRATIVE BECOME. AS WE REACH THE DAWN OF THE NEW YEAR, WE WANT YOU TO ASK YOURSELF: WHO DO YOU WANT TO BECOME? IF YOU COULD RELEASE YOURSELF FROM ANY SELF OR SOCIALLY PRESCRIBED LIMITATIONS, WHAT TYPE OF PERSON WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR TIME? WITH WHOM? WHERE? AND FINALLY, IN THE WORDS OF GWEN STEFANI—ANOTHER CULTURAL CHAMELEON, “WHAT YOU WAITING FOR?” RENEWING YOURSELF IN LIGHT OF THE NEW YEAR— A REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT, WE KNOW. BUT, IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, HOW OFTEN DO WE MAKE EXCUSES TO STAY AS WE ARE, TO NESTLE FURTHER INTO OUR COMFORT ZONES RATHER THAN SEEKING OUT IMPROVEMENT, FULFILLMENT, OR ADVENTURE? LILY COLLINS, OUR COVER STAR, BECAME A HOUSEHOLD NAME UPON THE RELEASE OF EMILY IN PARIS—A SHOW IN WHICH A COOKIE-CUTTER GIRL FROM CHICAGO LEAVES EVERYTHING SHE KNOWS TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN. SO IT MIGHT BE SILLY, IT MIGHT BE CLICHÉ, BUT IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOME HEAVEN-SENT SIGN, STOP WAITING AND USE THE NEW YEAR TO SHED THAT OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF. FROM ALL OF US AT V, HAPPY NEW YEAR! MR. V

HEROES

Time-honored luminaries break new ground—dazzling silver screens, scorching sound waves, and taking over storied exhibition halls.

While we’ve cherished these artistic forces for years, now they exalt with an overwhelming and refreshed, creative verve

PATRICIA FIELD THE LARGER-THAN-LIFE COSTUME DESIGNER STITCHED IN POP CULTURE How does one begin to describe Patricia Field? She’s a fashion industry fixture with a fiery-red mane, a native New Yorker, a trendsetting provocateur, and a champion for LGBTQ+ creatives—and that’s not even the half of it. Field is the mythical multi-hyphenate in fashion, having tried on the hats of retailer, stylist, costume designer, and curator. And is perhaps best known as the costume designer for Sex and the City during its glorious six-season run—the 81-year-old icon has had quite the career.

As a child, Field eagerly absorbed the sights and sounds of bustling mid-century New York. Her mother Marika, a Greek immigrant who built a dry-cleaning empire, inspired Field to go after what she wanted. “Fashion was just something that always felt right and something I could turn to.

It really became a way for me to express myself,” Field shares with V. After graduating from NYU in 1963, Field cut her teeth in the backrooms of discount designer outlets, obsessing over Wragge separates and Chanel tweed. 1966 saw Field opening her first store, Pants Pub. Originally located at Washington Place, the storefront moved to a larger space on East 8th Street and became Patricia Field, her namesake boutique where Studio 54 regulars would gather to curate their glamorous looks before a wild night out. At the center of it all was Field herself, who began to accumulate a dreamy coterie of designers, drag queens, celebrity clientele, and visual artists. Think Halston and Basquiat, Lepore and Lauper, Madonna and Kravitz.

Field’s ever-expanding network helped her break into costume design. Her unique eye for anticipating and creating trends led to more calls and bigger projects, including 1995’s Miami Rhapsody, where she met Sarah Jessica Parker. The actress would recommend Field to Sex and the City creator Darren Star—and the rest is history. From the iconic white tutu to the Fendi Baguette bags and all those Manolo Blahnik heels, everything Field touched turned into TV-fashion gold. Her Emmy-winning designs for Carrie Bradshaw and Company cemented her status as a oneof-a-kind talent. Sex and the City wrapped in 2004, but Field’s work was just beginning. In the last two decades, she’s won over a new generation with her stellar styling for shows like Younger and Emily in Paris—not to mention earning an Oscar nod for her work on The Devil Wears Prada. Her new autobiography, Pat in the City: My Life of Fashion, Style, and Breaking All the Rules, out this year, chronicles it all. Field’s book gives readers a front-row seat to her journey from a tomboyish Queens kid coveting designer duds to a rebellious fashionista and eventually a household name. Alongside the descriptions of gorgeous clothes and crazy celebrity encounters, Field offers a candid reflection on her life’s highs and lows and all the people who made the ride worthwhile.

Despite being in the industry for half a century, Field still manages to surprise. In 2016, she sold her beloved boutique, shifting her attention to a new concept: a hybrid gallery store called ArtFashion. The inventive shop boasts creations from cutting-edge visual artists—handpicked by Field herself. Yet, even with this new adventure, Field is doing what she’s always done—as an undergrad rifling through discount bins, as a storeowner dressing every glamorous oddball in NYC, and as a visionary costume designer—finding hidden gems and sharing them with the world. BAILEY BUJNOSEK

Pat in the City: My Life of Fashion, Style, and Breaking All the Rules is available February 14, 2023 via Harper Collins.

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Patricia Field photographed by Johnny Rozsa.

Heroes

Makeup Mitch Yoshida Hair Niko Weddle (Judy Casey) using Shu Uemura Art of Hair Location Blanc Studios New York

All clothing GUCCI

MING SMITH A VISIONARY EXPOSING CONTEMPORARY CULTURE, FRAME BY FRAME

Photography KENDALL BESSENT Fashion MELISSA RENEÉ LEAMON

There’s a spiritual aspect in Ming Smith’s photography, one that’s recognized in the refracted light that shines off a car window or the shadows that obscure parts of a face. Smith acknowledges the importance of temporality in her work, savoring fleeting moments, either stored in her mind or the film wound in her camera. Often finding herself cherishing these moments alone at a park, Smith speaks to the rare omens that may appear: “I look up, and there’s this bird, this bluebird,” Smith recounts. “It was tweeting, and it looked like it was for me–I had never seen a blue that blue. I tried to get a good picture of it, but it was gone. I Googled it later, and [the bird] represents joy, love, and a change for good.”

At an early age, Smith became enthralled by photography through her father, who owned, but was very protective over, his cameras. Having the opportunity to handle a camera in Smith’s adolescence laid a foundation for her to explore photography through an artistic lens—a contrast to the industry at the time, where photography was a means of documentation and cataloging. Born in Detroit, Michigan, with a childhood in Columbus, Ohio, the Howard University graduate found herself in New York City chasing dreams of becoming a model, though later, she cemented her passions as a photographer. Smith’s emotive offerings capture scenes of jazz shows, the streets of Harlem, James Baldwin in Paris, women at leisure, and people in motion—a gaze swatched in feeling and never devoid of spontaneity. “I’ve always approached my photography at the moment,” Smith explains. “It’s one time in your life when you have some control, and you’re just capturing that particular scene. So whatever you’re feeling, those emotions come out of living in the moment.”

Since shedding early ambitions of modeling, taking the time to concentrate on her craft allowed Smith to become the first and only

woman in the Kamoinge Workshop, a group of Black photographers founded by Roy DeCarava. This collective of influential photographers celebrated Black culture through individualized image-making, highlighting the vibrance of Black American life. These years were a chrysalis in Smith’s journey, developing her instinctual eye and lent perspective. Amassing decades of work, a meditation on existence through everyday acts, Smith’s art is cathartic, relieving emotions that may stay pent up otherwise. “The intention is to create something beautiful. In some of my most terrible years, or when I had a lot of angst or anxiety, I used the camera to get me through those moments,” Smith notes. “It was peaceful, but I could also do it anytime I wanted. There is freedom in photography for me.”

Becoming the first Black woman to have her photography acquired by the Museum of Modern Art–decades later, Smith anticipates her upcoming solo exhibition, Projects: Ming Smith, a full-circle moment for the New York-based artist. Presenting archives threading years of observations and experimentations that have informed contemporary photography, Smith invites viewers to embrace her love of music, atmospheric visuals, and cosmic accounts that bear witness to her unique point of view. Reaching into the depths of her consciousness for the past 40 years, Smith’s legacy is a string of raw images drenched in visceral emotion, allowing young creatives to envision themselves as artists who can accomplish anything they set their minds to.

MICHAEL ANTHONY HALL

Projects: Ming Smith is on view at the Museum of Modern Art February 4 through May 29, 2023.

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From left to right Taylor wears top SAINT LAURENT Jacket MARNI Jeans NUDIE Shoes DR. MARTENS Hayley wears top and skirt COPERNI Glasses GENTLE MONSTER Shoes SAINT LAURENT Earrings SHUSHU/TONG Rings MISHO

PARAMORE THE BOUNDARY-BREAKING BAND BACK WITH A BITE

Photography ZACHARY GRAY Fashion LINDSEY HARTMAN

“The temperature culturally, everything is urgent,” Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams says of our global climate, and the common thread piecing together the band’s triumphant sixth studio album, This Is Why. “If we don’t figure out our planet, we’re not going to have rights to fight for in the first place. Everything feels urgent.”

For Williams, guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro, the past four years have been a period of sobering reflection, shrouded by a global pandemic, fights against racial injustice, and political upheaval. In 2018, the band decided to go on hiatus, spending the time off to explore friendship, personal projects—Williams released two solo albums and Farro dropped a string of records under his solo moniker, HalfNoise—and their identities outside of the beloved trio whose punchy, genre-bending hits and angsty melodies we’ve embraced for over two decades. The period was a welcomed exploration for the trio, who first met in the early 2000s as teenagers, playing and writing in York’s basement, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. “Our goal was always just to make music,” Farro explains. “But I didn’t realize having the same friendships for over 20 years is more important than anything. That’s one of the most amazing things about our band—we’ve been through hell and back, but it’s made our friendships that much better.”

In the time since, the unassuming, self-proclaimed “nerds” have transcended their small-town upbringing, ultimately cementing themselves as one of music’s most successful acts—with an impressive catalog of mainstream hits like “That’s What You Get” and “Still Into You” and more experimental offerings seen on tracks like “Future,” off of the band’s 2013 self-titled album. Their sound is instantly recognizable—unflinching in spirit and deeply personal in nature—with Williams’ signature emotive vocals, York’s electric riffs, and Farro’s punchy drum lines culminating in a sonic signature that has soundtracked, and backdropped, a generation.

Utilizing lessons gleaned over time off and tidbits from their previous five albums, the band returned last fall with the album’s lead single and title track, “This Is Why.” Slow-building and decidedly explosive, the track is Paramore at their best—fiery, sensible, and passionate with a hint of unwavering honesty. “That track was the last song we wrote for the record, we were so tired and completely spent,” York shares. “For that to be the first [song] that comes out and the reception it’s had is amazing.

We don’t take it for granted.” The wider album—a 10-track offering diving into personal journeys and 21st century realities—looks to the post-punk and dance-rock brilliance of the early 2000s, as well as the essence of Bloc Party—the English rock band whose aggressive sound the trio continually referenced throughout the creative process—as inspiration.

Not only taking cues externally, This Is Why combines elements of the band’s encyclopedic musical catalog, building off of sounds seen on the trio’s previous album After Laughter, as well as churning out new, experimental touchpoints throughout.

While Paramore’s hiatus shocked some, This Is Why proves that it was all worthwhile. It is a welcomed and victorious return for one of alt-rock’s most-beloved squads, a call to arms of sorts, and a love letter to our tumultuous world. “Sometimes I feel like This Is Why is a political album, other times I think it’s a completely personal album,” Williams shares. “It’s both and that’s what it feels like to be alive right now—it’s a really urgent, scary, chaotic time. So when there’s joy and moments of victory, you want to relish [in] that. You want to squeeze every drop from it to make it last.”

MATTHEW VELASCO

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This Is Why is available on all streaming platforms February 10, 2023.

Grooming Brian O’Connor Photo assistants Bennet Perez, Lonnie Dean Location The Yard

Zac wears jacket HAN KJOBENHAVN Pants MARNI Hat STAUD

Heroes

ROBERTA FLACK THE TIMELESS, SOULFUL VOICE SERENADING AWAY SOCIETY’S SORROWS The first time Roberta Flack put out a recording, it was an unexpected success. No one had expected a music teacher who occasionally performed at nightclubs to produce such a rich breadth of work. “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” from 1972, became a major international hit, taking the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 and winning Flack a Grammy Award. Since then, in an extraordinary career spanning more than 85 years, Flack has released dozens of songs, producing a body of work that has not only stood the test of time, but cemented itself in the musical canon for all to love and cherish.

Ever since she was a young girl, it was clear that Flack had a gift. She first sidled up to a piano at age nine, and within a few years of studying, when she was only 15, she was awarded a full music scholarship to Howard University. After the success of her debut album, First Take, Flack went on to record her now infamous track, “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” which won her another Grammy Award–creating history and making Flack the first solo artist to win the Award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years.

“Roberta brought a kind of reflectiveness, a space to actually think and imagine,” says the renowned civil rights activist Angela Davis, who was also a close friend of Flack and shared in a recent interview. “Art and music can bring about a transformation on the emotional level regarding that which we don’t know how to say.”

Flack created a musical language that, as Davis so eloquently illustrates, makes the inexpressible palpable. This language is descriptive, but not narrowly so. Flack and her legacy are forever immortalized in the upcoming film, American Masters: Roberta Flack. Here, she comes to us from the place it all began–Mr. Henry’s in Capitol Hill, serenading us with her renditions of folk ballads and Motown hits. Directed by Antonino D’Ambrosio, who is no stranger to documentaries on musicians, the film places “Roberta front and center” and shares her monumental influence on music and pop culture.

“What makes her truly a legendary visionary was that she was a resolute badass from start to finish,” shares D’Ambrosio with V. “She was unfettered and undaunted. Toward the end of the film, you see her receive the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and it was a surreal moment because every single musician there stood on her shoulders.

She was surrounded by John Legend, Ariana Grande, Lizzo–you name it, and all of them wanted to connect with Roberta.”

Flack not only used her voice for her songs but also when championing civil rights. Flack used her powerful platform to sing about the Black experience in America and created space for Black women to produce their own music–Maxi Priest, Lauryn Hill, and Alicia Keys are a few musicians who have cited Flack as a musical influence and inspiration. “It’s not like I’m trying to sound like somebody else or be somebody else,” Roberta shares in the film. “I’m happy to be Roberta Flack. I’m happy to sound like I do.” And we are, too, as music as we know it would not be the same without the ineffable Roberta Flack. KALA HERH

American Masters: Roberta Flack is available to stream on January 24, 2023 via PBS.

Roberta Flack photographed July 31, 1972.

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ON THE PULSE Art, fashion, and culture collide with imaginative vigor, as lauded creatives make their mark—introducing the new year with highly anticipated exhibitions, innovative hardbound releases, and newly minted collections

LOUIS VUITTON X YAYOI KUSAMA IMAGINES INFINITY

In 2012, celebrated artist Yayoi Kusama debuted an electric collection with Louis Vuitton that left the world begging for more. Now, the dream duo is reuniting for another groundbreaking collaboration–11 years in the making.

Louis Vuitton ✕ Yayoi Kusama brings the Japanese artist’s iconic imagery to ready-to-wear, bags, shoes, and even fragrances. Kusama’s signature painted dots are reproduced on classics like the LV Monogram canvas bag through a serigraphy technique that maintains the nuance of her original brushstrokes. Metal dots, hand-placed on mini dresses, trunks, and loafers, convey the wonder of her limitless Infinity Mirror Rooms. Other offerings feature Kusama’s instantly recognizable infinity dots and psychedelic flower motifs. The collection’s bold designs inspire a new perspective on the visionary artist’s oeuvre, elevated by the luxury house’s peerless craftsmanship. Louis Vuitton ✕ Yayoi Kusama prove an unstoppable team, inspiring each other to push their artistry further—because together, the possibilities are infinite. BAILEY BUJNOSEK Louis Vuitton ✕ Yayoi Kusama (Drop 1) is available on January 6, 2023, at Louis Vuitton stores.

All bags LOUIS VUITTON ✕ YAYOI KUSAMA 30

V News

THE DECADES OF DIOR

Photography PETER SISKOS Fashion EMMA OLECK

Deconstruction, reconstruction, metamorphosis. Dior’s Parisian headquarters has seen it all, and thanks to photographer Robert Polidori, so can we. Through the lens, rooms that once havened the finest of French haute couture are demolished into nothing, as the house’s own hôtel particulier undergoes the remodel of the century. In writing, the words of Emanuele Coccia narrate the evolution of the wondrous refuge built back up from the ground. Forever imprinted on its clothbound crystal pages, this iconography follows the address that first caught the eye of Christian Dior in 1946, as it’s reborn again to home history of the future. AVA MANSON

AES+F RENDERS THE SURREAL REAL

Allow us to introduce you to the fantastical, beautiful–albeit crazy–world of AES+F. Here, policemen sit atop centaurs in a field of grass and well-off individuals exercise in spin workout classes in Buddhist temples. It’s absurd and preposterous, but purposefully so. The artist collective specializes in digital works that satirize centuries-long allegories and poke fun at age-old beliefs. This 480-page volume showcases the group’s formidable efforts in socially conscious artmaking over the past three decades in alluring depth and detail. Organized into three sections, the tome articulates their visual journey, highlighting their most significant shifts since their conceptual evolution. And with this unprecedented look, AES+F establishes themselves as not just an influential force in digital practices, but in the whole contemporary art movement. KALA HERH

Dior Metamorphosis is available February 28, 2023 via Rizzoli.

AES+F is available February 28, 2023 via Rizzoli.

What truly deserves the moniker “timepiece” nowadays? For Omega, that sentiment is carried throughout the luxury watchmaker’s De Ville Prestige collection, first released to major success in 1994. Now, Omega’s Third Generation of the De Ville Prestige collection combines the best assets of its brand identity with the decade-spanning history of the beloved line. Debuting with six new watches, this time around, the brand opted for an even slimmer profile that fits the wrist just right. Omega’s latest De Ville Prestige collection reminds us of the value of workmanship. Because, after all, a true timepiece withstands the test of time. MV The Omega De Ville Prestige collection is now available at omegawatches.com.

What better embodies the modern fashion landscape than an American designer, heading an Italian house, celebrating Lunar New Year? To commemorate The Year of the Rabbit, Moschino Creative Director Jeremy Scott is bringing famed pop culture icon Bugs Bunny to the forefront of the brand’s latest capsule collection. Featuring house favorites and wearable must-haves, the range is a spirited marker of the new year, in signature Scott fashion. Both celebratory and thoughtful, commemorative and cheeky, Moschino’s latest capsule collection is a reminder of our shared bonds—and a subtle hint to embrace our inner Bugs Bunny in the coming year. MATTHEW VELASCO

All watches OMEGA Glove VEX LATEX

OMEGA’S TEST OF TIME

All clothing MOSCHINO Necklace SWAROVSKI

Makeup Virginia Young (Home Agency) Hair Junya Nakashima Models Imari Karanja (Next) Manicure Jazz Style (SEE Management) Digital technician Nick Barr Photo assistants Jesse Russell, Ashton Herman

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH MOSCHINO

SIMONE FORTI ON THE MOVE

VALENTINO’S VOYAGE HOME

If there’s a thread to be stitched between the body and the earth, then it’s Simone Forti who holds the needle. Known for a striking depth of movement in her six decades of choreography, the visual artist may best be represented by her Dance Constructions, sculpturist interpretations of the human form in synergy with assorted props—but that’s far from all. Soon to grace the galleries of Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art is a sweeping account of Forti’s monumental career and dynamic work, transcending her famed Constructions. From video documentation to performance ephemera spanning 60 years, the exhibition is nothing less than the ultimate homage to a contemporary creative. AM

Simone Forti is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art January 15 through April 2, 2023.

The Moschino Bugs Bunny collection is available on January 2, 2023 at Moschino stores.

Valentino Garavani had an indelible infatuation with color—a constant throughout the creative’s boundary-breaking work and a touchpoint that has remained a signature of the house ever since its inception. Now Valentino is making the journey to Doha, Qatar, for a delightful exploration of the house’s renowned legacy. Forever – Valentino displays the evolution of the brand’s decade-spanning history, including over 200 pieces of haute couture and prêt-à-porter highlighting the role that Rome has played in the evolution of the Italian house.

The presentation is Valentino’s largest exhibition to date, coinciding with Valentino Garavani’s 90th birthday—a glimpse to the past and a welcomed, full-color snapshot into the future.

NICHOLSON BAIRD

Forever – Valentino is open now until April 1, 2023.

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DENIM DIMENSION From left to right Shoe R13 Jacket and jeans GUESS Belt GOLDEN GOOSE Jewelry DAVID YURMAN Jacket and jeans ZADIG & VOLTAIRE On eyes DIOR BEAUTY Mono Couleur Couture Eyeshadow in #240 Denim

V TRENDS This season is all about more, in every sense of the term: bold, kaleidoscopic colorways shine bright, tantalizing sheer packs a punch, and denim does a double take Photography PETER SISKOS Fashion EMMA OLECK 36

V Trends

CUT IN CHROME

Makeup Virginia Young (Home Agency) Hair Junya Nakashima Models Imari Karanja (Next), Electra 3000, Amane Taniguchi (The Society) Manicure Jazz Style (SEE Management) Digital technician Nick Barr Photo assistants Jesse Russell, Ashton Herman Retouching Madly Unda (IWonderU/Studios)

From left to right Jacket ARMANI EXCHANGE Rings MESSIKA PARIS Vest and jacket (worn as skirt) ARMANI EXCHANGE Earrings PANCONESI Necklace and bracelets ALEXIS BITTAR Shirt and pants GCDS Bracelets ALEXIS BITTAR

SHEER TRANSPARENCY

From left to right Dress MISSONI Earring PANCONESI Dress MSGM Gloves VEX LATEX Rings MESSIKA PARIS Bodysuit and skirt MSGM All flower accessories 4SALEBYOWNER On eyes MILK MAKEUP Color Chalk in Skip It 37

V GIRLS

Ranging from delectable pop and punk to heartfelt jazz and R&B, this lively ensemble of emerging, multidimensional musicians are coming for the charts–and your heart–through razor-sharp production and a candid approach to lyricism Photography HANNAH KHYMYCH Fashion KATIE QIAN

COCO JONES MULTI-HYPHENATE MAINSTAY WITH A DEEPER PURPOSE Coco Jones made her debut in the spotlight as a Disney star, gracing the screen in throwback shows and original movies that proved her entertainment chops early on. She is a natural triple threat—singing, acting, and dancing her way into audience’s hearts through relatable characters and uplifting songs. Donning facades became instinctive for Jones, but as she progressed, she sought to shed the various personality “masks” and create a distinct persona that reached far beyond her

on-screen portrayals. It wasn’t until later in her career that Jones had to tackle perhaps the most challenging role of all: herself.

The poised performer expresses that she faced many barriers in moving from a younger space to a more mature identity, both sonically and personally. Nonetheless, under a decade later since her Disney debut, Jones has found her true niche with the release of her debut EP, What I Didn’t Tell You. She takes it all in stride, coolly confirming that this journey, no matter

how tumultuous, was always her destined path.

“If my younger self could see me now, she’d say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s exactly what I told you guys I was gonna do.’”

So without elaborate costumes, cameras, blinding production lights, and music studios— who is Coco Jones? At heart, she remains the same passionate artist she’s always been.

While always remaining true to her younger self, Jones also wants listeners to know that her experiences over the years have transformed her into a seasoned creative—one who now knows what serves her and possesses the power to rid herself of the things that don’t.

What I Didn’t Tell You, effortlessly blends her smooth sound with nostalgic ’90s elements, informed by peers she applauds and familiar childhood acts like The Cheetah Girls, who Jones admires for their versatility. The EP takes listeners on an empowering journey through all of Jones’ triumphs thus far and displays a woman who now knows where she stands—and though that journey may still be developing, she is surely setting the tone as a modern R&B powerhouse to watch.

When she isn’t making sultry, soulful tunes, Jones portrays the modern version of Hilary Banks in Bel-Air, the newly released series that reimagines the widely embraced family sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. “There are so many layers to being Hilary because, historically, she’s known to look a specific way and have specific traits,” Jones shares on playing the beloved character. “I got the opportunity to break through so many of those stereotypes and to represent Black women in this different, refreshing way.”

“I had to find my voice, what I really wanted to say, and what felt authentic to me, that wasn’t just me playing another character,” says Jones, reflecting on her recent creative endeavors.

“I hope that I can connect with the girls that are like me. The girls who don’t want to lose themselves on the journey, but find themselves along the way.” KAYLA CURTIS-EVANS

Bel-Air is available to stream on February 23, 2023 via Peacock and What I Didn’t Tell You is now available on all streaming platforms.

Jacket, pants, earrings, shoes, bag BALENCIAGA / ADIDAS Bodysuit ANOUKI Necklace DAVID YURMAN 32

V Girls

SABRINA CLAUDIO THE STIRRING STORYTELLER WITH AN R&B INFLUENCE

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Since she was a kid, Sabrina Claudio wanted to make music. Great music. The kind that you fall asleep thinking about. The kind you can’t wait to share with your friends. The kind that you return to time and again, always finding a new layer of meaning. It’s this singular sense of purpose that propelled Claudio from a SoundCloud artist to a Grammy-nominated songwriter in just six years.

Well before she started releasing her own material, the Miami-native found herself falling in love with music. Growing up with Cuban and Puerto Rican parents, dance music like salsa, merengue, and reggaeton were inescapable. “You’ll listen to my music and you won’t really associate the two, but it really did teach me a lot about melodics, layers, and all that type of stuff,” Claudio explains to V. More direct influences on her sound came from her family. Her grandfather turned her on to jazz and bossa nova. Her father exposed her to R&B and soul. Claudio had powerhouse artists like Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey on repeat and became a Destiny’s Child fan, not dreaming that she would one day have Keys feature on her 2020 Christmas album, or co-write a track with Syd that would end up on Beyoncé’s Renaissance.

That Beyoncé track—”PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA”—was one of the first Claudio wrote after moving to Los Angeles to pursue her dream career in music. She’d garnered an audience from SoundCloud releases, culminating in her stellar debut EP, Confidently Lost , in 2017.

Claudio was labeled an artist to watch, a title she proved she deserved with the release of her innovative full-length mixtape, About Time, the same year. The four studio albums that followed document her growth from a virtuoso newcomer to a veteran singer-songwriter confident in her artistry.

Her most recent album, 2022’s Based On A Feeling, came after an informal hiatus of several years. “I was in a weird situation, career-wise and business-wise, where I was completely unmotivated to even get in the studio, let alone release new music,” she recalls. A conversation with a friend helped her out of her funk, and Claudio spent two months crafting the album, a combination of intimate lyricism, thoughtful instrumentals (see: live strings), and her signature silky vocals. Its release, along with “PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA” receiving a Grammy nod, have made the last year a busy time for the newly independent artist. “I’m exploring a newfound freedom that I’ve pretty much never had my whole career, and who knows what’s gonna happen?” she says with a laugh. While others would be intimidated by uncertainty, Claudio is in her comfort zone. As long as she can make music, she knows she’ll be all right. BAILEY BUJNOSEK

Based On A Feeling is now available on all streaming platforms.

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All clothing and accessories CHANEL On eyes R.E.M. BEAUTY Midnight Shadows Lustrous Liquid Eyeshadow in Milky Way

The name Sabrina Carpenter isn’t one you know by accident. She’s not a success story of happenstantial fame or an anecdote of viral stardom. Her 28 million Instagram followers don’t flock to her page just to witness her beauty (granted, that would be enough) but to catch a glimpse of a radiant popstar, raw with emotion and eager in her craft, composing a world where authenticity overrides the fear of vulnerability.

Where, with one voice, millions feel heard.

Before the labels “singer,” “actor,” or “Disneyhailing-child-star,” the girl behind the curtain bangs is one who loves to sing. As a child, she’d parade around her small-town Pennsylvania diner singing to tables, basking in the local spotlight. In school, she never missed a talent show. “I was constantly singing and writing songs,” the artist remembers. “I loved the feeling of connecting with people and making them happy.” And while Carpenter’s story wouldn’t be complete without her ultimate rise to fame on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World, the 23-yearold isn’t here to relive the days of her childhood shows or sitcom-starring teens. Instead, she looks to the future, entrusting her fans with her most recent confessional, Emails I Can’t Send.

“It felt like a first album for me in a lot of ways,” Carpenter says of the intimate tracklist, despite four records that precede it. “A lot of it came from a really painful point in my life.

It was a challenge to push myself throughout the process.” But push herself she did, layering diary-spilled harmonies atop live instrumentation in one ample step toward musical autonomy. For someone who admits to nerves at the post of an Instagram picture, growing out of her adolescent image was one thing.

Chronicling its accompanying thoughts to the world was another.

It wasn’t just that sharing was difficult— if anything, performing was the easy part. From the start, the album’s title track was the hardest song she had ever recorded, the intensity of its subject matter—strained relatonships with family—demanding nothing less than vocal perfection. In the end, she could hardly look at it, leaving demo vocals on the final track.

It wasn’t long before Carpenter realized she wasn’t alone. Drawn to her heartfelt ballads and cheeky wit, fans sold out her headline tour in less than 24 hours. “It feels triumphant,” the singer laughs, “there were moments I felt so isolated, and those are the moments people pick out and scream at the top of their lungs on tour.” In hindsight, pain is the last word in mind when Carpenter thinks of her most recent album. With an authenticity that’s unmatched in the age of social media, she’s opened her heart and reminded us all—she may be a popstar, but she’s human first. AVA MANSON

Emails I Can’t Send is now available on all streaming platforms.

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Makeup (RAYE, Sabrina Carpenter, Sabrina Claudio) Rob Rumsey (A-Frame) Makeup (Coco) Kenya Alexis (Opus Beauty) Hair Marty Harper (The Wall Group) Executive producer May Lin Le Goff (Aries Rising Projects) On set Producer Emily Won Digital technician Ramon Felix Lighting director Phil Sanchez Photo assistant Bianca Basic Stylist assistant Abby Gordon Location Dust Studios

SABRINA CARPENTER A POP POWERHOUSE ON THE PRECIPICE OF MEGA-STARDOM

V Girls

RAYE THE LONDON LYRICIST COMES INTO THE LIGHT

All clothing and necklace VERSACE Earrings LILLIAN SHALOM On eyes ABOUT-FACE Matte Fluid Eye Paint in Art of Darkness

In RAYE’s bedroom hangs a poster of Nina Simone. Below the image of the legendary singer-songwriter reads one of her most famous quotes: “An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” Usually, the poster, which hangs in her South London home, served as daily inspiration–something she would quickly glance at on her way to the studio. But in the year 2021, it served as an urgent call to action.

“I’ve wanted to come out with a debut album for so long, but my label didn’t let me. I remember sitting in my living, looking at that poster of Nina Simone and being like, ‘What am I doing?’”

Label executives told RAYE that she didn’t have the budget to release a solo album–despite the artist earning four Brit Award nominations and penning highly successful tracks for John Legend, Charli XCX, and even Beyoncé (which collectively landed her over one billion streams on Spotify). And while the beats were catchy and the lyrics relatable, RAYE felt like they didn’t adequately represent her experience and what she wanted to say with her music. So later that year, she split with her label and began the process of falling in love with music again. After a few months of sifting through the 700 unrecorded songs on her desktop, RAYE’s debut album, My 21st Century Blues., is finally here. It’s bold, it’s beautiful, and it’s unapologetically her.

“I knew that I wanted to create a body of work that unveiled my perspective–the shit parts of life that I’d kept in private. I like to think of it as a fragmented mosaic, but I couldn’t be more proud of it,” RAYE shares from a coffee shop in New York City, where we caught her in between two sold-out shows. She’s in town for the announcement of her album, sprinkling the new releases in between the remastered version of her old songs: “Bed,” “Secrets,” and “You Don’t Know Me.” RAYE’s new album chronicles her “beautifully ugly journey” in music and elsewhere, documenting her experience with misogyny, sexual assault, and toxic relationships. And while the new work explores themes darker than anything we’ve ever heard from her, it’s not a dreary sob story, but rather a tale of resilience. “I think the lyrical and sonic juxtaposition of the album is important,” RAYE elaborates. “When you put these sad lyrics over that hip-hop groove, it allows me to process my emotions better. I hope, if anything, the album gives people a place to put certain emotions they haven’t talked about before.” And just as she starts a conversation about the common experiences of a young twentysomething, she too pioneers her own path forward. With this debut album, RAYE steps out of the background and into a light of her own. KALA HERH

My 21st Century Blues. is available on all streaming platforms February 3, 2023.

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LILY COLLINS HELPED SHAPE A CULTURAL SHENOMENON. WHAT’S MORE: SHE MADE IT LOOK EASY Photography NATHANIEL GOLDBERG Fashion GRO CURTIS Text MATHIAS ROSENZWEIG

A Lily’s Blossoming

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All clothing and hat SCHIAPARELLI All jewelry CARTIER Beautés du Monde earring (in white gold, rubellite, onyx, diamonds) Juste Un Clou rings (in white, gold, diamonds) On lips LANCÔME L’Absolu Rouge Cream Lipstick in #257 Mon Macaron

All clothing BURBERRY All jewelry CARTIER Clash earrings and necklace (in rose gold, onyx, diamonds)

Dress HARRIS REED Hat YOHJI YAMAMOTO All jewelry CARTIER Clash hoop earrings, necklace, rings (in rose gold, onyx, diamonds)

All clothing GUCCI All jewelry CARTIER Clash earrings, necklace, rings (in rose gold)

Dress and gloves SAINT LAURENT All jewelry CARTIER Panthère de Cartier necklaces, bracelets, ring (in yellow gold, onyx, tsavorite garnets)

“I STARTED LEARNING WHAT IT MEANT TO REALLY USE MY VOICE AND PRODUCE [WHILE WORKING ON] EMILY IN PARIS BECAUSE I WAS GIVEN THE PLATFORM AND SPACE. I WAS REALLY RESPECTED AND TRUSTED AND THAT VOICE WAS NURTURED ON SET.” —LILY COLLINS

All clothing ALEXANDER MCQUEEN Headpiece NEW YORK VINTAGE All jewelry CARTIER Juste Un Clou earrings (in white gold and diamonds) Brooch (in white gold, onyx, diamonds) On eyes LANCÔME Drama Liqui-Pencil Dramatic Eyeliner in #01 Café Noir

A lily’s bulb, like an onion, has layers. And so while you might assume to know everything about 33-year-old producer and actress Lily Collins thanks to dozens of magazine covers, a very famous father, and the inescapability of her hit Netflix show Emily in Paris, you’d be mistaken.

Even if you haven’t seen Emily in Paris, you already have a rough impression of its plotline: Emily Cooper, an American girl from Chicago, is just minding her own business (Elle s’occupe de ses oignons as they say in France), when she’s asked to relocate to Paris for one reason or another (in this case, it’s a job opportunity via her marketing company to bring her American perspective to a newly acquired firm in France).

The polar opposite of a Francophone, she blunders her French, is the catalyst for cringeworthy cultural clashes (“Emilie” stems from the Latin word for “rival,” after all), meets and falls for supermodel men who play the roles of chefs or bankers, wears head-turning outfits, gathers a gaggle of friends and, over time, adjusts to life after being cast out to sea on her lonesome.

“I read the pilot and thought, I would want to watch this,” Collins says over Zoom. She’s somewhere North of Los Angeles, preparing for Thanksgiving with her family. “It’s totally something I’d binge, and I knew that my mom would, too.” She mentions her mother specifically on the topic of the show’s appeal to a wide age range, something she didn’t initially anticipate. “The first season came out when we were experiencing COVID, so we didn’t get many human interactions after releasing the show,” she recalls. “But when we came back to Paris, people were recognizing us, and the age didn’t matter—it could be 10 years old all the way up to one’s grandparents’ age.” And while Nielsen reported that 77 percent of season two viewers were female, (hence the shenomenon), and I’d love to think of the show as being for the girlies and the gays, we’re not alone. “A lot of husbands would come up to us and say, ‘I started watching it for my wife but I think I wound up watching it quicker than she did.’”

But while Emily in Paris is silly, colorful, hilarious, and heartfelt, how did it become one of the most-streamed shows of all time? Well, Americans have been either dreaming about moving abroad or actually doing so in droves, particularly in recent years (during which Emily in Paris happened to be on TV).

“Since 2020, we have seen a steady increase in traffic of people from the United States coming to our website to learn about how to move abroad,” said Alison Johnson, co-founder of wherecani.live. “It’s not slowing down, either,” she added. The website saw a 193 percent spike in U.S. traffic immediately after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24 of this year. Such spikes are regularly seen after incidents of gun violence in the U.S., signaling that, sadly, people are looking to leave for fears of safety (there was also a 22 percent jump in traffic after the January 6 Capitol riot) or the loss of rights. According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, a majority of those moving abroad are between the ages of 25 and 34 years old, with 23 percent of expats moving due to work—that’s Emily Cooper, exactly.

And so while the show’s plot mirrors (and somewhat fuels) a very literal and physical move into a new place, so too is it relatable to anyone starting a new chapter, or dreaming of

doing so. Safe to say, that’s a majority of the human population, helping to explain how we watched 107.6 million hours of the second season in its first five days. Whether you’re fantasizing about actually leaving your life behind and starting anew thousands of miles away or are simply looking to start a new chapter—“It’s almost like when you’re a kid and you got to a new school and are just like, ‘Well, I guess I’ll see what happens,’’’ Collins remarks—simultaneously enjoying the excitement of novelty while also conquering its sidecar of difficulties is an inescapable part of the human journey. What Emily in Paris succeeds at is capturing this beautifully and accessibly.

Unsurprisingly, Collins has started several new chapters before reaching that of global screen queen. “I wrote for magazines starting at 16 years old in England. I wrote for Elle Girl, the L.A. Times, I worked for Nickelodeon, I reported on Obama’s inauguration,” she says about her days working on the other side of the media.

Previously, she’s mentioned being thankful for this time as a journalist—in a way, it was a unique form of media training for her current celebrity. She then went on to write a book, Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me. “When I wrote my book, I said to myself, ‘I’m gonna have my Carrie Bradshaw moment.

I’m gonna just move to New York, hide away in an apartment, and I’m just gonna write my book,’” she says. “I got dates, I got an editor, I got a publishing house, and then I wound up booking three jobs back-to-back and had to write it all over the world.”

Those bookings were surely for acting, something Collins has technically done since her toddlerhood, although she didn’t dive in more professionally until she was about 20, with roles in The Blind Side (alongside Sandra Bullock), and Abduction.

“I definitely got rejected a lot at the beginning,” she admits. “I got told ‘no’ over and over and over again. The feedback was that I was too green. I was like, I don’t know what that means,” she jokes. “Like, green as in ‘go’”? But really I needed a little more maturing, practice, and experience. I guess, for me, it was always really important to not take [rejection] as, “No, this isn’t going to be for you.” It was just, “No, not right now.” I think whatever creative outlet, whether it’s music, acting, or writing, if you want to be a lawyer, a dancer, if you feel strongly that it is just so much a part of who you are, deep down to the core, you know that, ultimately, you’re going to get there somehow.”

A lot of kids today, raised with social media, might expect to springboard from the platforms into movie star roles. In the rare chance that this happens, it’s not necessarily the healthiest way in. “I think to meet people, to connect, to learn, that’s all going to better inform the craft, the skills, and your strength,” she says. “Even if you were an overnight success”—which now, with several decades of acting at various intervals of seriousness, Collins was not—“even if you had an amazing hit song or hit movie or hit TV show, and then the next thing you did bombed, well, it’s kind of that famous saying, ‘You’re only as good as your last performance.’ You really need to develop the backbone to be able to power through the negative, because you’re not always gonna get good reviews. I’ve not always gotten good reviews—believe me.”

For Collins, that backbone (in a professional sense) took well over a decade to build. “The first movie I did, I was 20 years old and I’m now 33. And to be able to have done my first film and now be talking about creating a production company, you know, 13 years later. If I were to have told my 20-year-old self I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, this is so long, that’s gonna take so long.’”

Outside of marriage, a chapter she’s now been enjoying for a year alongside her husband, American director and screenwriter Charlie McDowell, Collins has also dived headover-high-heels into production. “I’ve always loved the idea of producing, before I even knew what the word ‘producing’ meant,” she says.

“I’ve always loved acting, but like I said, being a journalist and reporting from 16 years old, going into the editing room in college, putting together stories from the ground up, that’s producing content. And that always fascinated me because it meant that I was creating something bigger than just myself. Now having a platform as an actor, I can be a conduit through which a story is told.” And while her role as a producer has only manifested more recently, the desire is nothing new. “Whether it was through writing, or even as far back as high school and being a teen therapist, I really just wanted to listen to other people talk and tell their stories and communicate and help, help them come up with the answers themselves and help them use their voice and tell their story…I love the idea of giving other people an opportunity to be at the forefront of a story.”

All this to say, yes—Emily in Paris came out at a particularly opportune time, interestingly highlighting a wave of Americans. But this should not remove any credibility from Collins herself, who, in great part, is responsible for the show’s success. And as basic or ringard as her character Emily might be, Collins and Emily are not to be overly intertwined. The latter has more depth, more layers, and more projects ahead.

Jacket PETER DO All jewelry CARTIER Juste Un Clou earrings and necklace (in white, gold, diamonds) On hair LIVING PROOF Style Lab® Flex Hairspray

Makeup Francelle Daly (Home Agency) Hair Orlando Pita (Home Agency) Manicure Thuy Nguyen (A-Frame) Producer Kevin Warner (Photobomb) Production coordinator Merry Nestor (Photobomb) Digital technician Evan Strang Photo assistants Ramon Felix, Kevin Coffey Stylist assistant Mattie Tiggleman, Emma Oleck Production assistants Paul Draper, Nick Lambrakis Location JK Media

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Photography INEZ & VINOODH Fashion NICOLA FORMICHETTI

After 15 years in the industry, the supermodel is continuing to prove that she’s here for the long haul

How does one begin to define Irina Shayk?

Some may say sexy, some may say intimidating, and some may even call her ineffable. However you may attempt to label her as, be aware that Shayk will prove you otherwise. Transitioning her career from a Sports Illustrated phenomenon to becoming a high-fashion runway staple, Irina has arguably become one of the modern modeling industry’s greats. In something out of a contemporary fairy tale, Irina’s discovery follows suit like many of the fellow supermodels she rubs elbows with backstage at shows. Having been found in a small town in her home country of Russia, the once-unknown beauty, who was discovered while attending a local beauty school with her older sister, went from the streets of Yemanzhelinsk to the catwalks of the greatest fashion houses in the world—but not in the blink of an eye, as some may think. After moving herself away from the bombshell typecast and coming out of the restrictive box many had tried to place her in, a slow shift in perception occurred before the world’s very eyes and the supernova has been soaring ever since. Landing new types of the holy C’s: covers, campaigns, and catwalks, one after another, Shayk has undeniably become a force to be reckoned with. And with the evergrowing conversation of nepotism in modeling and the fair treatment of muses in our evolving industry, Irina is proof that the world will always want a success story, rooted in hard work, determination, and the power of longevity in any field. Now, as her career sees its 15th anniversary, Irina is experiencing what she can describe as a renaissance of sorts; now, as a mother to a five-year-old daughter named Lea, dominating the runways of shows she would have only dreamed of years ago, and currently, as a new muse for Han Chong’s ever-growing fashion house Self-Portrait. As the saying goes, “slow and steady wins the race.” Let Irina Shayk be a reminder of exactly that, and how perseverance, and possessing an innate ability to learn, are everything. KEVIN PONCE

Irina wears all clothing SELF-PORTRAIT (throughout) On eyes CLÉ DE PEAU BEAUTÉ Eye Color Quad in #306 On lips DIOR BEAUTY Rouge Dior Forever in #100 Forever Nude Look

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Gloves VEX LATEX Headpiece makeup artist’s own

INEZ VAN LAMSWEERDE: Hello Irina! How are you doing?

IRINA SHAYK: I’m good. I just got back from London yesterday, so I’m a little bit jet-lagged, but I’m good.

IVL: What was going on in London?

IS: I was shooting for a magazine and then a campaign, so I was there for two days. And then, before that, I was in Spain.

IVL: Oh yes, for the [Steven] Meisel exhibition. How was that?

IS: It was so good. It was an exhibition with three rooms and it’s all of the pictures that he took in 1993. So it was an exhibition [viewing], and then dinner.

IVL: His work from ‘93 is quintessential New York, right? Where were you in 1993?

IS: I was six years old, in Russia. [laughs] Actually, somebody came up to me and they were like, “Is your picture there?” And I was like, “Um, no, I was six years old [in ‘93].”

IVL: Wow. So, where in Russia were you at six?

IS: So my father was a coal miner, and we lived in a very small mining village. My mom actually worked as a music teacher in kindergarten for 25 years. So that’s where I was when the fancy girls were shooting with Steven [Meisel]. [laughs] IVL: I love it, that’s the beginning. I remember we talked about this a long time ago, but when did you start this whole modeling thing?

IS: First of all, I went to music school for seven years because my mom was a pianist, and she really wanted me to play piano and have a love for music, and then I went to college to study marketing. I have an older sister who is two years older, and [one day] she said, “Let’s go to this beauty school,” just to learn how to pluck your eyebrows and do little silly things.

And it wasn’t like a beauty school in America or in Europe. It was like one little room with all the [local] girls and there was a modeling school in the same building next door. [One day], a scout went to the modeling school and he basically discovered me at the beauty school. I was almost 20, and he asked me, “Do you wanna go to Paris?” and I said “Yes,” but I didn’t speak one word of English at [the time].

IVL: Oh my gosh, wow.

IS: It was very interesting for me because, all of a sudden, I’m in Paris with [just some] pocket money from the agency, which was about 50 euros a week, living in the model apartment with no food, no friends, no English [being spoken]—and [I thought] it was a beautiful time. When I go to Paris now, I just look at it differently, you know?

IVL: Knowing you a little bit better now, I feel like that is sort of at the base of you. Where you stand in life now is definitely coming from that experience. I see it every time I see you. Everyone always says “Irina, she’s amazing. She’s such a good time. Irina is always happy, always dancing, the party is Irina.” I think it comes from the fact that you’re so appreciative of what turn your life took.

IS: Oh, that’s for sure. I didn’t choose to be a model. As a child, I was bullied in school because I was super skinny, I had bigger lips, and darker skin, and I loved high heels. I remember one summer, I painted a local hospital for 31 days and I got $6 as a salary, and I went and I bought a pair of high heels that, unfortunately, I don’t have anymore. I [still] wish I had those high heels. I just

loved it and enjoyed it, but I never wanted to become a model. I basically saw it as an opportunity to help my family because I lost my dad when I was 14, and I was raised in a family where [I had] my mom [who] worked three jobs, I have two grandmothers and a sister, so it was only women [in my house]. I felt like after I lost my dad, I [had to] become a man, you know?

[Modeling] was an opportunity to get some money [to provide]—that’s how I started my career. I was living in Germany, taking the subway to do German [fashion] catalogs for 1,000 euros, and [to me] that was a lot of money and [became] life-changing for me.

IVL: That’s so great. [Your mother] must be very proud of you and appreciative of everything that you did for the family. I think it’s what sets you apart from most girls that I’ve encountered. It’s this drive that you have and the fact that you keep being interested [in modeling]. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you bored on the job, I’ve also never heard you complain.

IS: I can’t complain. Sometimes, when I talk to my friends who are in the same industry, I’m like, “You don’t save lives. You don’t work in a factory.” Sometimes it’s not easy what we do, but, for me, it’s like an escape from reality. I love being on set, I love creating something, and I love people who create art because it’s a little world where we all feel safe and we’re all together. I’m so grateful to have this job because I never imagined that I would be a model one day. It was not even a [real] job in my country, [at the time]. People sometimes say “You’re impatient, you want too much.” but that’s how I stay driven. When I started 15 years ago, I started off as a swimsuit model and a German catalog model. And in fashion, they put a label on you. “She’s too sexy, she’s too commercial.” To break [away from] that was hard and it took so many years of hearing “no”, and still being driven. There is a reason why I was born in January and I’m a Capricorn because I’m very stubborn. It’s not easy to get refused and then still be like “Okay, I’m gonna try again in one year” because, of course, I want everything now. But, I’ve learned that in the fashion industry, you just have to be patient. Sometimes you have to get a “no” from 10 jobs to get one really good job. It was all a learning process.

IVL: In a way, you were lucky that you had the childhood and the life that you had prior to starting modeling. I think what happens a lot is people start super young or they get scouted at 14 and they end up in Paris at 16, and it becomes very difficult to form your own identity and to know who you are in order to thrive and survive in this business.

IS: That’s for sure.

IVL: I think, since it sort of happened to you at age 20 when you were already on a whole

other life track, that sort of says something about not starting a modeling career too young.

It definitely helped you in appreciating where you end up, and also in the fact that you were just more mature and could handle it a lot better. Personally, I think you forge some really beautiful friendships in our business [that way].

Like, for instance, Riccardo Tisci. Honestly, when I see Riccardo looking at you, he just loves you so much.

IS: Oh, I’m so lucky. Through this industry, I’ve met a few people who I can really call my family. It’s just so beautiful that life gave me the opportunity to meet such amazing friends that I can literally count as a family, not because of any job. Just because they’re beautiful human beings–I’m lucky.

IVL: I feel like not enough people know that our industry actually is full of really incredible souls and amazingly creative people. I think the time when you started, the early 2000s and onwards, there was a lot of excess in our business, which called for really bad behavior from a lot of people. And I think that because they were enabled to behave in a very excessive way, it sort of felt like this was part of the fashion business. At this point, the business has changed so much that the whole feeling of excess and treating people is completely changed. It’s much better now and more professional in a way. People are doing their job as well as they can, and some people have a very long career and some people don’t.

But, it’s definitely all about personality. You’re really an amazing example for other models who are working or starting out because you forged your own path and managed to keep it interesting for yourself and for the people that shoot you.

IS: You know, [although] I had people who told me I needed to lose 15 pounds, dye my hair black and cut it, and be a certain way, I just decided, in the beginning, to stay true to myself.

Just stick to what I think and what I feel. I always listen to the advice of my friends and people who have helped me in my career because I love to learn. It’s not like I know it all. After more than 15 years, I feel like my career is just starting! I just walked for Chanel, which I was so excited about and it took 16 years, you know?

I tried to play cool, but I was almost crying backstage. So many girls came up to me and they were like, “What are you doing here?”

And I look at them and said, “No, what are YOU doing here?” So many people don’t expect me [to be] shooting with certain people and being at certain shows because I was labeled from the beginning.

Head to Vmagazine.com to read the extended interview.

“SOMETIMES IT’S NOT EASY WHAT WE DO, BUT FOR ME, IT’S LIKE AN ESCAPE FROM REALITY. I LOVE THE FEELING OF BEING ON A SET, THE ART OF CREATING [COLLABORATIVELY], AND THE PEOPLE WHO BRING IT ALL TOGETHER BECAUSE IT’S A LITTLE WORLD WHERE WE ALL CAN FEEL SAFE TOGETHER.” —IRINA SHAYK

Makeup Sil Bruinsma (The Wall Group) Hair Orlando Pita (Home Agency) Model Irina Shayk (The Society) Manicure Deborah Lippman Producer John Nadhazi Lighting director Jodokus Driessen Studio manager / Digital technician Marc Kroop Photo assistants Joe Hume, Fyodor Shiryaev Production manager Michael Gleeson Production coordinator Demi Bennett Stylist assistant Emma Oleck Makeup assistant Jessica Paillant Hair assistant Donovan Blyden Retouching StereoHorse Location Industria Studio

THE MARVEL OF MAYE Step into the wonderous world of Maye Musk. Here, the model, mother, and timeless beauty transforms through the brilliant, bold brushstrokes of Dior Beauty’s Creative and Image Director, Peter Philips Photography RICHARD BURBRIDGE Fashion ANNA TREVELYAN

A few days after their whimsical shoot with Richard Burbridge, which at once celebrated the transformative power of makeup, the vivacious muse Maye Musk and iconic makeup artist Peter Philips reconvene for a lively discussion. During their 30-minute catch up, the two bustling creatives share learnings from their respective careers, comment on the evolution of modeling, and provide their predictions on the future of beauty.

MAYE MUSK: Hi Peter, how are you?

PETER PHILIPS: I’m doing well, thanks for asking. What about you?

MM: I’m doing well, too. I guess the first thing I wanted to ask you about is your inspiration for this shoot. What was the creative direction?

PP: I was talking to Richard Burbridge, and we were talking about you. He was like, “Oh my god, she’s amazing.” But, essentially, this shoot is so different from what we’re used to. It’s about this strong woman. During the shoot, [Burbridge] kept referring to Lee Miller, who draws links between the surreal world–Man Ray and that era. We wanted to do something that people were not expecting. Because we all know you look fabulous in a dark smoky eye.

MM: Yeah, I look great in a lot of makeup.

PP: Yeah, and we wanted to see you in a conceptual environment. That’s something we haven’t seen you in. We wanted to do something that was more editorial, a bit edgier, almost like a picture you would like to hang on your wall or that could be part of an exhibition.

MM: Yeah, I love it. I didn’t know what was going on behind this. So, what did you look at in terms of references? What inspired the shapes you created?

PP: Well, the references were very classical, surreal photography with Man Ray and Schiaparelli. Especially looking at the early days of photography, when artists started looking at models like sculptures and played with light and shadow. I also wanted to play with lipstick because I thought, “Maye wears lipstick really well, any shade and any color.” And that was perfect because lipstick is my pride and joy.

MM: That’s perfect because the shoot was in color, so we could have different colors of lipstick.

PP: Yes, and that’s also why we did the styling in black and white.

MM: I thought the three of you worked so well together.

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PP: Yeah, it was perfect. I love being surrounded by creative people. It’s the most fun.

MM: Yes, for sure. I’m also curious to know how the world of beauty has changed since you got your start. In what ways has beauty and your craft evolved since your start? And what do you think the future holds for the world of beauty?

PP: Well, I’ve been doing this now for almost 30 years. The biggest thing is that makeup has become more accessible. When I started, makeup trends were guided by magazines, and based on the shows in Paris and Milan, a bit of New York. So it was very much per season and per color. But then, because of social media, there’s more accessibility to makeup. Everybody is free to express themselves–men as well as women. And I think that’s a great thing that people get to have that freedom. There’s also so much more awareness about the environment. We pay attention to ingredients, packaging, recycled materials, the formulas, and more. We really are listening to all those needs. But overall, yes, there’s been a huge change in makeup.

MM: I think it’s wonderful because it keeps you on your toes because you have to be ahead of the game. And you have to change all the time. Makeup looks change, and you have to become more experimental, as you say. It keeps your brain alive.

PP: And you can’t fool people because of social media. If something isn’t correct or doesn’t keep its promise, people will talk on social media.

It keeps us even more alert, and it’s a good thing.

But now I want to ask you some questions. For this shoot, how would you describe the atmosphere and the energy of the shoot?

MM: I enjoyed watching the three of you do your thing. We started with makeup, then styling, and then Richard would come in. He really directed me toward his certain vision.

I loved it. It was a wonderful atmosphere.

PP: That’s so great to hear. And, as you know, fashion and beauty are obviously very collaborative industries. How do you approach shoots and collaborations?

MM: Well, I’m a scientist. I don’t know if I’ve told you, but I’ve got two science degrees, and I hang out with science people. So among them, I’m the best dressed, but in the fashion world, I’m not, so I depend on people with talent. I love to let stylists, makeup artists, and photographers decide how I should look because I depend on them.

PP: Cool. Yes, and you made your modeling start at age 15 and have been in the fashion industry for nearly six decades now. What keeps you interested in fashion and modeling at this stage of your career? How do you maintain that passion, or has that passion changed or shifted?

MM: At the age of 15, I was just doing the runway shows and then print [editorials] on the weekends or holidays because I was a student.

You can’t miss school because we had very strict schooling, even at the public schools. So, for me, modeling was just a temporary thing that when I turned 18 I would be done. But then I didn’t because people kept booking me. Then I got married and had three kids in three years–that kind of slows you down. Then at the age of 28, I was called to be a mother of the bride [on the runway]. And I was like, “What? They want me back?” And they said, “Yes, because they can’t have the 18-year-old models be the mother of the bride.” So I went back into modeling. I didn’t want modeling to interfere with my business, which is how I fed my kids. So for modeling, I told them they could only book me four days a month, and I wouldn’t do more than that. Then one day on Facebook, a designer saw my photo and asked me to walk in New York Fashion Week for the first time at 67. I couldn’t believe it. When I walked out, everybody cheered. It was so nice.

So since then, it’s really taken off.

PP: Ok, so last question. What does the future look like for you?

MM: Well, everything’s looking great for me.

Thank you very much. What I’ve had to do is make changes as I go along and go with whatever is fashionable. So you can’t stay in your old looks.

You have to actually move ahead all the time.

Head to Vmagazine.com to read the extended interview.

All clothing DIOR Earrings PLUTONIA BLUE All makeup DIOR BEAUTY (throughout) On skin (throughout) Dior Capture Totale Le Sérum Dior Forever Glow Veil Dior Forever Skin Glow in #1N Dior Forever Skin Correct in #1N On lips Rouge Dior Forever in #300 Forever Nude Style

Jacket Y/PROJECT Earrings MAREI Gloves WING + WEFT On eyes Diorshow On Stage Liner in #001 Matte White & #091 Matte Black On lips Rouge Dior Mitzah Edition in #225 Beige Taffeta Metallic

Jacket WEINSANTO Shirt GIORGIO ARMANI Headpiece YOHJI YAMAMOTO On lips Rouge Dior Forever #558 Forever Grace

Shirt and corset DIOR Headpiece VEX LATEX Hat WYNONO Gloves ET OCHS On eyes 5 Couleurs Couture in #079 Black Bow On Lips Dior Contour Lip Liner in #943 Euphoric Rouge Dior Mitzah Edition in #963 Leopardess - Velvet

Jacket DIOR Glasses and handpiece CHRISHABANA On lips Dior Contour in #846 Concorde Rouge Dior Mitzah Edition in #720 Icone - Velvet On nails Dior Vernis in #840 Rayonnante

Dress RICHARD QUINN Glasses and earring L’ENCHENTEUR On lips Dior Contour in #943 Euphoric Rouge Dior Mitzah Edition in #915 Soft Burgundy - Matte

Makeup Peter Philips (Art + Commerce) for Dior Beauty Hair Niko Weddle (Judy Casey) using Shu Uemura Art of Hair Model Maye Musk (CAA) Prop stylist Hans Maharawal (The Wall Group) Production Connor McIntyre, Jessica Tjeng, Grant Lindeman (PRODn) Digital technician Nick Barr Studio Manager / Photo assistant Peter Siskos Photo assistants Jesse Russell, David Mitchell Taylor Spong Stylist assistant Jordan Figueroa Makeup assistant Ayana Awata Set design assistant Ed Kinsley, Elijah Nurse Location Highline Stages

Jacket WILLY CHAVARRIA Shirt and pants DIOR Hat ESENSHEL On lips Dior Contour in #999 Rouge Dior Mitzah Edition in #999 - Velvet On nails Dior Vernis in #108 Muguet

All clothing GUCCI Hat stylist’s own (worn throughout)

SADDLE UP The arena for fashion’s latest showdown? The Wild, Wild West, of course. Here, effervescent muse Rebecca Longendyke braves the storm, showcasing this spring’s most-coveted styles and essential accessories Photography BLAIR GETZ MEZIBOV Fashion GRO CURTIS

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Jacket PRADA Tank top stylist’s own Belt GOLDEN GOOSE All jewelry DAVID YURMAN (worn throughout)

All clothing DSQUARED2

All clothing BURBERRY

All clothing FENDI Shoes GOLDEN GOOSE (worn throughout)

All clothing EMPORIO ARMANI

All clothing DIOR

All clothing CHANEL Belt ARTEMAS QUIBBLE Gloves stylist’s own

All clothing VALENTINO Belt GOLDEN GOOSE Gloves stylist’s own

All clothing GIVENCHY

All clothing and belt POLO RALPH LAUREN On lips GUCCI Rouge à Lèvres Mat Lipstick in #104 Penny Beige On cheeks CHANEL BEAUTY Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Cream in #390 Soleil Tan Bronze

Jacket VERSACE

Dress LOUIS VUITTON

Makeup Francelle Daly (Home Agency) Hair Teddy Charles (The Wall Group) Model Rebecca Longendyke (Elite) Lighting director Corey Danieli Photo assistant Jordan Inge Stylist assistant Isaac Kim Production assistant Cameron Doody

Jacket MIU MIU

Dahan Oanh wears all clothing and accessories GUCCI

BEYOND A SHADOW OF DOUBT 76

Coral Johnson wears all clothing and accessories GUCCI

The past and present collide for Gucci’s latest essential accessory. Commanding in structure and archival in inception, the Aphrodite shoulder bag is influenced by archival silhouettes with delicate leatherwork and gold-accented details taking the iconic ‘70s style to a new dimension Photography ANASTASIIA DUVALLIÉ DUVALLIÉ Fashion GRO CURTIS

Angel Prost wears all clothing and accessories GUCCI

Kim Cunningham wears all clothing and accessories GUCCI

Lizette Pinto wears all clothing and accessories GUCCI

Makeup Francelle Daly (Home Agency) Hair Shinya Nakagawa (Bridge Artists) Models Angel Prost (Midland), Coral Johnson, Kim Cunningham (We Speak Models), Lizette Pinto (Muse), Dahan Oanh (New York Models), Ayanna Negi (Q Models) Production Quadriga Casting Director Shawn Dezan Photo assistant Helga Hitko Makeup assistant Sam Kettell, Daphne Vargas Hair assistant Katrina Kelly Production assistant Samantha Barrera Location Jack Studios

Ayanna Negi wears all clothing and accessories GUCCI

BACK FOR MORE With the massive success of Showtime’s first season of Yellowjackets, all eyes are on the show’s breakout star Sophie Thatcher. Thankfully, she’s ready to prove herself all over again Photography DANIELLA MIDENGE Fashion NICOLA FORMICHETTI Interview MATHIAS ROSENZWEIG 82

All clothing CALVIN KLEIN (worn throughout)

“THE FIRST SEASON [OF YELLOWJACKETS ], WE DIDN’T REALLY THINK ANYBODY WAS GOING TO WATCH IT. WE DIDN’T KNOW HOW IT WAS GOING TO TURN OUT, TO BE HONEST. BUT THE BEAUTY IN ALL OF THAT [UNCERTAINTY] WAS IT ENDED UP RESONATING WITH SO MANY PEOPLE.” —SOPHIE THATCHER

On eyes MAKEUP BY MARIO Master Mattes Eyeshadow Palette On lips NARS Air Matte Liquid Lipstick in Surrender

Makeup Niki M’nray (The Visionaries) Hair Daniella Midenge Photo assistant Juan Vega Stylist assistant Eryka Valle Production assistant Tadeo Sorice

It takes at least one billion years and 825,000 lbs of pressure to form a diamond. Sophie Thatcher is only 22 years old, but the pressure of returning to one of 2022’s most-watched shows, Yellowjackets, will likely be enough to crystalize her career as one of Hollywood’s most exciting new actresses.

Originally from Illinois, the musician and actress struck it big when she was cast as the teenage Natalie Scatorccio, or “Nat,” a character she shares with Juliette Lewis, who plays Nat later on in her life. Now, Thatcher’s burgeoning career is finding her space within the fashion world, having recently starred in Calvin Klein’s latest ad campaign along with Ella Emhoff, model and stepdaughter to Vice President Kamala Harris. With some music floating around SoundCloud, Thatcher’s varied interests and talents make her career as unpredictable as it is captivating.

V spoke with Los Angeles’ newest resident about returning to work, as well as what might be next.

V MAGAZINE: Hi Sophie! Where are you?

SOPHIE THATCHER: I’m in L.A. I was living in New York, but I finally made the move. I’ve been here the past couple of months, but also in and out of Vancouver because we’re finishing season two of Yellowjackets. I just got a place in Silver Lake, but at the moment I’m staying in Sherman Oaks with my boyfriend because I don’t have any furniture in my apartment yet.

V: Besides working, what is there to do in Vancouver?

ST: Actually, I think of everyone in the cast, I’m probably the one who flies out to LA the most, because I really try to keep my artistic and social life pretty separate. Especially now that I have a life and a place here. But Vancouver is really gorgeous. The first year we went there it was a bit depressing because we were all stuck because of the pandemic. So that kind of tainted the experience. Obviously, now it’s a lot better.

V: That first year, you also had no idea how big the show would become, I’m sure. What was it like going back this time around knowing there is an audience of millions waiting to see more Yellowjackets?

ST: It’s strange for me to have people that I admire say that they’ve seen the show, like Liz Phair for example. The awareness kind of spurs up excitement, if anything, and that pushed me to work harder this season. I think we all sense more pressure going into it this time around.

We’re all more present, and almost hyper-aware of anything that could be bad. At the same time, it’s almost detrimental to an actor if you’re too aware. For me, it’s also about my connection to my character Natalie, whom I feel like I’ve been playing for so long. But it took me a second, like a scene or two, to snap back into it, like getting into her body and speaking like her.

V: It’s definitely true that success can also bring about new levels of stress!

ST: The first season, we didn’t really think anybody was gonna watch it. We didn’t know how it was gonna turn out. There was something really beautiful about that because we all just kind of let ourselves play around with the characters. It felt more like an indie film, to some extent. The difference with this season is, well, they have more money (laughs), and we’re shooting in a studio and it’s set in the winter.

So we have to physically and emotionally fake a lot of the circumstances as actors.

V: I’m pivoting directions here. I read that you recently binge-watched Daria. What resonated with you from that show?

ST: Well, I had the biggest crush on her best friend Jane growing up. I’m really sensitive when I’m watching shows, like I would change my voice to sound more like Jane. She has such a deep, sexy voice. I also did that with Claire Danes while watching My So-Called Life. I dyed my hair to look like her and would always practice her character’s lines. But with Daria, that show held up really well, and so did My So-Called Life. They were both kind of groundbreaking.

V: Why is Calvin Klein a brand you’ve been excited to work with?

ST: It’s just a really timeless brand. It makes me think to the ‘90s, like Kate Moss, Brooke

Shields…I think of how effortless and cool everyone looked, and seeing women looking androgynous and confident. It really belongs to any decade, and that’s what’s exciting to me about it. And their clothes are just tailored so well, the jeans last forever. They have such iconic ad campaigns that everyone can identify immediately.

V: We’re reaching the end of the year, believe it or not! Are you a New Year’s resolution type of girl?

ST: Not really, because I feel like for the last few years I always have had the same two, which are to read more and be on my phone less. This year, I just want to be nicer to myself, and maybe to release some more music or art.

Head to Vmagazine.com to read the extended interview.

What V Want

WHAT V WANT Balmain Eyewear by Akoni Group is taking us back to the heyday of showstopping silhouettes and eccentric personas with its latest collection of rock ‘n’ roll-inspired sunglasses, certain to hit all the right notes this season

For decades, the go-to rocker uniform has been consistent: big hair, lots of leather, and, of course, a sleek pair of shades to obscure the blinding paparazzi flashes.

Now, thanks to Balmain Eyewear by Akoni Group, you can achieve that elusive aura all on your own. A dialogue between Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing and Akoni Group, the “Admirable” frame combines the best assets of the pair—the French house’s sculptural finesse and the eyewear giant’s razor-sharp focus on craft and technique. Featuring gold-tone titanium touchpoints and a sleek rectangular silhouette, the pair is a rock ‘n’ roll-meets-couture dream come true. Not only placing a distinct focus on aesthetics, the “Admirable” sunglass re-up Balmain’s long-standing penchant for persona—house founder Pierre Balmain worked with the likes of Josephine Baker, Dalida, Marlene Dietrich and Rousteing mingles regularly with musicians and muses such as Cara Delevingne, Mary J. Blige, and Cher. There is an inherent coolness to the pair and wider collection which features a dozen other shapes, equally as dynamic and stylish in facade. So this season, skip the concert venue and embrace the rock ‘n’ roll swagger of Balmain Eyewear by Akoni Group.

MATTHEW VELASCO

BALMAIN EYEWEAR by AKONI GROUP Admirable Sunglasses (in grey crystal with gold flakes) ($760, available at select Balmain boutiques and balmain.com.)

Digital technician Bob Moyers Photo assistant Tom Cinko Set design assistant Brendan Galvin Location Highlight Studios

Photography GABRIELA WOROSZ Fashion BRIAN PRIMEAUX

WHERE V WERE

Start 2023 on the right note with V! Head to shop.vmagazine.com to complete your collection.

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KAIA GERBER’S CHOICE Surrounded by fashion from a very young age, Kaia Gerber is no stranger to the modelling world. While following her famous mother onto the most exclusive runways and photoshoots, she is now choosing to walk a unique path, bringing her own sense of style and personality to the role. It’s a family passion, with a very bright future.

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