Tonne Goodman - Stylist

Vogue’s Tonne Goodman Retraces 20 Years of Fashion in Her New Book

BY HAMISH BOWLES
March 15, 2019
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Goodman on location in Nevada in 1995.Photo: Courtesy of Peter Lindbergh


For the past two decades, fashion director Tonne Goodman has traveled the world for Vogue—from the Great Wall of China to Lima, Peru, to Madrid and (her personal highlight) Kenya’s Lake Victoria with Lupita Nyong’o. Wherever she goes, she comes armed only with her singular eye for elegance, a Dries van Noten coat over her arm, and a carry-on wheelie carefully packed with three pairs of white Levi’s 511s, black and navy Organic by John Patrick sweaters, Brooks Brothers pajamas, Louboutin’s Chelsea boots, black suede Belgian loafers, her father’s leather belts, and a handful of Charvet foulard scarves, which recall the print of her favorite smocked dress that she wore as a little girl growing up on the Upper East Side.

Many of these odysseys are revealed in Point of View: Four Decades of Defining Style (Abrams), a lavish visual biography that reveals, among many other things, that Goodman’s taste was nurtured from the earliest age through the influence of her stylish parents, the artist Marian Powers and the dashing doctor Edmund Goodman—who no less than Alfred Eisenstaedt considered the handsomest couple in New York.

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Daria Werbowy on the cover of Point of View, which arrives next month from Abrams.Photographed by David Sims, Vogue, 2009 / Courtesy of Abrams Books.
While being educated at Brearley, Goodman embraced the 1960s with genteel rebellion. She saw Ike and Tina Turner perform at Carnegie Hall—and the musical Hair (thirteen times). At eighteen, she ran away to sea with a Dutch sailor possessed of knee-trembling good looks. The swashbuckling romance didn’t last long—nor did her stint at the Philadelphia College of Art—but Vogue’s Diana Vreeland spotted her and her dead-straight fall of honeyed blonde hair in an elevator at Condé Nast on a modeling go-see and launched her career. (Vreeland’s memo, sent to all her editors, noted that “though she is not pretty—she pulls together perfect bones and proportion in an aristocrative manner.”)


Goodman enjoyed a brief career as an all-American Youthquake girl before going to work once more with Vreeland, who had left Vogue to energize the moribund Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a series of flamboyant exhibitions. Vreeland, as Goodman recalls, “commanded, without words, that we understand the significance of excellence, commitment, and magic”—qualities that have informed Goodman’s work ever since. Soon Carrie Donovan, the fashion editor of The New York Times Magazine, invited Tonne to come work with her as a fashion reporter—her first assignment was a racy swimsuit story with Helmut Newton, and projects with the likes of Bruce Weber and Steven Meisel followed. In 1987, Tonne brought her all-American chic to Calvin Klein’s legendary image-making operation, and five years later Liz Tilberis lured her to Harper’s Bazaar.

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Photographed by Mario Testino, Vogue, 2011
A story on China brought Goodman and Karlie Kloss to the Great Wall in 2011.
In 1999, Tonne joined Vogue, where she began producing the “modern woman” portfolios and the sleek covers (186 and still counting) that would provide an elegant foil to Grace Coddington’s fantasies, Phyllis Posnick’s eye-stoppers, and Camilla Nickerson’s more experimental shoots. The work from this era collected in Point of View—from Annie Leibovitz, Steven Klein, Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier, Peter Lindbergh, Mario Testino, and Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott to 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell (with whom she collaborated on the September 2018 Beyoncé cover and portfolio)—vividly highlights, as Tonne says, the notion of “change—the one constant in the life of a fashion editor.”

I asked Tonne how it felt when the book was finally assembled—what it was like to view one’s career between two covers. “I burst into tears seeing that accumulation of so many events in a life,” she says. “These are great times.”

Vogue.com
 
US Vogue May 2019

Suit Yourself


Photographer: Theo Sion
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Odile Gilbert
Makeup: Mark Carrasquillo
Cast: Adut Akech, Anok Yai



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue May 2019

Holding Court


Photographer: Mikael Jansson
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Shay Ashual
Makeup: Hannah Murray
Cast: Kim Kardashian West






US Vogue Digital Edition
 
Tonne Goodman on Ushering Celebrity, Drama, and Attainable Luxury into 'Vogue'

The legendary editor gets real about working with Mario Testino and Steven Meisel, and styling everyone from the 90s "supers" to Kim Kardashian.

By GABRIELLA KAREFA-JOHNSON

Apr 19 2019, 3:48pm

  • Point of View tackles the enormous task of shedding light on a career that has quietly and at times uproariously (remember that paradigm-shifting Beyoncé cover?) informed the way that Americans consider and consume fashion media. With over 170 Vogue covers and 363 pages of iconic fashion to her name, the book is poised to become a go-to tabletop reference and sold out almost instantly, with the exception of a few copies set aside for the likes of Anna Wintour, Annie Leibovitz, Gigi Hadid, and Marc Jacobs, all of whom stopped by to support their friend and frequent collaborator.

    Okay, in the spirit of journalistic integrity, now is probably the point at which I can confess that I—the president of the Tonne Goodman fan club and her former assistant—may be biased. Just before the opening, I rang up everyone’s favorite editor to spill some tea.

    Gabriella Karefa-Johnson: Where to even start? The beginning is probably right. Why do you think art school didn’t work out for you?

    Tonne Goodman: Well, I think that [painter] Harry Soviak did a very good job telling me I wasn’t going to be an artist! He was the most caustic guy. And you know he was right! At school, I lived in a house with two other girls. One of them was named Carol and she was such a wonderful character and she would just be drawing and drawing and drawing and everyone was uglier than the next and so on, and so on, and finally it would come to be this beautiful drawing. And that part was something I couldn’t do. If I drew something and I didn’t find it aesthetically pleasing, I wouldn’t turn it in. I couldn’t. And that process is very important for an artist. And that was it!


    GKJ: Thank god(dess) that you found your way to fashion because so many of the images that the collective “we” come back to time and time again were yours. I love seeing those first appearances of the ‘90s supers in your book.

    TG: You know, they were all over the place. When they were being supermodels everyone took pictures of them. One of the things that I felt badly about with Christy Turlington is that most of the major Vogue pictures happened when I was atHarper’s Bazaar so there are very few in the book. But there’s a lot of Calvin (Klein) that made it in.

    GKJ: I imagine this book might feel a bit like an artist’s mid-career survey show. It could be conflicting, like you’re saying goodbye to something that you’re smack-dab in the middle of.

    TG: It is kind of conflicting. But really it’s just amazing because of the sheer volume—the amount. You think, did I really do that many? And then of course you come across the picture from way back when and you think, “Oh, I remember that day.”

    GKJ: At the time, did you know that the other young creatives you were working with were partners with which you could create a powerful body of work?

    TG: No, you don’t. You’re just doing your job and that really was my motivation. I had a job to do. That was the bottom line. The fact that I encountered all of these wonderful people along the way was luck. When you have people that you have a good time with, and want to create something with that’s more than just an image, the working relationships form naturally. Mario was the perfect example and a great partner. We would meet the day before a shoot until three o’clock in the morning if we had to, trying on every look, accessorizing, arguing over whether that stocking should go with that dress or not.


    GKJ: I think most people want to live in your pictures. Because they really do represent achievable fantasy and luxury—a lot of that I think has to do with the locations you shot. The access that you had during the Vogue years is incredible!

    TG: You see the power of Vogue but also don’t forget that earlier on, like myHarper’s Bazaar days, you were your own producer. You got yourself to set, you scouted your location, you did not have the huge teams behind your pictures but the expectation was the same as it is now. And that was good training. At Vogue, the access is incredible. You could get to the Wild Wall in China; you could get to the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale with Mark Bradford before the fair opens. You could open doors-- and doors that needed to be opened.

    GKJ: Did you ever think you’d be the kind of editor that would create some of the most iconic images in the fashion photography canon? If you think back to when you were starting out, when these pictures that we all know and love were being made, did you have a sense of what power they could hold?

    TG: No, I don’t think so. I never thought I would be the one that was producing the memorable shoots. I happily accepted that that Grace [Coddington] held that spot. And I wasn’t doing, you know, the stopper pictures that Phyllis [Posnick] did. I was really there to show the clothes that you could, kind of, wear. My work at Vogue with Steven Meisel was very much about “clothes.” Those pictures came from a different collaboration than what I had with Mario because we would put on a kind of basic element of the outfit and then, in the studio, on either side of the set we’d line the accessories tables with all of the shoes, and all of the belts, and all of the hats, and all of the jewelry and literally go step by step. It was really the discovery of a look.


    GKJ: Your book is so incredible because every image is just as much a Steven Klein picture as it is a Tonne Goodman picture and I’m not sure that will always exist. What is equally amazing is that there isn’t just one type of identifiable Tonne Goodman style. Sure, you’re known as the architect of this kind of modern Americana aesthetic but you’re always experimenting and showing us new sides of you in your work.

    TG: Did you see the Kim Kardashian cover that I just did with Mikael Jansson?

    GKJ: I love those pictures because they represent exactly what I was referring to before. They’re not Tonne Goodman doing Kim Kardashian, they just look like Kim Kardashian. And that’s because celebrity (which you ushered into the Voguecover vernacular) and drama, and sex, are all parts of your DNA as an editor. We tell it’s your picture as easily as we can tell that a picture of Daria Werbowy in the studio is your picture.

    TG: Well that is certainly a compliment. It’s not a perfect match but it works. You know that’s a bit of what happened when we were deciding what would go on the cover. Have you heard that story? Well, my daughter, Evie, saw the current cover and she thought, “It’s just too predictable. This is exactly what everybody thinks of you. It looks like you can’t do anything else and there’s more to it than that.” It’s just that the applications in a picture like the one we choice can go anywhere.

    GKJ: You have got to tell me where that nude of you in the book came from.

    TG: Well, you know, I was always walking around naked.

    GKJ: Say more!

    TG: The situation was that I was great friends with Nicky Vreeland at that time and his mother and Peter Thompkins invited me down to Miami to stay with them. I mean, the best thing about that photograph is the bush.

    GKJ: I’m guessing this was in the….70’s?

    TG: Don’t forget that a bikini wax in those days was like a little trim just around the suit.

    GKJ: Other emblems of the 70’s in this book: hot, long-haired men. I mean, your section on Maarten, the sailor you fell for on vacation and ended up living with on a sailboat?! Heaven. I didn’t realize that you were such a man-killer. You literally had the hottest boyfriends.

    TG: You know what? I never really thought about it
Garage Magazine
 
I find the relationship between Tonne and Gabriella very interesting and so authentic. It's not just with this interview, they attend a lot of parties together and always piggyback on each other's interviews with outlets. We don't see that often in fashion as most editors seem to have a superficial relationship with their proteges. When Gabriella started at Garage I could not see how she's a Tonne protege because her aesthetic was very different as it should be. But with more of Tonne's experimental edits in Vogue lately, it is becoming more apparent. It does give me the impression that her earlier work may have been too formulaic.

Also, very big of her to admit what sort of spot the took on at US Vogue, which doesn't necessarily mean her work is less worthy than that of Grace or Camilla's. There's a charm to the aesthetic of all three.
 
US Vogue January 2020



Earth Mother


Photographer: Annie Leibovitz
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Geroge Northwood
Makeup: Kirstin Piggott
Cast: Stella McCartney and kids



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue January 2020



The Shape of Things to Come


Photographer: Annie Leibovitz
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Sally Hershberger
Makeup: Hannah Murray
Cast: Ashley Graham



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue January 2020



No Limits


Photographer: Annie Leibovitz
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Tokyo Stylez
Makeup: Hannah Murray
Cast: Cardi B and child




US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue January 2020



Labor of Love


Photographer: Annie Leibovitz
Set Design: Mary Howard
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Sally Hershberger
Makeup: Hannah Murray
Cast: Greta Gerwig and child



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue January 2020

Vogue Values


Photographer: Stefan Ruiz, Nigel Shafran, Daniel Jackson, Sharon Lockhart
Stylist: Jorden Bickham, Camilla Nickerson, Tonne Goodman, Alex Harrington
Hair: Mustafa Yanaz, Simone Mason, Esther Langham, Tamas Tuzes,
Makeup: Romy Soleimani, Miranda Joyce, Petros Petrohilos, Francelle Daly
Cast: Ugbad Abdi, Indira Scott, Abby Champion, Marius Courcoul, NadjaAuermann, Sarah Batt, Tanya Katysheva, Eliza Douglas, Imaan Hammam, Adut Akech, Carolyn Murphy, Huynji Shin, Aheem Sosa, Paloma Elsesser, Selena Forrest, Olivia Vinten, Sara Grace Wallerstaedt, Vilma Sjoberg, Jill Kortleve, Ellen Rosa, Eniola Abioro, Cara Taylor



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue May 2020

Up Close & Personal


Photographer: Ethan James Green
Stylist: Tonne Goodman & Madeline Swanson, Lilah Ramzi, Chioma Nnadi, Jasmine Contomichalos, Alex Harrington, Jessica Nichols, Naomi Elizee, Akili King
Hair: Jimmy Paul
Makeup: Kanoko
Cast: Caroline Trentini, Imaan Hammam



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue May 2020



Up Close & Personal


Photographer: Annie Leibovitz
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Renato Campora
Makeup: Sabrina Bedrani
Cast: Gal Gadot



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue July 2004


"The Natural"
Model/Star: Kirsten Dunst
Photographer: Mario Testino
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Orlando Pita
Makeup: Tom Pecheux






archive.vogue.com
 
US Vogue July 2004
"A Clean Slate"

Model: Natalia Vodianova
Photographer: Patrick Demarchelier
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Didier Malige
Makeup: Gucci Westman
Set Designer: Mary Howard






archive.vogue.com
 
US Vogue March 2004
"Living Legacy"

Model/Socialite: Caroline Kennedy
Photographer: Annie Leibovitz
Sittings Editor: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Didier Malige & Kevin Mancuso
Makeup: Fulvia Farolfi & Brigitte Reiss-Andersen




archive.vogue.com
 
US Vogue March 2004
"Karan Dash"

Model/Designer: Donna Karan with her daugther, grand daughter & son in-law
Photographers: François Halard & Annie Leibovitz
Stylist: Tonne Goodmann
Hair: Jenny Gonzalez
Makeup: Berta Kamal





archive.vogue.com
 
US Vogue March 2004
"Power Games: Winning Streak"

Models: Karolina Kurkova & Liya Kebede
Photographer: Tom Munro
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Thomas Hintermeier
Makeup: Gucci Westman





archive.vogue.com
 
US Vogue September 2020

It Takes An Industry

Photographer: Ethan James Green
Stylist: Jorden Bickham, Tonne Goodman, Alex Harrington, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Camilla Nickerson, Michael Philouze
Hair: Jimmy Paul
Makeup: Kanako Takase
Cast: Fashion professionals
















US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue September 2020

Dreaming Out Loud

Photographer: Nadine Ijewere
Set Designer: Alice Andrews
Stylist: Tonne Goodman
Hair: Shiori Takahashi
Makeup: Celia Burton
Cast: Jess Cole



US Vogue Digital Edition
 
US Vogue January 2000

Faces To Remember
Photographer: Steven Meisel
Sittings Editor: Tonne Goodman
Hair Styling: Garren
Makeup: Pat McGrath
Models: Gisele Bündchen and Carmen Kass


Vogue Archive
 

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