US Elle December 2018 : Michelle Obama by Miller Mobley

[amby]

I was looking for the old thread but couldn't find it, so I make a new one

 

[Royal-Galliano]

so lovely.

 

[serendipity8777]

elle.com

 

[sweetpop]

I think Michelle looks amazing on the cover - really beautiful. She's rarely been photographed in free movement and so relaxed.

I also like that they kept the clothes and colour palette simple, although we know how well Michelle wears all sorts of patterns and colours.

 

[Benn98]

Call me generic, but why not the 3rd editorial shot as the cover? Cropped, of course.
I don't like the styling. Way too generic for a fashion magazine like Elle. Michelle actually loves fashion, so I'm sure she'd have been up for more daring yet sophisticated looks.

 

[vogue28]

A total score of a cover subject for Nina Garcia but what a total flop of a cover shoot, and while I understand ELLE might be the most cutting edge of fashion magazines out there - this just looks very Good Housekeeping.

 

[JPineapple]

This photoshoot and september were the biggest dissapointments of the year. I love Michelle, I love Emma but Elle could've done better.

 

[Srdjan]

Call me generic, but why not the 3rd editorial shot as the cover? Cropped, of course.

It's on this week's Elle France!

 

[axiomatic]

Got this in the mail today. 230 pages.

Review:

"The Replacements"
P: Celeste Sloman
S: Kendal Mae Boyle, Anatolli Smith, Sarah Schussheim
Robin Wright, Christiane Amanpour, Nicole Berry, Jennifer Salke, Christine Tsai, Kitty Block, Rachel Rosenfelt, Barbara Underwood, Gretchen Carlson, Tanzina Vega, Alison Stewart, TIna Smith

"Michelle Obama"
P: Miller Mobley
S: Meredith Koop

"Karl's Crew"
P: Karl Lagerfeld
S: Leila Smara
M: Joan Smalls, Natasha Poly, Yasmin Wijnaldum, Hannah Ferguson, plus Virginie Viard and Charlie Siem

"Change Agent"
P: Clay Stephen Gardner
S: Solange Franklin
M: Halima Aden

"Come as You Are"
P: Jason Kibbler
S: Natasha Royt
M: Veronika Vilim, Dylan Christensen alongside a Marc Jacobs piece by Kate Betts

There's also a jewelry edit set with fishing lures

 

[MON]

A total score of a cover subject for Nina Garcia but what a total flop of a cover shoot, and while I understand ELLE might be the most cutting edge of fashion magazines out there - this just looks very Good Housekeeping.

Wouldn’t totally ascribe this achievement to Nina. This is clearly a Hearst Exclusive more than a Nina exclusive. This just goes to show that Elle is now the flagship magazine of Hearst. And the fact that the interview is SIMILAR to that of Bazaar’s feature is very telling. Its more a score for Hearst, tbh. Good thing for Hearst though. At least they have access after the fact.

Although, I wonder whether no hairstylist was available for the shoot. Goodness that hair is tragic! If this were a before and after shoot for Pantene then I’d get it. But this is a cover shoot for heaven’s sake.

 

[Benn98]

Although, I wonder whether no hairstylist was available for the shoot. Goodness that hair is tragic! If this were a before and after shoot for Pantene then I’d get it. But this is a cover shoot for heaven’s sake.

Exactly. Such a huge get for them, whoever pulled this together. I know Miller photographed Michelle's book cover, and the styling team is her own. For all the talk about how stylists cannot deal or understand black hair, let it sink in that this was done by Michelle's personal hairstylist who's a black woman herself. It's possible she's also the one responsible for that 'news anchor bangs' (Karl's words, not mine) we saw a few years ago. So yeah.
Anyway, so it's safe to assume Michelle obviously got full control because Oprah won't throw her under the bus. But as with Anna, this is where ceding creative control becomes problematic. Elle settled on the editorial shots shown here, which means that whichever edition will reprint must choose from the above set. If that's the case, amp up the shoot and keep alternate outtakes on reserve to at least make the global editions look more exclusive. Furthermore, the setting looks exactly like the one used for Michelle's book cover. Another magazine called Essence (it looks like something from the Good Housekeeping/Redbook fold) features what looks like the same shoot and backdrop, but with different hair. If I'm going to offer that much control, I'll almost demand that the shoot looks a certain way, and that there are more than enough image options on hand. There's still the magazine's status to consider. But I understand why they offered her the sun, moon and stars above. During the Obama presidency Anna basically had Michelle locked down for Vogue. So of course Hearst would bend over backwards.

Could there be a possibility that they've offered her a global Elle deal and Hearst threw in Harper's as well to sweeten it? Based on the HF styling, and Nina's recent interview where she boasts about Elle's newfound dominance with celebrity access, I think the deal may well have been kickstarted by her.

 

[caioherrero]

Wow, more pages than vogue...

 

[khyrk]

Karl's Crew


Photography: Karl Lagerfeld
Model: Karl Lagerfeld, Natasha Poly, Charlie Siem, Hannah Ferguson, Joan Smalls & Yasmin Wijnaldum
Styling: Leïla Smara
Hair: Sam McKnight & Declan Sheils
Make-Up: Tom Pecheux
Manicure: Anny Errandonea

awake-smile.blogspot
bellazon

 

[cestmagique]

^Karl looks like he's lost.

 

[GivenchyHomme]

Joan is terrible like always. Yasmin and Hannah look good. Natasha was never Karl's fave and it shows. She looks very out of place. The solo shot of Hannah on the bench is the best. It could easily be a cover.

 

[ellastica]

^They all look lost. Like they're beings visiting from another planet just now discovering the various ways in which they can position their newly acquired human bottoms on the park bench.

That shot of Joan especially is cracking me up. Oh should I sit like this? You like?

The Contents Page look very cluttered a la French ELLE. Not good or bad just not what I was expecting as I haven't been compelled to pick up a US edition in a while.

 

[Rigida]

Nina can say anything she wants about Anna but even the december issue of Us Vogue (which i thought is quite insipid) still blows her ELLE out of water.

In the editorial pages we got:
- Michelle Obama article which is actually a Hearst exclusive and can be found in the same month issue of Us Bazaar and reprinted by Elle all over the world (also in the same month).
- a bland editorial by Lagerfeld.
- a REPRINT of Halima Aden’s ed from last month’s Elle UK
- a short ed about Marc’s grunge collection
- a jewelry ed with some fishes.

 

[Benn98]

Awful cast and photography in that Chanel edit bar Hannah! And then there's Yasmin....

 

[anlabe32]

In what world are these girls "Karl's Crew"? They couldn't get anyone else?

Hannah and Yasmin do look amazing though.

 

[GivenchyHomme]

In what world are these girls "Karl's Crew"? They couldn't get anyone else?

Hannah and Yasmin do look amazing though.

I agree. Was Grace and Luna unavailable? Hell, even Gigi would be better here.