US Elle January 2020 : Beyoncé by Melina Matsoukas

[Benn98]

Portugal, Sweden and Germany didn't reprint the cover.

Well, I'll make excuses for Portugal because that edition is on its last legs and they'd never say no to a reprint, and Sweden probably put their January issue to bed super early (because they're Swedes, lol), but.........would Germany actually choose Beyonce over the blue-eyed blonde haired ice queen they went with? Even though a Beyonce cover with plaids and hoops would have been a nice little mea culpa (or middle finger, depending on where you stand on the debate) to finesse the recent hate they've received? Pigs will fly first.

 

[Deleted member 141523]

Beyonce was the only black woman on the cover of ELLE Argentina, wich is sad. But maybe because the black population here it's small. But the same with blue eyed people, we are half spanish/italians and half native people from South America. Most of the cover girls here are blonde girls (at least the photography is very good), but I would love to see diversity in a local magazine.

 

[chanelh]

Yeah kind sick of her and her pretentiousness.....
You are a celebrity, making money n fame by entertaining the public.
Stop imagining yourself as the queen of the world just because some silly crazy fans call you that.

 

[Srdjan]

For me, covers with musicians/superstars only work when they channel their inner Gisele and do a shoot with glamorous clothes and hair and feminine makeup - something that Jennifer Lopez is great at.

would Germany actually choose Beyonce over the blue-eyed blonde haired ice queen they went with? E

I think the Germans always manage to avoid these global deals. I don't think they did covers with Rihanna and Beyonce in 2018. As for the other editions, February is just around the corner

 

[caioherrero]

I’m so tired of Beyoncé and that blasé face. She used to be so fun, now is so boring.

 

[Lola701]

The clothes of her Ivy Park / Adidas thing are actually good looking. It’s definitely more elevated than whatever she was doing with Topshop. ‘Kudos to her and her team...

 

[vogue28]

I'm genuinely amazed at the amount of people who dislike this, since I thought Beyoncé was always immune to scrutiny on the forums. Needless to say that I've never understood the hype around Beyoncé either, so I'm not in the slightest bit motivated by all of this. A total non-event.

 

[MissMagAddict]

Smugness as an art form.

 

[miyawaki]

This is so amateur.

 

[dodencebt]

Melina is a wonderful director, but as W showed us with Yorgos Lanthimos - a great filmmaker doesn't equal a great fashion photographer. Not everyone can be multifaceted, and that's okay. These images are seriously not it, and they don't even align with Elle's style since Nina arrived at the helm.

 

[axiomatic]

Got this in the mail today. 120 pages.

Only one edit, though it's 20 pages

"Dynamic Duo"
Photographer: Daniel Clavero
Stylist: Anna Trevelyan
Makeup: Maki Ryoke
Hair: Erol Karadag
Model: Yuka Mannami, Eniola Abioro

Written content includes: "Female Gaze"-artists, curators, and critics exploring what it means to exist in our messy world; writer Anna Wiener's experience in tech in San Francisco

 

[Benn98]

"Dynamic Duo"
Photographer: Daniel Clavero
Stylist: Anna Trevelyan
Makeup: Maki Ryoke
Hair: Erol Karadag
Model: Yuka Mannami, Eniola Abioro

Two of my favourite models shot Clavero, sounds promising!!

 

[Deleted member 1957]

I like the organic feel especially int he editorial. I dont see anything forced just everyday people vibes.

 

[caioherrero]

This magazine was better under Robbie. Now it’s a mess

 

[tigerrouge]

It's a husk of the magazine it once was.

We're lucky if we get the occasional decent cover but nothing beyond that makes this magazine worth buying.

 

[Lola701]

I'm genuinely amazed at the amount of people who dislike this, since I thought Beyoncé was always immune to scrutiny on the forums. Needless to say that I've never understood the hype around Beyoncé either, so I'm not in the slightest bit motivated by all of this. A total non-event.

Beyoncé’s talent is undeniable. She is a very beautiful woman and apparently is very kind, fun and genuine (you know when she’s doing shows in Paris, you literally have most of the most important whole fashion studios of Paris in the attendance)...
But i think she needs to be just creative for the sake of being creative in fashion. They all have something to sell but I wish that this wasn’t about serving the narrative of something she started two years ago...

For example I love what she did with Carine Roitfeld because it was just a fashion ed...
This is just too controlled. I get that she wants to control her image but come’on, you are only working with big names. They won’t compromise you...

 

[tigerrouge]

For me, the narrative of Beyoncé's life seems to be that she's got beauty, money and success - but it also seems that she endured her early life under a controlling father, and then moved into being the partner of another man who quite likely sets out his own terms and expectations, and the control she herself so expertly exerts over her own life... is all she's ever known. It curtails her as an artist, but it's also what's led to her continued success. It's familiar, it's safe.

 

[Benn98]

Beyoncé’s talent is undeniable. She is a very beautiful woman and apparently is very kind, fun and genuine (you know when she’s doing shows in Paris, you literally have most of the most important whole fashion studios of Paris in the attendance)...
But i think she needs to be just creative for the sake of being creative in fashion. They all have something to sell but I wish that this wasn’t about serving the narrative of something she started two years ago...

For example I love what she did with Carine Roitfeld because it was just a fashion ed...
This is just too controlled. I get that she wants to control her image but come’on, you are only working with big names. They won’t compromise you...

I still don't get the hype around her. I think she's successful, can certainly be gorgeous through the right lens, and her endurance in pop culture is near unrivaled, but I really don't think she's talented, witty, nor intellectual and imo those three very often feed into one another. Can't say I've ever read a profound Beyonce interview. Solange is actually the talented one and the way she approaches fashion feels original, the way she speaks. So much character and identity! She's got agency without looking like she controlled every minuscule aspect of everything. But she doesn't have the same mass appeal as Beyonce.

Furthermore, I don't get Beyonce's connection to fashion. It's a bit like Taylor Swift - they both surpass models in editorials, but that's where it ends. It just doesn't seem as though they really respect and appreciate fashion. I get the impression she's only playing the fashion game because that's how the success of pop stars and actresses are measured nowadays. I'm sure if it really depended on her she's still be decked out in House of Dereon from head to toe, I'm sure.

And agree with Lola, her best magazine work was wherever she relinquished creative control. That DeBuscherre shoot for Carine, and her very first US Vogue cover.

 

[Lola701]

^^
I think she has talent. She has a voice and she understand music but she is definitely a hard worker.
I think her persona and the entertainer she is got her the mass appeal but her work as an artist is not that mass after all. She is not a Rihanna...She is a more an album type of artist but her fame has gave us the illusion of mass appeal...

I think she has the energy that people loves in fashion. She is beautiful, a timeless beauty but she ain’t the greatest or more interesting dresser. I think she is wrong about the aesthetic that suits her. People think that all the fashion are for everybody but no! There are some things that works specifically for you!

That’s why maybe Solange stand out more because she is doing something very specific all around. it can be pretentious at time but it’s so focused that it works...

I think Beyonce is a Gaultier, Alaia, Tom Ford, Versace maybe Prada kind of who’s trying to hard to look edgy...I get that she might like playing with fashion but it’s so gauche...She bought the Balenciaga robot leggings so I think her love or at least her appreciation for fashion is real.

I just saw a recent photo of her at Diddy’s birthday...And I was like « why aren’t you wearing Versace? ».
The designers that she wears on stage are literally what she should everytime.

House of Dereon...What a nightmare. She didn’t even wore a lot of it...So she knew it was wrong.

 

[Nepenthes]

I really don't think she's talented

I can understand not being a fan but saying this woman lacks talent is the most invalid thing anyone could say about her. Her impact on music and culture is simply indisputable and she's nowhere near done.