US Harper's Bazaar February 2017 : Madonna by Luigi & Iango

[AD011620]

The thing about Harper's Bazaar is that they no longer bring anything new to the table. Month after month, their covers and editorials almost always have that "I've seen this before" vibe. Change. It. Up.

There's a thin line between sticking with a formula that works and being lazy.

Unfortunately, I think this is the case with the majority of magazines which is quite tragic...

 

[Miss Dalloway]

I mean, 20 years later, and we still get bombarded with Gwyneth Paltrow on covers, when all she is promoting is her website lifestyle, and hasn't been in major role/movie for a while!

So I'm really not gonna be bitter about an Icon like Madonna getting a cover of HB! She looks great in that sub cover, and to be honest, for someone that Legendary she has not been doing that many major covers in the last 15 years!

Wintour obviously hasn't used her for over a decade!

 

[kokobombon]

I had no expectations opening the thread and even thought they´re not great (at this point, I don´t think Madonna can deliver great covers), I think they´re not as bad as other covers.
The suscriber´s the best imo, the styling is a welcomed change and she reminds me of Guinevere

 

[madzedre]

the B&W is stunning, the other one not so much

 

[Benn98]

I mean, 20 years later, and we still get bombarded with Gwyneth Paltrow on covers, when all she is promoting is her website lifestyle, and hasn't been in major role/movie for a while!

So I'm really not gonna be bitter about an Icon like Madonna getting a cover of HB! She looks great in that sub cover, and to be honest, for someone that Legendary she has not been doing that many major covers in the last 15 years!

Wintour obviously hasn't used her for over a decade!

Omg, yes! While I'm not obsessed with her print work (just look at the crazy retouching here!), I've actually noticed that she does one cover over a long period. Not back to back for different titles like Paltrow, Gaga et al. That's commendable, imo.

And maybe part of the reason why she doesn't have so many Vogue covers is because Anna won't give her full control (in addition to not being keen on the idea of latex and open legs in Vogue). Madonna is perhaps the only pop star who exact total agency over every minute detail of her shoots. She'll want a say in the styling, photographer, image approval and most likely text approval as well. Her way or the highway! That's why the last HB cover and edit looked like it could be one of her album booklets.

 

[Bertrando3]

The thing about Harper's Bazaar is that they no longer bring anything new to the table. Month after month, their covers and editorials almost always have that "I've seen this before" vibe. Change. It. Up.

There's a thin line between sticking with a formula that works and being lazy.

You took the words out of my mouth, absolutely agree with you. But I do have to say she looks good and I´m happy to see her on the cover.

 

[Wintergreen]

I live!

 

[lelaid]

The subscriber cover is great but idk about the styling.

 

[liberty33r1b]

great cover, and thank god it's not another boring actress!

 

[honeycombchild]

I have no problem with Madonna appearing on the cover of magazines, as stated in the thread, her achievements and legacy to date mean she will always be one of those few who commands respect. However for me, it is how she presents herself and the imagery she appears in that I have a problem with. At least the subscriber's cover is somewhat unusual for a Madonna shoot, but the newsstand one seems business as usual.

Inside I expect to see lace, awful crotch angled shots, weird thumb biting and unbelievably excessive Photoshopping. But also, to give Harper's their dues, Madonna's face itself is now a strange work of fiction, even before the retouchers got their hands on it.

 

[Deleted member 116957]

I just wish that Madonna would change her look, she's had the same look for the past 10 years.

 

[MDNA]

 

[VogueGirl8910]

The subscriber's cover is just beautiful , but the newsstand's is horrible. The preview of her editorial looks great.

 

[Benn98]

Oh God, here we go again!

 

[ellastica]

is this L&I's lol first cover for US HB?

Their work certainly got the US HB cover treatment.

So what is Madonna promoting?

 

[bun-bun]

I'm so conflicted about Madonna and how she presents herself on magazines. On the one hand - and I have not really paid attention to her for 20 years or so - on a whim I clicked on her Billboard interview and was impressed with her answers and how she expressed things very thoughtfully and I enjoyed what she said especially on the topic of "relevance" of women pop artists (a word brought up in this thread, of course). But then she keeps hiding behind awful photoshop and pretends of a youthful image that lends itself right into criticism. These images here would have been just fine without any of this ridiculous photoshop. I don't understand why she can't let go of her own paralysis in image.

 

[gazebo]

I'm so over this lady. There's nothing that she's doing that is interesting to me in the least. I wish this wasn't the case, but it is.

 

[Tony Fersen]

The black and white photos are fantastic !

 

[tigerrouge]

I'm conflicted about Madonna as well. She's always been in control of her image - and remains so. But with age, what should she do?

Would the bolder choice be to present a realistic face to the world, with wrinkles, a face that belongs to a person who remains undiminished in terms of her fame, her energy and her commitment to fitness? Or it it realism that makes her resort to the fillers and photoshop, because standards for beauty are becoming ever more artificial, and if you're not visually relevant, no-one's going to feature your content?

Kate Moss doesn't even bother getting the fillers, she knows that magazines and advertisers are going to digitally de-age her - so are celebrities the ones making the decision to look like CGI, or is it the media choosing to feed us everything and everyone through the same filter, until our eyes won't accept anything less than what they're trained to? Is Madonna just keeping pace with that?

 

[Benn98]

Is Madonna just keeping pace with that?

See, this is the part which confuses me. So Madonna's mission statement was always to show the middle finger to societal demands/expectations. Her dressing up in bondage gear at the age of 50 perfectly aligns with that. Demanding aggressive retouching and hiding her wrinkled hands behind gloves doesn't. In fact, it actually highlights her insecurity and submission to the norm. I sort of expected her to be more like a more mainstream Debbie Harry, after Confessions. But I suppose when a 20-year old is your competition, what can one expect.