US Vogue May 2023 by Annie Leibovitz

[Kerg]

Will Anna invite Hedi, Emmanuelle and Carine at the Met? Can't wait to see that !

 

[aracic]

I think we can all agree that it's not an ideal cover, but I can definitely appreciate the effort and production! What baffles me is the fact that so many of you are shocked that someone like Lara or Freja or Snejana didn't make this cover. Why on earth would they? LMao Think about it, it'll come to you. I feel like having a selection of models instead of a celebrity ambassador is a major win for us as fashion stans, so let's take what we can get. This very well could've been Kendall alone!
My favorite frame is undoubtedly Shalom and Amber and if I had it my way, that would've been the cover. An instant classic for nostalgia alone!
The editorial is quite stunning, very reminiscent of better times. There's a lot of focus on the location, which is beautiful, but it does take away from the clothes in some shots. The image with Natalia, Gigi and Naomi by the statue is breathtaking, that would make a wonderful alternative collectible cover.

I also quite like Pavarotti's editorial. I might have to splurge on this issue after years of not buying US Vogue. It's definitely a must have. I know Claudia isn't overly active nowadays but I would positively die if Edward gave her the Meisel treatment for UK Vogue. I do hope that he'll stay on theme of celebrating Lagerfeld, he's got a great opportunity to let Meisel recreate his legendary 1994 Chanel images! That would be a big win. Let's just hope it's not Inez & Vinoodh again.

 

[Scotty]

This would have been the perfect moment to bring back Daria.

 

[aracic]

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous comment. What happened to fold-out covers?? Could you imagine a proper formation with these models, all close-up and looking fabulous in the good old American fashion across like a two or three-page fold-out? Maybe go the extra mile and do a little homage with all the Chanel covers further down the fold-out, god knows there's been plenty. Then make Virginie pay for all that advertising on the other side of the fold-out lmao

 

[fenty]

Natalia is there to please somebody at LVMH...

she can do that too! but Karl loved that girl before she became an LVMH representative no shade..

 

[Fiercification]

Something about this recalls the glory days of this mag for me; and for that, I must compliment the effort. However, Annie's post-production is truly transparent these days; the amount of photos where the models just look composited onto the background, almost like stickers, is ridiculous. Still doesn't take away from the fact that some of the pictures are still decent; but is annoying that my untrained eye can notice that.

Won't get into the casting conversation, but I can see why they cast the way they did (besides Anna strong arming her favourites in as usual). The models have to be familiar to the public, or at least readership; hence Gigi, Kendall, Naomi and Natalia. Then you have two of the more prominent girls of the moment and then a couple of other favourites (although not necessarily Chanel favourites) who are visible outside of fashion and hey presto. Doesn't really work as a remotely "cohesive" mix to me, but when has US Vogue paid attention to such things latterly?

Anyway, Pavarotti's edit takes the cake for me. Really lovely, although I bet a lot of those images won't end up being printed, as is often the case theses days.

 

[congacon]

This would have been the perfect moment to bring back Daria.

She will definitely not coming back to be on a cover with 9 other models. It’s either a solo cover(does not have to be vogue us) or solo campaign that would have a slight chance.

 

[blueorchid]

This would have been the perfect moment to bring back Daria.

No, the fashion industry as it is today doesn't deserve Daria!!!

 

[FashionMuseDior]

This cover made me smile because it's reminiscent of the old days of US Vogue plus having models on the cover will always be welcomed in my opinion.

The editorial is even better! Shalom's picture is a work of art.

 

[Lola701]

When was Naomi ever a Chanel girl? Claudia was the obvious choice. This cover is just Anna’s faves plus their regular wokeness quota.

He liked her but love her would be exaggerated. However she was a Fendi and Chloe girl from the 90’s. And for some reasons she was always invited in Fendi events and was a friend of Eric Wright (Karl’s right hand man for years). But really if they wanted to include more black girls Karl worked with, Joan Smalls would have made sense as she was a Fendi and Chanel girl in the 00’s or even Tami Williams who was really a Karl’s girl.

Will Anna invite Hedi, Emmanuelle and Carine at the Met? Can't wait to see that !

Carine can be part of this…
She is part of the Lagerfeld team, she is good with the Chanel and Fendi people so I can see her at the table of one of those brands.

Hedi is still banning CN so no. Maybe Emmanuelle who knows. She styled Karl’s Chanel campaigns after all.

 

[MagFan]

Natalia is there to please somebody at LVMH...

Natalia was given solo covers and editorials regularly way before LVMH came in to her life. She also worked with Leibovitz a lot, maybe this was her choice.

 

[MON]

I know this is Annie, but this could have been 100000% better if the photoshop was elevated and professionally done.

1. The difference between the lighting of the models and the actual backdrop is off-putting;

2. The difference in the lighting/editing between the models themselves. You have Natalia and Adut with a cooler hue, and there's Gigi, Liu, and Naomi with higher contrast and saturation;

3. Where are the shadows?;

4. The ladder looks so fake;

5. Naomi's shot is so out of place. Why put her on the second row and at the same time, choose a shot of her where she seems like she's about to fall?

6. That heater looks so fake;

7. The placements are off. They're mostly socially distant then you have Amber and Shalom hugging down there. Would have been a more powerful cover if they were all in one row; and

8. The proportions are also off. There's no way in hell that they're all of the same height.

Another thing that throws me off are their poses and expressions. Like they literally look like they collaged multiple studio shots with no theme in mind. You have Kendall doing something you'd get eliminated for in ANTM, Shalom and Amber hugging like they haven't seen each other in years (well, apt, at least for this magazine), Natalia and Naomi posing like goddesses, and Liu and Adut posing like they're being featured on Humans of New York.

Terrible.

 

[GreyVetiver]

What a wasted opportunity to not ask Haider to reinterpret Karl’s works.

 

[Urban Stylin]

The aesthetic is Karl but it needed strong models thats why Shalom, Amber and Devon are carrying it. This is random and the masthead colour isnt helping. Love the Pavarotti editorial though.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

Don't care for the cover, and the editorial itself is really off.

Design wise, Sacai and Undercover are the only ones that really succeeded in my eyes. The rest either feel twee or cheap. There were always moments where I found Karl's approach to be dated, but that was also a result of the couture clientele so he managed to find a way to use that to his own advantage. He was also able to balance it with a rather peculiar, almost unhinged youthfulness with the bourgeois to make something click.

Karl always had his finger on the, or at least a, pulse. Most of these contributing designers don't exactly have that in way that isn't so self serious.

Models wise, it's eh. Amber is more Prada, Shalom more Galliano and Naomi more Versace or Alaia (which makes her the strangest choice to me). Devon makes sense, and so do Gigi and Kendall. He's always had a penchant for seeing the use of nepotism models. The rest are fine.

 

[SLFC]

You know, its got issues but I will take Annie's work over every single one of Vogue's issues the past few years.

 

[ivano]

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous comment. What happened to fold-out covers?? Could you imagine a proper formation with these models, all close-up and looking fabulous in the good old American fashion across like a two or three-page fold-out? Maybe go the extra mile and do a little homage with all the Chanel covers further down the fold-out, god knows there's been plenty. Then make Virginie pay for all that advertising on the other side of the fold-out lmao

Their last fold-out was Serena's cover last year. Maybe they wanted to make some sort of Jean Paul Goude tribute, which you can link with Chanel campaigs, but yes, a fold-out would have been a perfect idea. By the way, I find this cover very Meiselish. Maybe the light and the colours.

 

[lagerfeld]

apparently bella hadid was also going to be part of the cover but got sick

 

[crmsn]

apparently bella hadid was also going to be part of the cover but got sick

...and was replaced by an infrared heater.

It all makes sense now because the photo looks hollow at the bottom despite having four models in it.

 

[mikel]

apparently bella hadid was also going to be part of the cover but got sick

Does that mean a 11th custom made look by another designer was killed because they didn’t get a replacement for Bella?