16 fashion and celebrity stories— not including beauty and jewelry stories, is likely a first for any Vogue. Unfortunately, this is a matter of quantity over quality.
There are 6 stories from the English side. And including Nicki’s, non are memorable. Nicki’s All Hail The Queen by Emma Summerton fails to showcases Nicki’s brand of beauty successfully. She’s styled in pieces that are so drab, so lifeless, so heavy and dumpy, including dressing her in full Marc Jacobs LOL… Nicki just looks like she’s having a miserable time. And I can sympathize here with the way she’s styled.
From the Arabic side, there are 10 stories (all starring ME celebrities, ME/Brown models— except for one story featuring an Asian model, and Olivier Rousteing). 2 of them are extremely strong. One is titled BANG BANG by Louis Christopher. Shot outside in some lush (American) riverside, overgrown thicket with a lot of rusty fences and bridges, and featuring a color-palette of only red and black, it’s a simple but striking story with a hint of the urban cowgirl (and a model with such a strong profile). Just goes to show that creative styling, a complimentary location, and a model-- no matter how unknown, who knows how to give attitude, is all you need to achieve something memorable. The best story of them all is by Katie Trotter, shot on-location at an old theatre. Gorgeous story featuring Haute Couture and with a model that’s so stunning-looking, she’s pure muse and elevates the designs and shoot. Full of smokey mood and noir attitude with the seductive lighting of breaking dawn, reminding me of those stories that would feature Ungaro, Lacroix and YSL all in jewel tones from the from 80s American Vogue.
VA doesn’t need the Western contributions of photographers and celebrities, at least not the ones featured in this issue. And the casting of ME/Brown models is far superior in enhancing the imagery of their perspective of HF as a identity. I’d rather see the production value given to extending their own stories. If anything, the Western contributions drag down the issue. Unless they can get Meisel to shoot the English titles, why bother with someone like Walter Chin, who's got absolutely nothing to say? But a more valid criticism that could pull everything together into a seamless presentation would be… invest in a strong and talented art director. God knows VA would be the one of the few Vogues that would.
