Vogue Italia May 2003 : Elise Crombez by Steven Meisel

[MulletProof]

^ adina second to last & madeleine in the last shot.

 

[DK92]

This type of cover is what impresses me the most in a work by a model and a photographer, no wonder it's one of my favorite VI covers... No distractions, just a gray background and the model doing the best!

What I ask myself is: How, nowadays, with the resources we have, do professionals not manage to reach this level of excellence obtained with such simple elements? SAD!

 

[aracic]

^ adina second to last & madeleine in the last shot.

Thanks a lot!

This type of cover is what impresses me the most in a work by a model and a photographer, no wonder it's one of my favorite VI covers... No distractions, just a gray background and the model doing the best!

It really is my favourite formula for a magazine cover. This example is pure perfection! 2000-2004 are some of my favourite years of Italian Vogue.

 

[Lola701]

I never realized how many close-ups and portraits there were in this issue.

This type of cover is what impresses me the most in a work by a model and a photographer, no wonder it's one of my favorite VI covers... No distractions, just a gray background and the model doing the best!

What I ask myself is: How, nowadays, with the resources we have, do professionals not manage to reach this level of excellence obtained with such simple elements? SAD!

Maybe because today photographers are more concerned about the techniques the effects rather than their vision and the real « director » quality of a photographer.

 

[MulletProof]

@aracic you're welcome! I'm so devoted to the cause I was literally on a steep sidewalk with two balls of lettuce in my right hand/arm and two bottles of maple syrup in the other, zooming into the faces of these models lol. I remember knowing who that male model was but there's no way I will remember now.

I never ever understood Madeleine and.. still don't understand. Now that's a model that makes Kendall look incredibly skilled and chameleonic haha

What I ask myself is: How, nowadays, with the resources we have, do professionals not manage to reach this level of excellence obtained with such simple elements? SAD!

That's lack of competition for you. It's like erasing every single drink out there except for Coca Cola and Pepsi and maybe some Sprite or Apple s*it (also owned by either Pepsi or Coca Cola) to make it seem less boring, and keeping some orange juice brands around for those who want to feel 'alternative'. That is the state of fashion, just this prolonged 'missed opportunity' moment because you know there are endless resources and opportunities now.. it's easier to travel now, to get an education, to do your own research (whatever took, say, Arthur Elgort, days at the library, it takes you a couple of hours on the internet now), to have interesting-looking models with a personality and a decent level of culture and education (also brought to you by the internet and globalization).. but the people at the very top are all people you would never even trust with recommending you a song, or helping you pick a pair of shoes, let alone calling the shots for a whole industry. They've decimated and commodified everything on their path, watered it down so they can understand it themselves (because god knows the passion and thirst for them is not in fashion but strictly revenue) and adopted consumer-friendly strategies (no to war, peace in the middle east, save the planet, diversity not as seen on the subway but as seen in romcoms because, foreign concept so gotta water down that too so they can sign on it). If it feels disingenuous that's because they are, and their business format needs to be disingenuous to succeed. It's pretty grotesque but nothing that hasn't happened in any other field, fashion just needs a good shakeup and a nice movement that rejects it and wants no partake in it from the very start so they're dogmatic about it (no, 'I was at LVMH but I'm independent now' or 'I was independent but worked for some dead person's brand but independent again'). Actually.... Anti-Hollywood's Dogme 95 .. but make it fashion!

 

[aracic]

@aracic you're welcome! I'm so devoted to the cause I was literally on a steep sidewalk with two balls of lettuce in my right hand/arm and two bottles of maple syrup in the other, zooming into the faces of these models lol. I remember knowing who that male model was but there's no way I will remember now.

I respect (and truly appreciate) the dedication! Do let me know if you remember anything about him, please. What's fascinating is that I can't even find these men in ad campaigns from around that time. I'm currently trying to identify everyone in Meisel's body of work for my site and it's proving to be quite difficult. Even people who were on set are sometimes no help... So much information gets forgotten and lost, simply because no one ever credits the full team. The worst aspect of vintage magazines, by far!

 

[MulletProof]

^ I feel like if I walk myself enough through my 'methods' back then, I could potentially find out who that is.

One thing that might help is knowing what the main sources were, there was no tfs, so I for one, would rely on style.com, models.com (model of the week, etc). If you spotted a model at a show, you'd quickly ID on style and if it was a campaign, probably at models.com ('model of the week' 'of the minute' sections). Style.com is gone but models does keep an archive.

That model was a bit feminine for his time (I know 'femininity' in men is a.. journey these days) so he may not have done a lot of campaigns because this is still Tom Ford era (aka. Ken-looking types) but they were gaining popularity via Dior Homme and rising models like Boyd Holbrook, Mathias. If this was shot in early 2003, there was probably hype because this was a big deal (Meisel, Prada girls, Vogue) so he may have been in NYFW's Fall 2003 shows. Marc by Marc Jacobs had all the cool-looking, new/hyped models. You'd also see some of them at the Tommy show. And vogue.com keeps the names. I feel like he MAY have been Danny Miller? (with a wig, just like Elise?).. he looks different in every picture but eyebrows/lips sometimes match.

 

[aracic]

^ I feel like if I walk myself enough through my 'methods' back then, I could potentially find out who that is.

One thing that might help is knowing what the main sources were, there was no tfs, so I for one, would rely on style.com, models.com (model of the week, etc). If you spotted a model at a show, you'd quickly ID on style and if it was a campaign, probably at models.com ('model of the week' 'of the minute' sections). Style.com is gone but models does keep an archive.

That model was a bit feminine for his time (I know 'femininity' in men is a.. journey these days) so he may not have done a lot of campaigns because this is still Tom Ford era (aka. Ken-looking types) but they were gaining popularity via Dior Homme and rising models like Boyd Holbrook, Mathias. If this was shot in early 2003, there was probably hype because this was a big deal (Meisel, Prada girls, Vogue) so he may have been in NYFW's Fall 2003 shows. Marc by Marc Jacobs had all the cool-looking, new/hyped models. You'd also see some of them at the Tommy show. And vogue.com keeps the names. I feel like he MAY have been Danny Miller? (with a wig, just like Elise?).. he looks different in every picture but eyebrows/lips sometimes match.

Impressive work (and base of knowledge!)! Shame we don't have quite the resources that used to be around back then, you'd think it would be the opposite... Anyway, while it definitely could be Danny I don't think he has quite the lips to match the boy in this ed (or the cheekbones?) It's hard to tell! I'll try DMing Elise, see if she has any memories - maybe a first name, anything. While frustrating and hard, I must admit it's also kind of fun trying to track down all this missing information - and having people like yourself get involved makes it all the more fun! Thank you x

 

[MulletProof]

^ you’re welcome! wish I was more helpful, 2003 in fashion is one of my favorite years but male models just.. weren’t my forte (I always liked my men.. rougher, you either look like that or you don’t exist so.. yeah not my area ).

 

[Minerva13]

Suggestions
Julia Stegner, Tetyana Brazhnyk, ? by Koto Bolofo


vogue italia archivio

+Daniela Lopes