Vogue Italia May 2011 : Kristen McMenamy by Steven Meisel

[freud]

This reminds me so much of One Month Only from Vogue Italia January 2006 with Bette Franke, Heather Bratton, Irina Lazareanu, Sasha Pivovarova which I loved to death. It is still not convincing me to buy this at the moment but I feel like it will look good in minimum 2 years and I will regret not buying it. Oh well...

 

[testinofan]

Great cover the best of this 2011 in Vogue Italia but the ed long and boring

 

[Tacita]

The cover and editorial are PURE LOVE

 

[AD011620]

i love the editorial... but i am also really biased because she is one of my ultimate favourites...

 

[Breathless]

it looks like something that was just slab together. I'm not impressed at all by this.

 

[agee]

Although I think that the ed is too long, I like the decadence of it. The super-imposed images are mostly OK, but I am not feeling the ones with an inset.

 

[Wicked Halo]

Love the cover...the editorial not so much, a bit off a snoozefest

 

[vavavinny]

Karl Templer styled the main editorial.

 

[cottonmouth13]

Ooh, what a cool and relaxed editorial it is! The lighting is just simply perfect. Kristen proves here that age doesn't matter in flaunting swimsuits. As long as you can carry it well, then just go for it! Another thing is that when I was looking through the editorial, it suddenly reminded of Meisel's early 00s works and I don't even know why it's like that.

 

[Bertrando3]

OMG hate the cover and hate the editorial (especially the editorial) = it looks odd to have a woman of her age with young boys and the styling is ugly, the poses lame, the photos' effect is not appealing and I soooooooo loved Kristen's past cover = the best of Vogue Italia in a decade, but this one is so lackluster! I'm just not impressed by Vogue Italia this month.

 

[happytrail]

i like the cover, and i like kristen, i just wished meisel could have used a younger, up-in-coming model.

 

[vavavinny]

Eh, not very elaborate and doesn't make for a long editorial. I do love the boys, though. And there are some very stunning pictures. I particularly like the mood and how quiet and understated the setting is in the midst of the mess. Overall, it seems a bit lazy...Meisel's play with androgyny and sexuality seem a bit different here...it's less flamboyant, and i think that's what it needs to save it. I wonder where the inspiration from this shoot came from..perhaps that would help the whole thing make more sense.

Hotel Chelsea..hmm...Any guesses ASF? dior_couture? iluvjeisa? Berlin?

ETA: the opening shot is great.

I'm not positive what the inspiration is, but the Chelsea Hotel has long been associated with junkies, artists and free spirits. It is a New York--and rock n' roll--landmark. Patti Smith had a room there. Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen lived there. Nancy died there too. Many, many other famous musicians, actors, filmmakers and artists either resided or stayed there as well. There's also the great Warhol movie Chelsea Girls, in addition to numerous songs that have been written about the Chelsea Hotel. From the images, it looks like Meisel was trying to channel the grungy glamour that the hotel is synonymous with: young people lying around half naked in their rooms, having sex, doing drugs, simply sitting and pondering their lives. It's certainly a non-traditional setting/concept for a swim story.

 

[Spiral1532]

This is superb. Great cover, and the editorial has a seemingly vintage feel to it (it looks 70s-esque) which I love.
And needless to say, the princess of Vogue Italia is just divine to look at, with her unique face and one-of-a-kind body. It takes a very special kind of supermodel to still rock the pages of VI at age 46.

 

[agee]

I'm not positive what the inspiration is, but the Chelsea Hotel has long been associated with junkies, artists and free spirits. It is a New York--and rock n' roll--landmark. Patti Smith had a room there. Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen lived there. Nancy died there too. Many, many other famous musicians, actors, filmmakers and artists either resided or stayed there as well. There's also the great Warhol movie Chelsea Girls, in addition to numerous songs that have been written about the Chelsea Hotel. From the images, it looks like Meisel was trying to channel the grungy glamour that the hotel is synonymous with: young people lying around half naked in their rooms, having sex, doing drugs, simply sitting and pondering their lives. It's certainly a non-traditional setting/concept for a swim story.

I thought that that was the sub-text. I am not one of those people who favors gratuitous edginess, but I thought that Meisel pulled his punches here, and I am still debating with myself as to whether or not that is OK.


ETA:
OR, perhaps he did not pull his punches and we were supposed to understand the implications / layers involved.

 

[vavavinny]

I thought that that was the sub-text. I am not one of those people who favors gratuitous edginess, but I thought that Meisel pulled his punches here, and I am still debating with myself as to whether or not that is OK.


ETA:
OR, perhaps he did not pull his punches and we were supposed to understand the implications / layers involved.

I think that the Hotel Chelsea is one of those places that will be edgy forever. It is just so fabled and iconic. If matronly conservative evening wear was chosen for this shoot, there would have still been a cool edge just because it was shot at the Chelsea. No matter how many times it is referenced in the contemporary media, whether in fashion magazines or films, the Chelsea Hotel will always be hip because of what it once was: the home to rock stars, artists, actors and filmmakers, and thus, by association, the place where careers started, prospered and/or ended and the place where influential ideas were born. It is a cultural monument. That said, I do find it random that it is the setting for a swim story in a May 2011 issue of Vogue Italia. If Meisel wanted to be a bit rock n' roll, though, he certainly chose the perfect setting. I guess that makes this spread cool by association. If anything, it's a portrait of the Hotel Chelsea, not a swimwear story like it's falsely and tackily teased as on the cover.

 

[agee]

^ I think that swimwear angle is brilliant and don't have a problem at all, what I am debating with myself about is whether or not the ed is subtle or sanitized, and if it is sanitized, am I OK with that?

 

[justaguy]

Awesome cover!!

 

[Kanna]

LOVE the ed. Can't get any better than that.
But still the rest of eds count.. Hope they are good enough to buy this issue.

 

[TheBlackRose]

The cover is soo refreshing. Totally contradicts the rough, grunge vibe of the editorial. Both are lovely, nonetheless.

 

[YoninahAliza]

OMG! I love this cover. Vogue Italia has once again created a beautiful cover. Plus, Kristen McMenamy never fails to impress.