Vogue Japan October 2018 : Namie Amuro by Luigi & Iango

[Fiercification]

Finally a nice, glamorous cover and not something dire! That's a first in a long time for VJ.

 

[phungnam96]

people who commented that they don’t know who Namie is really should spend a minute look up her name on Google. She’s a legend.

 

[Cute]

Ansley Gulielmi

 

[Benn98]

I know this cover probably won't sell in Japan, but it'd certainly be something I'd like in my magazine collection! Ansley's got such beautiful, delicate hands.

 

[WilliamsLe010919]

japanese as props again?

 

[russianelf]

I know this cover probably won't sell in Japan, but it'd certainly be something I'd like in my magazine collection! Ansley's got such beautiful, delicate hands.

I'm curious though, why wouldn't it? It was made (ok, partially) by the Japanese for the Japanese. Would there be any other reason to print it then, if it won't sell?

 

[Benn98]

I'm curious though, why wouldn't it? It was made (ok, partially) by the Japanese for the Japanese. Would there be any other reason to print it then, if it won't sell?

I won't speak for the Japanese, but not all countries respond very well to their native cultural or national emblems bandied about in fashion. It's like the Union Jack magazine covers which generally under perform whenever it's on UK titles (when you'd expect many to go gaga over it.)
Also, it's been broken down to me that Vogue Japan's direction is a little different to the rest of the other Vogues. They're more about giving Japanese readers an unbiased scope of the Western fashion scene, there's no need for them to have a Japanese face on the cover every month in order to appeal to a Japanese audience. It's all very compartamentalised and apparently the readers understand this setup. It's a little different to Vogue China who would generally convert Western trends into a Chinese vocabulary, or use Chinese icons, in order to make it more accessible to their readers. That's why seeing someone like Namie Amuro, Rinko Kikuchi, or even these Geishas on the magazine is somewhat of a rarity.

 

[ezacessline]

Such a queen .

 

[Phuel]

Still haven't bothered to look through the September issue since the cover is such a turn-off. But this, this I had to look though asap.

Too Cool For School by Jiro Konami
That brand of generic, teen ’zine aesthetic with cutesy styling that makes me nauseous. The models are all Asian, but they’re styled and made up to be so infantile it does;t matter what they really look like, all I see are children.

Namie’s Radiance by Luigi & Iango
She looks awesome and shot so well— looking like a clone of those ladies from Robert Palmer’s infamous “Addicted To Love” video. But there’s only 3 shots for the story.

Golden Memories by Akinori Ito
More of that generic teen ’zine aesthetic with 2 girls and 1 guy… except this time it’s for a Gucci advertorial. The whole Gucci kidz-playing-dressup-in-70s-rags-while-roleplaying-The-Virgin-Suicides is the equivalent of fashion muzak at this point, but VP’s gotta get those advertising coins, I suppose.

Diverse Dynasty by Akinori Ito
Just when you think infantile styling and Gucci advertorials aren’t enough, along comes a “story” showcasing the highest bidder advertisers— I mean, most influential collections, of the season. There’s not much of a story, just a page each devoted to the “chosen” designers with 2 doe-eyed girls doing their best catalogue-modelling.

Celebrating The Tradition by Luigi & Iango
Oh thank god finally a HF-worthy story. Gorgeous composition, regal color-palette and culture-drenched mood. The classic imagery of exotic Japan fused with modern HF. The delicate flowers amongst us may balk at the concept of White model surrounded by Japanese “props”… and they’re not all wrong; A Japanese model would have been a wiser choice: If it were up to me, I'd cast a Black or East Asian model (Pooja). But it is beautifully presented, and so easy to like. Simply irresistible.

As Night Falls by Liugi & Iango
Another solid story. These guys are going from strength to strength. It has a Brassai Paris By Night to it— except of course, it’s Tokyo and in bright fiery, saturated hues. I think it’s the same model from the Celebrating The Tradition story.

These are the main fashions stories. 3 gorgeous ones of of 6 is a decent issue for VP these days. And these are such gorgeous stories. Maybe if the magazine’s art direction and layout wasn’t so hideous, resembling any given tabloid rag in Asia, VP would actually stand out more. But I suppose hiring someone who has knowledge of art direction is out of the question: Typical of most Vogues these days.

 

[vogue28]

This definitely feels more worthy of a September cover as opposed to October. Always nice to see someone Japanese on the cover of Vogue Japan and even more so when the outcome is as fantastic as this. My one small critique would be Namie not looking directly down Luigi & Iango's lens but a fabulous cover nevertheless!

 

[Your Anchor]

i'm really happy for Ansley but i wish they only had that Namie cover

 

[Les_Sucettes]

I won't speak for the Japanese, but not all countries respond very well to their native cultural or national emblems bandied about in fashion. It's like the Union Jack magazine covers which generally under perform whenever it's on UK titles (when you'd expect many to go gaga over it.)
Also, it's been broken down to me that Vogue Japan's direction is a little different to the rest of the other Vogues. They're more about giving Japanese readers an unbiased scope of the Western fashion scene, there's no need for them to have a Japanese face on the cover every month in order to appeal to a Japanese audience. It's all very compartamentalised and apparently the readers understand this setup. It's a little different to Vogue China who would generally convert Western trends into a Chinese vocabulary, or use Chinese icons, in order to make it more accessible to their readers. That's why seeing someone like Namie Amuro, Rinko Kikuchi, or even these Geishas on the magazine is somewhat of a rarity.

True. I used to do a lot of Art Fairs in “Asian” countries and we were constantly warned by the organisation not to bring anything that may smack as “national” or even by “native” artists that were not totally westernised . Local buyers were exclusively interested in western art and they saw no point, or artistic value in national folklore or symbolism being used in a different context. A trend that seems to be bread and butter of a whole lot of artists. To be frank i used to think there was an element of self-hate about all of this, some throwback to imperial indoctrination, but experience as shown me how absolutely wrong i was. In reality they are supremely confortable with their cultural symbols, so confortable they do not understand our need to fetishise them, and worst demand of them to appreciate their own culture the way we find appropriate.

 

[Leonardo]

Editorial: "Golden Memories"
Photographer: Akinori Ito
Stylist: Rena Semba
Hair: Jun Goto
Make Up: Tomohiro Muramatsu
Models: Emma Peet, Mia Brammer and Tony Harak




Vogue Japan Digital Edition