Vogue Paris September 2010 : Marion Cotillard by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

[adorefaith]

Natasha Poly needs to retire... i'm sorry, did i just say that. i am not normally this opinionated when it comes to models but honestly, she looks so tired in every sense of the word. i can't even look and understand the ed. for what it is anymore, all i see is natasha's face and every picture she's ever taken floods in and overwhelms the entire thing. i can't distinguish them any more.. it's like when an actor reaches a certain height of celebrity and every character they play, all you see is the celebrity, over and over again (e.g. jennifer aniston). She just has no fantasy left any more for me... there is no way to imagine your way into the world of the photographs.. you just see Natasha Poly.... posing.

 

[CrisGalaxy]

^ well she's had alot of magazine covers this year so um... I dont think she should retire anytime soon. She'll keep working just like Kate Moss, we never get tired of them!

 

[pierixie]

Marion's ed is beautiful indeed
And Nat's ed makes me laugh.Quite interesting.

 

[[Piece Of Me]]

Can someone please upload Natasha's editorial to another host than imagehost? Thank you so much in advance!

 

[82ndfrag]

Natasha Poly needs to retire... i'm sorry, did i just say that. i am not normally this opinionated when it comes to models but honestly, she looks so tired in every sense of the word. i can't even look and understand the ed. for what it is anymore, all i see is natasha's face and every picture she's ever taken floods in and overwhelms the entire thing. i can't distinguish them any more.. it's like when an actor reaches a certain height of celebrity and every character they play, all you see is the celebrity, over and over again (e.g. jennifer aniston). She just has no fantasy left any more for me... there is no way to imagine your way into the world of the photographs.. you just see Natasha Poly.... posing.

When you've done as many editorials as Natasha has in the past six years, it's to be expected that some eds will look similar. There's only so many different poses a model can do and some of them will undoubtedly be repeated.

Putting my Terry prejudice aside, I actually like Natasha's ed.

Who wouldn't want to be pushed around and yelled at by Natasha?

 

[XavierRaphael]

Finally

 

[penny609]

Natasha Poly needs to retire... i'm sorry, did i just say that. i am not normally this opinionated when it comes to models but honestly, she looks so tired in every sense of the word. i can't even look and understand the ed. for what it is anymore, all i see is natasha's face and every picture she's ever taken floods in and overwhelms the entire thing. i can't distinguish them any more.. it's like when an actor reaches a certain height of celebrity and every character they play, all you see is the celebrity, over and over again (e.g. jennifer aniston). She just has no fantasy left any more for me... there is no way to imagine your way into the world of the photographs.. you just see Natasha Poly.... posing.

I wouldn't go as far as you do saying she needs to retire but somehow I can understand this feeling. Of course the fact she gets a whole lot of work and relentlessly appears in a large number of magazines helps making some editorials look very similar. But some other girls like Abbey Lee or Freja, who get a similar amount of work and who aren't the most versatile either, still manage to put a litte more 'soul' in their work. Natasha to me is a great professional model, maybe one of the most professional of these last years but it tends to become mechanical, relying on the same safe and time-tested recipe again and again (which may work sometimes provided she's really skilled).

Apart from this (which I'm afraid goes slightly off-topic) I don't know what to say about the editorial itself. It's not that bad but neither Natasha's best (of course) nor Terry's best. Just reminds me of some funny memories so I quite like it for the wrong reasons but when just sticking to a purely visual point, it doesn't do much for me.

On another hand I just love M&M's editorial (multi-girl one, Rive Gauche Etc.) for Daphne's real editorial debuts and even more than this, for the best picture of Malgosia I have EVER seen.

 

[j'adorekapusta]

^ i don't think it's fair to blame it on ms Poly. there's something about her relationship with Paris Vogue which makes this very topic slightly off-center to me.
i remember reading some interview with Carine where she said that Natasha has been one of the best-selling faces of VP. to achieve that and to be a great newsstands selling vehicle a model has to have something more in her than beauty and technical skill to deliver in any (or pretty much every) job she's doing. Natasha has become a household name and going down this route means securing some very clear image of yourself that a) puts you on the map, b) distinguishes you from other girls in the industry. funny enough, cause this model-as-a-brand phenomena doesn't actually force a girl to be versatile. think of Snejana's cold stare, Kate's rock chic vibe or Lara's - ahem! - exhibitionism. you can go on with the list.
and frankly, i don't think it's something to say about their lack of versatility, rather than a certain image that editors cultivate and then exploit. for each and every blue-chip girl has to be this kind of character to make her stand out and her image be very clear for the masses she appeals to. VP is not about niche fan-dom. it's elitist yes, but it still caters to wide readership and each and every one of those who buy the magazine has to have a very clear picture of Natasha, Daria or any other VP star. these girls don't only do their job to sell clothes or to translate certain aesthetics within editorial space -- they embody VP spirit and with this publication it gets very specific. therefore, complaints on boredom and repetitiveness.
it's great to see a girl being forced to step out of her comfort zone, but once again she has to be challenged to do so -- the general idea comes from a photographer and an editor. it's them who can make Natasha forget about being Natasha and try to perform something new and innovative. but question is, do they need it?
if machine works, why fix it?

 

[penny609]

^ i don't think it's fair to blame it on ms Poly. there's something about her relationship with Paris Vogue which makes this very topic slightly off-center to me.

I don't blame it on Ms Poly and I'm fully conscious this is going slightly off-topic... maybe that's just me who's more demanding than the modeling job itself and again I'm conscious of this as well.

going down this route means securing some very clear image of yourself that a) puts you on the map, b) distinguishes you from other girls in the industry. funny enough, cause this model-as-a-brand phenomena doesn't actually force a girl to be versatile. think of Snejana's cold stare, Kate's rock chic vibe or Lara's - ahem! - exhibitionism. you can go on with the list.

Again, I totally agree with this and agree that the list could go on forever and ever. That's actually why I took models like Abbey Lee or Freja as examples of these girls that rely on roughly one look/one vibe but still manages to produce some less generic imagery most of times. I don't say Ms Poly is generic or non-descript at all, just that it happens to her more than others like Kate, Abbey, Sasha, Natalia Vodianova or Freja. Or this is just my personal liking, this would be hard for me to say to be honest.

and frankly, i don't think it's something to say about their lack of versatility, rather than a certain image that editors cultivate and then exploit. for each and every blue-chip girl has to be this kind of character to make her stand out and her image be very clear for the masses she appeals to. VP is not about niche fan-dom. it's elitist yes, but it still caters to wide readership and each and every one of those who buy the magazine has to have a very clear picture of Natasha, Daria or any other VP star. these girls don't only do their job to sell clothes or to translate certain aesthetics within editorial space -- they embody VP spirit and with this publication it gets very specific. therefore, complaints on boredom and repetitiveness.

Again would be hard not to agree with this. And again I don't blame Ms Poly for some lack of versatility of whatever it can be. Actually you're very right when you say she's one of these models who literally embodies the magazine's aesthetics to the max in several occasions. Who else would have been able to work out the total leopard-look she wore on some cover a few years ago? Daria would have looked awkward and Lara would have been too much... it need Ms Poly-does-it-all and her somehow cold professionalism to make it work for the best. And it will remain a personal standout among VP's covers.

it's great to see a girl being forced to step out of her comfort zone, but once again she has to be challenged to do so -- the general idea comes from a photographer and an editor. it's them who can make Natasha forget about being Natasha and try to perform something new and innovative.

I know I'm some kind of wishful dreamer most of times but I think some models are able to bring their own input to this general idea or can influence the results. I remember some interview I read from Natalia Vodianova which was quite interesting (need to find it back, desperately). Or in less extreme examples we would have Viktoriya Sasonkina, Meghan Collison or Malgosia. Most are no VP girls so I might slip on the off topic side again...

but question is, do they need it?

One of my favorite questions!

 

[j'adorekapusta]

penny609,

I don't blame it on Ms Poly and I'm fully conscious this is going slightly off-topic... maybe that's just me who's more demanding than the modeling job itself and again I'm conscious of this as well.

sorry, i should've made it more clear as i was referring to the previous debate, not you specifically with this line. so please forgive me my clumsiness.

Again, I totally agree with this and agree that the list could go on forever and ever. That's actually why I took models like Abbey Lee or Freja as examples of these girls that rely on roughly one look/one vibe but still manages to produce some less generic imagery most of times. I don't say Ms Poly is generic or non-descript at all, just that it happens to her more than others like Kate, Abbey, Sasha, Natalia Vodianova or Freja. Or this is just my personal liking, this would be hard for me to say to be honest.

and here i have to agree with you in turn. all these girls do perform something that goes beyond plan A. feel sexy. be cool. stay drop dead gorgeous. and this makes me think that Natasha isn't just put in scenarios like that (meaning plans B, C and D). but if a bit of model talk is allowed in this thread - and we've already messed up here - i immediately think of what Natasha has done with Willy Vanderperre, Olivier Rizzo and Panos Yiapanis and it strikes me the girl has potential to go WAY beyond VP plan A (her Jil Sander campaign being a standout).

 

[lovesick]

This issue looks very good. I think I'm gonna get it. Marion's ed is amazing!

 

[caroline786]

what a beauty!!!

 

[lost_in_chaos]

Marion looks beyond beautiful.

 

[jacquelineo]

This issue is such a let down. The only saving grace is Marion.

 

[khyrk]

Corps D'Elite HQ

Facebook / Marc Vallee

 

[IAmLordZen]

^ HQ?

Those are like shots from a fetishist soft-p*rn film. Then again, it's Terry R.

 

[justaguy]

Terry struck out with this ed. Although I think she looks great!

 

[tanii94]

Marion is a stunning woman and a great actress. I loved her in Inception but she's just not a covergirl.

Poly has really lost her spark.

 

[caroline786]

I like the cover!! but i think its too dark.. isnt it?????

 

[Style Savvy]

Natasha's editorial is the most clichéd editorial I've seen.