W Magazine Volume #1 2025 : The Best Performances Issue by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

[Phuel]

Shame Juergen didn’t shoot this: Always adored his trolling sensibility while still composing solid shots, and convincing his stars to not take it all so seriously. But then Meet & Marcus shows how they shoot Andrew and Josh, and it’s even a greater shame there aren’t deluxe stories just of them: They look unabashedly, effortlessly smouldering. And the lighting, styling and tone of Josh’s shoot is unashamedly ripped off of their own shoot of Jamie Dornan from many years ago, down to the red Adidas sweatpants.

"Best Performances"
Photographers: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Feature: Lynn Hirschnerg
Stylist: Sara Moonves
Stars: A bunch of celebs





W Volume 1 2025

 

[Phuel]

cont'd



W Volume 1 2025

 

[Fiercification]

A lot of fashion content in this issue and it's all really terrible, especially Colin Dodgson's editorial. I know Trump is back in power but no one asked to go back to 2016 .

Is Ashley now the contributing casting director at W? You've got to give the woman her props for launching almost every significant new face in the industry for the last decade plus, but I don't trust her when it comes to editorial casting. There is a huge drop in quality in this issue compared to when Piergiorgio was the CD (and we all know casting directors at this level have some input not just in terms of models featured, but the creative teams as well). I know many on this forum hate him but when it comes to editorial work, he has a really good feel for selecting the right girl(s) for each mood or story. That feeling is totally missing in this issue, despite the relatively decent and faintly glamorous Best Performances portfolio by M&M.

I'll wait to see what the next issue looks like but W is flip flopping back into irrelevance again if this issue is setting the standard moving forward!