Complete Info on MARCH 2005 "W" incl. Editorials, Models, Clothes & Spring Ads
W March 2005
EDIT:
kate moss shot by mert & marcus. absolutely stunning. as great as the 2 edits below are, this one blows them away. mert & marcus did it again, they made kate look like the best model ever. again. if anyone dared to say that kate is not still on top form in 2005 this edit will shut them up. these images are a mixture of sexy swimwear & evening looks shot in an arty black & white style that compares with the best 20th century art portraits by edward weston, alfred steiglitz, steichen, manray, mapplethorpe etc. the best images here can compare with helmut newton's sensuous chiaroscuro, but mert & marcus keep it more subtle & poetic without the deliberate shock that newton often used. just the lighting here and the framing of the pictures is masterful, this edit can stand with the very best that W has shown in the 21st century. kate is hotter than hot, still the sexiest model alive when she chooses to be.
top looks include: gucci, fendi [spectacular picture with kate'legs in V pose & 2 palm trees growing like wings behind her- mert/marcus are hall of fame for this picture alone]; YSL black jacket & etro swimsuit [2 pics that recall best of newton shooting YSL in 70s]; balenciaga; D&G 2 pics including killer contrast against concrete architecture & puffy clouds {M&M shot the clouds incredibly well here- its not so easy - try to shoot clouds in black & white & call me later!!] ; kate posing with 2 calla lilies in facial beauty closeups that recall mapplethorpe's most gorgeous porrtraits of flowers & models. more YSL & balenciaga; chanel another timeless & sculptural black jacket; superhot D&G swimsuit with kate on all fours [wowza!!]; LV , Jil. Ferre & DK shot in radiated Man Ray "ray-o-gram" style [more art historical allusions]; And finally kate in kamali swimsuit from behind- suffice to say kate is still the sexiest model and her rear end is as hot as every other side of her.
just as the 'kate special' W showed 2 yaers ago that she is THE model of our lifetimes this edit reaffirms that beyond a shadow of a doubt. the styling work by alex white here, & M&M's picture-making, too, is priceless, if I were john fairchild I would give all of them HUGE bonuses. this edit will be hard to top for US edit of the year, but we'll see. [by contrast, meisel's 'androgyny' edit last fall was all shock and gimmick, except for elise's supreme sensuality, M&M make meisel's W edit look ridiculous by comparisonj here].
rating 11 out of 10, off the charts great.
EDIT: Stam shot by mert & marcus.
extremely modern & colorful edit. includes stam in ungaro red maillot, LV ruby maillot, and an ungaro purple one, among 3 hottest stam pictures to date. mert/marcus truly showed us a new side of stam and its the sexiest Ive ever seen her.
superior looks styled by alex white including: lacroix, YSL, Dior, versace, oscar, viktor/rolf, cavalli. as brilliant as those clothes are, the makeup is too, by lucia pieroni [some of most vivid & dramatic makeup Ive seen in a while], gerard santos' sets & the lighting transform an excellent edit into one of the best we will see in an american magazine this year. inspiring & eye-opening. rating: 9 out of 10.
EDIT: gemma & kim noorda shot by mcdean.
this is more like the mcdean we have loved. his recent vogue edits have been middling at best. like meisel, and even testino & klein, mcdean seems muzzled by wintour's frigidity. not here. gemma particularly is stunning here, as are the clothes. gemma & kim work much better together than gemma & natalia in recent vogue mcdean piece. mcdean & gemma have a brilliant chemistry. gemma here can stake a claim to being the #1 model in the world. daria is not nearly as good a model as gemma here. top looks include: herrera, moschino black & white striped jacket shorts [best moschino ive seen this century], burberry, valentino, lanvin, hermes [superior navy cashmere jacket worn with maxmara striped tights!!] ; lang navy dress worn with polkadot tights, prada, CK, armani [expert cropped white silk jacket]. again alex white's styling is out of this world, the lighting & photos are flawless, gemma & noorda are on top form, and the hair & makeup is really pretty too. this mcdean & gemma edit so thoroughly blows the gemma/natalia edit away there's no comparison at all. this mcdean is among the worlds greatest photographersl; . his work in vogue is 2 dimentional and slack. rating 9 out of 10.
EDIT: inez & vinoo shoot anja, noorda, marina, cameron, eloise, alicia malhone, tasha, & marta b. these are basically closeups of the girls with theatrical/futuristic makeup & horizontal poses. they all look good, but could have been used better, thats a lot of talent. still this edit is 10X better than anything in US vogue since maybe the gemma/grandma story or meier shooting julia as hitchcock femme fatale. theres a shadowy drama to these pics that is sort of french 70s YSL but with such a great cast Id like to have seen more than these facials-3/4 closeups. still its a contrast to the more expository edits that came before, W knows what theyre doing, but with inez & vinoo I expect work at the level of mert/marcus & mcdean and this is not that.
on closer inspection this edit is much better than i initially thought, so blinded was I by mert & marcus & mcdean's work. best looks & girls include: anja in mcqueen nautical. really great girl, i love anja I hope the rest of the fashion world follows suit. noorda in ralph, LOVE the angora cardigan & silk skirt; marina in marc gingham shirt; cameron deseves a full edit in W soon. eloise is cute in missoni silk yellow/white pattern dress. still think these excellent girls could have been used better, alex white was contrasting this shoot with the blockbusters above; and the makeup & hair by dick page & didier malige, while very modern & world class, just doesnt do the girls as many favours as the more wow! looks on stam and gemma. I really love inez & vinoo I think this edit was either too extreme looking or just not playing to their strengths. STILL better than aythig in us vogue since the gemma & julia stories I mentioned from last fall. rating 7/10 for the girls mainly and some of the clothes.
TRENDS:
'marine streak' one of hottest spring looks is the nautical/bateau & this is a sharp sampling incl givenchy rope belts; 2 sailor shirts by sander & hermes/gaultier; rykiel maillot & prada boat pin. as noel coward would say, 'sail away!'
LIFESTYLE:
tobias meyer & mark fletcher's copiously decorated time warner center apartment. incl warhol gun silkscreen , currin's 'claivoyant', noble/webster "$" sculpture; stark b& w striped carpet, and a kaleidoscopic mural by brazilian 'assume vivid astro focus' [!]. over the top in color & pattern and yet verty tasteful all the same, well done boys. todd eberle had fun with the photo opps.
RETRO: english decorator david hicks in 1972 with cool abstract paintings & double breasted blazer. sexy!
GOOD ADS:
Kate Moss for Dior: sexy 70s soft-focus photos, very david hamilton. best Dior ads in a year at least.
* kate for burberry. ten years on & kate is still the best campaign model. how does she do it?
Uma Thurman for LV shot by mert/marcus. best LV ads since the karen elson desert ones. Uma is most legit model of any actress used in recent campaigns.
karen elson for YSL. total class in model, sophisticated color palette, image branding & even pilati's clothes look good. karen is legendary.
* karen & elise for prada. once again total class in model, clothes & image branding. the spring prada show seemed unresolved but every ad look in this campaign is great.as sally singer [?] said recently, i think prada just needs time for OUR eyes to adjust. love it from clothes to hats, badges, timepieces. prada still an exemplary label.
natasha poly for gucci. I love natasha here but these clothes dont compare with best of gucci in recent years. sexy ad though with 2 male models, resembles bruce weber calvin ads of yore but in color.
natalia for CK. really hot 6 page sequence including way sexy black maillot. is this testino? whoever is shooting this campaign is making natalia & CK look their best in a few years. hot.
20 page saks ad with mariacarla & marija. whoever shot this did brilliant work. every picture is great & both M & M look like 2 of the best print models in 2005 here. marija is like my #6 anyway but mariacarla also here deserves a top 10-20 rating. literally every picture & look is great & this ad pisses all over the mediocre attempt by neiman's below.
missy rayder for celine. both missy & the sleek clothes work well. frankie may have been sexy 8 years ago but shes gone while missy continues to rock in shows & mags. impressive work.
maria sharapova for tag heuer. love maria's look here, tanned, toned, pretty & a fashion-y tennis dress too! MS has an edit in the april vogue too. maria is already a superstar athlete she is fast becoming a supermodel too. IMG is making that happen. love her. next stop? world domination!
valentina for ralph. stunning white resort/spring looks. ralph's image./branding is rarely less than ideal. Val is one of the most beautiful girls, should be biigger. like liisa & lonneke I hope she gets more work beyond ralph's paternal, airless embrace.
julia & anja for chloe. wow. perfect pair of gorgeous blondes here. nice casual candid pics. julia & anja should be paired in a magazine edit soon. smoking.
* also julia for hugo boss. the gorgeous german can make even middling Boss look like a top label.
stam & JP for bcbg. like julia for boss, sweet n sexy stam makes bcbg look like a top label here. without beauteous stam these looks would be very average.
gemma for hermes. another brand with exquisite ads & branding. gemma surpasses isabeli & liliane substantially here. shes probably the best model right now barring maybe julia & winberg.
carmen kass for fendi. is it just me or is carmen looking as good as she ever has lately? strange how much of the business forgets her now. I havent.
daria for chanel. for once daria looks like the great model everyone claims she is. the brilliant clothes, locations & photography is these 4 pages help a lot. did KL take these pics? they are outstanding.
* daria for missoni. not the best picture in this bikini campaign but I still like daria as a blonde surfer bum al la 'blue crush.' some mag should shoot blonde daria in a bikini surfing edit like this soon & it will be be good.
paris for guess. lately Id grown tired of fun, overexposed paris but seen here, in pop strawberry minty tee and pink argyle panties, she gets a momentary reprieve. looking good!!
diana dondoe for gaultier. really sexy bikini pic, looks like a 70s paris papparazzi moment. bikini is very missoni but also very hot, as is diana, as usual.
anouck for herrera, pretty sexy ad and photo, I miss anouck. am I the only person that still loves anouck?
* also anouck for shiseido: shes gorgeous here but she deserves much more than an occasional ad.
rianne for la perla. one of the hottest recent campaigns. rianne works brilliantly for LP and her body is outrageous.
polina for pringle. cute pastel argyle jumper & polina is already in my top 10 girls. LOVE HER!!
BAD ADS:
marc jacobs with cindy sherman as tweed auntie & juergen as nerd nephew, or young bf, or something. juergen & marc really lost me here. bring back sofia, or better, give cindy sherman her turn, juergen is schizo-ing out too much & marc is halfway there too as his show last week made too clear.
madonna for versace. worst pic of the campaign maddy feet on desk, phone headset, mouth agape, horrid makeup. these ads are sinking versace, & madonna's comeback too. awful.
erin wasson for DK & kors. Im so over & so tired of erin. the lack of vitality in both DK & kors' labels makes these ads painful, despite erin's giant success I have no time for her anymore. bad.
jessica miller for ellen tracy. 2-3 years ago jessica was a delight, fresh & beautiful. now shes wearing ellen tracy & cant get a show or edit to save her life. whether its her work ethic or her agency's sleeping, 1 of the best american models has gone south.
karolina & naomi for rocawear. who let the dogs out? awful models, clothes & photography, who ever invented this should be fired. abysmal. exponentially worse than the paris guess campaign. and thats BAD.
D&G with marija. leave it to steven to emulate classic Penn mud-warrior pics, and get it so wrong. i detest this campaign and only batty meisel could make maja & marija look bad. steven is brilliant in italian vogue but he's nearly lost it in america.
neiman marcus 29 page sequence. who is this model, maybe marina perez? anyway tim walker's 'photo-on-photo' and huge 'think big' photo props are amusing, but also become quickly tired as does marina who doesnt have enough variety or appeal. best compositions/looks are: armani japanese print; piazza sempione exposure dial; illustrations for DK, & oscar & valvo. anyway this ad must have cost $150,000 or more, badly spent. the clothes are fine choices but this ad appears second rate compared to saks above with mariacarla & marija.
gisele for valentino. there's something frozen about gisele's expressions here. are these heavily airbrushed? otherwise the photos themselves are well composed & nice colortones but there's something dead about this campaign that doesnt, it does not excite and gisele looks tired.
* gisele for balenciaga. even better clothes than the Val ad, arty print jacket w/the famous navy sailor pants. gissy again looks frozen & ancient. she's not the same girl we used to know.
The March "W" is a Must-Buy issue, a splendid 458 pages. the last 2 or so W's wre real disappointments but this issue is totally up to W's established standard as the best american fashion book. the edits with kate, gemma & stam are better than pretty much anything Ive seen in an american fashion mag since W's Kate tribute issue 2 years ago. the pictures by mert marcus & mcdean are as good as anything seen regularly in italian or paris vogue.
kate gemma & stam are so much better here than we ever see them in us vogue its a joke. the 3 or 4 main edits are so sublime, they alone make this issue a must buy & read. What you waiting for?
