"Fashion's not about looking back, it's always about looking forward." --A. Wintour

Ms. Wintour put this axiom to test in the January2010 issue of Vogue. I have to say, transitioning from one decade into the next provides a huge opportunity for a fashion publication like Vogue to sort of tie everything together, to summarize with an eye of what's coming next.

And Vogue did not disappoint.

The January2010 issue is one of my favorites to date, and not only because the feature on the "new generation of talent" included four of my favorite designers. It wasn't my favorite because they did a feature on hip-hop star MIA. It wasn't the exciting, thorough retrospect of the decade's best dressed. It wasn't the Demarchelier piece on "going west", paying homage to the eternal American spirit. It wasn't the Rachel McAdams piece. It wasn't even the "last look" which made a nod to the intersection of fashion and tech-developments by featuring a Tod's leather Nook e-book reader case.

Every image, every word in this issue of Vogue was cohesively addressing the question we all face on the upswing of a recession, on the edge of unprecedented climate change (both global and political), on the cusp of a decade: Who are we and where are we going?

Fashion isn't about this trend or that trend, it is a barometer of our culture. Fashion, through the voices of individual artists, tells the story of our people. And according to the Jan2010 issue of Vogue, we are are going into a new decade with our fists up.
Well, now that I've got THAT off my chest, here are some images from the "date with destiny" feature, Anna Wintour's selection of the freshest talent in fashion who are going to carry us into 2010.  First up, my girls at Rodarte:

This is a great shot, I think it really captures what Rodarte is all about. I understand that Vogue is all about what's CURRENTLY going on in fashion, I think it would have been a better "looking back/ looking forward" kind of piece if they brought in multiple models with sort of the "greatest hits". But that's just me.

Phillip Lim. Love love love.

Proenza Schouler.

Alexander Wang.

gaga, oh la la!

The upcoming December issue of Vogue is gearing up to be a winner. I wish I could express my undying love for both Grace Coddington and Annie Liebovitz, especially for picking a Hansel & Gretel theme! But wait, there's more... Lady Gaga was cast as the witch!

The pictures look incredible, and both of the models have a really editorial/young look to them which makes them perfect for this kind of shoot. Here are some of my favorite images:

I love how as the story progresses, Gretel's style, starting out as purely fun and girly, gets a little more sophisticated and less nieve. By the end, she is wearing a slightly more complex garment which is form fitting and shows off her body. By the end, Gretel has the confidence and power to fight back against the witch and her clothes reflect this.

Hmmm I understand that Vogue is ultimately a women's fashion magazine, but I really would have liked to see some more variety on Hansel!

Gaga is absolutely rocking in her two Marc Jacobs ensembles. Totally Gaga and totally Vogue, great shoot.

demarchelier, demarchelNAY

I would like to say that I was officially bored by Demarchelier's work in the November 2009 issue of Vogue. The segment, called "the daily news" fell completely flat. It purported to be a piece with "a bit of funk" and "unmistakable jazz" that "moves with the rhythm of the streets." It was none of these things. The clothes were NOT exciting; there was no beauty, and the aesthetics and palette of the looks just looked too retro-revival. And on top of that, the background of the pictures was a drab stone color-- it didn't even make the clothes look particularly good. But I did like how the models were posed. They consistently looked like they were confident, like they were interacting with some exciting things going on outside the gaze of the camera. I liked how they were posed.... the first five times. After a while, even the fierce looks they have on their faces began to fall flat. They had the same expression and mid-air stride pose in nearly every picture.
In closing, the clothes were boring. The models were good but ultimately not able to work with the art direction of the shoot.


Not your best work, Monsieur Demarchelier.