Back to life, back to reality?
On Thursday, Vogue unveiled its September 2021 issue, starring a bevy of supermodels including Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber.
But rather than shoot in an exotic locale (difficult to swing in a pandemic, no doubt) or expensive studio, the glossy decided to keep things closer to home, instead photographing the catwalkers in Vogue’s One World Trade Center offices.
With models posing among cubicles, racks of clothing and even the mag’s own employees, the cover shoot seems straight out of “The Devil Wears Prada” — or perhaps the 2009 documentary “The September Issue.”
Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond is pictured leaving editor-in-chief Anna Wintour’s office, flanked by her duo of assistants while model Anok Yai perches on a desk in Tom Ford.
Wintour herself makes a cameo on a computer screen, perhaps indicating that Condé’s artistic director has been spending much of her time on Zoom calls.
The timing of the photoshoot is a bit ironic — earlier this week, Condé Nast gave in to a months-long battle with WTC landlords, agreeing to pay back nearly $10 million of overdue rent. (Perhaps they’re just trying to make the most of their space in the downtown skyscraper?)
Also fronting the September issue are Ariel Nicholson, the mag’s first transgender cover star, along with Sherry Shi, Precious Lee and history-making Sports Illustrated Swimsuit beauty Yumi Nu.
Writer Maya Singer detailed the changing modeling industry in the accompanying article, writing of “tectonic shifts” in how catwalkers are cast these days, particularly when it comes to diversity and inclusivity. She also described a new class of models who are more outspoken about their personal opinions and featured for their personalities, not just their appearances.
“When you’re casting, the question is always, ‘Can she carry the clothes?’” designer Christopher John Rogers told Vogue. “But that means something different than it used to. It’s not about a particular look or even a particular identity that someone represents — you’re embracing a model for what she does as a component of who she is. Her story becomes part of the fantasy.”
Gerber, 19, noted that mom Cindy Crawford “always had plenty to say — she just didn’t have Instagram.”