Do blondes really have more fun? Miranda Kerr certainly seemed to be having a good time when she donned a sultry blond wig for last month's issue of Vogue Italia. Captured by photographer Tom Munro, the supermodel and Victoria's Secret Angel is almost unrecognizable as she lounges on a fur-covered sofa, kohl-rimmed eyes peeking out from behind flaxen bangs. Watch the behind-the-scenes video from the shoot below, then click through to see images from the shoot.
Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.
>> Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.
>> Not that long ago, Karlie Kloss and Chanel Iman were introduced to the industry on the girlish February 2008 cover of Teen Vogue. Fast forward three and a half years, and Iman is renting a private island off Jamaica to ring in her 21st birthday, while Kloss is earning Gisele Bundchen comparisons for her body-baring Vogue Italia December 2011 cover story, "Body by Kloss," shot by Steven Meisel. Appropriately enough, Kloss, who got herself a trainer six months ago, recently named Bundchen her favorite model growing up: "Oh, my God, Gisele, of course! Gisele is the ultimate." See the full NSFW editorial in the slideshow.
>> Just six weeks after Edward Enninful joined W as fashion and style director, his former colleague at Vogue Italia, Lori Goldstein, has joined the magazine as style editor at large. Goldstein has been a free agent for years, and noted that taking a masthead title and “being more of a part of a magazine, which is something I’ve never done, is very exciting to me.”
She continued: “What’s so great about what I’m doing in being style editor at large it’s kind of like I get to encompass everything I love to do. I’ve always been one of those people that goes back and forth in this business in different ways, so I get to really do great fashion stories with Edward and I’m also going to be working with [editor at large] Lynn Hirschberg and bringing fashion into the element of the actors that we shoot and kind of being the thread through all the different areas.”
Goldstein will work exclusively for W and can't work for competitors (ie other American fashion monthlies) but can work for non-direct competitors like Vogue Italia if given approval by W editor Stefano Tonchi. Tonchi said in a statement: “I have an incredible amount of respect for Lori, and admire her imagination and impeccable taste. Even on a freelance basis, Lori has been an integral part of the new W. She has styled some of our best covers, including Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, Mia Wasikowska, and January Jones. Given the recent expansion of W’s fashion team, I thought it was the perfect moment in time to formalize this relationship."
With Goldstein now in the W fold, is it possible that her frequent collaborator Steven Meisel might also become a regular contributor to the magazine? “We will see,” she replied coyly.
>> Franca Sozzani is putting her money where her mouth is with Vogue Italia's June 2011 cover. After devoting a special section to "curvy" women on the magazine's website (of those highlighted she recently said: "Why should these women slim down? Many of the women who have a few extra kilos are especially beautiful and also more feminine"), Sozzani has cast a trio of plus-size models for the magazine's latest cover. No Crystal Renn, the current "plus-size" model du jour, in sight — instead, Steven Meisel shot Tara Lynn, Candice Huffine, and Robyn Lawley in black and white, marking the first time plus-size models have graced the magazine's cover since the days of Sophie Dahl, circa 2000. [Models.com]
>> W fashion and style director Alex White, one of the last vestiges of the old guard at the magazine, is to be replaced by Edward Enninful, effective May 1. White, who held the position for 16 years, decided to step down to pursue a range of fashion and lifestyle projects in both digital and social media.
According to W editor Stefano Tonchi, the decision for White to leave was mutual: “Alex is a fantastic stylist and has done incredible work over the years. Everyone at W is grateful to Alex for creating such memorable fashion portfolios, and for the significant mark she has left on the magazine . . . She’s thinking very much about her own brand — the Alex White brand — and at a certain point that’s no longer what W is about.”
White agreed that they were "totally on the same page": “My 16 years at W have been thrilling. I’ve worked with wildly talented people and helped produce a gorgeous magazine. I was delighted to stay and help Stefano through his first, transitional year, and am looking forward new beginnings . . . I helped with getting over the hump. Now it’s time for me to continue my freelance and explore the other things I’m working on, including digital projects." Tonchi indicated that White is thinking about starting her own magazine, possibly online. White had recently been experimenting with her own column online, Alex White Edits, on W's website.
Tonchi and Enninful, meanwhile, hit it off while seated next to each other at a Balenciaga dinner during Paris Fashion Week a couple of months ago, Tonchi says: “I didn’t really think about hiring him, I just thought he was incredibly joyful.” They began discussing a job at W earlier this month and moved quickly from there.
"This is the beginning of a new era at W, and I couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of it,” said Enninful. And Tonchi added: "I'm thrilled that Edward is joining our team, and am confident that he will bring a great deal of creativity, professionalism, and industry knowledge with him."
Enninful, who has been a contributing fashion editor at Vogue since 2005 and at Vogue Italia since 1998, is ending those engagements. “Now I’m going to be focusing my editorial prowess on W,” he explained. “Whenever a relationship ends it’s very sad."
>> Franca Sozzani recently explained why Steven Meisel has shot every Vogue Italia cover since 1988: "I needed to have a consistent, recognizable look to every cover. My idea was that even if you took the word “Italia” off, you know what Vogue Italia is. Many magazines don’t seem to have a connection between one cover and the next, and it becomes hard to tell them apart. Especially today — images can be printed in such a high quality, but that also flattens them out, in a way. There’s a similar problem in fashion. Everyone can buy clothes — the most accessible clothes are not of the best quality, but unless you look at the label, you don’t know who it’s by. It’s this kind of oversaturation that makes me believe we are on the brink of another huge change." Sozzani also believes that putting resources into the Vogue Italia website has paid off for the magazine: "The website is doing a great job because it functions as a teaser for the magazine. September, October, and November our sales were up 27 percent, and this is because of the web. Everyone has this idea that online will kill print, but it’s not true. Like everything else, it depends on how you do things." [Models.com]
