Style Icons: Female »Franca Sozzani

Editor of Italian Vogue

As Fashion Week is underway, might as well praise one of my favorite ladies in the biz. Franca Sozzani‘s personal style is classic and elegant and her signature smile and wavy blond locks are quite stunning even if she’s not quite as visually recognizable as some (less risk taking) editors.

However, as the editor of Italian Vogue since 1988, she’s elevated it to the pinnacle of fashion magazines, certainly the most daring and inventive. It’s the one magazine I wish I had a subscription to – too bad it’s way expensive and the few times I’ve been a subscriber, they’ve been consistently stolen (everyone is Italian Vogue crazy!!). I wish more magazines would take notes (though many of the lesser known, but more interesting new magazines seem to have already).

Plus I want to get some good words in before I see her guest stint on the “high fashion” cycle of ANTM just in case she’s some bad news kind of crazy. Her work is so inspiring, though, I’m not sure I would care.

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Posted on September 12, 2010

Movies »The September Issue

directed by R.J. Cutler (2009)

The September Issue is a fairly straight-forward documentary that offers an exclusive peek into the creation of Vogue’s biggest, most important and most popular issue, yet still manages to feel a bit remote and arm’s length. The film focuses primarily on the tight-mouthed and crossed-hand critiques (which I seldom agreed with) of Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and, at the other end of the spectrum, the spirited work and luminous presence of Creative Director Grace Coddington. And while you can almost glimpse the actual woman behind the severe haircut when she reveals that she’s pretty much the family’s frivolous black sheep and hangs out with her daughter (who has no apparent interest in following on her mother’s footsteps), Wintour remains as aloof as you’d expect – though not quite the industry monster Meryl Streep portrayed he as (but not quite as redeemable, either).

Aside from coming off dismissive and ice cold, her most monstrous deeds are, in my opinion, touted throughout the film as her greatest achievements: bringing back fur and putting celebrities on the covers of fashion magazines. Quite frankly, I am not impressed – particularly with the latter. It was tough to watch this epic fashion tome built around the mediocre starlet that is Sienna Miller, especially when the more adventurous Italian Vogue broke ground with their all Black issue the same year and pictured Agyness Deyn with soldiers on their September issue… but I’m digressing into my own qualms with the publication (which I stopped subscribing to years ago in protest of Jennifer Aniston’s 14th cover story).

While the September Issue is an obvious must-see for fashion fans, those of you who have never been inclined to pick up an issue of Vogue will still find it rather amusing (to borrow from Wintour’s lexicon). It’s at its best when Coddington, who is this week’s style icon as well as the author of this week’s book, is on-screen.

Click here for the rest of The September Issue

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Posted on February 21, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Grace Coddington

Creative Director of Vogue

Between her musings on her adorable cats and her scene stealing appearance in The September Issue Grace Coddington won my heart this week. From her early days as a super model (which I learned from the film) to working her way up the ranks of Vogue to become the Creative Director, Coddington exudes a passion for life, and a humanity that is not so common in the industry.

I love her shock of long red hair and her confident personal style that actually ignores trends but never looks unfashionable. Team Grace for sure.

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Posted on February 21, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Anna Wintour

anna wintourI can't sit here and pretend that I am thrilled with the direction of Vogue. I turned off when I kept finding Kate Hudson, Renee Zellweger, Sandy Bullock and Jennifer Aniston staring back at me week after week in one tired old bias cut dress after another. Even this year's September issue features Charlize Theron on the cover, when it really should have had a stunning photo of Miss Wintour herself!

After all, with the movie September Issue coming out, for better or worse the somewhat enigmatic icon will be center stage. Few women working in the industry have made such an impact in popular culture. Her bob hair and large sunglasses are known and often feared by all – it will be interesting to see what lies beneath them.

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Posted on August 31, 2009

Style Icons: Female »Lynn Yaeger

Icon

While it’s no surprise that The Village Voice is hard up these days, and even though it’s been viewed as less and less relevant daily, some of their staff is extremely awesome and in particular Lynn Yaeger is a city icon who gave thirty years of her wit to the paper. So, of course, in a clear last breath of desperation, they laid the wonderful woman off!
Her distinctive, bright orangey-red short bang crop, her Betty Boop lips, and her dots of glowing blush makes her instantly recognizable on the streets, more that once my day’s been made just seeing her. She is obsessed with clothes and as a woman after my own heart who believes in individual style (of which she had plenty). In a recent interview she said:

quot;I think people should wear whatever they like!”,?”There are no no-nos!” and “Be yourself! Ignore the rules.”

As everyone else has also predicted, I am sure Yaeger will find a home and happiness with a career like hers under her belt, and it truly will probably hurt the Village Voice more than her, but maybe she can pick up on the career she once told Refinery 29 she would take on if she ever lost her job: “helping ripped-off people take on the system” and demand justice for her fellow pink slip legend Nat Hentoff.

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Posted on January 12, 2009