Preview of W april 2007: kirsten dunst. hilary rhoda. iselin. snejana. magda.
Preview of W april 2007: kirsten dunst. hilary rhoda. iselin. snejana. magda.

EDIT #1: northern minnesota shot by alec soth, edited by camilla nickerson. as I recall david sims did a Univ of Penn story last year in W? this is a selection of college age minnesotans & some local scenery. while I didnt like the concept per se of the sims story or this one either, I have to admit W's team performs so well in this unorthodox mission that i must begrudgingly say its quite good. camilla nickerson's styling as usual is superb, lots of key pieces like ralph, D&G, versace, prada. and the use of unorthodox student models actually highlights nickerson's fabulous eye for clothes. there's also local colour like the huge lumberjack statue, toy mini models of churches, dorm rooms, a classroom blackboard. however, when bruce weber for example shot detroit scenes for the famous kate moss 2006 story [#1 edit of 2006] weber's local colour & mood was even better. still this is impressive, as a magazine story combining quality fashion looks, local non-models, & a mix of local small town snow-bound scenery- it is a complete story, however unexpected the mission may have been. I may like this more than some of you. but i like it less than your usual great W model-centric lead edit. rating 7.3 of 10, the scenery/environmental locations still overshadow the non-models even with nickerson's impressive fashion eye.

EDIT #2 futuristic metallics shot by david sims on iselin, magdalena frackowiak, snejana, lisa cant, danisa dvorakova, anna mariya urazhevskaya. now we're back on familiar W turf, a happening trend of the day [metallics] shot by a top photog [sims] with a superb cast of girls [all] and edited to perfection by alex white. the only negative here is this story is too brief. each girl has 1 look in the 10 pages. normally W might spread out and give us 30 pages of such a key 2007 story. as it is its great- every girl rocks and that includes lisa cant in a hot black balenciaga deconstructed hat: and you know Im not much for cant. sims is so on the money here. it really proves [as if we didnt know it] that W rules over US vogue. why? cos in US vogue sims shoots moronic studio pieces with gemma making birdy wings. or cute as hell trentini making bunny ears. theres no comedy here. this is a straight, sober studio shoot with these girls poised, quiet, sublime in their natural beauty and perfect clothes & pics. none of that moronic vogue jumping around like youre on speed. the tone here is more like a reverent roversi shoot: why cant sims shoot this style in US vogue? I really love all the girls here, magda might be best but snejana & iselin also close. white styles brilliantly every month & she did it again with top 2007 and beyond looks: mcqueen, balenciaga, kamali. iselin is rocking in the silver kamali bodysuit shes hot. the only crime is how brief this edit is. lindbergh did a great metallics piece in HB not too long ago and this is just as great, just too short. really good. 8 of 10

EDIT #3/ COVER: Kristen dunst shot by mcdean. similar approach to mcdeans sienna miller cover story. vulnerable, youthful, kittenish, girly leading lady in a home-set. sienna was in bed. dunst is in the bathroom. it works. liebowitz' dunst marie antoinette in vogue, despite some amazing scenery, was crap next to this. mcdean is really good with the right celeb. not quite as sexy as sienna's W shoot but still evocative, and most of all gives a soft focus look at dunst that seems closer to her real inner beauty than all that filmic historical bullshit by liebowitz that drowned dunst. as famous as she is I still think shes misunderstood or misrepresented in the media. alex white's styling really helps here, lots of top picks as usual. opening balenciaga coat pic is great, soft & femme, almost a valley of the dolls inviting lassitude. balmain white dress on the floor on a pillow is hot, 1 of dunst's best images ever. danielle scott bodysuit in feline print also very sexy, closest to kittenish sensuality of sienna's bedroom shoot. luigi muruno's hair is fantastic here, flowing full and shaggy but perfect colour &N shape for her face. yamamoto black dress & orange gloves a bit over powering or frumpy but bathtub settiong actually makes the pic work okay. soft focus red tint pic recalls thompsons kidman/craig bedroom stuff, its ok but not at top level of most here. oh love the armani cover & dunst looks fabulous there, shes really sexy even with the high powered clothes & demands of a cover which not everyone can achieve- siennas cover was a bit weak, boyish, unformed as I recall. Ive always liked dunst & even though tabloids & friends say shes a drunken debauched mess the last year+, I think she looks fantastic here & iM MORE IMPRESSED with mcdeans & whites work. really stromng actress edit & pics & clothes - impressive: 8 of 10

EDIT #4 Imelda Marcos by ben hoffman. legendary wardrobe & shoe collection. i wish bruce weber could have shot this,. hes just way better with the sartorial details. or even francois halard or anmother interior expert. . as it is her palace & clothes are over whelming but theres not the fine eye for detail or real story telling here i expect from W . a bit of a missed opportunity. 6.2 of 10

EDIT #5 hilary rhoda by inez & vinoodh. this edit really blows away anything else in this ish. its simple: its rhoda by the pool at night in the hollywood hills. alex white styled another incredible story but these looks are just better than the rest in this ish- its tip top level couture evening looks. and rhoda shows something here Ive never seen from her. she simply throws herself into the looks & the picture motions like Ive never seen before from her. when rhoda first came out i thought she was a finely-cut american model, recalling an ali macgraw type sophistiocation yet wholesomeness. well shes just more vivid & sexier here than before. once again everything works here- white's styling is just amazing- great great evening looks like valentino couture, chanel couture [hottest pic], ralph bronze lame dress, saab, chanel, JPG, and a beautiful lilac blumarine. inez & vonoodh take the sweet ingredients of the poolside setting, the lights of hollywood behind, rhoda's exertions/sesnsuousness, and stunningly arty couture clothes, and make it work even better via these photos - interesting horizontal compositions. whatever sushi they ate that night worked wonders cos its the best rhoda has ever been & I am blown away by the colours of these pics. it also recalls a teller-like documentarianism with the pool chair & in your face familiar setting, but maybe its unfair to even say its juergen teller-like - its just inez & vinoodh being as great as they have ve so often been. this edit really kicks ass & it shines above the rest of the quality stuff in the mag. bonuses all around to rhoda, inez & vionoodh & espec white for their fantastic work here. 9+ of 10 an exemplary evening/couture edit.

VERDICT: There's more good stuff inside such as NYC fashion week parties, Paris couture & some features like al taubman & helmut newton's wife. But just based on the high quality of clothes, models & photos here its another great W, a must-buy or any fashion fan 2007. best of all was rhoda by inez/vinoodh, rhoda's best shoot ever and white set her up with some of the best evening looks of 2007. and inez & vinoodh did great atmospheric pics too. sims' metallic story also rocked hard with great girls but it should have been longer. mcdean's dunst cover & edit was a strong actress edit, showing that W can out-do vogue with the actress features too. alex whites styling & the hair & makeup on dunst really stood out too. soth's minnesota travelogue was an odd opening edit but actually lent breadth to the W menu when seen in the context of the full issue & what a fashion/photo magaine can be in 2007. imelda's shoot was a bit of a fluffed opportunity given her legendary wardobe, but alot of you couldnt care less anyway so thats no biggie. another great W, and the sims, rhoda & dunst edits were really something special if youve been seeing what vogue & other mags have been doing lately : W makes them all look third rate. TWO THUMBS UP BUY IT: GREAT !!!____________________________________________________________
COMMENTS: "You know how much I worship Inez so that story was like an early Christmas gift from W to me. I'm obsessed with it. This is the reason why, for me at least, Inez is head and shoulders above almost every other living fashion photographer. She makes fashion intelligent and psychological and demented when so many others are content with making fashion happy and shiny and glittery. Inez exposes an unsettling emotional underpinning. She's working against the fashion system while completely being a part of it. Hilary is wearing couture but looks possessed and insane and downright evil in some of the pics. I love the pic of the white Chanel with her falling on the chair. And the black Cavalli dress where she's in that sublimely odd pose. In the opening shot she's doing a backbend that's elegant while being reminiscent of The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I love the car crash of styles and emotions that that story is. It's so genius.

Tanya"

REPLY: Hi Tanya, I loove your passion for Inez & vinoodh! Im glad you picked up as i did that rhodfa showed something in this edit that she hasnt til now. I think Inez/V brought that out of her. the white chanel was the pic that spoke to me fast & hard first too. I think I&V do some good stuff in "V" check it out sometime, new ish w/raquel & doutz. another great W makes us happy! :)) thanks T E G
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COMMENT #2: "thanks for the review...the other ed with hilary/inez/vinoodh that i loved was in self service...can't wait to see this one...hilary is one of my favorite new models..."

REPLY: Him Kim, thanks. i will have to take a look at that self service. rhoda has really grown on me & I think the I&V W edit shows that she truly has evolved her work style. of course the amazing photos took it somewhere else. if you have an e mail I can write you at Id like to ask you something. I'm:
ladygrey486@hotmail.com
thanks ! :)))))))))
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COMMENT #3: " Yeah I saw the new V and their story with Lara Stone. It's pretty gorgeous but not as great as the Hilary story in W. What kills me about that W story is the subtleness of it. Like, you could read it as just beautiful dresses on a beautiful girl. But if you know Inez, and you know how demented and twisted she is, you can see how she is subtly turning that entire world inside out and upside down. I just love it. Hilary is such an Inez girl (like Raquel or Freja or Lara Stone) because she is so utterly perfect and beautiful in every way but she can really turn on this odd, unsettling, eerie charm. It's kind of like a David Lynch movie. Which, by the way, did you see Inland Empire? I loved it and I worship Lynch but it was too much even for me. Speaking of Lynch, gorgeous portrait of him by Jeff Burton in the new French Vogue. Love Burton too.

Tanya"

REPLY: thanks Tanya, I am looking forward to "V" I just saw a few raquel/doutz pics & i was impressed!~ Inland Empire looked interesting, Im a fan more of lynch's earlier work. but i appreciate him as an individual artist. Yes theres def more to the W inez/V pics, i think you & i both picked up on that fast & that's why its so unique in rhoda's career, shed been flat til now but this shoot is truly 3-D. I want to see french vogue if you lived in nyc we could have a magazine club & meet a few times a month to share & discuss the books we've just bought & enjoyed! foreign mags are expensive Im trying to discipline myself!! :))) thanks always T E G