september 07 vogue

Grace Coddington

Brassai

papier mâché

Identity

We are always looking for something, to do or to be, in other words, to belong. I always wondered why I was so fascinated by “stylish” people, some people, forces of nature, strong tempers, and unique personalities. I realised that what they have and what appeals to me is their identity. Very young already I looked up to people who seemed to be a sole entity. They knew what they wanted and above all they had a unique style. My dance teacher was one of my first sources of inspiration. It is not what clothes she was wearing but how and what they represented. They represented elegance, passion and freedom, basically her. I am always looking for the perfect balance, the perfect harmony or the perfect beauty in people, by that I mean authenticity. When I see a “well dressed” man or woman, I do not think wow they are wearing the latest trend and their outfit match perfectly but I think how impressive and how powerful they look because they seem to have found themselves. We are always looking for something, our self, our soul and that is what fashion is all about… IDENTITY

That is why I love the work of photographers like Garance Dore and Scott Schumann because they photograph people, not people as a whole, but people as unique entities. What they capture is to me the essence of life or its appearances. Everything means nothing in this world except what one does of it and how one makes it his own. My own is there throughout those pictures!

Vintage fair Dublin

The September Issue review

5 pounds

“There is something about fashion that can make people very nervous” and actually yes it is Anna Wintour and her September issue. Wintour is the single most important figure in the $300 billion-a-year fashion industry, has been described as indomitable as the Sphinx and the period in which she took her position as editor-in-chief at US Vogue was known as the “nuclear Wintour”.

R.J Cutler (War Room), the September Issue’s director, shadowed this controversial boss for nine months because, as he says, “extraordinary people who are passionate about what they do” are fascinating. The film is supposedly about Vogue behind close doors, but thanks to R.J Cutler’s ‘fresh eyes’, the movie also portrays the ‘unguarded Anna’ who talks about her relationships with her father, brother and sister and her children, in particular her daughter, Bee.

The September Issue is a ‘study of power’ which focuses, at first, on Wintour as she visits the annual Fashion Week Shows, accepts or dismisses the latest creations of the biggest names in fashion, works with the models, photographers and writers who help bring her vision to the page.

The viewer is shown how cut-throat Anna Wintour is when it comes to choosing what is in and what is out of the magazine, much to the displeasure of Grace Coddington, a former model who began her career at British Vogue after a car accident which lead to reconstructive surgery. She provides a sort of ‘opponent’ to Anna Wintour’s cold and intimidating demeanour but also gives, with André Leon Talley, some much needed humour.

A New York Times piece called her “ Ice Queen and Sun King, Alien fleeing from District 9, Dominatrix”. She answers on David Letterman’s show: “ I guess that makes me luke-warm, royalty with a whip, from out of space.” Is she really the devil in Prada? Even after watching the September Issue, Anna Wintour will remain the unknown ‘iconic shades’ to me. The movie shows us a glimpse of Vogue’s glamour and leaves us asking for more of Anna Wintour.

Streetstyle