Issue 7 2015 Heroine Chic
While Issue 7 exactly makes PORTER
magazine’s one-year anniversary, Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova and the
scarlet red tone catches my gazes. After flipping several pages at Stockmann, I
found PORTER adapts halftone glossy paper, and the style of photography conveys
a touch of TATLER feels. With no doubt I know PORTER is powered by
Net-A-Porter, one of the largest luxury brand shopping website, my only concern
is that if PORTER would be a too highly commercial catalogue.
Editor-in-Chief Lucy Yeomans’ letter of the
season takes up 2 pages, aside from the brief tour of the contents of Issue 7,
she also shares in Spring 2015, what’s in her mind is looking forward to, not
just only Christopher Kane blouse or Chanel sheer powder, but also the artist
John Singer Sargent exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery
(tate.org.uk). On contributors’ page, the talents’ brief CV is shown and making
readers realizing how a magazine is being produced. PORTER Spring 2015 major
theme is ‘Heroine Chic’, therefore, ‘Who is your ultimate heroine?’ is asking
around among the contributors, and it’s really intriguing to see how these
fashion professionals’ ways of thought.
Russian supermodel Natalia Vadianova’s
fairy tale stories on becoming designers’ muse, separated from aristocrat Justin
Portman and the relationship with LVMH heir Antoine Arnault, is fairly known.
With too many fashion magazine focuses on TV-reality quacks or armature
celeb-designers, it’s fresh to read the voices of a professional model/mother/philanthropist,
who usually must keep silent during the catwalks.
Among 17 full pages of interview readers
know not only what Natalia’s comments toward her life, but memorize the
foundation she has been establishing for the support of female education in
Russia, Naked Heart. Under photographer Ryan McGinley’s lens, Natalia is same
time mysteriously exotic, strongly spirited and girly innocent. Natalia once
said “even those who are closest to me now cannot comprehend just what kind of
life I lived—even the worst scenarios they can imagine would have been a good
reality for me” (Yeomans, 134).
We would never know if Natalia’s marriage
decision was trying to get a life for herself in a new land after a
poverty stricken time in Russia, and among the lines of interview, the quotes
from the top designers’ are, no surprisingly, filled with warmly praises, not
even a single doubt, still, Natalia, via her smiles and eyes, among so many fashion
faces, is one of a few that I would vote/purchase for only judging through the
magazine covers.
I am also amazed by Photographer Norman Jean Roy and
Fashion Editor Cathy Kasterine’s contribution, ‘Prairie Rose’, which portrait
model Toni Garrn in cinched-in silhouettes and fluid fabrics. The dry land, the
brown grass, the dying tree and the blue sky reflects a wild romantic landscape
of delicate yet strong SS15 fashion. With Nina Ricci white silk blouse, Alberta
Ferretti dress or a black cowboy hat, Toni Garrn sometimes looking away on the
tree trunk, occasionally glancing back to the readers, or with a close-up
portrait. I like how the colour combined and how various angels to capture a
female’s nostalgic beauty.
PORTER magazine may be highly commercial on at the
footnote reminder ‘Shop Porter with the NET-A-PORTER App’ at every single page,
and vice versa on its shopping website, but for the production and artistic
scales, PORTER’s clean layout, encouraging themes, strong feminism, the choices
of models, good balance between advertisements and contents, and most
importantly, the very high fashion photography, from those has already erase my
concern of buying a commercial catalogue, but more of a fashion art archive to
cherish and collect.
Works Cited & Photography:
More about Photographer Norman Jean Roy, please visit:
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