Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Chanel and Jourdan in January 2009 Vogue



Most of you have probably seen this spread already but I felt like posting them anyway. I know some of your are tired of seeing black modeldom's chosen ones in fashion magazine but I like the editorial and think both women look great. Chanel shows a bit more range of facial expression and Jourdan's mature gaze suggests that she's been doing this for ages even though her career only really began a year ago.

As far as American Vogue shoots go, this one is pretty typical. Lots of shots of surprised looking models levitating against gray backdrops and segregated by race. While it does stand out that this is the longest editorial featuring black models that I can recall seeing in eons, Vogue's placing it in the "Change! Yes You Can" issue immediately after a feature on The Obamas is a bit heavy handed in my opinion. If Anna Wintour and Co. had just thought to perforate theses pages they could have billed it as a special "black" pull-out section on the cover.

More photos at Studio Audience

8 comments:

Passport Stamps said...

Ah! the complex politics of fashion and black models. It's a damn shame.

As if that was not enough, they had to ruin everything with overrated Chanel Iman. The spread would have been much more interesting if they had Sessilee Lopez and Dunn do it. Iman, smiling like a clown, looks like an animated character that just jumped right out of Looney Tunes.

Dunn dominates this editorial; regal and effortless. She won British model of the year by the way, beating out another overrated mess Aggy Deyn. You might want to do a story on that cos I think its pretty the short amount of time she's been modeling.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm I disagree. Dunn is a favorite, but she's so stale in these pics. Her expression is almost always the exact same. She's a gorgeous girl, but she's stiff. I think Chanel dominates. After all, she has more pages and different body and facial expressions in each.

Anyway, I picked up this issue just because they were in it and I say it was worth it.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Big fan of Ms. Dunn.

Anonymous said...

i think chanel dominates here. i seriously am surprised that she is not bigger.

i love jourdan tho, she is jamaican like me

Anonymous said...

Dunn's career has just been stratospheric. The amount of press she is getting her in England is unprecendented.

I hope she does well and doesn't turn into a case like NC.

Anonymous said...

DUNN DOMINATES...Iman looks like she belongs to the pages of seventeen magazine and teen vogue...definitely not VOGUE. I don't seriously get how a girl like her is racking up all these editorials. But I guess she's the token black girl of the industry. The go-to black girl when designers want to celebrate "diversity". I'm sure being part Korean makes her more suitable; a black girl we can use to celebrate diversity who, surprise surprise, doesn't even look black.

matt williams said...

ogegevivke-What up with the dislike of the light skinned mixed race folk. For the most part, all of the blk high fashioned models who do well are dark or medium skinned. Tyra Banks,Varonica Webb and Channel are the exception to the rule.

Anonymous said...

What's up, Chic Noir?!

Anyhoo, like RandomGuy, I purchased Vogue exclusively for these girls. They've completely lost their flair. The photos are typical-Vogue, however, I'm pleased with the length of the spread. The one HUMONGOUS issue I have with this editorial is the overuse of airbrushing on Chanel Iman's nose. Why I ask (exasperated)! Why? That airbrush pen stayed far-the-hell away from Jourdan's features. Hmm, I wonder why?