Erika Ostroff
Lana Del Rey to James Franco in V Magazine: “Interviews Put Me in a Bad F---ing Mood”
Erika OstroffAssistant Editor
Updated
Lana del Rey on the cover of V Magazine, photographed by Steven Klein.
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In V Magazine’s “Best of the Best” issue (on newsstands September 18th), the sultry songstress (who was photographed by Steven Klein and styled by Mel Ottenberg) reveals to pal James Franco that interviews put her “in a bad f—ing mood.”“I really try and keep my world beautiful but it’s tricky,” she says. “We’re at a point in time when life truly can be what you want it to be.”She also defends her music to the detractors who deem it negative or too melancholy. “First of all, when you’re writing a record alone, you don’t really think about the effect your music is going to have on other people. I’m not really the type of person to condone any behavior that would end up being harmful to anyone else but at the same time I’m not going to limit my lyrical content to things that don’t really relate to me or sing about things just because they rhyme.”
Paper magazine: Jennifer Lopez and Olivier Rousteing photographed by Nicolas Moore.
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Earlier this year, Paper magazine #broketheinternet with Kim Kardashian’s derriere-bearing cover. Later, it featured Miley Cyrus in the buff cradling a big, pink pig. Now, the glossy’s chosen to feature not one, but two, designers (with their respective muses) for the “September Luxe in Flux” issue. Photographed in a black blazer with a questionably tilted neck, Balmain’s Rousteing posed for the cover, swathed in JLo’s arms. Inside the issue, you’ll find the young designer’s answer to the meaning of luxury in 2015.
Paper magazine: Jeremy Scott and CL photographed by Marcus Mam.
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Jeremy Scott’s appointment at Moschino in 2013 raised the fashion house’s profile, upped its brand recognition and helped it garner a vast celebrity following (fans include Miley Cyrus, Madonna, and Katy Perry). So it’s not surprising that the glossy chose the designer to front the cover as a figure who “personifies the changing face of luxury.” Scott, sitting on a pedastal, is dressed in Moschino Nascar gear (from the spring/summer 2016 collection) and matches his muse—South Korean pop star, CL.
CR Fashion Book: Lady Gaga photographed by Bruce Weber.
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Carine Roitfeld chose Lady Gaga to cover the seventh issue of her fashion glossy. In line with the issue’s “classic eccentric” theme, Gaga poses as both a traditional bride and as a gothic one. Of her transition from pop star to artist she noted, “I always used to say to people when they would say, ‘Oh, she’s the next Madonna’: ‘No, I’m the next Iron Maiden.’ ” And of her jazz collaboration with Tony Bennett she said, “…Music deserves the same freedom that a fine artist would have with paint—no rules, a blank canvas. That’s jazz. It was totally what I needed at a moment in my career when I felt like a caged animal. And I knew I could do so much more outside of that cage than inside.”
SELF: Kerry Washington photographed by Bjarne Jonasson.
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Kerry Washington looks fierce in a blue and green one-piece swimsuit for the #SelfMade issue. The actress, 38, reveals how she balances work with motherhood, what she’s learned from Olivia Pope, and why she embraces her post-partum body—"My body is the site of a miracle now. I don’t want to be pre-miracle.“ Of being a self-made women, she said: "The key to really being successful as a self made woman for me has been learning to ask for help…I can’t really be myself fully until I allow people to help me. And then we can really be our full selves.”
Allure: Jessica Alba photographed by Michael Thompson.
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Alba, who went for “an ethereal, wood-nymph look” for her shoot with Michael Thompson, talks motherhood, her business acumen, and the social injustices women face in Hollywood. Of the roles Alba took on, she admitted: “I never wanted to play into a stereotype, where its like, oh, you’re just the girl who gets saved by the guy, and she doesn’t know how to make decisions, and she gets overwhelmed with all this stuff happening around her,” she said. “Women are freaking resilient.”
Vogue: Beyonce photographed by Mario Testino.
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Though Vogue’s yet to relase the whole cover story—starring Beyonce—there are images, a video, and a few choice pull quotes like, “The most powerful thing about her persona is the unabashed pleasure she takes in her own body: its beauty, its power, its versatility.”Designer Marc Jacos, whose dress B wears on the cover, says, “The word diva is used for so many female performers, and it often means they have reputations for being difficult, but she exudes charm and a lovable quality.”
Harper’s Bazaar: Katy Perry photographed by Jean-Paul Goude.
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Katy Perry’s one of nine modern icons for the mag’s September ICONS issue (she dressed as Elizabeth Taylor), but the songstress is the only September issue cover star whose face will grace newsstands. Styled by Carine Roitfeld, the 30-year-old is dressed in a black Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane dress with a slick top knot, smokey eye makeup and fierce red lip.
Vanity Fair: Taylor Swift photographed by Mario Testino.
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The “Bad Blood” ringleader—dubbed the “most influential 25-year-old in America” by the magazine—poses on a piano with punchy red lips, voluminous hair extensions, wearing a sophisticated Saint Laurent Le Smoking. It’s quite a departure from her typical girly two-piece sets, crop tops and flared skirts—and she knows it. “They usually dress me up like a 12-year-old French boy,” she said. “It’s nice to be glamorous.”
ELLE: Kiera Knightley photographed by Paola Kudacki.
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Knightley’s 30, and so is "ELLE,” which is why the new mom graces all four covers of the magazine’s September birthday issue. Each cover, all of which were photographed in France, showcases a different theme: beauty, accessories, American fashion, and French fashion. Inside, the actress candidly discusses learning to love her body, naming her daughter Edie, and how she’s learned to think for herself. “It took me a lot of years to try and stop pleasing a lot of people and allow myself to have fun,” she says.” “It’s the difficult thing of getting out of your own head.“
Glamour: Karlie Kloss photographed by Tom Munro.
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The 23-year-old has come a long way since her first modeling stint, in which Bruce Weber shot her for Abercrombie kids. A permanent fashion show fixture, the Victoria’s Secret Angel is one of the original members of Taylor Swift’s “girl gang,” a bona fide baker, and studious coder. Of how she produces such beautiful shots, she said: “For photographers, I rely on taking on a particular role, like an Oscar de la Renta society swan or a Diane von Furstenberg business lady. I feel more vulnerable when it’s just me up there.”
Marie Claire: Miley Cyrus photographed by Mark Seliger.
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Cyrus, who channeled her inner Edie Sedgwick for a retro glam cover shoot, has never been shy. In the cover story, the 22-year-old gets real about her sexuality, gender issues, and Taylor Swift’s surprisingly violent “Bad Blood” video. “I don’t get the violence revenge thing,” she tells the mag. “That’s supposed to be a good example? And I’m a bad role model because I’m running around with my titties out? I’m not sure how titties are worse than guns.”
Cosmopolitan: Demi Lovato photographed by TESH.
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Lovato’s “Cosmopolitan” cover is the most controversial of the month. Why? In the wake of retailers vowing to put blinders on the magazine for its “pornographic” covers, the singer has had to create a campaign—#unwrapmycosmo—to defend the skin-tight embellished mini dress she wears on the cover. Of course, the plunging neckline isn’t any more scandalous than the April, June or July covers. On social media, the 22-year-old said, “What these individuals who are protesting don’t understand is that for the first time in a long time I feel incredibly empowered and the most beautiful I’ve ever felt on this magazine.”
W magazine: Gigi Hadid photographed by Steven Meisel.
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It’s Hadid’s world and we’re just living in it, according to the magazine. The glossy calls the LA-native “the most connected supermodel” and “the girl at the center of everything.” Sure, she comes from quite a pedigree—her mother Yolanda Foster was a supermodel, her father is a Beverly Hills real estate tycoon, and her step-father is music mogul David Foster—but the 20-year-old isn’t (and hasn’t) used them has a crutch. “Although we were very blessed, my parents never wanted us to believe we didn’t have to work,” she confessed. “They didn’t want us to think that our situation would get us through life.” And she made one thing clear: “I’ve never been scared of being naked in pictures, but I wouldn’t do naked for naked’s sake.”
Seventeen: Iggy Azalea photographed by Max Abadian.
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“I’m not denying it,“ Azalea said. "Denying it is lame. I don’t think you should be ashamed if you made a change to yourself, which is why I’ve spoken about the changes I’ve made, like with my breasts.” In the September 2015 issue, the 25-year-old Australian rapper/model added nose job to the list of surgeries about which she’s been open. Photographed in a baby blue pencil skirt and embellished top, Azalea showed off a ladylike side that’s a far cry from her the tight bright clothes she favors on stage.
Teen Vogue: Ansel Elgort photographed by Boo George.
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Elgort’s posed for "Teen Vogue” before, alongside Gigi Hadid and the Jenner sisters, but the Insurgent star’s flying solo on this month’s cover. The 21-year-old opened up to musician Martin Garrix (who happens to be his friend) about his “Ansolo” DJ endeavors, who he’d recruit for his own “Bad Blood” music video, and how he juggles acting and music. And while he’s not taking cues from his father—famed fashion photog, Arthur Elgort—about posing for the camera, the actor is heeding his father’s advice. “My father told me, ‘Do what you love in life; that’s the most important thing. If you just do what you love and work really hard, you will be happy, and everything else will figure itself out.’”
Redbook: Six “real women” photographed by Chris Craymer.
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Instead of star-studded celebs, part of the mag’s “Real Women Style Awards” initiative was including the six winners. The cover reflects “the style that lives in the real world” and reflects the beauty and diversity of women nation-wide. The ladies are doling out style and beauty advice like, “Pink, red and purple look great on brown skin” and "So many curvy women think volume is bad, but long, full skirts are flattering with a boxy crop top or fitted tee.”
Details: 31 of fashion’s most recognizable male models photographed by Mark Seliger.
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Everyone from Brad Kroenig (Karl Lagerfeld’s muse), Gabriel Aubry (Halle Berry’s baby daddy), Jon Kortajarena (Tom Ford’s favorite) and Sean O'Pry are posing for what’s arguably the most male-centric cover yet. The dapper dudes are dressed in shades of grey and hues of cool blue with one goal in mind: to “show you how to dress for fall.”
Landing a September cover is like winning a gold medal in fashion. It’s the most important issue of the year—fatter, juicier, and stuffed full of more Fashion (yes, with a capital F) than any other. Vogue’s intimate documentary, “The September Issue,” hammered the point home when it was released in 2009.
So who’s scored one so far? Beyonce wears Marc Jacbs on the cover of Vogue, for which she also made as hot film. Elle is celebrating their 30th anniversary with four different covers of a newly pregnant Keira Knightley. Vanity Fair crowned Taylor Swift both cover star and best dressed. Miley Cyrus may or may not have a bone to pick with said country gone pop star in Marie Claire. And Redbook (stick with us here) has really shaken things up with six women you’ve never seen before and the tag line “Real Women, Real Style Tips.”
Of course, you could argue that all of the women (and men) on the covers are “real,” but that’s an entirely different debate. For now, click through to see the most-talked about covers of the year.
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