VOGUE
WEDDING
SPECIAL

ANYA TAYLOR-JOY
INTERVIEWED BY HER FURIOSA CO-STAR

CHRIS HEMSWORTH

COLLECTION MÉTIERS D’ART 2023/24

COLLECTION MÉTIERS D’ART 2023/24

omegawatches.com

SPEEDMASTER 38mm
Co-Axial Chronometer

I C O N S T H AT S H I N E
To present our new Speedmaster 38 mm in its
best light, we called on a friend with her own
inner glow: model, actress, and OMEGA brand
ambassador Kaia Gerber. Our new chronograph
has a bezel paved with 52 diamonds, and a
polished crown set with a single diamond. The
perfect finishing touch to Kaia’s sophisticated style.

Progress you can feel

Driven by the future

The all-electric Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron. Arriving soon.
Compact in proportion, big on style. The Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron
delivers impressive performance and technology — coupled with a new
benchmark for Audi interior design.

Overseas model with optional equipment shown.

June 2024

22
24

Editor’s letter
Contributors
26 On set

28

Play it cool

The new season creates a wardrobe
that covers all the bases when it comes
to cool-weather dressing.

39

Unending chain

Few would dispute the Chanel 11.12
bag’s place in the style canon – but not
as many know of its French evolution.

On the cover
Anya Taylor-Joy wears a CHRISTIAN
DIOR top. TIFFANY & CO. earrings.
Bow, stylist’s own.
Make-up from DIOR starting with Dior
Forever Skin Glow foundation in 2N; on
cheeks, Dior Forever Natural Bronze Glow
Limited Edition in 052 Rosy Bronze and
Dior Forever Glow Maximizer liquid
highlighter in Pink; on eyes, Diorshow
Maximizer 4D lash primer-serum,
Diorshow Iconic Overcurl mascara in
090 Black; on lips, Dior Addict Hydrating
Shine Lipstick in 391 Dior Lilac.
Stylist: George Cortina
Photographer: Josh Olins
Hair: Gregory Russell
Make-up: Georgie Eisdel
Manicure: Kim Truong
Props: Heath Mattioli
Production: GE Projects

40

Everyone knows Alex Perry, but an
unprecedented wave of global success
of late has transformed his three
decades-old business and seen his
fiercely feminine silhouette embraced
by women the world over.

The designers behind The Attico –
one of fashion’s most coveted labels,
serving high-octane modern Italian
glamour – curate their world through
style, art and travel.

Vogue Codes

14

Carried away

Elegant raffia and strapping leather
makes Hermès’s versatile tote an
accomplice for far horizons including,
say, a Northern Hemisphere escape.

48

Continental shift

One is an artist, the other a designer,
but these two award-winning creatives
connect on culture and their inclusion
in the biggest showcase of African art
ever displayed in Australia.

56

Story time

These four screenwriters are behind
some of the best Australian
productions this year.

In living colour

65

Best in class

As we celebrate another year of Vogue
Codes with this month’s event, we
catch up with four previous speakers
who have gone on to achieve their
ambitions – alone and together.

71

Dream girl

Anya Taylor-Joy is burning bright
as she takes the wheel in Furiosa,
a continuation of the legendary Mad
Max franchise. She sits down with
her co-star Chris Hemsworth in
Sydney to talk marriage, the Met
Gala and making the biggest
Australian movie of all time.

44 Curated by: Gilda
Ambrosio and Giorgia Tordini

47

Vogue Codes returns for its
9th year, thanks to presenting
partner Commonwealth Bank
and supporting partners Audi,
Net-a-Porter and Billy Blue College
of Design at Torrens University,
with the aim of encouraging more
young women to be empowered by
technology and pursue a career in
STEM. Our Vogue Codes Summit
on June 22 in Sydney, will feature
a stellar line-up of more than
25 Australian and international
female leaders who are changing
the world for the better. For tickets,
go to vogue.com.au/codes.

Sharp focus

62

Laura Jones’s acclaimed still lifes have
been exhibited around the world.
But her most meaningful
work is at home in Sydney.

86

Go, Gigi!

At the Vogue World starting line, Gigi
Hadid stays ahead of the fashion pack.

102

Fashion for life

Embracing the idea of creating for
a full life span, designers are looking
beyond a traditionally narrow focus on
youth to make way for age and
experience. Vogue investigates why,
and if, it signals lasting change.

106

Ground control

Designer Iris van Herpen is amazing
and other-worldly. She is a woman in
tune with her creative world; exploring
the edges of what could be, avant
garde, and creating spectacular jigsaw
pieces of her own destiny.

110

Pure shores

A new bohemia beckons. Dreamy
sheer dresses, retro prints and
a handful of soft knits.
Vogue June 2024

June 2024
128

86
Green goddess

128

Optimised glow

From cutting-edge ingredients to futuristic tools,
skincare is abuzz with game-changing updates.

137

Violette

Preeminent creative, beauty entrepreneur and
Guerlain’s creative director of make-up, Violette,
shares her diverse influences.

139

All that shimmers

Hear it firsthand: from pewter to pearlescence,
next-season nails deliver lustrous shine.

140

Stranger things

When Bella Geminder launched results-driven
skincare line Strange Luxury earlier this
year, she sought to create accessible
premium formulas. Here, she shares her
pre-wedding skincare essentials.

143

Take a breath

Stressed, burnt out, or seeking a pre-wedding pause, a new
wellness program provides a total mind and body reset.
16

Vogue Wedding Special
150

Altar state

Brides who looked beyond the traditional wedding gown
share how they found their alternative look.

152

Romancing the stones

These rings leave room for the central stone to shine on,
and on … and are made for keeps.

154

The look of love

Ready-to-wear designers are leaning into their
popularity among brides who, with these new launches,
have an elevated world of choice.

156

Shared sentiment

A slew of gender-fluid heirlooms leave room to share
a wedding day keepsake, along with a future.

158

Real weddings

Inspiring and romantic weddings from across the globe.

186

Trivial pursuit

In search of the ‘perfect’ wedding pout, Tish Weinstock
faced every bride’s beauty nightmare: had she gone too far?

188
192

Horoscopes
Final note
Vogue June 2024

MAX PAPENDIECK, BARDIA ZEINALI

122

How legendary supermodel Amber Valletta created
a truly sustainable new home in Los Angeles.

KATE WINSLET

LONGINES
MINI DOLCEVITA

LONGINES BOUTIQUES
Sydney • Melbourne • Brisbane

CHRISTINE CENTENERA
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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© The Trustees of the British Museum

Editor’s letter

June is an important month for Vogue globally, as we
celebrate the third Vogue World event, to be staged in Paris
before the Olympic Games. We sometimes refer to the readyto-wear show season as the ‘fashion Olympics’, so we rose to
the occasion with Gigi Hadid playing the part of a super-athlete
– fencing, sprinting and jumping for gold. (See page 86.)
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games mark 100 years since the
Games were last in Paris and Vogue World will honour every
decade since then. Stay tuned online for all the updates.
Also in this issue, Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen
talks to us about her work and testing the edges of fashion and
technology. She will be showing in June during the Paris
couture season, while an exceptional survey of her work,
Sculpting the Senses, will open at Brisbane’s Queensland Art
Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) at the end of the month,
fresh from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris where it drew
more than 350,000 visitors. Van Herpen’s work is ethereal,
fluid, dynamic, extraordinary and inspired by nature. She has
dressed some of the most interesting creatives and continues to
influence intellectually and existentially. Record numbers are
expected to pass through her immersive sensory exploration at
QAGOMA. See you there.

CHRISTINE CENTENERA Editor-in-chief

22

Vogue June 2024

DARREN MCDONALD

I

f you’re intrigued by how a candid chat among A-list stars
might unfold, turn to our cover story on page 71 for
a conversation between this month’s cover star Anya
Taylor-Joy and her Furiosa co-star Chris Hemsworth, two of
our favourite actors. Anya is really an honorary Aussie, falling
in love with our country during the five months of filming as the
lead in Furiosa, the next instalment of the Mad Max journey.
Much of the movie was shot in Broken Hill, New South
Wales, inspiring Anya to scoop up a keepsake bottle of red
earth and take it home after the production wrapped. She was
overwhelmed by the epic, raw beauty out there, and two years
on from filming, that earth is still a reminder of her experience.
For Anya, shooting Furiosa helped her to find a new inner
strength, as she was guided through her role by the legendary
director George Miller. She tells Chris: “I now stand my ground
a lot harder.”
Since mesmerising us in The Queen’s Gambit – the 2020 series
that unwittingly turned us all into chess enthusiasts – Anya has
been an intriguing and compelling creative on Vogue’s radar, and
we are delighted to welcome her back for her second cover in as
many years. Josh Olins photographed her in Los Angeles, perfectly
capturing that slightly nostalgic Hollywood magic she exudes.

Contributors

UMA FA LEUNG
For model Uma Fa Leung,
who grew up in Ecuador,
being granted the chance to
travel for work – so far to
Seoul and Sydney – has been
a career highlight. Another
achievement? Featuring in
her first editorial shoot – see
‘Play it cool’, from page 28.
“It was very interesting to
see how a production like
this moves from the mood
board to the hair, make-up,
styling,
lighting
and
photography. [There are] so
many different factors that
go into this,” she muses.
Leung, who is following in
her dad’s modelling footsteps,
now has her sights set on
the runway. “I would love to
have the experience of
getting to work more closely
with a designer, meeting
creative individuals and
having the opportunity to
wear one of their creations.”

HEATH MATTIOLI
Set designer Heath Mattioli,
who for this issue brought
his honed eye to our cover
shoot, describes his role as
interpreting the desires of
creatives and bringing their
ideas to life. “I help to create
magic and honestly, on every
single job, I learn something
new,” he says. “[When]
embracing
the
process,
trusting in the team, you
come out feeling like a
million dollars, knowing you
delivered.” Mattioli fell into
set design by accident. It was
only when an A-list director
visited his Silver Lake selfstyled bar and liked what she
saw that his new career began.
“She instantly hired me to
design all of her projects,” he
recalls. “Right place at the
right time. I got lucky.”

NINA MIALL
As
the
curator
of
international
art
at
Queensland Art Gallery and
Gallery of Modern Art,
Nina Miall thinks of herself
as “an enabler or translator,
creating encounters between
artists,
artworks
and
audiences”. Doing just that,
Miall helped bring Iris van
Herpen’s Sculpting the Senses
(see page 106) to the South
Brisbane institution. “I’m
working very closely with
Iris and her team on realising
her ambitious vision for
what is her first major survey
exhibition in the Southern
Hemisphere,” explains the
curator. “I hope it’s a
revelation for audiences.
With such wide-ranging
themes and ideas expressed,
I think there will be
something to interest even
the least fashion-minded.”

WORDS: ANGELICA XIDIAS PHOTOGRAPHS: CLAUDIA BAXTER,
CLAIRE HART, MIKAEL JANSSON, PIERRE TOUSSAINT

GEORGE CORTINA
Celebrated stylist George
Cortina dressed actor Anya
Taylor-Joy for the cover of
this issue, which was
captured by Josh Olins in
a picturesque home in the
Los Angeles suburb of
Encino. “I was inspired by
actresses Catherine Deneuve
and
Romy
Schneider,”
Cortina says of his first time
working with both TaylorJoy and Olins. “I also wanted
to cast Anya in a different
light. You always see her so
dressed up, so for this I
wanted her more dressed
down, sporty.” He adds: “It
always starts with the girl.
From there, I begin with
a film reference and adjust
the character to fit. I always
want it to feel very cinematic.”

24

Vogue June 2024

ON SET

Anya Taylor-Joy channelling Old Hollywood glamour.

Taylor-Joy in LA with
photographer Josh
Olins, above, and
make-up artist Georgie
Eisdell, below.

Big picture
lmost two years after fronting her first cover for
Vogue Australia, actor Anya Taylor-Joy, who was
raised in Buenos Aires and London, is once
again captured for our pages. Photographed by Britishborn Josh Olins, Taylor-Joy makes star turns poolside at
an Encino residence in Los Angeles, California.
“I pictured her lounging in the south of France,” says
renowned stylist George Cortina of the creative
direction. Setting out to portray Taylor-Joy like she’s
rarely been seen, Cortina drew inspiration from silver
screen stars Catherine Deneuve and Romy Schneider
when curating looks for the 28-year-old.

A

26

“Anya Taylor-Joy was a total joy to work with,” Cortina
says of the pair’s first collaboration, which works to
highlight the actor’s versatility both on and off the
screen. “The only challenge was trying to make her look
more casual, which actually wasn’t a challenge because of
how onboard she was with the concept.”
Reflecting on the experience, which continues from
page 71 with a conversation between Furiosa: A Mad
Max Saga stars Taylor-Joy and Australian Chris
Hemsworth, Cortina adds: “The whole experience was
very fluid. We were all on the same page creatively,
which makes it easy.”
Vogue June 2024

WORDS: ANGELICA XIDIAS
PHOTOGRAPHS: JESSE RAY DIAMOND

Furiosa’s Anya Taylor-Joy returns to the cover of Vogue Australia following the
release of the anticipated Mad Max prequel. Styled by George Cortina, the actor
trades formal dress for Hollywood Golden Age-inspired leisurewear.

ULTIMATE EDIT

Play it cool
The new season welcomes reinvigorated, elevated versions
of winter archetypes to create a wardrobe that covers
all the bases when it comes to cool-weather dressing.

Fine woven
Heritage fabrics with tactility have become a seasonal calling card; consider Chanel
and Burberry’s iterations that lace tweed and tartan with a new coloured edge.
Above left: BALENCIAGA jacket and skirt, both P.O.A. PASPALEY necklaces, $10,880 each.
Hair bows throughout, stylist’s own. Above right: BURBERRY dress, $3,590, bag, $2,790, and tights, $1,000.
FAIRFAX & ROBERTS earrings, $17,900. STUDIO AMELIA shoes, $620.

28

WORDS: JONAH WATERHOUSE HAIR: RORY RICE
MAKE-UP: JASMINE ABDALLAOUI MODEL: UMA FA LEUNG
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

STYLING HARRIET CRAWFORD PHOTOGRAPHS BLAKE AZAR

Under cover
The power of an oversized
woollen scarf will rarely go
astray when cocooning against
the elements, and this time
around they’ve been blown up
to extra-cosy proportions.

BLAKE AZAR
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Below left: P.A.M. jacket, $560, sweater, $380, skirt, $335, hat, $150, and scarf, $99. MATTEAU belt, $170. SCANLAN THEODORE
gloves, $600. DOF STUDIOS boots, $600. Below right: ACNE STUDIOS sweater, $820, shirt, $850, and scarf, $510.

Vogue June 2024

31

ULTIMATE EDIT

Pile on

MICHAEL LO SORDO dress, $690. MICHAEL HILL necklace, $799, and bracelet, $499.

32

BLAKE AZAR
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Velvet is synonymous with winter opulence, and its newest iterations are striking in their
simplicity and elegant in their elongated shape – the shortcut to looking done for evening.

The long
game
Winter’s anklelength skirts
give poise and
personality.
See Prada’s
featherweight take
on grunge, or
Christopher
Esber’s sequinspangled party
pieces for proof.

BLAKE AZAR
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Above left: RORY WILLIAM DOCHERTY shirt, $630, skirt, P.O.A., and bag, $1,050. AJE top, worn underneath, $255. OMEGA watch, $38,800.
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS ring, $22,500. BOTTEGA VENETA sock boots, $1,730. Above right: VALENTINO sweater and skirt, both P.O.A.
BLANCA shirt, P.O.A. P.A.M. beanie, $145. BULGARI earrings, $65,800, and $90,700. VALENTINO GARAVANI bag, $4,380, and shoes, $2,020.

Vogue June 2024

35

ULTIMATE EDIT

Standing ground
The season’s most unmissable boots are knee-high or taller, taking
cues from outdoor wear and raising the wearer to new heights.

Above: FENDI dress and boots, both P.O.A.
FAIRFAX & ROBERTS rings, $29,900, and $14,900.
Below: TOD’S top, $1,070. COURTNEY
ZHENG skirt, $540. TIFFANY & CO. ring,
$13,200. MERRY PEOPLE boots, $199.

36

Hot fuzz
The plushness of
shearling paired
with its unexpected
durability in
the elements
contributes to its
perennial appeal
in any winter
wardrobe.

COLLECTOR

A

CHANEL bag, $16,980.

Unending chain
WORDS: ALICE BIRRELL PHOTOGRAPHS: MIKE DE DULMEN, GETTY
IMAGES ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Few would dispute the Chanel 11.12 bag’s place in the style
canon – but not as many know of its French evolution.
ART DIRECTION ARQUETTE COOKE STYLING ISABELLA MAMAS
PHOTOGRAPH LAUREN BAMFORD

train hisses and exhales at a
station in Rome as French actor
Anouk Aimée, wrapped against
the cold, waits to board a train to see the
premiere of La Dolce Vita in which she
stars. It is 1960 and swinging from her
arm is another star that will go on to
rival all those who wore it – Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis, Romy Schneider, Jane
Fonda and more – Chanel’s timeless bag.
A giant of design, it has undeniably
contributed to the founder of the French
house’s parting wish: “May my legend
prosper and thrive. I wish it a long and
happy life.” Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel
spoke those words after she had designed
the first iteration of the bag, the 2.55, in
February, 1955 – the date codified into its
name. With her instinct for what women
needed, she liberated them from the
dainty hand-held pouch in one fell swoop
enabled by a clever sliding gold chain:
the first crossbody, hands-free handbag.
With a French spirit of liberté so
woven into its history, few pieces are
so recognisable in fashion, and few take
in the story of Chanel so comprehensively.
It was under the auspices of Karl
Lagerfeld, that the classic flap, or 11.12,
was born in the 1980s, a period of revival
for the house after Chanel’s passing
in 1971. Debuting the double-C clasp,
reinforcing the padded quilting,
remodelling the all-metal chain with the
techniques of the atelier, hand-weaving
leather through the chain and casting it
in buttery lambskin, it emerged as a piece
in which Chanel would recognise her
handwriting. Details like keeping the
secret pocket in which she reportedly
stashed love letters, she’d knowingly nod
her carefully crafted chapeau to.
Today it requires 180 techniques to
complete a single bag, but it still carries the
original burgundy interior, making it easy
to find belongings. On the outside
though, it bears as much style and elan as
Aimée demonstrated. Current creative
director Virginie Viard applies an array
of techniques, embellishment, occasional
variations in quilting and Chanel tweed
in myriad chromatics, like this apple
green version. Inspired, incidentally, by
the paintbox brights of the 60s but just as
apt to be swung over an arm and whisked
away to a glamorous event today.
Women carrying Chanel bags, from left,
Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1957 with her
2.55 bag; Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
in 1968; and Anouk Aimée with
Marcello Mastroianni in 1960.

Vogue June 2024

39

Sharp focus
Everyone knows Alex Perry, but an unprecedented wave
of global success of late has transformed his three decades-old
business and seen his fiercely feminine silhouette embraced
by women the world over. By Jonah Waterhouse.

T

here’s a framed picture that sits on a cabinet near Alex
Perry’s desk at his opulent inner-Sydney studio. In it, Elle
Macpherson wears a black floor-length gown with
a strapless bustline and immaculately tailored internal corset,
positioned to reveal its structure. Perry believes the image, shot
for Vogue Australia in 1995, is the purest representation of
his vision.
40

“That sums me up, what my personal design aesthetic is,” he
says with a smile – those trademark sunglasses off, though gold
and silver reflective pairs sit in a mirrored tray at his desk.
“It’s not lace or beading – it can be – but it’s more that razorsharp finish, fitted within an inch of its life.”
Perry will never apologise for his compressed cuts; he’s the
first to note that there’s a disclaimer on his brand’s website,

COURTESY OF ALEX PERRY, ANDREW MACPHERSON, TREVOR STONES

VIEWPOINT

“What I do isn’t
available from a lot of
brands internationally.
Not everybody’s
going to like it, but
the people that do …
they’re my clients”
encouraging customers to choose a tighter fit for visual
impact. He discovered his knack for sculptural clothes while
studying fashion at TAFE Sydney in the 1980s, and opened his
first store in 1992, just a few years before the image of
Macpherson was taken. After years of designing custom
dresses, Alex Perry became a ready-to-wear business in 2013,
defined by striking garments that accentuate the figure through
either showing skin or clever use of proportions.
Perry says his understanding of the female form is years in the
making. “The first 10 years was about getting the fit perfect,”
he says, noting the meticulousness that underlines his output.
“I know that we can’t be perfect all the time, and perfection is
unattainable, but there is a feeling of that I love.”
With three decades under his belt, the past five years have
seen Perry experience visibility in ways other than his
well-known persona. Around 2019 – already a household name
in Australia, owing to television appearances, Perry saw
a noteworthy uptick of global interest in his brand of striking
clothes with unrivalled cuts, using internationally sourced
fabrics that put him in company with mainstay brands in
global luxury retailers. “We hang next to Valentino in a lot
of stores, next to The Row, next to Alaïa,” he notes. In part,
Perry attributes this new popularity to stripping his vision to
its core, eschewing the patterns and embroidery of years past
and focusing on the precise silhouettes that defined his early
work. Now, he says his clothes are “simplified, sharpened up,
and a bit more modern”.
There’s also the celebrity factor. In recent years, Perry’s
designs have been worn by famous women of varying
disciplines, who gravitate towards that signature power and
presence. Jennifer Lopez is a known admirer, while Lorde
chose an ice-white corset with draped fabric for her 2023 tour.
Hailey Bieber and Sydney Sweeney are fans, as are Rosé and
Lisa of Blackpink, whose sway causes dresses to sell out
immediately. Perry is clear that there’s no business win quite
like a superstar endorsement.
“I’ve never quite bought into influencers,” he says sceptically.
“I’ve tried it, and I’m sure for some people it works, but nothing
works like bona fide celebrities.” He mentions that department
stores like Neiman Marcus have invested in significant amounts
of stock after just one instance of a famous woman wearing Alex
Perry. “That’s real money we’re talking about, not just a little bit.”
Unlike some designers, Perry doesn’t get hung up on exactly
who is wearing his clothes. It’s the pursuit of his slick
perfectionism that drives him, while celebrities gravitate to the
brand on their own, becoming walking billboards for his idea of
feminine strength. “When Jennifer Lopez walks down the
red carpet, regardless of whether you like the dress or like
her, you look at her,” he says with visible excitement. →

Below: Elle Macpherson in Alex Perry, for Vogue Australia in 1995.

Vogue June 2024

41

VIEWPOINT

“It’s this perception of perfection, the grooming, the hair, the
way everything is.”
In 2024, Alex Perry is the biggest it’s ever been, but the
designer admits there have been blips along the way. “When
I did the TV thing,” he says of his appearance as a judge on
Australia’s Next Top Model, where he, perhaps unwittingly,
became seen as an unofficial representative of the whole of the
local fashion industry. “I was like, it’s going to make people
[know me], and come and get the clothes.”
TV made Perry a household name in Australia, but the brand’s
commercial success was stagnant, and Perry began to feel
creatively stifled, so he started experimenting with trends and
materials. “I just didn’t like it anymore – I was that Logies guy,
that weird guy on TV, not even doing what I liked because I was
trying to figure out what they wanted from me, what was going
to get me some press and translate to sales,” he explains.
“It didn’t. The whole thing was wrong, here [in Australia].”
In 2018, he stepped out of the public eye and went back to the
drawing board in search of a new way forward. Alongside
creative director Trevor Stones, Perry found himself constantly
42

circling back to that Elle Macpherson dress, which embodied
the striking simplicity he wanted to forge ahead with.
“People think simple is easy, but simple is not easy, you can’t
hide behind anything,” he explains of his passion for fine-honed
cuts. “The shape has to be able to fit perfectly; if I see a wrinkle
on a bodice, I think it’s shit. I say to myself get it, hone it in,
make it perfect.”
Forthright statements like this are textbook Perry and became
his calling card in pop culture. But certain topics create a fissure;
when asked about the women who inspire him, he wipes away
a tear and mentions his mother, who died three years ago.
“She was really honest, and she always told us the truth,” he
says, a trait he’s inherited. “She was incredibly loving, but she’d
look at my work and say, ‘Is that hem crooked?’ he adds with
a laugh. “Most mothers would say to somebody, ‘So beautiful,
darling!’, but she’d say, ‘Is that right?’”
It’s easy to draw a connection between that unapologetic
strength and Perry’s vision of womanhood today. After that
recalibration in the 2010s, he began presenting at pop-up
showrooms in Los Angeles in 2018, and there was a domino

LACHLAN BAILEY, GETTY IMAGES, TREVOR STONES, MARIO TESTINO
INSTAGRAM: @ALEXPERRYOFFICIAL

Above: Kim Kardashian in an Alex Perry
corset, Vogue Australia, June 2016. Below:
HRH Crown Queen Mary wears Alex Perry
on the cover of Vogue Australia, August 2016.

Above: Jessica Chastain (left) and Sydney Sweeney in Alex Perry.
Below: Hailey Bieber in a dress from Perry’s resort ’23 collection.

Celebrities in Alex Perry.
Clockwise from left: Rihanna, Rosé,
Jennifer Lopez and Emily Blunt.

effect of buyer interest, culminating in devotees across Europe,
the US and Asia. “Then I was good,” he says. “I calmed down
after that, stopped trying to prove myself, stopped doing all
that TV stuff … it was not fun for me anymore, it wasn’t
actually serving a purpose.”
Now one of Australia’s most internationally
successful designers, Perry is acutely aware
of which pieces work. “One dress we do is
a strapless fitted lady dress. I can’t tell you in
how many colours, but it sells out every
season, because nobody’s done it like that,” he
shares, pointing to the internal girdle that
sculpts a flattering shape. Information on
bestsellers comes from his own e-commerce
statistics, but also department stores. “They’ve
got their intel, they know the Alex Perry
customer is the Versace customer, is the Dolce & Gabbana
customer,” he says.
His approach doesn’t just rely on numbers, but also a sureness
that his vision of potent femininity creates loyalists who’ll

always return for more. “I can’t be what Zimmermann is to
people because that’s not my thing, so I’m not going to try to go
there, or into other avenues – this is mine,” he says. “It works
because what I do isn’t available from a lot of other brands
internationally. Not everybody’s going to like
it, but the people that do like it are solid,
they’re my clients.”
Some of those happen to be famous, and
sometimes, when Perry flicks through
Instagram, he’ll stumble across a superstar
in one of his pieces. He recalls one experience
a decade ago while on the sofa in pyjamas,
seeing Sandra Bullock in one of his dresses. It
was the realisation that he could take on the
world, regardless of the stagnancy he was
experiencing back home. “That gave me
a confidence that I’d never really had to go, okay, there’s
nothing wrong with it. Because I thought there was something
wrong with it here,” he recalls. 32 years into his career, Alex
■
Perry has found a world where everything fits perfectly.

“People think
simple is easy, but
simple is not easy,
you can’t hide
behind anything”

Vogue June 2024

43

CURATED BY

Gilda
Ambrosio
and Giorgia
Tordini
The designers behind
The Attico – the label
that serves high-octane
modern Italian glamour –
curate their world through
style, art and travel.
PORTRAIT HUGO COMTE

ometimes glamour should exist
just for the sake of it, and The
Attico excels at getting that
message across. The eight-year-old
label – founded in Milan by Giorgia
Tordini and Gilda Ambrosio, who met
when studying fashion design at
Istituto Marangoni and Istituto
Europeo di Design – has garnered a
devoted customer base who favour its
knockout eveningwear, diaphanous
dresses, statement pumps and thighhigh boots. Recalling the finery of
nightclubs in the 1970s, but with a
modern twist, Zendaya, Rihanna and
Dua Lipa are among the label’s
well-heeled fans. The growing attention
crescendoed at the spring/summer ’24
shows last September when Tordini and
Ambrosio presented their debut runway
collection, answering years of demand.
A synergy between Ambrosio’s edgy
experimentalism and Tordini’s elegant
meticulousness defines each of The
Attico’s collections, which now take in
shoes, bags and swimwear. But the duo
is also united by a passion for travel –
not to mention a love of Cher, whose
early looks remain an ongoing influence
in The Attico’s aesthetic. Here, the
designers share what keeps them
creatively inspired.

44

SCENT: BYREDO

De Los Santos
EDP, 50ml for
$285, from Mecca.
– Gilda
FORMATIVE
DESIGN
INSPIRATIONS:

“Martin Margiela
and Miuccia
Prada. The former
innovated style
in a way that is
still unparalleled
today. Miuccia is
strict, elegant
and creative.”
– Gilda

MARGIELA A/W ’95/’96

S

ARTIST: “Alex Katz – his colour and composition,

DESTINATION FOR
RELAXATION: “Ibiza is

pure abstraction and artificial patterns have
become seen as realist, but his realism is
certainly still somewhat abstract.” – Giorgia

a unique island with powerful
energy and an atmosphere
of happiness with beautiful
seas and people.” – Gilda

Right: Gathering (Guggenheim Museum $105), by Alex Katz.

FASHION MUSE:

“Isabella Blow
for combining
fashion and
journalism,
pure creativity
and being a
fragile soul
hidden under
big eccentric
hats.” – Giorgia
Right: Isabella
Blow at a lipstick
launch in 2005.

SCENT: SERGE

LUTENS
Ambre Sultan
EDP, 100ml
for $197, from
Harvey Norman.
– Giorgia

THE
ATTICO
dress,
$6,010.

One of Tordini’s
holiday photos
from Ibiza.
THE
ATTICO
bag, $1,310.

SIGNATURE
PIECE: “Sexy

WORDS: JONAH WATERHOUSE PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES, GORUNWAY.COM
INSTAGRAM: @GILDAAMBROSIO, @GIORGIATORDIN,@SHOTDECK, @THEATTICO
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

embroidered
evening
dresses, to
make an
entrance.”
– Gilda

TV SHOW
FAVOURITE:

“Mad Men –
a masterpiece
that deserves an
annual revisit as
it always sparks
new ideas,
provides fresh
perspectives, and
deeply touches the
emotions.” – Gilda
A scene from Mad
Men, which ran
from 2007 to 2015.

Cheope shoes
from The Attico.

Vogue June 2024

45

ŅŎ˙˙̖õŎł̖Øƀ
·ŅŎ̖˙˙̖ĠŎłă

OBJECT OF DESIRE

Carried away

WORDS: JONAH WATERHOUSE
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Elegant raffia and strapping leather makes Hermès’s versatile tote an enduring
accomplice for far horizons including, say, a Northern Hemisphere escape.

PHOTOGRAPH PEYTON FULFORD

Vogue June 2024

47

VIEWPOINT

Morayo (2015)
by Atong Atem.

A look from Lagos
Space Programme,
Project 9, Ojube Oba,
autumn/winter ’24/’25.

Pieces from Lagos
Space Programme,
Project 8, Cloth as a
Queer Archive, 2024.

One is an artist, the other a designer, but these two award-winning
creatives connect on culture and their inclusion in the biggest
showcase of African art ever displayed in Australia. By Gladys Lai.

S

hould we all just online shop together for a moment?”
Melbourne-based artist Atong Atem and Nigerian
designer Adeju Thompson laugh when I propose this
over video call. Just two hours earlier, Thompson, the founder
and creative director of Lagos Space Programme, had launched
the non-binary fashion label’s first ecommerce site. “Oh, I love the
blue!” exclaims Atem. Her one-year-old son, Isagani, is resting
his head on her shoulder, and turns to gurgle at the camera.
Atem and Thompson are two creatives with formidable
schedules, but they’ve carved out one precious hour for a tête-àtête. Both are showcasing their works in the National Gallery of
Victoria’s (NGV) upcoming exhibition Africa Fashion, the most
48

comprehensive exhibition of fashion from the continent ever
presented in Australia. Originally curated and shown in
London’s Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), the NGV’s latest
blockbuster features more than 200 ready-to-wear designs,
couture pieces, body adornments and photographic portraits
from both museums’ collections, as well as the exhibitors’ personal
archives. The aim is to demonstrate the staggering diversity of
Africa’s culture – one tied to the continent’s independence
movement and liberation years, and which continues to shift
with contemporary politics and the advent of the digital age.
Ahead of the exhibition, Atem and Thompson discuss purpose,
artistic process and legacy in the context of heritage.

COURTESY OF LAGOS SPACE PROGRAMME, CHRISTINA EBENEZER,
BASETSANA MALULEKA, ISABEL OKORO, IFEBUSOLA SHOTUNDE

Continental shift

VOGUE AUSTRALIA: What does it mean to appear in an

exhibition like this, as the most extensive exhibition of
African art in Australia to date?
ADEJU THOMPSON: “The Africa Fashion exhibition takes
on an encyclopaedic format of the different voices and the
different perspectives of the continent. I think a lot of times
people see African fashion as a monolith, and that’s something
I’ve always rejected in my career. And really, through my work,
I like to highlight this alternative African narrative … I think
Africans live full and dynamic lives, and I think an exhibition
that really highlights and celebrates different points of views is
really important and long overdue.”
ATONG ATEM: “First of all, Adeju, your work is incredible.
I’ve been following your Instagram for so long. I didn’t actually
know [Lagos Space Programme – Thompson’s label and winner
of the 2023 Woolmark Prize] was your singular project. I’m sure
you collaborate with a lot of people, but I assumed for some
reason that it was a collective. Is it just you behind the creative?”
AT: “Yes.”
AA: “That’s insane. You should be really proud of yourself.”
AT: “Thank you.”
AA: “For me, as a visual artist, not necessarily in fashion, but
absolutely inspired by fashion and relating to fashion as an art
form, I think there’s a lot of pressure on us as African artists
and designers and whatever, to define for other people what
that means, because they have preconceived notions of what that
looks like informed by colonial narratives around African-ness,
even internalised colonial narratives around African-ness. So,
it’s not only educating people outside of the African continent or
the African diaspora about my perspective, but educating people
from within, because there’s a very specific mindset, I think,
that comes from people who have been colonised and that still
have a colonial hangover. So with my work, a lot of it is
celebrating the things within my community and my culture
that are not considered art, or that are not considered worthy of
celebration. And a lot of that has been with textile and traditions
around presenting yourself and celebrating yourself.”
VA: Atong, when you were talking about preconceptions
and what people think about when hearing ‘African art’ or
‘African style’, versus what it actually is, what experiences
have you had confronting those preconceptions?
AA: “A lot of those preconceptions manifest in everyday life.
It’s not just a matter of confronting institutions or the
gatekeepers of industry, it’s confronting myself as well and
letting go … Years ago, maybe 2014, I came across an article
from a West African writer who was speaking to the diaspora.
The essence of what she said was, ‘Africa is not waiting for you
to come and save it. We’re not on pause,’ as in, those on the
continent are not on pause waiting for those of us who’ve gone
out to the West for whatever reason, to come back and give
them knowledge and give them inspiration … I felt that was
a really profound thing for me to learn in my 20s, because my
family came here under pretty dire circumstances. We were not
economic migrants, so there was always this idea that we’re
here in the West, in Australia, to extract whatever educational
resources in order to take it back. And there was always this idea
that for those of us lucky to escape, it was our duty to then go
back. For me, I wasn’t born here, but I’ve been here since I was
five, so I’m more Australian – whatever that means – than
anything else in terms of my upbringing. My mum grew up in
Sudan, which later became South Sudan, but prior to the war,
she had my siblings and I in other countries, like in Ethiopia.
I was born in Ethiopia, my little brother was born in Kenya, my
sister was eventually born here. So, Mum’s relationship to →

Above: Atong Atem, winner of the inaugural La Prairie Art Award in 2022.
Below: Adeju Thompson, founder and designer of Lagos Space Programme.

Vogue June 2024

49

VIEWPOINT
Akuot (2015)
by Atong Atem.

A piece from Lagos Space
Programme, Project 8, Cloth as a
Queer Archive, spring/summer ’24.

Lagos Space Programme, Project 8, Cloth
as a Queer Archive, spring/summer ’24.

South Sudan, and Sudan in general, is stuck in the 1980s …
I realised that when we went back in 2021, and we both had
culture shock. Culture shock for me, because I’d never been there,
for her, because 30 years had passed almost … My goal when it
comes to this kind of representing of the truth or re-educating
is to allow people to widen their imaginations when it comes to
Africa so they don’t stop it from being as multifaceted as it
actually is. I’m not just one person from one country, I’m purely
a grain of sand among what it means to be an African artist. I’d
love to hear your perspective on that, Adeju.”
AT: “It’s quite interesting, your perspective, because it’s really
something I deal with every day with my work; just trying to
continue to fine-tune and highlight where I come from.
I realised the past autumn/winter season, a recurring theme
with a lot of designers from Africa and in the African diaspora
was really a conversation around immigration and immigrant
realities … I created a collection inspired by this fictional
character who was a British Nigerian immigrant and wove the
story around them bringing him back to this iconic Yoruba
festival called the Ojude Oba. And we built this world around
their personal style and in this section of the queerness, and
their Yorubaness, and the fact that this person might be an
eccentric. And we’re trying to really flesh out this story.
Thinking about in the West, maybe in America, with those Jim
Crow [segregation laws] and all this craziness, life in Africa was
still going on, people were still living their lives, they’re going
to storied institutions, amazing accomplishments, men and
women doing great things despite their Blackness.”
AA: “I would really like to know about your process, Adeju,
because it sounds like your work is really personal and intimate.
How do you go from these important stories, your own fictional
characters, your own life, and turn that into a garment?”
AT: “It really starts with an inspiration. If I give you a tour of
my studio right now, you’re going to see a ton of books, and I
surround myself with things that I love and I enjoy … If
I discover a society or a community, I would ask a friend of mine
who is at the centre of that community and say, ‘Hey, I read this
thing and I was wondering, do these communities still exist? Is
it possible to meet them?’ I think it makes the work a lot richer
when you’re drawing from different spaces and from different
50

people and to really build this world … I think about smells,
I think about sound. So maybe I want to make a theme. For
every show I’ve done over the past four to five years, I developed
my own music; worked with people to develop sounds that
create this interesting atmosphere around the presentation. So,
it’s always a very full, very thorough, very nerdy thing.”
AA: “I wish I was in Lagos. It sounds like there’s a lot going on
in Nigeria right now, creatively, in general. I’m extremely envious.”
VA: How often do you factor in legacy and consider it when
you’re making your work?
AT: “Overall, from the context of Africa, I feel like I’m really
a pioneer in my field. And I think because of that, for me, I’m
figuring it out. I’m treading this path for myself and people
coming behind me. So I think it’s so important for me to make
sure that when I’m creating the work I do, I’m as thorough as
possible, I’m as authentic as possible, I’m as scientific as possible.
Because it’s more than just a fashion consideration, it’s a cultural
consideration, it’s artistic expression. Hopefully, 20, 30 years
from now, in the fullness of time, I can look back and see this
legacy, see that what I was doing was making an impact. People
can look back at it and say, ‘Oh, wow, this is a designer from
Nigeria who was really trying to highlight vulnerability and
celebrate beauty in spaces that weren’t necessarily celebrated.
This is someone who was uncovering histories around African
life.’ I want to be that person.”
VA: What do you both hope someone visiting the exhibition
and looking at your work takes away from it?
AA: “I hope the people who have no idea go into it with an
openness and a willingness to have their curiosity sparked and
to just learn something. To go in with empty expectations
and to learn something about either the continent at large, or
African fashion in general, or potentially just one artist, or one
textile, or one outfit.”
AT: “I hope just feeling educated, really. There are so many
amazing designers and when you realise that we’re exploring
similar things, like our contemporaries in the West, or in Asia,
or in Australia, it’s a human experience and I think you see that
from an African perspective.”
Africa Fashion is on now until October 6 at the National Gallery of
Victoria International.
Vogue June 2024

COURTESY OF LAGOS SPACE PROGRAMME, COURTESY THE ARTIST
AND MARS GALLERY, MELBOURNE, ISABEL OKORO, JORA ZARAI

“I’m purely a grain of sand among what it means to be an African artist”

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Louis Vuitton’s new
jewellery collection
features the unique
LV Monogram
Star diamond.

VOGUE PROMOTION

A CUT ABOVE
Louis Vuitton’s latest collection looks to the brand’s iconic
monogram flower transforming it into something magical
via the world’s most covetable diamonds.
S PA R K I N G E M O T I O N

What does it mean to be a brand
founded in the 1800s yet representing
modern luxury? In the case of heritage
house Louis Vuitton, it’s a brilliant
evolution. The brand, which marked its
170th anniversary last year, maintains
a commitment to quality while
continuing to be at the cutting edge
of design and innovation. Today, it
brings that same dedication to the
world of fine jewellery with its
exclusive LV Diamonds collection.

Top: LV Diamonds
earrings and pendant
in white gold, featuring
LV Monogram Star.
Above: LV Diamonds
pavé solitaire in
platinum, featuring
LV Monogram Star.

The brand’s latest jewellery launch
celebrates the power of diamonds to
mark life’s most meaningful moments.
At the heart of the collection is the
LV Monogram Star diamond, a nod
to the maison’s star-shaped monogram
flower. Created by Georges-Louis
Vuitton in 1896, the symbol can be
found across many of the house’s most
beloved pieces, and is now honoured
in diamond form. Innovation, tradition
and technology combined to inspire
the LV Monogram Star – the bold,
graphic design instantly recognisable
thanks to its unique and revolutionary
cut featuring 53 facets.

Clockwise from right:
LV Diamonds pendant
in white gold and
LV Monogram Star
diamond; LV Diamonds
Damier rings in white
gold, pink gold and
diamond, here paired
with LV star diamond
earrings in white
gold; the source and
journey of each stone
is recorded in the LV
Diamond Certificate.

THE LV DIAMONDS COLLECTION
CELEBRATES THE POWER OF
DIAMONDS TO MARK LIFE’S MOST
MEANINGFUL MOMENTS

PURE BRILLIANCE

The LV Diamonds collection is
designed by Francesca Amfitheatrof,
Louis Vuitton’s artistic director for
watches and jewellery. The unique range
includes earrings, rings and unisex
bands, and pendants in platinum white
and rose gold. Each piece is conceived
around the philosophy of connection
– the emotional charge of giving
and receiving.
Drawing on the maison’s rich artistic
heritage, the pieces are crafted by highly
skilled artisans in precious metals from
platinum to rose gold, while the design
incorporates art deco-inspired elements
that reference the designs of Louis
Vuitton’s earliest classic suitcases.
CLEAR AUTHENTICIT Y

The collection also presents the
first LV Diamond Certificate. The
authentication, provided with each
LV Diamond set with a central
stone, represents a commitment to
transparent sourcing. It uniquely
tracks and verifies each diamond’s
weight, colour, purity and cut quality,
as well as its journey from the
country where it was extracted to the
workshops where it was cut, polished
and mounted. Each chapter in the
story of an LV Diamonds piece is
carefully documented, reinforcing the
brand’s unwavering commitment to
responsible sourcing.
For more information, go to
louisvuitton.com.au

VOGUE PROMOTION

VOGUE VANGUARD

Story
time
These four screenwriters are
behind some of the best
Australian productions this
year. By Hannah-Rose Yee.
Lucy Coleman
The harrowing story of Exposure, following
a photographer seeking answers about her best friend’s
death, was drawn from writer Lucy Coleman’s
own life. In 2020, she picked up a pen and “just
started to purge this story”. As “someone who very
much uses humour as a crutch”, allowing herself to
be so vulnerable through the main character of Jacs,
played by Alice Englert, was both painful and
exhilarating. “Something that I wasn’t expecting to
come at the end of it was a huge sense of accepting
myself around what had happened. And on the other
side of it, a huge sense of grief.”
There are elements of the crime genre throughout
this miniseries, streaming from June 27 on Stan.
“The mystery thriller has an incredible way of
allowing for the lead protagonist to be in such dark,
psychological headspace,” Coleman explains. She
points to shows such as I May Destroy You – “Michaela
Coel is a god among humans” – The Fall, starring
Gillian Armstrong, and Sharp Objects, led by Amy
Adams, as examples.
Growing up, Coleman “played every sport” and
spent her weekends watching art-house films. She
tried acting first, but “was absolutely appalled at how
women are treated in the film industry”. Lena
Dunham’s Girls inspired her to pivot to writing and
directing, and her first film, Hot Mess, was released in
2018. “Writing has just become this life force of
being able to reflect, make sense of things, and
connect … to put that story out in the world and then
give that to someone else,” she says.
→
56

TIM ASHTON

Alice Englert (this
image), in scenes from
Exposure, which also
stars Thomas Weatherall
(left), Essie Davis (above),
Sean Keenan (top left)
Mia Artemis (top
middle), and George
Mason (top right).

Vogue June 2024

VOGUE VANGUARD

A snapshot of
Sayed’s mood
board while writing
Ladies In Black.

Randa Sayed.

Debi Mazar in
Ladies in Black.

In Ladies in Black, the ABC series based on the film and premiering
June 16, we return to the glamorous women staffing a department
store in 1960s Sydney. Among their ranks is a new face, Angela
(Azizi Donnelly), a first-generation Lebanese woman who aspires
to run her own fashion business. “We rarely see characters like
Angela,” muses Randa Sayed, one of the writers. Rather than
the stereotypical tropes of Arab women on screen – “the exotic
mystery, the dangerous jezebel, the repressed victim” – Angela
has big dreams, just like her peers. “She is a builder and a
dreamer pursuing a life bigger than society encourages her to be.”
Sayed describes writing as her confidante. “It is where I can
share the acute way I feel and perceive the world,” she says.
58

This crystallised in primary school after an excursion to the
Royal National Park in New South Wales’s Bundeena. Sayed
wrote about taking the ferry and feeling the wind in her hair
and seeing a periwinkle crawl across a rock pool. Reading the
piece aloud to her class, she “realised that the words that were
coming out of my mouth were more honest and expressive than
my daily form of communication”.
Next for Sayed is adapting her stage show Abu Salim,
a “gender-bending narrative comedy” that she both wrote
and stars in as a barber from Fairfield moonlighting as a poet.
“I am extremely excited to bring this character and this nuanced
side of western Sydney to the Australian screen.”
Vogue June 2024

COURTESY OF ABC, AMY GIBSON

Randa Sayed

Hand made produce candles, inspired by our Great
Grandfather’s fruit shop.
www.nonnasgrocer.com

CULTURE

Akshay Ajit
Singh and
Shahana
Goswami
on the set
of Four
Years Later.

Mithila Gupta (right)
on the set of Four
Years Later in India.

Shuang Hu
The secret to writing a good romantic comedy, according
to Shuang Hu, is “having an insatiable thirst for unravelling
the complexities of love, but never truly understanding it”.
This came in handy when the writer and actor sat down to
pen her first film, Five Blind Dates, streaming now on
Prime Video. Alongside her co-writer, Nathan RamosPark, Hu turned her apartment into a “collage of creativity”,
which is one way of saying, “Post-it notes everywhere”.
After acting in shows including Ronny Chieng:
International Student and The Family Law, Hu, who
describes herself as an avid storyteller, found herself
“naturally segueing from acting to writing”. Elements
of the story, which follows a woman who embarks on
a number of haphazard dates in order to save her
grandmother’s tea shop, were drawn from her own life,
something Hu embraces. “As storytellers, we are
responsible for revealing our truths, fantasies and
vulnerabilities to forge strong emotional connections
between our characters and our audiences.”
She’s working on a thriller series right now, as well as
another romantic comedy. And making Five Blind Dates
encouraged her to reflect on her own dating life. “I’ve
been pondering why my love life resembles a rom-com on
repeat, and it hit me – I’ve been swiping left on love in
favour of my career at every opportunity,” she muses. “But
what I realised, hopefully not too late, is that ultimately
love is a choice … I just have to decide on who to choose.”
60

MEGHA CHHATTANI, ANMOL KACHROO, SAM KIM

Mithila Gupta
When she was writing her first television
show, the forthcoming SBS drama Four Years
Later, Mithila Gupta knew what she wanted
it to be. A love story about an Indian couple
separated after their wedding when one half
is sent to Australia for his studies, reuniting
years later in this new country. “It’s a story
of love, upholding family expectations, but
above all, of belonging,” Gupta explains.
To write the series, Gupta assembled an all
South Asian writers room of fellow scribes
Shakthi Shakthidharan and Nicole Reddy.
Gupta’s career began on Neighbours, where
she helped craft Ramsay Street’s first Indian
characters, and she is “used to being the
minority in a writers’ room”. On Four Years
Later, it was the complete opposite, and “the
story is stronger for it”.
Production took place between Mumbai,
Jaipur and Sydney. Gupta remembers filming
in India as “super soulful and electric”. On one
location recce, crew members surprised Gupta
by taking her to the street where she was raised.
“I only ever held vague memories of it. But now
the memories are so solid.” And at the wrap
party: “Everyone broke it down like their life
depended on it.” She will cherish the experience
forever. “Being of two cultures, I hold much
confusion about who I am,” she shares. “But
this shoot was the first time I felt like a whole
person. Fully Indian, and also fully Australian
– rather than being told I’m only half of either.”

VOGUE PROMOTION

LITTLE WONDER
Audemars Piguet transcends time and trends with a striking update
to its vintage Royal Oak Mini timepiece from 1997 – introducing
a watch created with contemporary femininity at its core.

MICRO INFLUENCER

In 1972, Audemars Piguet made
a radical declaration to the
watchmaking world with the
introduction of visionary designer
Gérald Genta’s Royal Oak. The first
luxury sports watch to be made of
steel, the distinctive timepiece was
bold, innovative and redefined modern
luxury horology. Half a century later,
Audemars Piguet is reinterpreting
the model from 1997 with its latest
collection, the Royal Oak Mini.
Drawing inspiration from the original,
which was quartz-driven and measured
just 20mm, the three Royal Oak
Mini iterations blend femininity and
contemporary artistry. As wearable as its
predecessor, its diminutive 23 millimetre
case comes in 18-carat yellow, white or
pink gold with a Frosted Gold finish.
In keeping with tradition, the
craftsmanship needed to achieve this
statement-making watch harks back
to a Florentine jewellery technique.
RICH INNER LIFE

Within its compact form, the Royal
Oak Mini’s movement – the quartz
Calibre 2730 – insists upon precise
timekeeping. The dials, free of any
seconds scale or date window, focuses
instead on the essentials, placing
readability centre-stage.
“Small, charming, creative, almost
frivolous,” says Sébastian Vivas,
Audemars Piguet’s heritage and
museum director. “It demonstrates the
extraordinary plasticity of the Royal Oak
collection, which transcends decades,
gender, trends and dimensions.”

Royal Oak Mini in
18-carat pink gold.

Royal Oak Mini in
18-carat white gold.

Royal Oak Mini in
18-carat yellow gold.

Explore the collection at
audemarspiguet.com

ART

In living
colour
Laura Jones’s acclaimed
still lifes have been
exhibited around the world.
But as she tells Mahalia
Chang, her most meaningful
work is home in Sydney.

62

Armed with that context, you can see the tether between
Jones’s relationship with the natural world and her art pulled
taut. Her work is organic and graphic at once, still lifes and
portraits rendered in that heart-stopping vividness. But the art
of the still life (a medium Jones describes as “a completely
underrated art form … because it’s seen as feminine and
decorative”) isn’t in the beauty, per se, but the “ugliness” that
Jones has dedicated her career to finding and celebrating.
“There must be something a little bit ugly in your beautiful
still-life painting,” advises Jones. “Nothing can be too perfect.
There has to be an awkwardness, or an unease, or some sort of
jarring quality – that then is offset by the imagery in it, whether
that be a beautiful piece of flowering gum, or an interesting
sculptural shape … Those tension points in the painting tend to
turn out much more beautiful than if it’s just perfect.”
It sounds like an epiphany Jones has reflected upon throughout
her career. “It’s tempting when you’re painting flowers to just
put all the prettiest colours in. I don’t mind if it’s a bit wonky,
unsettling, or unbalanced. It’s making sure that there’s always
something in there that contrasts.” That contrast has been on
display in Jones’s exhibitions across the world, from Sydney’s
Olsen Gallery, to the New York Studio School of Painting, and,
since 2021, the Incognito Art Show.
Held in Sydney, Incognito is a not-for-profit art show that
invites artists, professional and amateur, to anonymously submit
an artwork, A5 in size. Attendees shop the pieces, all priced at
$100, before they ever find out the artist behind it. Profits from
the sales go to supporting artists with disabilities, while also
helping to democratise and humanise the act of buying art.

CHRIS GRUNDY, RACHEL KARA, AMELIA RUSHFORTH

L

aura Jones is in something of a blue period.
Or, at least, a blue mood.
“It’s because there’s a lot of old dried
hydrangeas in here after summer,” says Jones,
referring to her Darlinghurst studio where she
currently sits, a cacophony of oil paint and dried
flora splayed out on all sides. “I definitely go
through colour phases. I find that I start painting
my nails that colour … I think a lot of artists do
this, you start to really embody the mood you’re
in and express it in your food, your clothes, and
everything around you.”
Jones is dressed to suit said mood for our
interview, in a blue denim set. Behind her, further evidence: two
portraits of the same still-life arrangement trade wall space,
bushy pink flowers spilling out of a cobalt blue vase. To her left,
an inky midnight vessel plays host to her current still-life
composition: dried leaves of protea and glossy, ripe persimmons,
lazy in repose. The stars of the show, though, are those
hydrangeas she was talking about, their dusty blue butterfly-like
petals cuddled up in bunches together against the cooling turn
of the season, as summer blinks into autumn outside.
“I am mad about colour,” Jones acknowledges. Her inspiration,
she says, springs from all fronts. “I might see an interesting
combination of something in worn-out bricks, or the refractions
in a vase. Accidental things. The way friends dress. It’s everywhere
for me. It’s not really specific, but I do gravitate towards making
a very colourful life.” You can see that blooming awake in her
work. Jones – a professional painter since 2011 who specialises in
floral still lifes and whose work has won her acclaim worldwide,
including the honour of being a finalist of the Archibald Prize
three times – has nurtured a lifelong love affair with colour.
Growing up in the yawning valleys of the Blue Mountains,
where the shades of growing life are rarely ever the same colour
twice, botanic muses were abundant.
“It was a really beautiful and vibrant visual environment to
grow up in,” says Jones. “There were lots of women in my family
who grew flowers. And so we always had – even when it wasn’t
in fashion yet – big jars of amazing, luscious branches and
things that you couldn’t buy at the flower shop. I really came to
value having flowers around, and being in nature, and making
things with my hands.”

“It’s artists for artists,” says Jones of Incognito. “The art world
is scary for a lot of people. A very intimidating big white cube. I
remember, before I became an artist, when I wanted to be one,
I thought [art] was for clever people who get asked to do it. But
actually, it’s something anyone can do. I think Incognito
encourages people to get involved. The stakes are lower. Instead
of a big intimidating canvas, it’s just an intimate little piece
that’s friends with thousands of other artworks on the wall.
There’s something really exciting and joyful about that.”
Jones has been a crucial cog of Incognito since the beginning,
not only as an artist submitting works, but as a member of the
community recruiting fellow artists and collaborating with
artist-funding programs. “Anyone that knows Laura knows she
has a huge heart and supports so many good causes; for her to
say yes gave the show so much credibility,” says Dave Liston,
co-founder of Incognito. “She got all her artist friends to
contribute and really helped shape the character of the show as
an event specifically for the benefit of artists. Laura picked out
Studio A to be the beneficiary of our funding after a long
friendship with those artists.” Incognito’s profits are distributed
between Studio A and We Are Studios, both initiatives that
help artists with disabilities progress in their career, whether
through collaborations, funding or mentoring.
“It all began when I was invited by Studio A to collaborate
with one of their artists, years and years ago,” explains Jones.
“I just found that experience to be so enriching and exciting,
because [artists] sort of tinker away solo in the studio. But those
kinds of artist collaborations is what Incognito is fundraising
for. It creates a spark that really introduces some new kind of
passion into making work. It’s a beautiful thing to meet other
artists and have a play.”
It’s hard to understate the success of Incognito in its three
years since launching. Alongside up-and-coming artists, the
show has recruited an A-list roster of names to participate. Jones
lists them off like she is strolling down the main gallery at the
MCA. “Reg Mombassa, Clara Adolphs, Holly Greenwood and
Nicholas Harding. Jonny Niesche, Ben Quilty, Lucy Roleff …
But their participation in the show didn’t wholly surprise Jones.
“Artists are so giving – and this is not a big ask of us. It’s really
just making a tiny little A5 work. They jumped at this
opportunity to be involved, help, and just be part of the fun.
Artists love fun.”

According to Liston, Incognito is set to reach
brand-new heights for its next offering, slated
for July. This year’s show will also, for the first
time, be open to online customers to shop from
outside Sydney. “In the first year, we aimed to
get 100 artworks returned [from artists], we got
1,800. That grew to 3,500 the next year, then
last year we got 5,300 … this year I’m expecting
we could get close to 10,000 artworks back.”
“I opened up Tony Albert’s work and Julia
Gutman’s work today,” Liston continues,
referring to submissions from Albert, one of
Australia’s most acclaimed painters and
Gutman, the 2023 Archibald Prize winner.
“I’m always blown away by how much time
and effort these great artists put into their
work. Some of my favourite artists have
registered to take part again, like Paul Davies,
Tsering Hannaford and Jonny Niesche.”
And, of course, Laura Jones, who is still
tossing up her submission for 2024. “I might do some flowers
this year,” she muses when asked. “I usually do three [artworks],
but I don’t want to say because then people will be looking for
[florals] and I’ll have done a portrait.”
Perhaps audiences will notice her blue mood manifesting in
her submissions this year. “You might,” Jones demurs. Behind
her, the old hydrangeas sigh in their blue vase, as a breeze sneaks
under the window shutter.
The Incognito Art Show is on July 13-14, with the online exhibition
to follow.

Top: Artworks
on display at the
Incognito Art Show.
This image: Inside
Jones’s studio.

Vogue June 2024

63

CODES

Toiletpaper, the New York and
Milan-based creative studio by
artist Maurizio Cattelan and
photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari,
staged an exhibition at Isha
Ambani’s Art House in 2023.

HARSHAN THOMSON/NMACC

Best in
class
As we celebrate another year of
Vogue Codes with this month’s
event, Angelica Xidias catches up
with four previous speakers who
have gone on to achieve their
ambitions – alone and together.

ISHA AMBANI
Vogue Codes Summit 2017 speaker

On April 2, 2023, soon after Mumbai’s Nita Mukesh Ambani
Cultural Centre rolled out the red carpet for Gigi Hadid,
Zendaya and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in honour of its grand
three-day launch, Isha Ambani opened the doors to her
sprawling four-storey gallery, Art House. Located within the
same complex founded by her family (the Cultural Centre is
named after her mother), Art House serves to further the
centre’s aim to honour Indian culture by creating a first-of-itskind platform for local and international artists.
“I believe that the best of Indian art is still ahead of us, and
I know the Art House will play a pivotal role in this exciting
journey,” Ambani, the Yale- and Stanford-educated director of
Reliance Jio Infocomm and its subsidiary Reliance Retail, →
Vogue June 2024

65

CODES

The exhibition from Toiletpaper was divided
into four chapters, featuring imagery drawn from
the studio’s extensive photographic archive.

Fang Chen.

FANG CHEN
Vogue Codes 2022 Audi Breakfast Sydney speaker

Isha Ambani.

told Vogue India following the launch of the Kunsthalle-style
space last year. A champion for the role of art in not only
connecting a city with its people, but also its ability to foster
cultural education, Ambani seeks to increase the accessibility of
Indian art, while also enhancing the country’s exposure to
international art, such as the recent retrospective of creative
studio Toiletpaper’s work.
Speaking to Vogue Australia prior to her participation in the
2017 Vogue Codes Summit, Ambani highlighted her desire for
her future business endeavours to contribute positively to
society. And through her work with both the Reliance
Foundation and now Art House, she has realised her goal.
As for the future of Art House, Ambani explained to Vogue
India: “We want to nurture young curators and bring the world’s
best curators to our space. We are also looking at scholarships,
internships and other outreach programs to make art more
accessible.” In the meantime, the mother of twin toddlers
Krishna and Aadiya will continue to use the curatorial eye she
developed while visiting museums and galleries as a child to
advance the cause of Indian art globally.
66

Drive and ingenuity are qualities Professor Fang Chen, executive
director of the UTS Data Science Institute and award-winning
leader in artificial intelligence, possesses in droves. Devoted to
developing data-driven solutions across a multitude of industry
sectors, the internationally recognised expert shows an equivalent
commitment to educating people about the application of AI.
“It’s divided the population,” Chen says of cognitive computing’s
surge in adoption. “One part is for AI and one part is against.
Almost every second day, people tell me AI will kill humans or
replace the world. On the other side, there are a lot of people
asking to use AI to improve efficiency and reduce workloads.”
Chen confirms this argument has only increased since appearing
at the Vogue Codes Audi Breakfast in Sydney in 2022. Over the
past two years, AI has continued its rapid integration into various
fields, and it’s for this reason the data scientist, who leads
multidisciplinary teams of experts across industry, government
and academia, feels events such as Vogue Codes are crucial. “It’s
a good representation of the future of advancement, because the
boundaries of many disciples are blurring. We need people with
all kinds of skills and talents to work together.”
Following her subsequent appearance at the 2023 Vogue Codes
Summit, Chen has invested a considerable amount of time in
destigmatising the use of AI – all the while focusing her efforts
on data science applications across both healthcare and
agriculture. “People think AI needs to be perfect; this is a
misperception because AI itself is a probability-based algorithm.
The other is bias,” she says of its limitations. “The world is not
evenly distributed, so the data we collect by large is not fair. The
key is knowing that imbalance and what we can do about it.”
Chen remains optimistic. “We will have more clarity,” she says
of the future of machine learning. “We’re all talking about AI, the
ethics, the safety. There are so many different laws and regulations
that have started to be put in place, which is at least a safeguard
in the adoption of it. My hope is for AI not to compete for our
human jobs, but to become an extension of our eyes and ears.”

The work of Firesticks
comprises workshops
and advocacy around
cultural burning and
Indigenous knowledge.

Veena Sahajwalla (left)
and Rachel Steffensen.

VEENA SAHAJWALLA & RACHEL STEFFENSEN

TALEI ELU, GETTY IMAGES, LUCAS JARVIS,
HARSHAN THOMSON/NMACC

Vogue Codes Summit 2023 speakers

Professor Veena Sahajwalla first met environmentalist Rachel
Steffensen of Firesticks during the 2023 Vogue Codes Summit’s
Change for Good panel. The scientist immediately recognised the
indispensability of a collaboration between Firesticks, a not-forprofit Indigenous network focused on fire and land management,
and her own UNSW Centre for Sustainable Materials Research
and Technology (SMaRT). “I was super excited to see if there was
a collaboration opportunity,” Sahajwalla says, of the approach
to Firesticks after that first introduction at Vogue Codes. “When
people who are passionate about the world get together, we can
create real impact. That’s kind of how it all happened,” she reflects.
Fast-forward to 2024 and the two groups have joined forces to
rethink the management of biowaste in Australia. “Our
relationship blossomed from that initial engagement and we’ve
been able to explore Indigenous innovation and social enterprise
opportunities for communities that Firesticks works with through
the work Veena does at UNSW,” says Steffensen. The project
has seen the two women focus their efforts on revolutionising
recycling. “The future is going to be about many different people
participating in this ecosystem,” Sahajwalla explains.
Simultaneously, Steffensen, as Firesticks’s people and
partnerships manager, has been busy organising a national
women’s workshop dedicated to developing cultural fire and
land management practices. “It’s such integral, important
work,” she says. “It’s sometimes thought that fire is a masculine
space, but fire management has a place for women.” Sahajwalla,
who has become internationally recognised for pioneering the
innovation of new green materials, has also been actively
involved in setting up initiatives around electronic waste via the
world-first e-waste microfactory that she developed in 2018.
“The opportunity to be present at Vogue Codes shows how
important it is for people to come together and to be really
listening to each other,” Sahajwalla says as she reflects on her
introduction to the Firesticks team. “That opportunity has
given us the ability to pursue different pathways for Indigenous
people,” Steffensen continues. Enthusiastic about motivating
others to emulate their collaborative efforts, Sahajwalla
concludes: “We’re hopefully bringing a very holistic project to
life that has never before been done and we feel really lucky that
in a way Vogue was right in the middle of bringing us together.”
Vogue Codes Summit returns to Sydney’s Carriageworks on June 22
with the theme Technotopia: Design the World of Tomorrow. For
tickets, go to vogue.com.au/vogue-codes.

“The opportunity to be present at
Vogue Codes shows how important
it is for people to come together and
to be really listening to each other”
Veena Sahajwalla

Catherine Donahue, a
Djabugay woman and
member of Firesticks.

Vogue June 2024

67

NATALIE LEE
GENERAL MANAGER, YOOX NET-A-PORTER
APAC & JAPAN

FLEXMAMI
AWARD WINNING PODCASTER,
BEST SELLING AUTHOR, MEDIA ICON & CEO

DR MICHELE SQUIRE
FOUNDER, QR8 NETWORK

CATHERINE BAHM
LOW BOOM FLIGHT DEMONSTRATOR
PROJECT MANAGER, NASA

SONAL SURANA
AI ADVANCED ANALYTICS LEAD BUSINESS BANKING, COMMBANK

TECHNOTOPIA
DESIGNING THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

JUNE - AUGUST 2024

TICKETS ARE LIMITED. BOOK NOW
VOGUE.COM.AU/CODES #VOGUECODES

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Her next
move

Dream girl
Anya Taylor-Joy’s star is burning bright as she takes
the wheel in Furiosa, a continuation of the legendary
Mad Max franchise. She sits down with her co-star
Chris Hemsworth in Sydney to talk marriage, the
Met Gala, and making the biggest Australian movie
of all time. As told to Hannah-Rose Yee.
Styled by George Cortina. Photographed by Josh Olins.

72

Vintage T-shirt, $230,
from Raggedy Threads.
SCHIAPARELLI briefs, P.O.A.
All prices approximate; details
at Vogue.com.au/WTB.

T

his time two years ago, Anya Taylor-Joy was knee-deep in the rust-red earth of
Broken Hill making the epic Furiosa. During the five months of production,
Taylor-Joy fell in love with Australia and in particular Sydney, seeking out
secret harbourside beaches, seeing movies at the Randwick Ritz, walking most Sundays
from her rental in Paddington all the way to Newtown. Taylor-Joy has barely been back
in the city for 24 hours and already she’s visited SWOP, the thrift store in Darlinghurst,
and bought an oversized T-shirt emblazoned with Remy, the cartoon character from
Ratatouille. Today, the 28-year-old fashion darling – she is Dior’s global ambassador
for women’s fashion and beauty, house ambassador for Tiffany & Co. and global
ambassador for Jaeger Le-Coultre – is wearing her new purchase like a dress,
accessorised with a pair of molten gold Tiffany & Co. cuffs. Sitting opposite Taylor-Joy
in her hotel suite, among the breakfast detritus (fruit platter and an empty French
press) is her Furiosa co-star, Chris Hemsworth. As the pair prepare to share their Mad
Max prequel with the world, we listen in on their wide-ranging conversation.
CHRIS HEMSWORTH: “Anya, here we are in Sydney again. How does it feel

to be back?”
ANYA TAYLOR-JOY: “Amazing. I didn’t realise how well I know this city.

Yesterday, we were walking around and I was like, oh, I don’t use Google Maps here at
all. My feet just know the way.”
CH: “What do you remember about meeting [director] George [Miller] for the
first time?”
ATJ: “I got a text from [filmmaker] Edgar Wright that said, ‘George Miller’s going
to call you.’ And I was like, ‘Random. But exciting.’ We just had a really long
two-hour conversation about all of these things, which now, looking back, makes
a lot of sense, but at the time felt pretty random. He was like, ‘How are you
about stunts, and do you like motorbikes, and would you be okay with this, and tell
me about your background as a dancer.’”
CH: “Had you seen any Mad Max movies before? What impression of Australia
had they given you?”
ATJ: “Fury Road was my first introduction to the world, and I just remember being
really struck by the colours. I could not wait to get out to Broken Hill and see the red
earth. I actually took some. You know in Pirates of the Caribbean when he’s like, [sings]
‘I got a jar of dirt!’ I took a jar of dirt from Broken Hill and it stays in my house, with
different little flowers I’d found, because I wanted a bit of Australia with me.”
CH: “Mentally, how did you process taking on such an epic character, in such a big
film in a beloved franchise?”
ATJ: “I don’t know if you have this, but my brain doesn’t allow me to think about
things that would potentially cause me to not do something, until it’s way too fucking
late. And then you’re doing it, and it’s only afterwards that I’m like, ‘Oh no! This is big.
And intense. And there’s a lot of expectation on it.’ At the time, it just feels like your
life, you don’t necessarily bring outside forces into it, but then as soon as it’s over, I have
a full-blown panic attack.”
CH: “I’m the same. I always find I get to the press tour and people start asking me
questions, and I’m like, ‘Did I take it seriously enough?’ I think it’s self-preservation
mode.”
ATJ: “What do they put on racehorses?”
CH: “Blinkers.”
ATJ: “Blinkers! Just go towards the finish line.”
CH: “Just a couple of racehorses, we are.”
ATJ: “Thoroughbreds, baby.”
CH: “And you were ready to shave your head, but George wouldn’t let you?”
ATJ: “I was so fucking psyched.”
CH: “I was psyched!”
ATJ: “I have been wanting to do it forever, my whole life. Other people have an
attachment to my hair and that’s like, ‘Fuck you, I want it gone.’ I called up everyone
on my team, called up Dior, called up Tiffany, and I was like, ‘Listen, I’m gonna be
bald, and it’s gonna be great.’ And George saw me, and he just grabbed my hair and
went, ‘Oh, it’s too beautiful. We can’t cut it.’”
CH: “So you get to Australia to make Furiosa. What were your first impressions
of Sydney?”
ATJ: “The birds. Waking up in the morning and going, ‘What the fuck is that?
That’s amazing!’”
CH: “And then we went further afield to Broken Hill. How was that for you?”
ATJ: “I knew that Furiosa was going to be the job that I got my cat on … I’m going →
76

Beauty note:
DIOR Diorshow
Iconic Overcurl
Mascara in
090 Black.

VICTORIA BECKHAM briefs,
P.O.A. TIFFANY & CO. ring,
P.O.A. Beauty note: DIOR Rosy
Glow Colour-Awakening
Blush in 001 Pink.

JOSH OLINS

to need something to love. So [my cat] Kitsune is very proudly Australian and it was
just the two of us in this very isolated house in Broken Hill and he came to work with
me every day. It’s just magical. I know you guys are bored of hearing it, but if you’ve
never seen a kangaroo, it’s like, ‘Holy fuck!’”
CH: “No, it’s still cool.”
ATJ: “And the stars you get out there. Wild. So, so beautiful. I think about that house
a lot. It was a very special time for me.”
CH: “I really enjoyed the Broken Hill section. Sydney is always nice, but it’s the
city. Something about being removed from everything, like you’ve stepped back in
time. The dust, the dirt … How did you cope?”
ATJ: “Loved it. Dirtiest I’d ever been, easily … [Because] the way that George shoots,
I guess it’s the lens he has on the camera, dirt doesn’t show.”
CH: “I didn’t realise that.”
ATJ: “When you looked at my face, did you not go, ‘Woah!’”
CH: [Laughs] “You just fit the setting!”
ATJ: “There’s a couple of scenes where we’d be missing a bit of red dirt and I’d just go
outside and roll around in it and go, ‘Okay! I’m ready to go.’”
CH: “There were big days, long hours. How did you unwind afterwards?”
ATJ: “Oh god. Did you? I struggled, really. I just kind of rolled into the next day.
I loved the drive home, that was helpful. But having Kitsune around, I had to go home
and feed him, and make sure he’s okay, and that was my way of winding down.”
CH: “You have said that you haven’t chosen to be a method actor, nor would you want
to be. What appeals to you about being able to step away from roles?”
ATJ: “This, I think, is a misinterpretation. What I say is I have not chosen to be
a method actor – but I know that you connect with this – you don’t have a choice if they
come home with you or not. Each of my characters have massively impacted me for the
period of time that I’m in. On this one, I remember having a conversation with my
husband and he was like, ‘I’ve never heard you so angry.’ And I was like, ‘Good! I am
angry!’ That was her, almost, gift to me … From the moment I read the script of
Furiosa, I knew it was going to be real time. I knew I would go through it and hopefully
it would show up on screen. I can’t imagine wanting to be a method actor, making the
conscious choice to terrorise my family.”
CH: “And the entire set.”
ATJ: “Exactly! And the entire set. We’re all here, it’s hard enough as it is.”
CH: “What did you learn about yourself making Furiosa?”
ATJ: “I wanted to be put in an environment where I had to understand my own mettle,
and really be pushed. It’s almost George’s whole philosophy, what are you like in
extremis? Without sounding bleurgh, I’m a very giving person and I’ll often let people
take more than I can give, and I remember a moment where I was like, thank you for
pushing me so hard I have no choice but to stand up, and it’s impacted my life in a huge
way. I now stand my ground a lot harder.”
CH: “Do you miss Furiosa?”
ATJ: “Yeah. I don’t know if you feel this way, but [characters] go at different times. I’m
still grieving Beth from Queen’s Gambit, I still can’t go near a chessboard, I’m like,
nope! But with her, I wonder if there will be a sense of relief of handing her over to the
audience, where I can think, she’s taken care of now.”
CH: “Let’s take it back. Tell me a little bit about growing up in Buenos Aires.”
ATJ: “When I close my eyes and picture myself as a kid, I’m in the countryside, in
Argentina, looking up at the sky like wow, imagination! There’s so much space! I’m
sure your kids have this, from being lucky enough to grow up where they’re growing up
– you can’t beat a childhood outdoors.”
CH: “What is your favourite phrase in Spanish that doesn’t exist in English?”
ATJ: “I’ve always loved the word empachar. It’s usually to do with food, but I can
take it as an emotional experience as well. I had so much of the thing that I loved, that
I can’t have it anymore … Or if you drink a bunch of booze and you can never have
it again. People have that experience with port.”
CH: “Or tequila. Favourite Spanish swear word?”
ATJ: “Cos my mum says it, coño … [It means] damn, I guess? You can use it in
conversation, almost like a full stop.”
CH: “I’ve heard that one in my house. You took your dad to the Oscars this year. You
promised to do that when you were 12, if you were ever invited. How special was that?
What did you guys get up to?”
ATJ: “It was fucking awesome. Well, we hung out with you.”
CH: “I was gonna say, I didn’t see your dad when we were hanging out at five am!”
ATJ: [Laughs] “Daddy went home for the after-hours portion of the evening.”
→
Vogue June 2024

79

JOSH OLINS

HERMÈS bralette,
$6,035. MAX MARA
shorts, $845. TIFFANY
& CO. ring, P.O.A.

JOSH OLINS

JW Anderson top, P.O.A.

JOSH OLINS

CH: “That was a fun night.”
ATJ: “I think I would have found it very overwhelming if I’d been there alone, but to

be there with my dad, I was so focused on taking care of him that it put my energy
somewhere else and I was able to enjoy it.”
CH: “So at 12, you were envisioning this career already? What was your dream?”
ATJ: “I can’t imagine ever wanting to do anything other than being an artist, it was
a chip in my brain. I watched a lot of the movies that my brother and sister were raised
on and it was all adventurous quests, like Jumanji or Free Willy, and I was like, I wanna
be the kid that rides the whale! That’s a job? Fuck yeah, I want to do that. I wanted
to be in a situation where I could explore different worlds and have adventures, and that
still doesn’t go away.”
CH: “Where do you think your passion and drive comes from?”
ATJ: “My dad’s a power-boat racer, so that’s where my competitive streak comes
from … It’s something that as a kid, people found it very difficult, and as I’m growing
up, I’m starting to appreciate it more about myself. I’m just massively passionate. If
I love something, I really love it. I was talking about this with my mum the other day.
I’ve not had the opportunity to rest that much, but I’ve realised that if I don’t rest,
but I see something marvellous that I can be passionate about, that feeds me as much
as getting a good night’s sleep.”
CH: “You were scouted as a model walking your dog in London.”
ATJ: “Yeah! I remember I was about to go to my first grown-up party and I was wearing
my mum’s heels because I wanted to practice and I had to get it right. Such an intense
child. I thought this car was following me and I was like, Anya, your parents are
watching too much 24, there’s no way this is happening. And as I started to run and the
car picked up speed I was like, oh no, it’s happening! And then this guy stuck his head
out the window and screamed, ‘If you stop, you won’t regret it.’”
CH: “That sounds like 101 bad guy!”
ATJ: “The crazy thing is, [my mum’s] got this video of me at like, five, and she’s
asking me, ‘What are you going to be when you grow up, and are you going to go to
drama school?’ And I’m like, no! I’m just gonna be in the right place at the right
time and it’s just going to happen. I just stopped, and when he explained modelling,
I’d never considered modelling before, but I’d heard of models who’d become actors,
so I’m going to follow this.”
CH: “You still love fashion. I’m about to attend my first Met Gala.”
ATJ: “Woo hoo!”
CH: [Laughs] “What do I need to know about fashion’s night of nights?”
ATJ: “The first time that I went, I was so young and I hadn’t been working enough to
know anybody and I remember feeling really isolated and very scared, but I think what
this party is, is you get the chance to see all of the people you know and love, so you are
going to have the best time … Just enjoy it. Also, the taxi situation afterward is hell.”
CH: “You recently celebrated your second wedding anniversary. Congratulations.”
ATJ: “Thank you!”
CH: “What have you learned about your husband over the past two years being
married, and about your relationship? Right decision, wrong decision?”
ATJ: “I’m about to be so annoying and I don’t even care. I did not know it was possible
to love somebody more and more every single day. And the most beautiful thing about
finding your person is they do exist. One should never settle, because if you settle,
you’re then going to meet them and you’re going to have to get divorced and that’s going
to fuckin’ suck. It’s the most beautiful, life-expanding situation ever, because, of course,
you accept people for who they are, but I am better every day for being a better partner
… I can learn to be more compassionate, I can learn to be more patient. I am just so
grateful. He is the best.”
CH: “I love him, too. I fall more and more in love with him each time I meet him.”
ATJ: “He has that effect on people.”
CH: “What’s something you haven’t done yet you’d love to do?”
ATJ: “I’d love to do a musical. It would be fun to do something that required so much
of you. I’d love to wake up in the morning and go, oh, I have to go to choreography for
four hours, and then I have singing lessons. I miss – I was about to say adult films, I don’t
mean the porn industry – I miss films that are beautiful meditations on what it means to
be human, and they were big. Like, a Titanic, a Forrest Gump. Movies that take really big
swings and just accept that the audience wanted to go on journeys with them … But
I think they’re on the way back, you know. People have underestimated audiences for long
enough and I think that’s why something like Furiosa is so exciting, because it doesn’t.”
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is in cinemas now.
Vogue June 2024

85

AT THE VOGUE WORLD STARTING
LINE, GIGI HADID STAYS AHEAD
OF THE FASHION PACK.

STYLED BY VANESSA REID.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY BARDIA ZEINALI.

O

n June 23, Paris welcomes Vogue World, a big celebration of fashion as well as
a tribute to the life of a city and its culture. Paris has forever been the fashion
capital, but this year, it’s the capital of sport. This event arrives at the juncture
of a century of couture and the Paris Olympic Games, which will be a 100 years old in
2024. Anna Wintour, Condé Nast global chief content officer, explains the philosophy
of these very fashionable festivities: “In 2022, we wanted to help give back to life in
Manhattan after the pandemic, and honour not only the extraordinary community of
fashion in this city but also the city of New York itself. It was a truly uplifting moment
that we couldn’t resist trying again in the United Kingdom, last year. I am glad that
Vogue World has, starting now, found its third home here in Paris. Vogue World Paris
will be a tribute to the Olympic Games … We imagine the evening like an opening
ceremony of fashion, with models, athletes and artists coming together to present every
decade since 1924, the last time the Olympics took place in Paris.” This fashion show
like no other will take place in the Place Vendôme. “In our opinion, there are few
settings that capture the city’s rich history and glamour so well,” continues Wintour.
In this preview of the evening, Vogue asked Gigi Hadid to become our superathlete. Captured in the capital, she sprints, dives, fences en garde, and isn’t afraid
of somersaults or long jumps. A few select guests, including Isabelle Huppert
and Simon Porte Jacquemus, are her true opponents in elegance. At the finish line,
it’s clear fashion is the victor.
86

Gigi Hadid in
a fencing outfit,
ready to face
her opponents.

Gigi wears a CHANEL
HAUTE COUTURE
mini-dress embroidered
with frosted flowers and
sequins and a silk tulle
train, from the Chanel
boutiques. MASSARO
shoes. The runner on
the left wears a WALES
BONNER polo shirt and
skirt. The runner on the
right wears an ON tank
top. MIU MIU red shorts.
UNDER ARMOR bike
shorts. NIKE socks.

BARDIA ZEINALI

French actor
Isabelle Huppert,
in a BALENCIAGA
dress, takes
on Gigi Hadid.

BARDIA ZEINALI

BARDIA ZEINALI

BARDIA ZEINALI

Gigi wears a
JACQUEMUS dress,
and shirt. NIKE shin
guards and sneakers.
French designer Simon
Porte Jacquemus
wears a JACQUEMUS
polo shirt.

BARDIA ZEINALI

VALENTINO LE SALON
silver and gold lurex coat
embroidered with
sequins, and shoes.
Hair: Mustafa Yanaz
Make-up: Mise en beauté
Manicure: Hanaé Goumri
Model: Gigi Hadid
Set design: Danny Hyland
Production: North Six

102

BALMAIN A/W ’24/’25

MIU MIU A/W ’24/’25

MARINE SERRE A/W ’24/’25

BATSHEVA A/W ’24/’25

GETTY IMAGES, GORUNWAY,COM,
TYRONE LEBON FOR PHOEBE PHILO

MIU MIU A/W ’24/’25

Fashion
for life
Embracing the idea of creating for
a full life span, designers are
looking beyond a traditionally
narrow focus on youth to make way
for age and experience. Jonah
Waterhouse investigates why,
and if, it signals lasting change.

O

f all the designer quotes that circulated during the
autumn/winter ’24/’25 shows earlier this year, one
stood out. “I say to myself every morning, ‘I have to
decide whether I am a 15-year-old girl, or a woman close
to death,’” Miuccia Prada shared of her inspiration at Miu
Miu. This was conveyed through the collection’s mix of
ingenue and clothes with maturity, but also in the runway
cast, which comprised a split of fashion models and nonmodels spanning different ages and careers – from Gigi
Hadid to retired Chinese doctor Qin Huilan.
“I didn’t know anything about fashion before, and even
now I don’t know much … I was busy in the hospital most
of the time, so I gave up [my] pursuit of beauty,” the
70-year-old says. Miu Miu’s team discovered the medic’s
Instagram account, where she models her son’s vast
collection of archival Prada, and flew her from Shanghai to
Paris. “Their designs never seem to go out of style,” she
notes of Prada and Miu Miu clothes, which, for her, provide
a middle ground between her experimental fashion sense
and the pragmatism her life requires. “I can still wear
clothes from a decade ago, so they stand the test of time.”
Casting non-models isn’t new for Miu Miu; the label put
celebrities on the runway as early as the 1990s, and the same
goes for models of different age groups – consider Kristen
McMenamy’s walking for Valentino in 2019, or Naomi
Campbell’s never-ending command at the shows. But the
increasing representation of all facets of womanhood, with
real depth and dimension, is a mood shift. A reverence for
more stages of life – seen through casting but also the
clothes, which appear more classic and enduring and less
driven by trends – was felt in the spring/summer ’24 shows
last year, and the recent autumn/winter ’24/’25 shows.
At Balmain, over-50 models paraded the runway in
leather and canvas coats – lasting pieces that accumulate
character with time. The return of 2000s It-models Agyness
Deyn and Lily Cole at Burberry helped illustrate the →
Vogue June 2024

103

Batsheva’s Victorian dresses are aesthetically inspired by the
eccentricity that comes with age. “Older women are constantly
being told not to show their knees or their arms, not to wear
things that are too colourful, or sheer, and so much more,” says
designer Batsheva Hay. Her autumn/winter ’24/’25 show was
modelled by a cast of women all over 40, proving her lively
designs befit all stages of life. “I have a lot of clients that are
mothers and daughters; my clothes are something they share,
and I love that,” Hay notes. “I want to create options to dress
adventurously at any age.”
In the past two seasons, fashion’s idea of feminine beauty –
historically narrow and laser-focused on youth – may be starting
to widen, matching an industry-wide emphasis on timelessness,
with no set-in-stone expiry date. Take Pucci’s Roman spring/
summer ’24 runway in April, where runway icons Christy
104

BATSHEVA A/W ’24/’25

Turlington, Mariacarla Boscono and Italian actress Isabella
Rossellini walked alongside newcomers Angelina Kendall and
Devyn Garcia, united by Pucci’s famously bold print.
“I don’t like the word ‘older’ … I like the fact that they are
women, you know?” artistic director Camille Miceli says over
the phone from Paris. Miceli, who has held senior positions at
Louis Vuitton and Dior, knows fashion’s emphasis on youth has
historically been rooted in business strategy. “Lots of fashion
houses are obsessed with young, young, young. Why? Because
as soon as you attract an 18-year-old girl, you get her into your
brand, you’re going to keep her for many years, so you’re going
to ensure a certain [financial] gain,” Miceli explains. “I don’t
have this kind of mentality of being an opportunist.”
Those at the casting frontline are also seeing changes. Casting
director Piergiorgio Del Moro, who works with Pucci, details
the major differences in runway demographics compared to

BURBERRY A/W ’24/’25

PUCCI S/S ’24

enduring relevance of their outfits – wool fleeces, mackintoshes
and suede jackets with value long after a single season – and also
themselves as fashion plates. At Chloé, for the debut of new
designer Chemena Kamali, supermodels Pat Cleveland and
Jerry Hall, and their daughters, Anna Cleveland and Georgia
May Jagger, sat front row wearing the label in silhouettes
modified slightly for their ages – proof the brand is designed to
last generations.
But it’s not just mega-labels; there are also new houses
emphasising lifelong wear, taking inspiration from the
women who’ve lived more of life. The latest campaign for
Phoebe Philo stars Oscar-nominated actor Sandra Hüller, who
is 46, which will no doubt appeal to the established clients of
Philo’s brand, where shirts cost nearly $2,000 – hardly accessible
for the average late teen or early 20s woman, the age many
models still are on the runway. Meanwhile, New York label

decades past. “If you look back at the shows of the 90s or 2000s,
each designer had a collection completely different from the
others, but the models were always the same – 20 girls, same
age, same type of beauty, same [ethnicity],” he says. Now, he
notes, it can be in a brand’s interests to cater to different life
stages, and reflect better the real world, through their choices
and ambassadors. Del Moro’s casting of the recent relaunch of
Donna Karan, which starred Linda Evangelista and Liya
Kebede in the designer’s time-honoured garments, is proof.
“What we’re experiencing now is that you can see beauty in
different shapes, different ages. That feels very believable
because [the brand] relates to their customer, but also to what is
seen outside in the street,” says Del Moro.
By transcending age groups, Miceli intends for Pucci’s designs
to be as accessible to 80-year-olds as 20-year-olds, and everyone

GETTY IMAGES, GORUNWAY.COM

Georgia May Jagger and
Jerry Hall attend Chloé
autumn/winter ’24/’25.

But as for the spike in brands making ‘classic’ clothes with
perpetual wardrobe value, Galambos believes there are other
global factors at play beyond a potential virtuous about-face by
the industry. “We’re in a period of uncertainty at the moment
where everybody is touched,” she says, citing unfolding conflicts
and an economy in limbo. “I think in times of uncertainty, the
market dictates safety. And what is safety? Going back to
classics. Classics are safe.”
It’s known that the cost of luxury is also on the rise – global
retail analytics platform Edited reports that the average prices
of luxury products have risen 25 per cent since 2019. Given the
increase, it’s more likely women will invest in a designer piece
that will stand the test of time, aesthetically and materially.
But that’s not the whole picture; spending power also feeds
into who fashion targets. Forbes reports that by 2030, millennials

will have 50 to 55 percent of the market share in luxury, more
able to afford the clothes and looking to see themselves reflected
on the catwalk alongside twentysomething fresh faces.
It’s a gear shift that, if it sticks, has positive impacts, especially
for creating careers with longevity in an industry historically
known as fickle. Take Emma Balfour, the Australian model
who at 54 is only just getting used to a modelling career
feeling permanent.
“I’ve never felt like it would last forever … it has come and
gone so many times that I kind of treat every job like a surprise
and a treat,” Balfour says.
In 2022, after a hiatus, she was approached by Bottega Veneta
designer Matthieu Blazy to walk his debut show. Balfour has
since appeared in five campaigns for the brand and has walked
twice for The Row, often travelling between Europe and her
farm on the remote New South Wales south coast. “I love

MIU MIU A/W ’24/’25

in between. “There’s a new shape of skirt we have done this
season that exists in denim and canvas print … it could be
a young girl who wears it with a crop top, or someone a bit more
mature who wears it with a shirt,” she says with a smile. “I like
when I can achieve that kind of thing.”
In the past decade, a handful of designers has used unexpected
model choices to secure cross-generational appeal. Eva
Galambos, founder of Sydney’s Parlour X boutique and a fashion
buyer for two decades, says designer Demna’s innovative use of
street casting with different age groups in 2016 – considered
a rebellious move – helped culminate in a passionate customer
base. “[He was] trying to bridge the high and low gap, make it
feel that it was more utilitarian and egalitarian in terms of
normal, natural people,” Galambos explains of Demna’s
runways, like Vetements autumn/winter ’17/’18, which streetcast everyone from millennial models to women over 70.

working now – I found it really difficult when I was young,
it was stressful, too busy,” she says. “Now I have a bit more
control and the work doesn’t define me, it’s not my whole
world. When you’re not worried about your place in the business,
it’s a lot more fun.”
Balfour’s lesson is sage: the assuredness that comes with life
experience is a key to contentment – and ripe for inspiration. It’s
reflected by designers like Miceli, who say age has brought
forward freedom and knowledge, a quality she and Miuccia
Prada share and which makes their ideas of glamour feel eternal,
and universally relevant.
“When you have a girl that is 20, a friend of my son, who’s
going to go and put all her money and buy something at Pucci,
and then you have her mother buying a kaftan …” Miceli throws
her hands up in the air. “Then voila, I think my job is done.” ■
Vogue June 2024

105

Iris van Herpen in
collaboration with
Daniel Widrig
Crystallization top
from the Capriole
collection, 2011.

Ground
control
Conversation with designer
Iris van Herpen is compelling
and other-worldly. She is a
woman in tune with her
creative genius; avant garde,
exploring the edges of what
could be, fascinating, and
creating spectacular jigsaw
pieces of her own destiny.
By Alison Veness.

106

COURTESY OF THE DESIGNER AND QAGOMA,
ROBIN DE PUY, LUIGI & IANGO, SØLVE SUNDSBØ

T

he fragments that are a part of Dutch designer Iris van
Herpen’s artistry has most recently made for a blockbuster
exhibition, Sculpting the Senses. This brilliantly curated survey
of her work that opened at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris,
recently transferred to the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art
(QAGOMA) and launches this month.
What sets van Herpen apart is her vision and voice at the epicentre
of expeditionary fashion, her exploration of form, her intuition,
and cutting-edge technology. Van Herpen’s work embodies the
exacting rigour of haute couture with her atelier in Amsterdam
intricately interpreting her perspective and stitching masterpieces,
often as light as a feather and as fluid as water. Her inspiration and
the essence of her work lies in her love of nature, dance, and perhaps,
the quest for the most incredible lightness of being.
“I like to bring in the history and beauty of natural influences
because nature is such a source of inspiration, ” she says. “I have a bio
mimic approach to my process.” The exhibition includes nine
distinctive rooms, or chapters, at QAGOMA, but also – because van
Herpen was invited to explore the Queensland Museum’s rich
archives – rare books and cultural artefacts that sit alongside 100 of
her designs. She says she loved discovering new textures. “It’s a very
beautiful dialogue to bring in some of the local natural history.
When I work on my designs, it’s never realistic. For example, there’s
a room in the exhibition that’s inspired by skeletons and skeletal
structures, but my interpretation is never to be naturalistic, but to
make a hybrid form of all these different influences. I hope people
will make their own interpretation and connections.”
Nina Miall, curator of international art at QAGOMA, in charge
of this epic international ‘part two’ of the survey, reveals the nine →

108

Iris van Herpen in collaboration with Shelee Carruthers
Astrocyte gown from the Sensory Seas collection, 2020.

Iris van Herpen in collaboration with Philip Beesley
Morphogenesis dress from the Sensory Seas collection, 2020.

chapters or ‘threads of enquiry’: Water and Dreams; Sensory
Sea Life; Forces Behind the Forms; Skeletal Embodiment;
Growth Systems; Synaesthesia; Mythology of Fear; New
Nature and Cosmic Bloom. Visitors will be able to experience
the Atelier, Cabinet of Curiosities and Runway/Defiles sections,
too. The names alone are intriguing. Miall says that van Herpen
has “an insatiable curiosity” and that her inquiries into every
facet of her work are deeply philosophical.
The exhibition in Paris was one of the most successful in the
history of the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, recording more than
350,000 visitors. “It has been really overwhelming to hear the
responses,” says van Herpen. “Some people have gone back
multiple times and seen different things every time. Many were
drawing, and I think that’s a big compliment because people
were looking at the work for a much longer time and it’s an
intense way of looking.” Van Herpen’s multi-sensory approach
is undeniably magical. “I think the soundscape of the exhibition
had a big influence as well. I tried to take people out of their
usual sense of time, almost into a meditative state of being and
I think maybe that’s why people also spent a lot of time there.”
Van Herpen’s partner, Salvador Breed, created the soundscape.
“We have been together for 15 years so he knows the work so well.
The beautiful thing is that he has his studio in the same building
as my atelier. So even when I’m working on drapes or a new
collection, he sees every part of the process and we talk about the
concept. That’s actually how we start our mornings; we walk for
an hour with our dog in nature and we talk about the things that
are going on, the things that we have in our minds conceptually,
and that’s why working on this exhibition has been so organic.
It was easy to let him do his thing and I wanted to give him that
freedom. He’s really good at translating texture into sound.”

They didn’t want to rely on prescribed ‘music’ because of
existing associations it might evoke. Instead, the soundscape was
designed to move people towards a sensory experience. “It also
relates to synaesthesia. When I hear music or hear certain sounds
I see patterns, and I think that’s something I’ve been using in
my work.” Synaesthesia – the ability to experience something
via multiple, sometimes unrelated senses such as seeing colour
when hearing sound – within the exhibition explores altered
states of consciousness, hallucinations, lucid dreaming, control
and distortions of perception, to brilliant effect.
Movement and transformation are critical elements in van
Herpen’s work, along with innovation and craftsmanship. “These
influences are naturally in the process without me having to be
conscious about them,” she says, noting that classical dance was
a part of her childhood until her early teens. “I think dance is all
about finding your inner flow, your own energy source and it’s
connected to freedom, and I think that’s also my connection to
my own garden environment. Dance is really about letting go of
control as well. For me, dance and nature are fully connected.”
Van Herpen was born in 1984 in Wamel in The Netherlands.
“It’s a very beautiful little place surrounded by water, with rivers
on both sides. We had a beautiful garden. I had a little section
where I could grow my strawberries and other plants. I remember
being mesmerised seeing something grow from nothing,” she
says. “I’m still amazed by that today; seeing the transformation
from the smallest plants to the biggest.
“I also like to remind myself we are nothing but nature
conceptually, and socially we are often disconnecting ourselves
from nature, but we can’t. That’s something I want to express in
my work, the interconnectedness of all layers of life, which is so
powerful and so beautiful.”

COURTESY OF THE DESIGNER AND QAGOMA, LUIGI & IANGO,
DAVID UZOCHUKWU, MICHAEL ZOETER

Iris van Herpen in collaboration with Isaie Bloch
Skeleton dress from the Capriole collection, 2011.

Iris van Herpen haute couture spring/summer ’19.

Van Herpen says the epic Crystallization top from her 2011
Capriole collection, which featured a lifelike reptilian shape
that would go on to influence her output extensively, was
a transformative moment for her practice. “It was the first time
I started collaborating [with architect Daniel Widrig] and using
3D printing. Before that, I was focused on traditional
craftsmanship and making that my own, but I felt I had textures
and patterns in my mind that I couldn’t do by hand. There was
a gap between my imagination and my technical skills.”
While van Herpen had already been inspired by science and
architecture, it wasn’t embedded or explored in her research and
development. “This piece was really the moment when I started
to step outside of my own bubble, taking a lot more risks and
collaborating with fields outside of fashion and bringing them
into my atelier. I’m always looking for those moments.”
She has gone on to collaborate with quantum physicists, marine
biologists and other visionary architects, including the late Zaha
Hadid. Right now she is in another moment of seismic
transformation that will be evident in her autumn/winter ’24
couture collection: exploring space. “I am taking my perception
or my way of working to the next level,” she promises.
Van Herpen has collaborated with Lady Gaga, Björk and
Tilda Swinton, the latter writing the foreword accompanying
the book for Sculpting the Senses. “I feel really connected to these
women when I design. I don’t have a particular person in mind,
but once someone is wearing it, like Tilda or Gaga, they make it
their own universe and their identity is part of the work. They
are definitely on the journey; these women have created such
unique universes. I feel really inspired by that.”
She believes in the consciousness of past lives. “It’s a feeling
that everything is so circular within nature, like our body is

regenerated going into a different life, and I think our soul will
do the same. I’m quite convinced of that.” Many wise women in
her life have shaped her. “It’s really important to trust my
intuition, and I feel that these different women have a big
influence on this.”
Meditation is something she practises daily, and she likes to
read – currently An Immense World by Ed Yong about the senses
of animals. “It’s really beautiful; we can never fully imagine what
it is to be a dog or a bird, but this book brings you into the
experiences of other creatures. That triggers the imagination for
me.” She loves a good film; Arrival for its “thinking about outer
planetary existence with such a different way of communication,
and the way sound and patterns are used”; Don’t Look Up for its
“humour and symbolism around the environmental crisis we are
in right now”; and Ghost in the Shell. “It’s a beautiful story about
where our body begins and where it ends, and I think it’s related
to the transformation that we’re going through with AI,
questions about what makes us human.” She has been
experimenting with AI on and off but reveals: “I’m a little bored
by it, to be honest; creatively it’s not interesting, it’s limited.”
She admits she is a control freak, but over time has learned to let
go. “Humour is a good energy. It’s good not to take yourself too
seriously all the time.” Van Herpen finds “being part of the
earth, the ground, the simplicity of just being in the mud with
your hands feels good. It’s almost the opposite of
the intricate couture craftsmanship that we’re doing in the studio
because that’s much more controlled than the garden … I let
things go there, I just let nature be. I help it a little bit, but that’s
about it, and I think that chaos really helps me to come down.”
Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses is on at the Queensland
Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) from June 29 to October 7.
Vogue June 2024

109

A NEW BOHEMIA BECKONS.
DREAMY SHEER DRESSES, RETRO
PRINTS AND A HANDFUL OF SOFT KNITS.

STYLED BY CLARE RICHARDSON.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAN MARTENSEN.

110

Vogue June 2024

111

DAN MARTENSEN

CHLOÉ cardigan,
P.O.A., and
necklace, $1,625.
FENDI hat, $1,390.

DAN MARTENSEN

From top: Rosalieke wears DRIES VAN NOTEN bodysuit, P.O.A. MILNE WATSON necklace, P.O.A. Jill wears a HUNZA G
bikini top, $155. MISSONI shorts, P.O.A. MILNE WATSON necklace, P.O.A. AURÉLIE BIDERMANN bracelets, P.O.A.

CHLOÉ dress, $29,400.

DAN MARTENSEN

Opposite page: FERRAGAMO dress, P.O.A. CHLOÉ necklace, $1,625. Above: BOTTEGA VENETA dress, $6,590.

DAN MARTENSEN

From left: Jill wears
a MICHAEL KORS
COLLECTION dress,
and belt, both P.O.A.
Rosalieke wears a
MICHAEL KORS
COLLECTION
bodysuit, skirt and
belt, all P.O.A. CHLOÉ
necklace, $1,625.

DAN MARTENSEN

PRADA shirt, bra
and skirt, all P.O.A.
Hair: Rudi Lewis
Make-up: Petros
Petrohilos
Models: Rosalieke Fuchs,
Jill Kortleve
Production: Studio B

Green goddess

In the kitchen, vintage stools
and oak chairs by Emil Lagoni
Valbak. Apparatus hanging
light; Rose Uniacke sconce;
artworks by Richard Serra
(left) and Brice Marden (right).

Styled by Lisa Rowe. Photographed by Rich Stapleton.
122

FASHION EDITOR: SEAN KNIGHT

How legendary supermodel Amber Valletta created a truly
sustainable new home in Los Angeles. By Dana Thomas.

Amber Valletta, in a Prada dress,
and her fiancé Teddy Charles,
wearing an Isabel Marant sweater,
Supreme T-shirt, Levi’s jeans,
and New Balance sneakers, on
the terrace of their LA home.

Vogue June 2024

123

The terrace’s 1950s Roger Capron
table and chairs were found at a
Paris flea market, and the hanging
basket light was found in SaintTropez. Walls are natural stone
and bleached cedar siding.

124

Photographs by Craig McDean, Francesco
Scavullo, Mario Sorrenti, Peter Lindbergh
and Richard Avedon hang in the office.

RICH STAPLETON/TRUNK ARCHIVE

H

aving first risen to fame in the 1990s, influential
supermodel Amber Valletta remains very much in
demand, fronting campaigns for such luxury brands as
Loewe, Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, and many others.
But she is also a leading climate change activist: she serves as
British Vogue’s contributing sustainability editor and the Karl
Lagerfeld brand’s sustainability ambassador, and has
participated in several of Jane Fonda’s Fire Drill Fridays
protests in Washington, DC, where she has been arrested a few
times alongside other activists.
Valletta tries to fold her pro-environmental
ethos into every corner of her life, including
her home. Thus, she, her fiancé, the fashion
hairdresser Teddy Charles, and her friend,
the LA-based interior designer Ross
Cassidy, have worked to turn a new hilltop
house in LA into a model of sustainability.
Valletta met Cassidy about 17 years ago,
when she was living in Santa Monica. Before
knowing who he was, she would pass by his
office/home during her workouts, spy
“these beautiful people working inside”, and
wonder who they were and what they were
up to. Finally, one day she crossed Cassidy on his bike, made the
connection, and they immediately clicked. She hired him to
help renovate the Santa Monica pad, and when she moved a few
years later to the Pacific Palisades, he updated that one, too.
Once she found the new place – a partially built six-bedroom
house on the edge of a rural canyon – she called Cassidy again,
but with a new mandate: create a home that is “extremely

Valletta, in a Dries Van
Noten dress, with Bella, a
European Doberman pinscher.

calming and feels like a sanctuary; a place where, when you
come in from the world, you can exhale”, she says. And be as
environmentally friendly as possible.
That meant rethinking the approach, inside and out.
Diaz + Alexander Studio, a development and architectural
design firm in LA founded and run by Rob Diaz and
Mark Alexander, had already constructed the foundation
and frame. “The shape was there, so we worked with them on
the finishes, to make it sustainable and bring it into the context
of its environment,” Cassidy says.
They wired the house for solar panels,
which will go on the roof, once they are
delivered. “There’s a backlog in California
– too much demand, which is great,” the
designer notes. They put in double-glazed
windows, which are required for new
construction in California and “help
thermal-insulate the house”, he explains.
And they clad much of the exterior with
responsibly sourced dove-grey and sandhued stone.
“Light stone reflects light and keeps the
house cooler,” Cassidy points out. “And
stone lasts forever and is no-maintenance. If you think about the
mid-century houses across Los Angeles, they always had stone
walls. It’s nice that stone is back in fashion.”
Valletta wanted to avoid conventional paint, which often
emits volatile organic compounds, or VOCs – chemicals that
can be carcinogenic. Instead, she and Cassidy chose natural clay
plaster tinted with natural pigments by Clayworks of →

“We’ve seen owls
by the pool, hawks
above, a bobcat,
coyotes, butterflies,
praying mantises.
It’s a good vibe here”

Vogue June 2024

125

The main bath features
Rohl plumbing fixtures and
limestone paver flooring.

126

Cornwall, England, which was manipulated to create smooth
and fluted textures. “In the summer, it stays cool,” Valletta says.
“And in winter, it warms up and stays warm.”
The decor is eco-minded, too. Rather than kit the house out
with new furniture, Valletta reupholstered pieces she already
had, like a pair of American-made BDDW chairs she bought
from her friend, the model Carolyn Murphy. “When Carolyn
saw them, she said, ‘Oh, my gosh, they look so good! They have
a great second life.’” So do Valletta’s old kitchen chairs: “They
were black with leather seats, and that just wasn’t right for the
house,” she recounts. “We scraped down the wood and found
they were white oak, and re-covered the seats with beige linen.”
To fill in the gaps, she went vintage – like the Murano
chandelier in her office, which she picked up at the flea market
in Paris – or local and artisanal. The cabinet knobs in the
library, for example, were made by LA-based photographer,
publisher and jewellery designer Lisa Eisner. “They look like
little pieces of jewellery,” Valletta says. The carpets are made of
natural fibres, and the linens, curtain fabrics and upholstery in
organic or sustainable materials, such as Pierre Augustin Rose
chairs in the office, which are covered in a fuzzy wool blend
from Pierre Frey. “The manufacturing processes for naturalfibre fabrics are cleaner than for synthetics or polyester,”
Cassidy says. “Plus, they are so much more beautiful.”
Outside, where the family spends a fair amount of time,
Valletta and Charles planted a desert garden that requires little
water and have thrown wildflower seeds onto the hill behind
the house. “We’ve seen owls by the pool, hawks circling above,
a bobcat, coyotes, butterflies, praying mantises,” she notes.
■
“It’s a good vibe here.”

RICH STAPLETON/TRUNK ARCHIVE
ART: © ELLSWORTH KELLY FOUNDATION/MATTHEW MARKS GALLERY.

Designer Ross Cassidy
fashioned the main
bedroom’s bed and rug.

Amber Valletta wearing a Re/Done
T-shirt, Isabel Marant pants, and
Sophie Buhai earrings, in the
library of her LA home.

Vogue June 2024

127

BEAUTY

128

MODEL: JULIA VAN OS SHOT ON LOCATION AT ONE&ONLY THE PALM, DUBAI
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Optimised glow
From cutting-edge ingredients to futuristic tools, skincare
is abuzz with game-changing updates, says Remy Rippon.
CREATIVE DIRECTION EDWARD JAMES LEE PHOTOGRAPHS MAX PAPENDIECK

MEJURI earrings,
$300. Bikini, worn
throughout, and
rings, model’s own.

Vogue June 2024

129

BEAUTY

Tools of the trade
Step up your beauty routine
with these supercharged
skin enhancers.

FACE GYM Weighted
Face Ball, $53.

DR. DENNIS GROSS
Pro Facial Steamer, $447.

A is for azelaic acid

BEAUTYBIO GloPRO
Facial Microneedling
Regeneration Tool, $343.

Retinol redelivery
If you follow skincare trends on TikTok, you’ve probably heard of the ‘retinol sandwich’.
For the uninitiated, the skincare technique is shorthand for simply applying or
‘sandwiching’ your retinol step between two applications of moisturiser (before and after).
“The sandwich technique makes sense … I would recommend this for sensitive skin →
130

KAT BURKI
Micro-Firming Wand, $172.

MAX PAPENDIECK

You know glycolic and salicylic acid, now prepare to become acquainted with azelaic
acid. “It’s known as a tyrosinase enzyme inhibitor that has been shown to reduce
hyperpigmentation and skin discolouration,” says Sarah Hughes, Dermalogica’s
learning and development manager of the ingredient which diminishes the appearance
of post-spot pigmentation, redness and uneven skin tone. “It also gently exfoliates and
removes the dull upper layers of the skin, which helps speed up skin cell turnover,
refining the texture and appearance.”
Key word: gently. If you’ve avoided acids for their reputation as an (occasionally) harsh
exfoliant, then consider azelaic acid the calming counterpart. Most derms even recommend
the all-rounder to rosacea sufferers (it’s anti-inflammatory) and anyone with acne-prone
skin (it’s anti-bacterial). Try it in Dermalogica’s Breakout Clearing Liquid Gel, which
boasts a cocktail of acids – including azelaic – to treat and prevent future breakouts from
forming, or Skinceuticals’s Phyto A+ Brightening Treatment for soothing, everyday use.

BEAUTY

when someone is using a prescription retinoid,” says Dr
Shyamalar Gunatheesan, dermatologist and founder of Ode
Dermatology. Essentially, buffering a brawny active ingredient
like a retinoid between dual layers of moisturiser can ease
redness, flaking and increased sensitivity (common bugbears
as the ingredient speeds up cell turnover).
For everyone else, there are ways to introduce over-thecounter retinols to your routine that don’t require a doubledose of moisturiser. “In the cosmeceutical world, we’re using
retinol, which is a much gentler form of retinoic acid,” says
Gunatheesan. “So most people do not need to use the
sandwich technique.” Other tried and tested delivery
methods? You’ve probably heard the best way to introduce
retinol – or the slightly stronger form of vitamin A, retinal – is
to apply it two to three times per week until your skin builds
tolerance, but alternating it with a hydrating formula can
fast-track that process. “On the nights you’re not using retinol,
apply a moisturiser or hyaluronic acid so you’re priming your
skin barrier to get used to retinol.” Efficient.

Bank that collagen
It’s a universal truth that the skin’s tone, firmness and elasticity
naturally diminishes as we age. But consider this: what if our
body could store collagen, a key structural protein, and
harness its skin-plumping benefits for years to come?
That’s the thinking behind ‘collagen banking’, the notion that
with the right treatments, routine and skincare, our bodies
can create and store a reserve of collagen.
Why do we need a backup? Think of collagen as the frame
of a house responsible for holding the windows, doors and
roof up. Once it starts to dwindle (from as early as 25), those
natural building blocks begin to collapse and this accelerates
fine lines, wrinkles and crepiness. While the jury’s still out on
whether our body can actually ‘bank’ a surplus of collagen, or
if we can, in fact, increase it at a faster pace than we naturally
lose it, all the protocols we know to be effective collagenboosters will lead to a plumper, more supple complexion.
MICRO-NEEDLING
The in-clinic treatment involves a wand of teeny-tiny needles
passed over the skin creating micro-injuries, which triggers
a natural healing response and prompts the skin to make
collagen. It’s uncomfortable but bearable and your skin might
be rosy for a day or two post-procedure.
RED LIGHT THERAPY
A 2021 study found low level red lights – like those omitted
from at-home LED face lamps – stimulated the production of
collagen and elastin in the skin. The caveat? Consistency is
key – commit to three to five times per week to see results.
SUNSCREEN
Everyone knows that sunscreen is a non-negotiable to protect
our skin from harmful UVA and UVB rays. Another reason?
It also helps to protect the skin’s vital collagen stores, which,
along with almost every other component of the skin, are
broken down by repeated sun exposure.
→
132

BEAUTY

Don’t forget the neck
With recent data suggesting one in five smartphone users spend more than four hours a day
hunched over their phones, it’s little wonder the jowls, neck and decolletage are coming into
focus. “As we age, the skin becomes thinner, the muscles more lax, we have loss of fat and
extrinsic factors, such as the sun, cause the neck to look pigmented with crepey and loose
skin,” says aesthetic physician and Klinika founder Dr Nik Davies.
While a range of in-clinic treatments – from injectables to peels and light therapy – are
doubling down on neck concerns, at-home protocols that treat pigmentation, skin tone and
fine lines are lifting their game. Trinny London’s aptly named, The Elevator, which
launched last month, boasts a trio of peptides and antioxidants to restore elasticity and
prevent age spots, as well as a Trinny-approved application technique (dispense three
generous pumps and apply in a sweeping upward motion). Likewise, Australian skincare
brand Vanessa Megan has just launched a Neck and Décolletage Coconut Membrane
Mask to counter dryness and crepiness via a potent blend of hydration-boosting amino
acids. Apply the mask – made from a coconut bio-cellulose membrane – once a week for
■
15 minutes to reap the neck-level benefits.

Body double
With ingredients lists
to rival your favourite
face serums, the newest
body-nurturing formulas
mean business.

NÉCESSAIRE
The Body Serum, $77.

SANS[CEUTICALS] Activator 7
Body + Hair + Face Oil, $60.

DERMALOGICA
Conditioning Body Wash, $58.

134

MAX PAPENDIECK

LA MER The Renewal
Body Oil Balm, $345.

Vogue June 2024

135

MAISON MARGIELA
COUTURE SPRING ’24

BEAUTY

LOCAL
KNOWLEDGE:
“Les Puces [flea market]
in Paris. I don’t know
why it makes me so
happy to be there.”

FASHION
FAVOURITES:
“Maison
Margiela’s latest
show was iconic.
Also, so many
from Jean Paul
Gaultier.”

KEEPSAKE: “Guerlain
Météorites is so special
me as I remember seein
it on every woman’s
beauty table as a kid.”
GUERLAIN Météorite
Setting and Finishing Pearls
of Powder in Medium, $102.

WORDS: REMY RIPPON PHOTOGRAPHS: ALAMY, GETTY IMAGES
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Violette
Preeminent creative, beauty entrepreneur
and Guerlain’s creative director of make-up,
Violette, shares her diverse influences.
BEAUTY PICKS:
“Beauty stores in Tokyo
I could really get lost in.
Otherwise, I love Oh My
Cream! or Le Bon
Marché.” Above:
VIOLETTE_FR Yeux
Paint liquid shadow and
liner, $53. OH MY CREAM
Huile Démaquillante
cleansing oil, P.O.A.

A

creative in every sense of the word, Violette Serrat – known simply
as Violette – had career ambitions in fashion design and painting
before a chance encounter with a glitter pot as a 19-year-old saw
her pivot to make-up. Almost two decades on, she was tapped to steer the
make-up direction of Guerlain, the beloved 196-year-old French beauty
house that thrives on firsts: it released the world’s first lipstick and with the
launch of its now-iconic fragrance, Shalimar, in 1925, heralded an entirely
new fragrance family. In 2021, the French-born, New York-based artist also
introduced her own beauty line, Violette_Fr, distilling her singular Parisian
aesthetic into skincare, make-up, haircare and fragrances. At the heart of
all her pursuits are both her loyal community – she has more than 600,000

HERO STATUS:
“Simone Veil [the French
politician, pictured
above in 1974] is a huge
inspiration. Women need
leaders like her to fight
for us still to this day.
I am forever grateful for
the work she has done
in France for us.”

ROLE
MODELS:

BIG BREAK:

“So many artists
I admire: Kevyn
Aucoin [pictured
left with Cindy
Crawford in
1997] for the
path he paved,
Pat McGrath,
Ruby Mazuel,
Eva Louis,
Jezz Hill …”

“My first shoot
for Condé Nast
in the US for
Teen Vogue with
Ben Hassett.
I did molten
silver on the
lash, and many
other textures
shot very
close up.”

Vogue June 2024

137

WORDS: REMY RIPPON
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

UP CLOSE

2.

3.

4.

8.
9.

7.
6.

5.

Vogue June 2024

139

BEAUTY LAUNCHES

Stranger
things
When Bella Geminder launched
results-driven skincare line
Strange Luxury earlier this
year, she sought to create
accessible premium formulas.
Here, she shares her
pre-wedding skincare
essentials. By Remy Rippon.

your skin barrier. Plus I try to avoid heavy
make-up and thick foundations as it clogs my
pores. If you’re feeling good about yourself,
that’s the most important thing.”
VA: Anything to avoid?
BG: “Harsh active ingredients and chemical peels
– especially close to your wedding day. Sometimes
your skin can purge after these treatments, or
[they] compromise your skin barrier, which can
look like redness, peeling, irritation.”

STRANGE LUXURY
Super Hydration Serum,
$94, and Barrier Balance
Cream, $89.

Face time
The temperature may have dropped, but it’s no reason to forgo
a fresh summer glow. Bondi Sands Technocolor Self Tanning Face
Serum boasts a nurturing blend of vitamin C and chamomile, as
well as a trademarked Blemish Control Complex to keep reactive,
pimple-prone skin in check. Add one of four skin-adjacent shades to
your evening skincare roster for a brighter complexion come morning.
BONDI SANDS Technocolor Self Tanning Face Serum, $25

140

JESS RUBY JAMES, CHLOE PAUL
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

VOGUE AUSTRALIA: You’re recently
engaged. What will your pre-wedding skincare
preparation involve?
BELLA GEMINDER: “It’s simple. During
my time modelling, I would have so many
products put on my face, which led me to break
out and my skin barrier became totally
compromised. Since then, I’ve stripped back my
routine to really simple products that focus on
nourishment, hydration and skin barrier health.
I only use a really gentle cleanser, the new Super
Hydration Serum, the Barrier Balance Cream,
and in the morning, I always follow with SPF.
If I am feeling extra-dry at night, I’ll mix in
a face oil with the Barrier Balance Cream.”
VA: Will you be trialling any skin treatments
ahead of the big day?
BG: “Laser Genesis – I love this treatment. It’s
super-gentle and non-invasive, and it leaves
a beautiful glow. Otherwise, I’ll just be sticking
with my usual clean routine. Consistency is key.”
VA: What’s your top skincare advice ahead of
a wedding or important event?
BG: “Less is more. You don’t need 100 different
products. Just focus on hydration and protecting

Plan Bea
Firm friends and co-founders, Rita Ora and Australian
beauty entrepreneur Anna Lahey get to the root of the
problem with their new haircare line.

Bring your A game
If you’ve been sitting on the fence
about introducing retinol to your
skincare regimen (hello redness,
flaking, sensitivity) then Zoë Foster
Blake is here to convert you.
“Vitamin A (in the form of retinol,
retinal, retinyl palmitate and
tretinoin) is the gold standard in
anti-ageing,” says the beauty
entrepreneur and Go-To founder.
“It increases cell turnover, collagen
production, and reduces the
appearance of lines.”
True to her word, the brand has
launched its debut vitamin A-infused
serum. A brawny but gentle formula,
Very Amazing Retinal is designed to
smooth fine lines and boost elasticity
(the skin’s structure and ability to
‘bounce back’). “Ask any derm,” says
Foster Blake. “If you wanna soften
the lines on your face: vitamin A.”

When British pop star, Rita Ora, and Vida Glow founder, Anna Lahey, met in
2021, neither could have predicted that three years on they would co-create
a haircare brand. United in their personal hair struggles (Ora’s: a lifetime of
dramatic hair changes, Lahey’s: hair loss) the pair have launched, Typebea,
a four-product line with a focus on hair growth and strength. Here, the tightknit duo share the reasons behind their latest venture.
VOGUE AUSTRALIA: Congrats on the launch of Typebea. How did it
come about?
RITA ORA: “We really thought through it. Anna [Lahey] is such an incredibly
hard worker and she dreams big like me. Ultimately, we all want healthy, strong
hair. I sacrificed all hair goodness to my art and my craft, and [committing] to
the look. All the heat, all the colouring. I ended up not really having any hair
and I would wear endless amounts of extensions. I still do, but I would love to
know what I can do in my everyday life to maintain great hair growth.”
VA: So can you tell us about the products?
ANNA LAHEY: “It’s about having a haircare routine like you would a skincare
routine. The hero ingredient in the range is called Baicapil, it’s been clinically
shown to reduce hair loss and hair thinning by about 60 per cent within three
months. And every single product in the range is dermatologically tested. There’s
also salicylic acid, which is great. So, it’s getting rid of any debris in the hair, any
excess oil, any excess product, in order to optimise the environment of the scalp,
which is important for it to grow, and for it to penetrate through the epidermis
and actually get into the hair follicles. The conditioner is weightless, traceless,
but it’s also really strong with detangling.”

Rita Ora and
Anna Lahey at
the Typebea
launch in
Sydney.

TYPEBEA G.1
Overnight
Boosting Peptide
serum, $80.

GO-TO Very Amazing
Retinal, $85.

Local knowledge
Relax and replenish your beauty bag via a trio of Sydney-based beauty openings.
LA PRAIRIE SUMMER CLUB POP-UP, SYDNEY AIRPORT

Until August 8, flyers can kick into holiday mode early
with a selection of express pre-flight treatments.
GUERLAIN BEAUTY COUNTER, DAVID JONES SYDNEY

With a focus on personalisation – from fragrance bottle
engraving to one-to-one skin consults – Guerlain’s
inner-city destination offers a slice of Parisian luxe.
SOMA HEALTH AND WELLNESS CLUB, SYDNEY

Soma.

Guerlain,
David Jones.

Soma.

Byron Bay outfit Soma has opened a boutique fitness club
in the CBD with a wellness focus (think reformer classes,
infrared and Finnish saunas, as well as cold plunge pools).
Vogue June 2024

141

VOGUE PROMOTION

VOGUE DIARY
Explore what’s in store and worth having this month.

F E A S T YO U R E Y E S

What’s more memorable than serving
wedding guests iconic dishes from
some of the most popular restaurants
in the country? For the first time ever,
Events By Merivale is offering brides
and party planners the opportunity to
cater their events using menus from
its most famous restaurants, including
Mr. Wong, Totti’s and Felix. Prices start
from $73 per person at selected Events
by Merivale locations, including Ivy
Ballroom and all Establishment spaces.
For more, go to merivale.com.
A B O U T FA C E

Not only delivering smoother, more
even and luminous skin, Estée
Lauder’s Futurist SkinTint Serum is
enriched with 85 per cent skin-caring
ingredients including meadowfoam
seed, calendula, rosehip oil and soft
clay to help nourish, strengthen
and improve skin texture and tone.
The lightweight formula also offers
SPF 20 protection, is sweat- and
humidity-resistant, and leaves
a natural, radiant finish. Choose
your shade at esteelauder.com.au.

F LU I D FO R M

First launched in 2023, Mulberry’s Lana
bag embodies the brand’s timeless design
codes matched with a contemporary feel.
Characterised by its structured tophandle silhouette and bold hardware, the
bag’s Foundry Lock is a reinterpretation
of Mulberry’s iconic Postman’s Lock,
its fluid shape inspired by surrealism’s
organic forms. Find Lana’s latest
uplifting hues of sable, pale grey
and poplin blue at mulberry.com.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Contemporary design meets
timeless craftsmanship in this
statement 14-carat yellow gold
eternity band by fine jeweller
Michael Hill. Made with certified
sustainable laboratory-grown
diamonds that shimmer around
the entire band, its form showcases
the magnificent marquise-cut
stones. Go to michaelhill.com.au.

HEALTH
Reconnection with nature, and
self, awaits at Gwinganna
eco retreat in Queensland.

Take a breath
Stressed, burnt out, or seeking a pre-wedding pause? A new wellness
program provides a total mind and body reset. Rikki Keene signs up.

COURTESY OF GWINGANNA

H

ow do you feel right now? Are you happy, surviving or
exhausted? Are your lifestyle habits stifling your
chances of living a long and happy life, or are you on
track for a telegram from the King? Or perhaps, you’re “on
a never-ending hamster wheel with no time to take a breath”,
as my friend laments over yet another after-work ‘crisis’ wine.
It’s a state I know well and the reason I’ve signed up for
Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat’s new seven-day Ultimate Wellness
program, which promises a transformational experience through
a holistic approach to physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
A secluded gem, Gwinganna is nestled on a lush green hilltop
in the Gold Coast hinterland with soothing views of the ocean
and the Tallebudgera Valley. This is not a strict ashram with
enforced silences, and the deliciously balanced anti-inflammatory
menu is far from restrictive, but there are some ground rules. To
reap the mind and body benefits, the program is designed sans
alcohol, caffeine, gluten, dairy, refined sugar, cigarettes (and, for
the record, newspapers). Although there is a designated tech spot
for essential communication, I’m gently encouraged to surrender
mobile devices in exchange for an alarm clock and notepad.
Each day begins at six o’clock with sunrise qi gong – an ancient
practice of moving meditation similar to tai chi. Our program
manager, Lucy, takes us through a series of slow, deliberate
movements designed to allow qi (energy) to flow. Lucy is an
aspirational figure, in all white, with glowing skin, shiny hair,
toned muscles and a calming temperament. With each practice,
I feel the cumulative benefits: a few days in, I’m leaping out of
bed at 5.30am instead of cursing the alarm clock.
The rest of the day is similarly nourishing and we’re encouraged
to respond to our body’s needs. Choose between a challenging
or gentle walk, as well as a roster of classes from yoga and Pilates
to high-intensity workouts. Afternoons at Gwinganna are
devoted to rest, with time spent unwinding at the awardwinning spa. The Metamorphosis Lift and Sculpt Ritual leaves
me with the aptly termed ‘Gwinganna glow’ employing active
nutraceuticals, an LED lamp face mask and intra-oral buccal
massage (yes, that’s inside the mouth), which immediately
relieves tension in my face and jaw.

Guests craving a little extra can also book a Gwinganna
Body Transformation session with resident personal trainer,
Duncan. After confessing my sins (“How much do you work,
eat, drink, sleep?” he probed), Duncan takes me through
a tailor-made workout and creates a take-home fitness plan to
kickstart my all but latent gym habits.
The most debated activity on offer is a form of interpretive
dance. A bridge too far for some, but the devoted Gwinganna
alumni are a persuasive bunch. “It’s life-changing,” says an
overworked lawyer who checks in annually. “You’ll get up close
and personal with your inner freak.” Buoyed by their enthusiasm
and an ever-growing sense of Gwinganna bliss, I sign up.
In glides our instructor Steve, almost hovering. He claps, we
follow, he stomps, we follow, he bangs his drum, and our bodies
respond. The combination of stamping and clapping slowly
builds and intensifies until the room erupts into a sea of arms
and legs, bodies gyrating and spinning in an assembly of
collective joy. The release of disruptive thoughts and inhibitions
brings some people to tears. The experience is powerful
and exhilarating, but I’m quietly thankful for the phone ban and
the lack of digital evidence.
To ingrain the importance of good lifestyle habits, resident
experts – from a neurotherapist to a holistically trained medical
doctor – give evidence-based seminars on nutrition (food is
medicine), exercise (hardcore is not always best), the power of
sleep (to balance hormones), neuroplasticity (the ability to
rewire our thoughts), and the importance of community and
connection to our happiness.
Come nighttime, a guided meditation is followed by a
roundtable dinner. Conversations flow and range from
comparing spa treatments (crowd favourites: equine therapy and
the ‘Intuitive’ massage blending reiki, hot stone and deep tissue
techniques) to the varying reasons – grief, burnout, a reset – for
attending the retreat. By the seventh day, I feel wholly
transformed; physically and mentally fitter. Key learnings:
I must get to bed earlier and will never eat potato chips again.
A bit of (organic, portion-controlled) wine is okay. And if all
else fails, I can always resort to some questionable dance moves.
Vogue June 2024

143

WOMEN
SHAPING
DESIGN

W I N N E R S O F T H E V L 5 0 A N I G H T AT T H E G A L L E R Y

Love is all around

WEDDINGS

MORGANE RICHER
LA FLÈCHE, artist
WORE: CUSTOM
MOLLY GODDARD

“It had to be Molly Goddard – I am
a devoted fan and avid collector of her
clothes. She had just launched a bridal
collection, but I didn’t want a white
dress … Our ceremony took place at
the Little White Wedding Chapel in
Las Vegas and was officiated by an Elvis
impersonator, so a traditional wedding
dress didn’t make sense to me. As a
visual artist, I love to build worlds and
think of space like a set … [My advice to
other brides would be] think about your
story, make your own rules, and be true
to how you want to feel. If you’re having
fun, that joy carries everything else.”

LIZZIE BARCLAY, brand marketer
WORE: ALEX PERRY CORSET AND PANTS

“I didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted to wear … [so] after
a bit of research, I booked a proper wedding dress appointment.
The dresses were gorgeous, but there was something that didn’t
feel right. I refocused my efforts, eventually stumbling on the
Alex Perry corset and pants. When it comes to weddings, there’s
almost an expectation to put your own individual style aside and
select from a few lanes. It’s hard to pinpoint what was missing
from traditional wedding offerings for me, but I think it was a gut
feel of something not feeling right. I’m glad I sweated the small
details and pieced together an outfit that felt authentic to me.”

Altar state
KRISTEN BATEMAN, writer
WORE: NOIR KEI NINOMIYA, COMME
DES GARÇONS, SIMONE ROCHA

“I wore four dresses, most of which were layered on
top of other dresses. All of my dresses were bought at
different places that I had been saving as ‘maybe’
options. I felt like these were some of the most special
and incredible outfits I’ve ever worn. The photos
make me so happy, and the fact I was also able to add
unconventional accessories made it all the better, like
a Vivienne Westwood pearl necklace and Margiela
Tabi shoes. I felt like I was dressing for myself. Wear
what you want and don’t allow other peoples’ ideas to
get in the way. Shop your own closet and explore
buying a dress (or suit – whatever you want to wear)
that isn’t made by a traditional bridal designer. So
many designers today have amazing pieces that feel
special enough for a wedding.”
150

WORDS: ALICE BIRRELL PHOTOGRAPHS: MÉLANIE GRENON, DAVID GOMEZ-MAESTRE,
MO DAVIS PHOTOGRAPHY, MATTHEW PRIESTLEY, SELEEN SALEH, JESSICA
TREMP/BROWN PAPER PARCEL PHOTOGRAPHY, JES WORKMAN

Brides who looked beyond traditional gowns share how they found their alternative
look, breaking with convention to showcase both personality and polish.

ALEXIS NOVAK,
founder, Tab Vintage
WORE: VINTAGE HALSTON

“I started knowing I wanted
something easy-breezy because
I love to dance. We wanted our
afterparty to feel like Studio 54.
I never planned to wear red,
however, when a 1973 Halston
[dress] came across my desk, it
felt right. To make sure it still
had a bridal wink, I started to
source veil options … I wanted
something with personality.
I also wanted to find something I
would wear again! And lastly,
I don’t look great in white. I felt
confident and cool and easybreezy. It added to the joy of
my wedding day because I felt
free and relaxed in my look.
I could hug my loved ones easily
without having to do that
awkward bride bend.”

KATHERINE BERNARD,
videographer and writer
WORE: HOUSECOAT AND PANTS
BY NICHOLAS ABURN

“The process started when I was 12 years old; that’s
when I met my best friend, Nicholas Aburn, who
designed my look. He made my prom dresses in
high school, and has since become a senior designer
at a storied house in Paris. We were fitting a
muslin, and he’d left the coat long so we could
decide the length in person. As you may see, we
ultimately decided to keep the entire length! The
source of inspiration for the long dress coat over
pants was 1950s hostess gowns. I like this premise:
being a sort of bride and host of the party, and
a commitment to hosting in life with Lily! My wife
wore a tailcoat, so we matched in a very playful way.”

NURIA VAL , photographer
WORE: MATCHING CUSTOM
CECILIE BAHNSEN WITH HER
DAUGHTER, OLIVIA

“I remember thinking if I ever got married, it
would be in one of [Danish designer Cecilie
Bahnsen’s] dresses. The tailor-made dress for
Olivia, crafted by Cecilie, forged a special
connection not only with Olivia but also
between our dresses. Cecilie united two
profoundly significant moments in my life:
the joy of motherhood and the day of my
wedding. For brides seeking alternatives to
traditional dresses, I advise delving deep into
what resonates with them. Explore various
options, but above all, stay true to yourself.
Forget any preconceived notions or societal
norms, this is your moment.”
NATALIE SKINNER, artist and sculptor
WORE: WIEDERHOEFT PANTS AND CORSET

“Before planning our wedding, I’d not given much thought to how I’d look on
the day. I needed inspiration for everything – silhouette, fabric, vibe … As an
artist, I need visuals, so I grabbed a couple of runway magazines. Scissors in hand
I decimated the issues, cutting out whatever made me feel something. I discovered
Jackson Wiederhoeft, and instantly felt a connection with their work. I shouldn’t
have been surprised, but very few wedding designers have looks with pants.
Especially if you’d like to maintain a feminine flair – read: not a tux. I was
looking for some unpredictable special detail. I felt proud to be uncompromisingly
myself in front of the most important people in our lives. And, to my deep
pleasure, not only did I love how I looked, but they all did as well.”
Vogue June 2024

151

WEDDINGS

Romancing the stones

7.

ART DIRECTION ARQUETTE COOKE STYLING ISABELLA MAMAS PHOTOGRAPH LAUREN BAMFORD

152

Vogue June 2024

WORDS: ALICE BIRRELL
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

A precious perch on that most significant of fingers is hard-won by these rings that
leave room for the central stone to shine on, and on … these are made for keeps.

WEDDINGS

The look of love
Ready-to-wear designers are leaning into their
popularity among brides who, with these new
launches, have an elevated world of choice.

Molly Goddard

Happily after all
For fans of Simon Porte Jacquemus’s youthful but classic label, the launch of
a dedicated bridal collection might feel overdue. From the romantic palette of rose
red and ivory he deployed at his buzzed-about 2023 show at Versailles, to the
multitudinous brides who have worn his dresses before he launched any kind of
official line, it’s a natural step. The debut of Le Mariage melds the best of the label:
smouldering shows of skin, updates on traditional suiting and liberal helpings
of linens, this time in sheer white gowns and sheaths, lipstick red cocktail-hour
dresses for guests and suiting in black, to bone and emerald for all in the bridal
party. For those dreaming of recreating the designer’s own epic Bouches-duRhône wedding in 2022, guests all decked out in Jacquemus, now you can.
154

Remaining a bride favourite since launching a
dedicated collection in 2020, British designer
Molly Goddard has added four new styles to
her wedding offering. In signature maximal
frothy tulle and taffeta, Goddard has applied
her winning formula yet again. “There is a
balance between looking the best you’ve ever
looked and wanting to feel comfortable and
relaxed enough to enjoy it,” she says. Coming
in sizes ranging up to a 20, and adding to
made-to-order styles, Goddard has all brides
covered. “Everyone should be able to wear
the dress they want on their wedding day.”
Vogue June 2024

WORDS: ALICE BIRRELL PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF MOLLY
GODDARD, OLIVER HADLEE PEARCH, WYNSTON SHANNON
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Cecilie Bahnsen
In fashion, once a sought-after piece is out
of stock, there’s not always easy recourse
– except now. With the launch of Cecilie
Bahnsen’s made-to-order service, brides-tobe can order designs from the archive of the
Dane’s 2015-founded label, meaning her
voluminous but effortlessly easy dresses can
now be conjured anew. The best part? The
team will send photos of the dress-inprogress, an instant future keepsake.

WEDDINGS

TIFFANY & CO. Titan
by Pharrell Williams
Five-row ring, $26,400.

Shared sentiment
The wedding day gift has typically been an exchange
of two presents, but a slew of gender-fluid heirlooms
leave room to share a keepsake along with a future.
ART DIRECTION ARQUETTE COOKE STYLING ISABELLA MAMAS
PHOTOGRAPHS LAUREN BAMFORD

From left: ROLEX watch, $16,700;
CARTIER ring, $6,250; HERMÈS
watch, $5,400; BULGARI ring, $10,000.

156

Vogue June 2024

WORDS: ALICE BIRRELL
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

W

hen Tiffany & Co. debuted
one of its newest jewellery
creations last month, it was
intentionally genderless. Titan, building
on the success of their unisex Lock
collection, was conceived of by Louis
Vuitton men’s creative director and
polymath Pharrell Williams and features
gold link necklaces, bracelets and rings
accented with spikes taken from Greek
mythology and Poseidon’s trident. With
its combination of hard lines and soft
curves, along with its conceptual tie to
the limitlessness of the ocean, it makes
not only a tidy parallel with enduring
love but a fitting piece to mark a
milestone day – like a wedding – and can
be worn by both partners.
Long have couple’s exchanged gifts on
their wedding day, a tradition that
evolved from old-fashioned dowries, but
now with a multitude of gender-agnostic
investment jewellery offer, a shared
heirloom has increasing appeal.
Take watches. Victoria Beckham for
one has notably said some of her favourite
pieces are from husband David, including
a Rolex Datejust and Cosmograph
Daytona as well as a Patek Phillipe
Nautilus, a true collector’s piece for
posterity. Watch sellers and vintage
dealers report men are downsizing, and
women are upsizing, gravitating towards
weightier timepieces – so the time is
right to meet in the middle, say with
a pragmatically sized 34-millimetre
timepiece. Why not (both) try Hermès’s
Cape Cod on for size in 37 millimetres?
The adjustable calfskin wrap band makes
it the perfect go-between.
Or a brooch for the ages, as in Elizabeth
Taylor’s baguette-cut emerald Bulgari
brooch framed by diamonds, gifted to her
by Richard Burton and worn on their
wedding day in 1964. It would look as
dapper abreast her groom’s lapel if they
were spirited into 2024. For a subtler take,
opt for the Roman jeweller’s B.zero1 ring,
inspired by the Colosseum; its concentric
circles conceived as genderless. Or, for
purists, Cartier’s celebration of the
original genderless ring, the Trinity’s
100th birthday this year has seen inspired
iterations, like the box shape. But what
to engrave on the back? Take cues from
the Duchess of Windsor and immortalise
both partners’ first initials on the piece, as
she did a heart-shaped Cartier keepsake
in 1957. They say jewellery carries its
wearer’s history. Why not double it?

WEDDINGS

OLIVIA TRAN

“There’s nothing like a morning
swim in the Mediterranean Sea
on your wedding day,” says the
bride of the event’s location.

158

Talisa Trantino and Justin
Brown stand at the edge
of the sea before guests at
Tonnara di Scopello in Sicily.

Talisa & Justin
Drawing on her Italian heritage and the desire
to bring together far-flung friends and family,
Talisa Trantino, Loewe head of jewellery and special
projects, and cinematographer Justin Brown,
conceived a three-day celebration on the coast of Sicily.
Vogue June 2024

159

your wedding? “I was never a bride that dreamt of a ‘big day’
wedding, so we tried to keep our approach as humble, light and
real as possible. Since Justin is from the UK, and I’m from
Australia, and work has sent us all over the world, we were
bringing a big network together for the first time and wanted to
feel like we were all on holiday together for a three-day party.
We planned lots of parties, dinners and daytrips in the week
leading up to the wedding and approached the planning with
sentimental choices that reflected us as a couple, our heritage,
family and friends. Good company and food was important to
us, so we had our friend Luigi Mattiucci, a talented chef, cook
using local produce and recipes, served casalinga style.”
VA: Why did you pick your venue? “The Tonnara di Scopello is
a paradise on the crystal-clear Sicilian coastline of Castellammare
del Golfo, about 45 minutes from Palermo. We love its natural
rugged beauty, and knew it would be a special and memorable
place to have our families and friends meet for three days of
ceremonies and celebrations.”
VA: What was the style of your wedding day? “It was very us:
pure and with as much sentiment in all the big and tiny details.
The venue was so naturally beautiful that we didn’t do anything
to it, and kept everything very fresh and simple around it. Classic
silver on white for the table settings; bomboniere from Sulmona
in Italy, a town close to one of my grandmother’s villages
renowned for sugared almonds; wine from my grandfather’s
village in Molise, Italy; and handwritten guest cards and menus
by my mum. Romantic and dim lighting by Justin, of course! My
sister has an incredible eye and arranged all the flowers.”
VA: Tell us about your wedding dress. “I fell in love with a silk
and wool strapless column dress from The Row. It was simple but
so beautifully and minimally cut, with exaggerated hips and
160

a nipped-in waist. I designed a 10-metre silk tulle train skirt to
go under it for the ceremony, and had a very long veil made by my
90-year-old grandmother in Australia, Nonna Maria, who was
a wedding dressmaker in her lifetime. She missed a few stitches,
which only added to the endearing character of it. The veil was
edged with a four-leaf clover fine lace border, with
a central antique piece of lace I bought from Chez Sarah in Paris.
It was finished with my own initial embroidered onto the tulle,
and I hope it now becomes a family heirloom.”
VA: What about accessories? “I wore a pearl bracelet my
grandparents gifted to me in my teens as their first granddaughter,
from their trip to Spain, a ring I designed while at Bottega
Veneta, Repossi earrings, and my shoes were made and gifted to
me by my incredibly talented colleagues at Loewe.”
VA: Describe your hair and make-up. “I wanted a timeless look
and ultimately, to look like me. My hair was blow-waved and put
in rollers for a soft, natural style. I don’t wear a lot of make-up
day-to-day, so decided to do my own.”
VA: What was the most memorable moment of the day?
“Definitely our ceremony, it was just so special. Our dear friend
Marta married us on the edge of the sea and the scene was just
heavenly! Justin, as a classic cinematographer, knew exactly what
time the sun would start to set so the light was beautiful. We had
a live local choir from Palermo gifted to us by friends, readings
and blessings from loved ones near and far, a hand-tying
ceremony, and we wrote our own vows.”
WHITE BOOK
Venue: Tonnara di Scopello, Sicily. Photographer: Olivia
Tran. Dress: The Row. Shoes: Loewe. Rings: Cartier. Hair:
Lisa Jones. Groom’s attire: Dior. First dance: ‘Can’t Take
My Eyes Off You’ by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

OLIVIA TRAN

VOGUE AUSTRALIA: How did you approach planning

A traditional
crema Sicilian
cake with fragola
and pistachio.

Talisa with
her sister and
maid of honour
Lauren wearing
Balenciaga; both
showing off their
Loewe shoes.

Loewe green pumps
covered in strass
crystals, gifted
to the bride.

Views from Tonnara di
Scopello, perched on the
Sicilian coast, and opposite.

The couple after a
church blessing in
a small Sicilian town.

161

WEDDINGS

Steve & Michael

Michael Booth
(left) and Steve
Cordony tied
the knot at their
country home
in Orange, New
South Wales.

JACK HENRY

Interior stylist Steve Cordony brought his creative
flair to his nuptials with longtime partner Michael
Booth, the special day a show of elegance and beauty.

Surrounding the
candle-lit dining
table in the
orangery,
a rambling
Italian floral
installation.

VOGUE AUSTRALIA: Why did you pick your venue? “We

Fireworks light
up the night sky.

knew the only place we wanted to host our wedding was at our
country house Rosedale Farm in Orange, New South Wales. We
wanted to feel like our family and friends were coming over for
a family dinner with a ceremony thrown in.”
VA: How would you describe the theme of your wedding day? “We
wanted the feel of the wedding to be intimate – we had 50 guests –
but also romantic, classic and glam.”
VA: What about styling? “I worked with my dear friend Saskia
Havekes of Grandiflora to create the ‘overgrown Italian orangery’
installation with different lush green foliages and rambling flowers
including roses, cosmos, hydrangeas, zinnias, dahlias, anemones and
chamomile supplied by Oxley Hill Flower Farm. Instead of flowers on
the table we had 800 candles and two small posies of roses from our
garden in front of our mothers. We had custom velvet tablecloths,
Ralph Lauren Home white and gold-rim dinnerware, and Waterford
crystal glassware. Glenda Davis hand-wrote beautiful calligraphy
name cards and menus which we adorned with a French black tassel.”
VA: Tell us about your wedding attire. “I knew I wanted the outfit
to be very classic, inspired by classic movies like The Great Gatsby, The
Thomas Crown Affair and La Dolce Vita. I worked with Ralph Lauren
to wear an archive Purple Label three-piece suit for the first half of
the event, then switched to a custom silk moiré tux from P. Johnson.
Mike wore a P. Johnson black and white tux.”
VA: What was the most memorable part of your wedding day? “We
asked our closest friend Rolando to officiate the ceremony. He shared
our very first Facebook messages, made references to each other’s
idiosyncrasies, invited our friends and family to share stories and
gave a snapshot into our 14-year relationship. Standing under our
favourite willow tree at dusk with everyone laughing and then crying
is something we will never forget. Plus, walking into the orangery, lit
up with 800 candles, a jazz band and rain falling softly on the roof,
followed by fireworks that lit up the moody sky, was pretty special.”
WHITE BOOK
Photographer: Jack Henry. Attire: Ralph Lauren and P. Johnson (Steve);
P. Johnson (Michael). Rings: Tiffany & Co. Flowers: Grandiflora; Oxley Hill
Farm Flowers. Catering: Printhie Wines; Union Bank; Groundstone.

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163

WEDDINGS

Freddie Waters
and Raine
Allen-Miller
with Lolly the
whippet outside
Brixton’s Ritzy
cinema showing
their names.

Upstairs at The
Camberwell Arms.

The couple in
their beribboned
1985 Mercedes
on the way to
the reception.

164

WORDS: REBECCA COPE PH0TOGRAPHS: FERN ROSE

The first dance to Elvis
Presley’s ‘It’s Now Or Never’.

Raine & Freddie
filmmaking couple Raine Allen-Miller and Freddie
Waters who tied the knot in south London.

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165

WEDDINGS

W

A spiced carrot
cake by Hebe
Konditori.

Lolly wore a
custom Cawley
Studio collar
to match the
bride’s dress.

hile at work, film directors Freddie Waters and
Raine Allen-Miller are used to being in control, it’s
something they relinquished for their intimate,
London nuptials, outsourcing the planning to Zeleka Nadine.
One area that Raine was not willing to give up creative
direction over, however, was her dress, which was custom-made
by Cawley Studio. “I wanted something that was a kind of
Frankenstein of three dresses,” she explains. “I made a mood
board with corsets, long sleeves and big puffy, silly skirts.” Rather
than change into a second dress for the evening, Raine decided
she wanted something that she could remove, transforming her
day dress into an evening one – which she would wear with
her leopard print trainers and her something blue – blue socks.
As with most brides, Raine just wanted to feel like her most
beautiful self, so she set about recreating a moment when she
had felt amazing. “Michelle Leandra did my make-up for
the Rye Lane [the film directed by Allen-Miller] premiere and
I’ve never felt so pretty, so I asked her to do it again,” shares
Raine. “Molecia Seasay did my hair in long twists – I wanted
something bridal and elegant without being cheesy.”
Meanwhile Freddie wore a suit by Casely-Hayford. “He knew
all along he wanted a green cord three-piece suit,” explains
Raine. He completed the look with a white Emmett shirt,
brown Bottega Velasca loafers and a vintage Hermès swan tie
with the pièce de la resistance being novelty duck cufflinks.
As south Londoners, the couple opted for a civil ceremony at
Lambeth Town Hall followed by a wedding lunch at The
Camberwell Arms. The newlyweds drove themselves to the
reception, after being advised by friends that it’s good to have
a moment alone together after the ceremony. “I love ribbons, so
I went wild with those,” says Raine of the car’s decoration.
Speaking of ribbons, the couple’s reception venue was covered
in them. “We added pink ribbon to the candelabras, candles and
vases,” says Raine. The couple’s friend Yolly designed the flowers,
choosing rich, bright, happy tones, filling the space with poppies,
cyclamen, ranunculus and tulips. “We also got gorgeous birds
and handpainted oil lamps from Brixton Market for the tables.”
The reasoning behind choosing The Camberwell Arms was
twofold, and simple: “We love the food there,” says Raine. “We
didn’t want the wedding to feel traditional or overly formal. And
we wanted to go somewhere that we could go again for our
anniversary.” The cakes – plural – were from Hebe Konditori (“I
couldn’t not do three … they are works of art and there were a lot
of people to feed”) and featured both a whippet and swans, in a
nod to the couple’s houseboat home. Entertainment was provided
via Colbert, a black Elvis, which Raine describes as the real
highlight of the day. “We wanted something unique for our party
and Colbert’s performance had everyone on the dance floor, it
was incredible.” Late night food came courtesy of Cornfield
Bakery, serving Jamaican patties in a nod to Raine’s heritage.
But the most cinematic touch of all? The couple’s names were
emblazoned on the front of the iconic Ritzy cinema in Brixton.
“I lived in a flat opposite the Ritzy with my dad growing up,”
explains Raine. “And with us both being directors, it was only
right to have our names up there for the wedding day.”

Venue: The Camberwell Arms, London. Photographer: Fern
Rose. Dress: Cawley Studio. Shoes: Amina Muaddi.
Beauty: Molecia Seasay (hair); Michelle Leandra (make-up).
Groom’s attire: Casely-Hayford. Cakes: Hebe Konditori.
166
Vogue June 2024

FERN ROSE

WHITE BOOK

WEDDINGS

Julie & Simon
A 16th-century castle in Italy cast a spell on guests who
travelled from afar to see Julie and Simon Pickert tie the
knot on a day celebrating a merging of cultures.

168

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169

Julie wore a Danielle
Frankel gown, opted for
a low bun, and kept
her make-up simple
“to look like me”.

170

VOGUE AUSTRALIA: How did you approach planning?

“For our wedding, the one thing we really envisioned was
getting both of our families and communities together. Simon
is German, and came to San Francisco to begin working at
a startup, and I’m Korean American. As Simon’s community is
all still in Germany, and my family and friends are all in the US,
we really wanted to find a way to merge these two communities.”
VA: Why did you pick your venue? “First, we really wanted
a venue that could accommodate as many guests as possible.
Because this was going to be the first time that everyone was
meeting, we wanted to have a central place where everyone could
hang out, get ready, and really spend time with each other
without having to worry about shuttling back and forth from the
location. Second, because we would be planning from the States,
we wanted somewhere that had a lot of vendors already as a part
of the venue – it helped that it already included some aspects, like
the florist and catering. The Dolomites are special to us as we had
visited a few times when we were living in Germany and have
gone back during our winters home for the holidays.”
VA: Styling details you would like to share? “I hand-stitched
each person’s name and two flowers on their dinner napkin to
act as place cards. The two flowers were to represent the German
national flower and the Korean national flower. Anyone who
has tackled a DIY for their wedding will understand the pride
(and strain) that comes with it and it still makes me chuckle how
early wedding planning ideas can turn into last-minute terrors.”
VA: Tell us about your wedding dress. “For my wedding,
I went with Danielle Frankel’s Noa dress. I’ve always loved her
design aesthetic, which feels both modern and classic. Noa was
the second dress I tried on and I just had this feeling that this
was what I wanted to wear when I was marrying Simon. It has
beautiful long sleeves, is cut on the bias, and has a long train.”

GIUSEPPE MARANO

The greenhouse strung
with fairy lights that
“looked like stars when the
sun set, which felt magical
and romantic”, offered
views of the Italian Alps
while long tables lent
a dinner-party feel.

Sharing a kiss
before loved ones.
To showcase the
elegant strapless
draping of her
wedding dress,
Julie accessorised
with just a pair of
Agmes earrings.

A second, more playful,
Danielle Frankel dress
for the afterparty.

VA: What was the most memorable moment from your
wedding day? “The ceremony itself and then saying our vows to
one another. We opted not to say our vows during our ceremony
because Simon and I are a bit more private with our emotions.
So we said them privately to each other when Giuseppe took us
aside for some solo portraits and it is a moment that we won’t
ever forget and are glad to have mementos of. The ceremony was
also a memorable moment from our wedding day. It was in the
centre courtyard and the altar was placed under the arch of one
of the hallways. Because there were family and friends who
didn’t speak English fluently, we decided to have two of our
closest friends officiate the wedding – one to hold the ceremony
in English, and the second to help translate in German. They
took turns sharing parts of our journey, and it was really special
to have this moment where our cultures through language
intertwined. My dad passed away a few years ago, and with all
the emotions that come on a wedding day, the additional feeling
of not having him there is something I still don’t know how to
put into words. But my brother was able to walk me down the
aisle, and we walked to ‘Hotel California’ by the Eagles. It was
my dad’s favourite song when he was younger and my brother
and I have fond memories of driving in my dad’s car singing that
song, so even if it wasn’t traditional, it was a no-brainer for me
when it came to choosing that as my wedding march.”

WHITE BOOK
Venue: Schloss Freudenstein, Italy. Photographer: Giuseppe Marano.
Dresses: Danielle Frankel. Shoes: Magda Butrym. Rings: Derco
Diamonds; Porter Gulch. Hair & make-up: BLBS Agency.
Groom’s attire: Chookhare & Sons. Flowers: Schloss Freudenstein.
First dance: ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ by Phil Collins. Music: DJ
Nico Rockman. Wedding planner: Marie Alsleben.

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171

WEDDINGS

Sophia & Jacob
The rugged natural beauty of California’s coastline
provided an idyllic backdrop for the Jewish ceremony
and celebrations of Sophia Green and Jacob Mazonson.

Sophia Green and Jacob
Mazonson on the cliffs
near Sea Ranch Lodge
on Sonoma County’s
dramatic coastline.

172

SAMM BLAKE

VOGUE AUSTRALIA: How did you meet? “A week after

After the ceremony,
guests gathered in a
meadow behind an old
barn on the property.

moving from Brooklyn to the Bay Area to start my graduate
studies, I met Jacob for a walk in the park. After an hour, we just
knew we wanted to be together. From there on, we spent most
free moments together picnicking along the coast, surfing and
seeing music and art shows.”
VA: How did your partner propose? “As backcountry skiers on
a trip, Jacob packed a gourmet dinner and we skinned six miles
on skis into a remote hut. Jacob proposed at sunset in a snowy
meadow with vibrant pink skies.”
VA: Why did you pick your venue? “Sea Ranch Lodge is known
for its iconic mid-century modern California design, sitespecific nature and understated elegance. The Lodge was also
just renovated. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art had
a great exhibit on the history and architecture of Sea Ranch.
The rugged and dramatic west coast of California is a very
special place for us; we have been driving there for the
wilderness, quiet, nature trails and ocean.”
VA: How would you describe the theme of your wedding day?
“Elegant, natural, classic slash modern.”
VA: What about styling? “The ceremony was on a bluff
overlooking the Pacific and guests headed there from the Lodge.
The post-ceremony hour was in the meadow by the original Sea
Ranch barn, the reception was in a tent in the meadow, and the
afterparty was in the modern Lodge. Each location was a short
procession on a wildflower- and grass-lined trail. For the
ceremony, our friends designed a custom chuppah with a roofline to echo the setting. The florist used native flowers to create
a sense that the chuppah was integrated into the landscape. →
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173

WEDDINGS

Sophia wearing
a Prada gown and
glowing in the light,
holds an untamed
white bouquet.

During the ceremony, birds flew overhead, including a pair of
pelicans as we said ‘I do’. Our fabulous florist also built gestural,
intimate and unpredictable floral arrangements on tables and bars
that recalled the ocean and coastline using found shells, rocks and
lichen. Jacob selected songs for the weekend and worked closely
with a DJ who created the set of our dreams for the afterparty.”
VA: Tell us about your wedding attire. “I wore a simple silk
with lace detail Prada dress that I stumbled upon in Venice with
my mother and sister, my aunt’s veil, and my grandmother’s
jewellery. Jacob wore an Armani suit.”
VA: Describe your hair and make-up. “Fresh and glowy. My
hair was soft and romantic and in a loose updo.”
VA: What was the most unexpected part of your wedding day?
“Over margaritas on Friday, we organised an impromptu ocean
dip on Saturday morning. We had an excellent band from LA and
an Oakland-based female DJ and didn’t stop dancing until 2am.”
VA: The most memorable moment? “We knew the ceremony
would be most important to us – vows, poetry, participation
from the community, adapting the Jewish seven blessings
tradition. Exchanging our heartfelt vows was the most surreal
and profound part.”

WHITE BOOK
Venue: Sea Ranch Lodge, California. Photographer: Samm Blake.
Dress: Prada. Shoes: Christian Louboutin. Make-up: Raven Reed
Makeup. Rings: Partita Custom Design Jewelry. Groom’s attire:
Armani suit; John Lobb shoes. Flowers: Jennifer Sanchez Design.
First dance: ‘Unchained Melody’ by The Righteous Brothers.

174

The venue’s design
honours the
lodge’s original
1960s architecture
with exterior walls
clad in wood.

SAMM BLAKE

The traditional
breaking of the glass
Jewish wedding ritual
under the chuppah.

Lights lead
the way to the
warm glow of
the reception
marquee.

WEDDINGS
Katie Merchant and
Joel Herman Hall
wanted their big day
to be “simple, classic
and beautiful”.

The bride’s
sheer gloves.

Katie & Joel
Strolling to Toronto’s City Hall in
their wedding outfits set the relaxed
tone for the intimate nuptials of creative
director Katie Merchant and art
gallery registrar Joel Herman.

Cawley Studio
jacket and skirt.

Katie carried
a bouquet of
baby’s breath –
“my husband’s
favourite flower.”

VOGUE AUSTRALIA: How did you approach planning?
“Our wedding was easy to plan. We knew that we would get
married at City Hall with a few close friends in attendance.
However, due to insistence that there must be cake involved at
some point, we had a small gathering the next day in a friend’s
garden. The cake buffet is what I did spend quite a bit of time
planning. Inspired by classic wedding cakes, the Martha
Stewart Weddings book and fondant cakes from Milanese
bakeries, I brought my ideas to Coco’s, a bakery in Toronto,
where owner Nicole Bilyea made them absolutely perfectly.
My friend Patti Robinson of Robinson Bread also made
a classic French croquembouche to which I added pink roses.”
VA: Why did you pick your venue? “Our venue was City
Hall, which has a beautiful terrace for photos. We got married
during golden hour and the light was magical. We also live
quite nearby so it was fun to walk there in full bridal attire
from home. Afterwards, Joel and I went to Restaurant 20
Victoria for dinner. This was a wonderful dining experience.
The service is incredible and they even presented us with
a miniature tiered wedding cake for dessert. Our third venue
was my friend Lee’s backyard, which has a beautiful garden full
of waist-high marigolds and is one of my favourite places in
Toronto. It was the perfect setting for an intimate celebration.”
VA: Tell us about your wedding attire. “For the civil
ceremony, I wore a cream silk balloon-sleeve blazer and ruffled
skirt by Cawley. I liked the formality of silk for the occasion.
The following day for our backyard cake reception, I wore a pair
of cream silk pants by Cawley that originally went with the
suit jacket, and a voluminous white sailor blouse by Vaquera.”
VA: What about accessories? “For the civil ceremony, I wore
a pair of classic white satin pumps by Vanessa Noel, a string
of pearls by Beatriz Palacios, pearl drop earrings by
Completedworks, a simple veil, sheer gloves and my favourite
bag by Fane. I wanted to wear accessories that felt timeless
and ones that I already owned and loved.”
VA: Describe your hair and make-up. “I rarely wear make-up
although I made an exception for my wedding day going for
a ‘no make-up make-up’ look. I bought a Tom Ford lipstick
for the occasion and had my hair trimmed the day before, taking
advantage of the day-old blowout for easy wedding-day hair.”

WHITE BOOK
Venue: Toronto City Hall. Attire: Cawley Studio. Shoes: Vanessa
Noel. Rings: Completedworks. Groom’s attire: Comme des Garçons
Homme; Brooks Brothers. Cakes: Coco’s; Robinson Bread.

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177

WEDDINGS
Alex and Jamie Preisz.
The bride’s dress
featured a boned corset
and princess skirt and
was trimmed with
black-and-white cord.
Jamie’s suit was designed
by Addicted Bespoken.

“I felt like Audrey Hepburn when
I looked in the mirror the morning
of the wedding,” says Alex.

JAMES ADAMS, JAKE TERRY, QING QING

The event took place on the grounds of a
poplar-filled, French provincial home in the
Southern Tablelands of New South Wales.

The couple’s vintage
car was revived having
broken down just two
days before the big day.

Alex & Jamie
Doing away with tradition,
creative couple Alex and Jamie
Preisz’s eclectic wedding in the
country was a vibrant and
playful expression of their love
for art and each other.
VOGUE AUSTRALIA: What was the style of your
wedding? “Eclectic, modern, colourful, mixed with 1960s ‘Old
Hollywood’ and a dash of garden psychedelia.”
VA: How did you approach planning? “As a wedding
videographer, I have seen so many weddings, so I knew exactly
what I didn’t want. We wanted non-traditional and the day to be
all about playful creativity. Jamie is very handy so we hand-built
a lot of our wedding-day decor in his art studio. We wanted our
day to be a reflection of the art in our relationship.”
VA: Why did you pick your venue? “I’d stayed at Linden
Airbnb back in 2022 and felt at home during my first time in its
ethereal gardens. Even though the home wasn’t a wedding
venue, we immediately connected with the homeowners and
their French provincial styling. Braidwood in New South Wales
is such an interesting town with so many quirky people … we
loved having our wedding held somewhere that no one else had
been married at before; we made it our own.”
VA: Styling details you would like to share? “I always wanted a
circular ceremony and when talking to Jamie about it he conceived
the idea of a hand-built, nine-sided nonagon, which we stood
on during the ceremony. The platform was surrounded by
floristry by Braddon Flowers, inspired by the movie Midsommar.”
VA: Tell us about your wedding attire. “My wedding dress
ideas flooded to my head as early as October 2022, but as I’m
a vintage fashion lover, I tried my best to find a vintage dress for
about five months before seeking out professional styling help.
I approached my dear friend Fleur Egan, a full-time stylist,
with my ideas. I didn’t know how to bring them from my head

into a dress, which is where she took the reins. Fleur sat down
with me, sketched my ideas, and gave me a world of advice on
how to make it become a dress. She then connected me with
dressmaker Olivia Deur and from there the design process was
underway. With Fleur’s endless talent for styling, my ideas for
the dress and cape combined with Olivia’s couture work, this
dress came to life in about five months and close to 30 fittings.”
VA: What about accessories? “My hair was worn pretty
naturally and pockets of rain on our wedding day made it messy,
which fitted our style perfectly. The shoes were sourced on Etsy
by Fleur, who had the vision of 60s shoes from day one. My
earrings were designed and commissioned by Fleur in India and
were actually made for her wedding, so became my ‘something
borrowed’. The only ring I wore was a family heirloom. It was
my grandmother’s ring, and she had passed five months before
our wedding day, so a bit of her was with me on the day.”
Describe your hair and make-up. “My make-up was done by
my friend Ruth. I asked her to think Old Hollywood theatrical,
big, heavy eyes and no shimmer. She nailed it so perfectly. I went
for a red lip, which was very much kissed off me by the afternoon.”
WHITE BOOK
Venue: Linden, Braidwood, NSW. Photographer: James Morris.
Dress: Collaboration between Alex Preisz, Fleur Egan and Olivia Deur.
Rings: Designed by Jamie, made by Henson and Gold. Beauty: Celeste
Reardon (hair); Ruth Ann (make-up). Groom’s attire: Addicted
Bespoken. Wedding planner: Tia and Claire Weddings. Flowers:
Braddon Flowers. First dance: ‘Cosmic Dancer’ by Nick Cave.

Vogue June 2024

179

Billy Mitchell
(left), luxury
brand marketing
manager, and
his husband
Michael Porter,
co-founder of
Skin Control.

JACK HENRY

The grooms travelled by boat
from Lake Como’s Grand Hotel
Tremezzo while guests took
private water limousines,
making for an unforgettable
arrival to the wedding.

Romantic
18th-century
mansion Villa del
Balbianello offers
180-degree views
across the lake.

VOGUE AUSTRALIA: How did you approach planning?
“Securing the entire Villa del Balbianello for our wedding was
a stroke of luck, as it is an operational museum open to the
public, making exclusive bookings a rarity. We wanted our
guests to embark on a memorable journey throughout the
evening, experiencing the charm of different key locations
across the estate. From the arrival to the ceremony, postceremony apertif and reception, every moment was carefully
curated to offer surprises, delightful beverages and captivating
entertainment. What we hadn’t anticipated was the logistical
challenge as the villa is accessible only via a small hiking trail or
water transportation, so every single item needed to be brought
in and out on the day itself.”
VA: Why did you pick your venue? “Michael and I had been to
Lake Como a number of times together and each time we were
absolutely blown away by the energy that the lake radiates. The
villa has the most spectacular backdrop to host an outdoor
wedding, but also offers multiple different key locations that
provide the perfect backdrop for guests to experience.”
VA: What was the theme and style of your wedding? “We were
inspired by different moments in popular culture and film and
had references that inspired each key moment and location. →
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181

WEDDINGS
The expansive villa cascades
down the peninsula and here,
guests dressed in black tie gather
on one of the terraced gardens.

The dress code was strictly tuxedos and ball gowns. Guests
arrived before us via private water limousines, we had a string
quartet playing and served Perrier-Jouët Champagne at the
entrance gates of the villa before moving up to the ceremony
location. Because of the magnificence of the loggia at the villa
where we held the ceremony, we required minimal styling as the
columns are naturally embraced by the most spectacular greenery.
We opted for neoclassical-style urns with large overflowing floral
arrangements in shades of deep reds. For the reception, we went
for a feasting-style wedding without allocated seating, so guests
were free to choose their destiny on the night. The reception was
held at the bottom of the villa under the lake’s most iconic piece
of vegetation. Here, we continued the red theme which played
into guests feeling like they were attending a red-carpet gala by
carpeting the custom-built floor in Teatro alla Scala red – the
same red as Milan’s iconic opera theatre. We also used red
uplighting on the sculptures, architecture and ancient
vegetation, all enclosed with a canopy of fairy lights. The Italian
Renaissance theme continued across table decorations and
furniture throughout the reception and we draped tables with
grapes, pomegranates, antique urns with rich floral arrangements
and sculptural candelabras of different heights.”
VA: Tell us about your wedding attire. “I had seen the most
sublime suit, the Giorgio Armani Royal, on the runway during
the men’s fashion show in Milan. The cut was so iconically Mr
Armani’s work, I instantly fell in love. Michael, being the
classical man that he is, opted for custom Tom Ford, a brand
that is so inherently him.”
VA: What was the most unexpected part of your day? “Midfireworks the heavens opened and the most monumental
electrical storm decided to roll in, followed by rain and hail.
However, despite guests fleeing to different sections of the
villa, the party continued until our water limousines could
safely depart via the lake. We were fortunate that the local
dive bar offered to open up privately for the night and we
continued festivities there and our wedding cake also magically
arrived off one of the boats and we did our cake-cutting
from the bar. Overall, it truly made the night even more magical
and even more unforgettable!”

WHITE BOOK
Venue: Villa del Balbianello, Lake Como. Photographer: Jack Henry.
Attire: Giorgio Armani (Billy); Tom Ford (Michael). Shoes: Giorgio
Armani (Billy); Edhèn (Michael). Fragrance: Obvious Une Fleur
D’Oranger; Tom Ford Ébène Fumé. Flowers: Figli dei Fiori.
First dance: ‘Love Story (Where do I begin)’ by Shirley Bassey.

182

The pageboys
and right, fresh
local snacks
await guests.

Billy and
Michael take
their vows
framed by
urns effusive
with vibrant
flowers.

WEDDINGS
The ceremony set up in the lush
tropical surrounds of Rosewood
Mayakoba retreat in Mexico.

A sit-down
dinner with
crystal tables
added to the
enchanted
forest-like
setting of
the reception.

Far left: Sanya and her
bridesmaids in bright red
(traditionally the bride’s
colour) under a flower canopy.
Left: The ceremony from
above; Shiv arrived by boat.

WORDS: ARZOO DINA
PHOTOGRAPHS: ANDREAS SELLINIDIS

Sanya changed into
a silver metallic leaf sari
by Rimzim Dadu and wore
a diamond cuff bracelet.

In contrast with his
bride’s soft lehenga, Shiv
opted for a tonal green
Sabyasachi sherwani
and embroidered stole.

Sanya & Shiv
Sanya Anand and Shiv Abrol headed to a luxury resort in Mexico for
a three-day wedding extravaganza filled with colour and culture.

S

anya Anand and Shiv Abrol’s love story unfolded over
several chapters in their favourite city (and now home
town) New York. Both lived in Greenwich Village,
studied at New York University (NYU) and only crossed paths
in their last month of college. While the couple hit it off almost
instantly, Sanya happened to nonchalantly mention to Shiv that
she was moving west. Little did he know she meant west of
Fifth Avenue and not the other side of the country. But as luck
would have it, the duo reconnected months later at a friend’s
birthday. Seven years on, Shiv proposed to Sanya in Central
Park’s picturesque conservatory gardens.
Shiv, who is a tech investor and Sanya, an internal medicine
physician, both knew they wanted to pick a destination for their
wedding that was chic, yet laid-back and afforded their guests
an experience to remember. “We chose Mexico because it
echoed our personalities: colourful, playful and a little spicy,”
Sanya shares. Spread over three days, the wedding celebrations
were held at the Rosewood Mayakoba, surrounded by emerald
jungles, lazy lagoons and the pristine beaches of Riviera Maya.
As guests arrived for the wedding weekend, the festivities
kicked off with a Tulum-inspired white party with bohemian
decor and plenty of tacos and tequila. The sangeet and mehndi
[Indian wedding functions] were combined as a tropical affair
at the resort’s beachside palapa, mixing rattan furniture with
tonal flowers and lots of votives. “Many of our guests had not
attended an Indian wedding before, so to make the experience
authentic, we curated a variety of accessories from colourful
purses and clutches to bangles and bindis, all sourced from local
markets in Jaipur. We included henna artists, hookah and
North Indian cuisine,” the couple say.

The bride opted for a custom Rahul Mishra lehenga and, along
with her stylist, worked with the designer’s team to create a oneof-a-kind cape to complement the ensemble. She kept the look
minimal with a pearl choker set with turquoise stones from Raabta
by Rahul as her jewels for the evening. Her groom wore an ivory
Rahul Mishra sherwani, paired with bespoke shoes from Artimen.
As the wedding day arrived, the resort’s lagoon lawns were
converted into an enchanting setting, complete with a large
stone pergola and soft florals that ranged from pinks and corals
to berry and mauve hues. “We really wanted to create a floral
paradise that was reminiscent of the conservatory gardens where
Shiv proposed to me,” Sanya says, adding that her groom arrived
to the baraat [groom’s procession] by boat, while she walked to
the mandap escorted by her bridesmaids to the instrumental
version of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’.
The bride decided on a peach-hued floral silk lehenga from
Sabyasachi while Purab Paschim by Ankit Khullar curated her
wedding jewels. Her make-up was pared down with nude lips,
kohl-lined eyes and a slicked-back bun.
Guests enjoyed servings of chai, churros and tropicalflavoured ice-creams as the evening led to the reception, held in
the resort’s herb garden. The bride changed into a sari by
Rimzim Dadu, paired with dazzling diamond earrings and
bracelet. Bold red lips and shimmery lids completed her look.
WHITE BOOK
Location: Rosewood Mayakoba, Mexico. Photographer: Andreas
Sellinidis. Dress: Sabyasachi (wedding day). Hair & make-up: Zoe
Elizabeth Makeup. Groom’s attire: Grooms of Sabyasachi (wedding
day). First dance: ‘Lady (Hear Me Tonight)’ by Modjo.

Vogue June 2024

185

WEDDINGS

Trivial pursuit
In search of the ‘perfect’ wedding pout, Tish Weinstock
faced every bride’s beauty nightmare: had she gone too far?

I

’m standing in a queue at a pharmacy, a week before my
wedding day, waiting to buy some medical-grade
antihistamine. The woman in front of me is moving at
a glacial pace, while I’m having the mother of all meltdowns
and making a deal with a god I haven’t spoken to in years.
The problem: my lips have blown up to the size of a Jeff
Koons sculpture. This is not where I wanted to be aesthetically
so close to the finish line. Help.
As a beauty editor who has written more wedding preparation
guides than you can shake a needle at, I know full well that

186

anything invasive you may want to do in the lead-up to the big
day (that includes minimal procedures such as Botox and filler)
has to be done at least four weeks in advance. Things can, and
do, go wrong. You also need to account for swelling, bruising
and redness. So how the hell did I end up here?
It was all going so well. I was on a plan: regular facials, a bit of
Botox, a touch of microneedling … all in moderation, obviously
– I’m a professional, after all. But then, one morning while
looking in the mirror, something shifted and I decided that
I needed to get a drop of filler in my lips, despite leaving it

LOUIS DE ROFFIGNAC, CHRIS LENSZ

wildly too late. So against my better judgement, and that of the
regular practitioner I see, who refused to inject me, I went in
search of someone who could supersize my pout. Twenty-four
hours later, I was living in a nightmare.
When I told the doctor on London’s Harley Street that
I didn’t want my husband to recognise me when it came to
peeling back my veil, I was clearly making a joke. But standing
in the queue the next day, those words came back to haunt me.
Desperately, I began to question why I’d been getting all these
tweakments done in the first place. To look prettier? Because
that’s what other people do? I had just wanted to look like
myself on my wedding day – myself, but, you know, better – but
at what point does bettering oneself actually end up negating
the self altogether? In a world obsessed with perfection, are
we starting to lose sight of ourselves?
‘Perception drift’ is a term used to describe the shift in your
self-perception as you undergo new procedures and start to lose
control over your image. “The more procedures you get, the
more difficult it can be to remember what you looked like in the
very beginning,” explains Dr Olivia Remes, a researcher at
the University of Cambridge, life coach and author of This is
How You Grow After Trauma. “Also, with each perceived ‘flaw’
that you’re fixing, you may realise that something else needs
fixing, trapping you in a vicious cycle that can be hard to get out
of.” This is something Dr Maryam Zamani, oculoplastic
surgeon, facial aesthetics doctor and founder of MZ Skin, has
noticed in a growing number of her patients, so much so that
she’s had to start turning some away. “My practice is built on
the ethos that less is more. However, there are always patients
who want more, but I will not treat someone if I do not think
they want realistic outcomes.”
The problem here isn’t just with fillers, but with the edited way
we present ourselves online. When it comes to having my
photograph taken, I know my angle (three-quarter profile),
I know my light (direct) and I know my pose (pert pout and
lobotomised stare). I’m so used to seeing a very specific image
of myself that when someone catches me off guard I find it
increasingly jarring. It’s the same when you see yourself on
Zoom, when those niggling background voices start to
gnaw away at you. “Do I really look like that?” And, more
disturbingly, “What can I do to fix it?”
But it’s not just looking at ourselves that’s the problem, it’s
looking at other people. On a recent trip to Paris, I was shocked
by the plethora of plumped up faces I saw framing the front row
at the spring/summer ’24 couture shows – not only by the
amount of filler on display, but at the disparity between how
these well-known celebrities appear online versus how they
actually look in real life. What hope can any of us have
concerning our own self-image if our perception of those we all
look up to starts to shift, too?
This is an increasing concern for UK-based GP and cosmetic
doctor Dr Ahmed El Muntasar, who has witnessed an uptick in
patients with increasingly unrealistic expectations. “Before,
people would come into the clinic with a photograph of
a celebrity saying they want to look like them, whereas now they
come in with a photograph of a celebrity that’s been heavily
edited or even a photograph of themself with a filter, neither
of which, of course, is based on reality.”
Beyond putting a dent in our pockets and getting ourselves
locked out of our phones when facial recognition technology
fails to identify us, the real toll our quest for perfection is taking

is on our mental health. “Perfection is like a mirage,” says
Dr Remes. “You chase after it and, once you get there, you’re
often still unsatisfied.” Cue depression, anxiety and raging
imposter syndrome, the very feelings that might have led you
down this slippery slope in the first place.
So what, then, is the solution? Thankfully, we’re already
starting to see a shift in the other direction, with more and more
practitioners being asked to dissolve filler, as patients attempt
to return to their former selves. You hear about celebrities
doing this all the time. (Whether they actually do it, however,
is another story, but it certainly gives us something to
think about.)
Despite what you might think, this isn’t some call to arms to
get your face deflated or, indeed, to not get any little tweaks here
and there at all. It’s more of a reminder to proceed with caution.
If you’re starting to get funny looks at passport control or your
husband-to-be doesn’t recognise you, let this be your sign
that you might need to walk it back a bit. Above all, the
practitioner you see is paramount. See the right person, listen
when they say that it’s too much, question them if they say it’s
not enough and don’t lose sight of who you are. Luckily, by the
time my wedding day came around, my lips had settled down
and my face had returned to that from whence it came. But
consider this a very important lesson learned.

“The more procedures you get, the
more difficult it can be to remember
what you looked like in the beginning”

Vogue June 2024

187

188

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

22 May-21 June

22 June-22 July

23 July-23 August

A revitalising New Moon plus your ruler
Mercury in your sign bring a new look
and outlook. With Mars in your
emotional zone, you’re impatient to
launch ideas, and if money’s been an
issue, the Sun and Venus may attract
more your way now. Under the Full
Moon’s beams an obligation could be
settled, and while sensible Saturn is
retrograde, review your career situation.
STYLE ICON: Riley Keough

Mercury awakens your curiosity this
month and a New Moon helps to make
sense of unsettled emotions. Friendships
are full-on with Mars in the mix, but
you hold centre stage with the Sun
and loved-up Venus in your sign. While
a Full Moon could seal a deal with a
romantic or business partnership,
retrograde Saturn hints at exploring your
options before making a commitment.
STYLE ICON: Margot Robbie

Collaborations
are
blessed
with
Mercury’s know-how and a New Moon’s
fresh energy now. Mars is pushing your
passion for power with your career,
although Venus and your ruler the Sun
add a nurturing vibe. As a Full Moon
brings closure to a health or work
concern, Saturn retrograde helps you fix
what’s not been working so well with
a commitment, intimacy or money issue.
STYLE ICON: Jennifer Lopez

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

24 August-22 September

23 September-23 October

24 October-22 November

Your ruler Mercury gets you seen and
heard now with a New Moon revitalising
your career. A passion to get ahead in life
is strong with Mars in the mix, but what
and who you know is also important,
with Venus and the Sun pushing your
agenda in a caring way. Romance and
fun could be on hold temporarily as
Saturn retrograde makes you look at
partnerships in a new light.
STYLE ICON: Billie Piper

‘Explore and discover’ is the cosmic
message for you now with Mercury and
a New Moon powering up media, study,
travel, publishing and spirituality. Mars
fires up your money mojo, and while the
Sun and your ruler Venus make you feel
‘at home’ at work, Saturn retrograde
helps you repair what’s not working with
health, a side hustle, your pets or your
sense of self-worth.
STYLE ICON: Naomi Watts

Mercury and a New Moon stimulate
your most secretive, sensual side now.
Your co-ruler Mars ignites passion, but
with Venus and the Sun opening up
a space where you fit in like family, you’ll
value nurturing just as much if not more
so than passion. As Saturn retrograde
helps you reassess what truly brings you
pleasure, a Full Moon brings closure to
a weighty discussion.
STYLE ICON: Willow Smith

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

23 November-21 December

22 December-20 January

21 January-18 February

Listening more is the way forward for
new or ongoing liaisons thanks to a New
Moon and Mercury, and things could
soon deepen with Venus and the Sun
in your commitments zone. Self-esteem
and money are in the Full Moon’s sights
now, and Saturn turns retrograde so you
can reassess your home life. With health
and work, Mars motivates you to be
more proactive and productive.
STYLE ICON: Amanda Seyfried

A new health routine could work
wonders now with a New Moon and
Mercury urging you to do your research
and reset your self-care. Mars amplifies
passion while Venus and the Sun nurture
partnerships, and as a Full Moon in your
own sign heightens emotions, your ruler
Saturn retrograde could make you
reconsider how you connect with others.
Do you share TMI, or not enough?
STYLE ICON: Nicola Peltz Beckham

Swapping ideas could raise the bar on
creativity or romance this month as
Mercury and a New Moon usher in cool
collaborations. Home feels more dynamic,
thanks to Mars, and the Sun plus Venus
shine a light on self-nurturing. The Full
Moon also hints at a more reflective
phase for you now, with Saturn
retrograde helping you re-evaluate your
values, self-worth and money.
STYLE ICON: Emma Roberts

Pisces

Aries

Taurus

19 February-20 March

21 March-20 April

21 April-21 May

Home gets some New Moon magic now
with Mercury hinting at a technology
upgrade chez vous, and improving
connections with those who share your
space. Outspoken, thanks to Mars,
romance is also hot stuff, care of Venus
and the Sun. As a Full Moon highlights
friends and ambitions, Saturn retrograde
in your sign pushes you to rethink who
you are and what you want from life.
STYLE ICON: Rihanna

Communication is crucial now with
a New Moon and Mercury enhancing
how you connect, learn and travel. Your
ruler Mars powers up your money zone
and, just as Venus signals that investing
in your home is a priority, a Full Moon
suggests spending more time at home.
As Saturn retrogrades, reassess and
redress what’s not working emotionally
for you as well as it could do.
STYLE ICON: Emma Watson

Revamp your money mojo this month
with a New Moon and Mercury bringing
fresh financial ideas. Mars in your sign
adds passion and impatience so lean in to
your ruler Venus in your communication
zone as a nurturing vibe will get better
results. A Full Moon focuses on what
you live and love to do, and as Saturn
retrogrades it’s time to revisit old friends
and ambitions.
STYLE ICON: Lizzo
Vogue June 2024

ASTROLOGER: STELLA NOVA

HOROSCOPES

VOGUE PROMOTION

EVEN A WALLFLOWER
CAN BLOOM
Get ready for the glow up of the year when the full series of Bridgerton Season 3 hits screens.
Penelope Featherington is stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight, starting with
shedding her signature yellow palette in favour of a bold new look – and confidence to match.

NEW SEASON, NEW LOOK

Series stars
Luke Newton and
Nicola Coughlan.
Image courtesy of
The Press Shop.

There’s a change coming to Bridgerton.
The launch of Season 3 sees Nicola
Coughlan’s character – and Bridgerton ’s
perennial wallflower – Penelope
Featherington reinventing herself and
taking her future into her own hands.
And she’s starting with a wardrobe
transformation. Moving on from her
signature demure yellows and frilly
pinks, this season’s leading lady emerges
in episode one in an elegant emerald
green gown, marking the beginning
of her physical and emotional glow
up. Starting a new chapter in her life,
and taking counsel from an unlikely
source, Penelope’s newfound confidence
is reflected in her sophisticated style
reinvention. The new season also sees
Luke Newton’s Colin Bridgerton return
with a swagger that’s drawing extra
attention. To celebrate season three,
Netflix gathered influencers and content
creators in Bowral, in the New South
Wales Southern Highlands. Guests,
including Tara Whiteman (Tara Milk
Tea) and TikTok duo Nick Sharma and
Carrie Ou Yeung (NickandCarrie), were
welcomed into a Glam Room where they
underwent a Bridgerton-style makeover,
before mingling and chatting about
the new season; how clothes impact
your confidence; and exactly what they
thought of Penelope’s new colour palette.

E XP R E S S YO U RS E L F

“Seeing Penelope making style changes
in episode one really sets the tone for
the rest of the season,” says Whiteman.
“It symbolises her growth as a character,
embracing change. While her signature
yellow may be missed, exploring new
colours like emerald – which, I must
say, looks unbelievably incredible on her
– allows Penelope to express different
facets of her personality and adds
depth to her character arc.” For digital
creator Aicha Robertson (The Fashion
Heist), the colour change was a striking
contrast. “The yellow was so vibrant and
eye-catching, a bold choice for someone
harbouring massive secrets – it defied
the idea of staying incognito,” she says.
“Embracing emerald signifies Penelope’s
journey towards self-acceptance and
expressing her true self, which I am here
for.” Content creators NickandCarrie
wore coordinating outfits reflecting regal
elegance with a touch of countryside
chic. When asked what they thought
of Penelope’s season three style? “We
totally love it! We challenge ourselves
in wearing different styles and colours
– you never know until you try.”

Above: Digital creator
Aicha Robertson.

From top: Guests
dressed in period
costume; Jeremy
Franco looked
dashing; one of the
glamorous gowns
worn at the Netflix
event; pretty pastels
took centre stage.

VOGUE PROMOTION

“EMBRACING EMERALD SIGNIFIES
PENELOPE’S JOURNEY TOWARDS
SELF-ACCEPTANCE AND
EXPRESSING HER TRUE SELF”

REGENCY
GLAMOUR
The sartorial stakes were
high at the Netflix celebration,
with guests dressing in
silhouettes and shapes
worthy of 1800s England.
MADE FOR THE MANOR
Tara Whiteman chose a grand
gown for the event, saying, “The
intricate lace detailing and luxurious
fabric transported me back to the
romanticism of the Bridgerton
era, while my accessories infused
a modern twist.”

SUITED AND BOOTED

Clockwise from above:
Bridgerton showrunner Jess
Brownell; Tara Whiteman and
guest; Carrie Ou Yeung and Nick
Sharma; Luke Newton and Nicola
Coughlan as Colin Bridgerton
and Penelope Featherington.

“My outfit stems from the early
1800s Regency period but still has
modern touches,” says a dapper
Jeremy Franco. “I’ve kept the tail
and waistcoat quite classic, but
swapped out the frill collar and
puffed sleeve for a slim-fitting
white shirt. These subtle touches
transform my look into an outfit
fitting of a 21st-century duke.”

Bridgerton Season 3 is now playing
only on Netflix; part 2
premieres 13 June.

FINAL NOTE

Fine finish

WORDS: ALICE BIRRELL ALEX AND TRAHANAS NAPKIN, $99
ALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB

Soignée meets sophistication in Chanel’s wedding shoes of the season which,
with all the right trimmings, have memorable nuptial style all tied up.

ART DIRECTION ARQUETTE COOKE STYLING ISABELLA MAMAS
PHOTOGRAPH LAUREN BAMFORD

192

Vogue June 2024

BESPOKE ENGAGEMENT RINGS
DESIGNED BY YOU, EXPERTLY CRAFTED BY US