THIS SEASON’S BEAUTY: It’s difficult to really say which models have what it take to be ‘stars’ nowadays. Whereas back in 2006 or 2007, a slew of appearances at top runway shows would ensure at least short term success, that’s certainly not the case nowadays. The mass influx of new faces every season has reduced the chance that a girl has of achieving longevity. In any case a girl who I have high hopes for is Sasha Luss. A comeback kid of sorts, Sasha kicked off her career at 15. After quietly disappearing from the scene for a few years she’s now back at 20 looking better than ever. She has a natural elegance and confidence that is apparent in this close-up from No.21’s Fall/Winter 2013 show. Let’s see what the future holds, but I do hope that she is able to bask in a moment of brightness, even if only for a short moment in time.

OLUCHI’S AURA: I would imagine that, like any one who has achieved the level of success that he has, Steven Meisel has a bit of an ego. His work usually references pop culture and mass media brilliantly but never admit-tingly surrenders to the stylings of his predecessors. This stirring image of Oluchi Onweagba must be considered an exception though. The reference to Irving Penn’s classic, stripped-back studio portraits is undeniable. Although nothing can beat the original, Meisel’s tribute to an American great is breathtakingly beautiful in its minimalism. Wearing a Yohji Yamamato dress and simple slippers, styled by Brana Wolf, the Nigerian beauty exudes a regal sense of stoicism that comes naturally. The grainy studio backdrop only heightens the appeal of the dignified tribute. 

The picture also leads me to think about the most commonplace issue in fashion at the moment. I wonder again and again and again why fashion people find it so hard to let black models fall into imagery like this, let alone editorial at all. When the result could be as awe-inspiring as this, why is there even a shadow of a doubt that it should be Chanel, Jourdan or Jasmine standing in front of Meisel’s lens more often than Vanessa, Meghan or Jamie? I say that because its clear that this image’s brilliance owes a lot to Oluchi’s physical attributes. One of a kind is what this image is, but if any of the major lensmen or women want to get close to achieving something of this standard, then they need to reevaluate their perceptions on beauty.

GIRL OF A PAST MOMENT: It’s been too long since I have posted an image of Russian beauty Anna-Maria Urajevskaya. Although I can’t really recall her work back in her era of 2006/7, as I was only getting into fashion then, I was taken by some of her editorial work which I discovered a few years’ later. It’s very strange to think that she did the bulk of her best editorial work and runway appearances before the age of 18. Trust me, I’m very against supporting uber-young models. When you have a face like Anna-Maria’s though, it’s hard not to stare in amazement. This close-up was taken from her breakthrough moment at Prada’s Fall/Winter 2006 show. I love her quiet confidence here which belies her age at the time. She’s off to study law now and doesn’t plan to come back to modelling. A bit of a shame, but at the same time, I feel like she’s a bit too good for this rather mediocre fashion moment.

GIVENCHY’S SAVING GRACE: I am actually not a huge fan of Riccardo Tisci’s work. Although his couture collections can occasionally be brilliant, I find most of his ready-to-wear work to be fine, nothing more. I was really impressed with the last Spring/Summer 2013 collection though. It was precise and clean with a few twists here and there to make it interesting. What Tisci does have though, is an eye for the next big model. He re-launched Joan Smalls’ career in 2010 when she appeared as an exclusive for his Spring/Summer 2010 couture show. So when Grace Mahary appeared as an exclusive for Fall/Winter 2012 ready to wear, I knew instinctively that she would be big. Was I wrong? At first I didn’t gravitate toward the Eritrean-Canadian beauty’s look but after seeing a video posted by her now-defunct agency Ford Models I was completely sold. She had a genuine personality and came across so well in the video and that has stayed with me. Looks wise, she has a timeless kind of appeal, similar to that of Liya Kebede. Proof is in this close-up from last season’s Givenchy show. Grace looks regal here. It’s an image that makes me anxious to see what else the future holds for her. 

WILD CHILD: I haven’t seen many films recently.I just never allocate myself enough time, even at the weekends and even though I find myself burdened with prolonged moments of boredom. So I have gone back to David Lynch’s ‘Wild At Heart’ (1990) for this image of Laura Dern. The ironic thing is that I only knew of Laura Dern before the film was based off of her appearance in a Juergen Teller editorial. She really hypnotized me in the aforementioned work though, playing a naive, yet hopelessly endearing young woman, Lula who falls in love with Nicholas Cage’s rebel, Sailor. This still is taken from the scene where Willem Dafoe’s frightening criminal Bobby Peru throws himself upon her. Well not quite, but he does more to seduce her. Who could blame his character when she looks like this though? A classic yet undone image of cinematic beauty.

YOUR LOCAL BOND GIRL: It’s rare that I see many editorials that impress me nowadays. Luckily there have been the odd couple in recent months that have impressed; such as this one by Glen Luchford; ‘Lignes De Future’. I have only recently come to appreciate Luchford’s dreamy, hazy style which isn’t so evident here. At least not in this image. Aside from the use of fur, I love the offbeat sexiness that Nadja Bender is portraying in the photograph; riding her motorcycle through a tunnel, beaming with joy. Must be the rush that vehicle speed invokes. I’ve really come to appreciate her as a model and look forward to her future print work. A second Luchford/Nadja collaboration would certainly be welcome if this shot and story that it comes from is anything to go by.

CASSIDY’S CUT: I have to be honest; there are times when I find stuff on Tumblr, save and don’t re-blog  Well I use Google Images as my search engine; in my defense (a rather weak excuse, I know). So thanks to draqua for this image. I just wanted to show the best supporting character in a Scooby Doo cartoon some love. Angel Dynamite, or should I say Cassidy Williams appeared to be a cliched 1970s disco action hero in the first season of ‘Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated’, but I found new dimensions to her character when she had her afro cut for the second season and stopped referring to herself as Angel. Vivica A. Fox does an amazing job voicing her and adds a lot of appeal to her character. I am at the point in the series where I am awaiting her fate post ‘The Midnight Zone’ episode. Hoping that she made it through. Bow to her animated beauty.

EARTHBOUND ARIEL: I couldn’t sleep last night and was perusing Ariel Meredith’s TFS thread. I come back to thinking about this versatile, Louisiana based beauty all the time. She may have starred in the Testino helmed D&G campaign for Spring/Summer 2009 and had a Louis Vuitton runway exclusive in Fall/Winter 2010, but hasn’t had the success she has deserved overall. So whilst I mourn the fact that she hasn’t had a crossover high-fashion to commercial breakout, I find solace in her sexy pictures for Sports Illustrated, which no doubt give her a lot to go back to the bank with. This picture is quite perfect (excuse the tag). She looks so seductive, reclining on a beach chair in a white bikini, but looks truly classy as well. What a combo. I’ll still cross my fingers that that tragic agency IMG will sort her out with interesting work in the coming seasons, but until then will revel in her sex appeal and true beauty.

RUN TO THE FUTURE: So I promised that I would blog one of Shawn Brackbill’s photos from backstage at New York Fashion Week and I keep my promises! There were so many great images to choose from, but I went to one of my favourite shows of the week, Tommy Hilfiger. As soon as I saw this shot of Vanessa Axente, I was struck by how editorial it was. Yet it is the spontaneity of a still moment caught during a backstage run that makes it so eye catching. There are so many forgettable new faces this season but Vanessa, who made an impression on me not right away after her Prada debut but during her slog through Paris has something lasting, in terms of beauty and personality. At least in my eyes; I’m no fortune teller. Impeccable lighting and composition here. The ironic thing is that I think it just came through easily, as opposed to having been thought out. Hope to post another one of my selection of Brackbill’s work soon.

CAN’T DO BETTER: The downside to being a sceptic about post 2010 popular music is that you can miss out on gems; sometimes by a year. Which is the case with this track. I was listening to ‘Demonstrate’ by Jojo so much that I decided to check out both her rendition of ‘Marvin’s Room’ and Drake’s original, even though both versions were released in 2011. The verdict. Jojo smashed Drake. ‘Marvin’s Room (Can’t Do Better)’ is a little more polished and introspective than Drake’s original, whose name was influenced by the fact that he recorded the track in the same studio as Marvin Gaye. Something about Joanna Noëlle Blagdan Levesque’s vocals (yes that’s her full name, at least according to Wikipedia) goes so well over Noah ‘40’ Shebib’s beats; perhaps its because I’m getting sick of Drake’s monotone drawl. She injects emotion into the track; ‘fuck that new girl that you like so bad, she’s not crazy like me I bet you like that’. When the then 20 year old former child star gets to the line ‘and when you’re in her, I know I’m in your head’ you are taken aback by her lyrical ballsiness.Aside from the fact that I still find it weird to hear Jojo singing about sex relativally bluntly, her recent music has proved what I thought all along. She has talent and can go far. I have heard a few interviews with her and she seems so down to earth as well, which backs up her naturally stunning looks and sex appeal. Beauty, brains and a lot of talent, I really look forward to seeing what her third album produces; should we get that far. For now the plodding downcast beat with its subtle piano flourishes and equally fragile and impassioned vocal, ‘Marvin’s Room (Can’t Do Better)’ is making me hit the repeat button like no other track in recent months, if not the last couple of years.