I saw The September Issue last night, and in addition to learning more about how American Vogue works, I also learned more about Grace Coddington. She’s the creative director of Vogue, and while more media-shy than her boss Anna Wintour, Coddington is incredibly talented. She’s just so creative, and her finished editorials look amazing. In this post, you can see some of Grace’s fantastic spreads from this year.
Here is model Karen Elson styled as Grace Coddington in the August 2008 issue of Vogue.
and here is Grace during her time as a fashion model in 1960′s London
Earlier this week she spoke at an event at The New York Public Library, and this is what she said when asked about the recent Ralph Lauren Photoshop Controversy.
“Most of Ralph Lauren’s models are not super skinny: this is an isolated situation and I think that it’s unfair that he’s getting bad publicity for it … You ask, ‘Can’t models just be normal sized people?’ They have to be thinner than you and I, because you always photograph a little fatter … But it is a big problem. I remember when I was modeling and I put on some weight, and they said to me: ‘Lose weight or you don’t do the show.’ I’d spend the week not eating anything and just drinking coffee. I was eighteen or nineteen.
“But these days, the problems are coming with kids that are very young and very vulnerable … you don’t have to go to the extremes they go to. And because they’re kids, they take it too far, and they can’t regulate their lives, and next thing you know they’re anorexic, and it is tragic. And I don’t know what the answer is, except to keep on it, which we’re all trying to do … Personally we’re not allowed, at Vogue, to work with girls who are very thin, but you never know, because you could book them and think they’re a certain size, and they turn up on the shoot and suddenly they’ve spun into this anorexic situation. And you’re on the spot and you have to get the job done and you have one day to do it, and what do you do? But you try to be responsible.”
I’m glad that Vogue seems to be at least trying. Caroline Trentini is featured very often in the magazine, and while she is very thin, she does not look unhealthy. It seems like a good thing that the creative director of Vogue realizes that unhealthy models and overuse of photoshop can be a concern.
What are your thoughts?
