Carine Roitfeld: Dazed & Confused

In August 1997, Carine Roitfeld appeared in the Dazed & Confused "Most Wanted;" the sweet but short interview with the future editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris seems absolutely prescient today. When asked what ambition she had not yet fulfilled, Carine replied: "Maybe one day to be Editor-in-Chief of Fashion in a magazine — no, I don't think so. I would like to do a book called Julia, half photos, half stories about my daughter." foreshadowing her role at Vogue Paris by four years. Further, in response to a query for the worst piece of advice she had ever been given, Carine said, "Don't be too pushy!" and also offered the best piece of advice she had ever been given — "Don't be too anxious to lose something (a client, a magazine...), just be happy!" She also states that if she were not a stylist, she would return to a former love: "Before being a stylist, I was writing stories for magazines, so maybe go back to my pen." May I suggest that now is the time for her brilliant idea, the book Julia... Followed by Vladimir...

Photograph of Carine Roitfeld © 1997 Mario Testino courtesy of thunderstorm on Fashion Spot. All Rights Reserved.

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld: A Woman Like Romy

V Magazine's "Heroes Issue" releases on September 8, and as you know Carine Roitfeld has been chosen as the guest editor for the iconic issue. Among the 300 collectible pages are 72 devoted to the late Elizabeth Taylor, a glamorous extravaganza inspired by her famous allure and shot by Mario Testino; as Carine notes, "She had the kind of elegance that went far beyond clothes." Also intriguing is the editorial featured here titled "A Woman Like Romy" that pays tribute to an actress esteemed by both mother and daughter as a style icon: Romy Schneider. Thanks to stylelist.com for this brief behind-the-scenes video of the making of V's epic September issue. It certainly promises to be an eventful autumn for Roitfeld lovers..

Julia Restoin-Roitfeld photographs © 2011 V Magazine, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Roitfeld And Testino For The Face

In light of the exciting news about the latest collaboration between Carine Roitfeld and Mario Testino for V Magazine, I thought it would be fun to look at the influential work this fashion powerhouse created for The Face. One of the coolest magazines to come out of the UK, The Face was launched by Nick Logan in May 1980, and last published in May 2004. Legendary as an arbiter of taste in pop culture and particularly fashion, The Face was a natural stage for the vision of Roitfeld and Testino which was especially raw during this period — literally at times. The first cover, shown above, featured Jerry Dammers of The Specials as styled by Steve Bush, the founding art director. Other notable art directors for the groundbreaking publication were Neville Brody (1981–86) and Lee Swillingham (1993-1999). A few of the fashion photographers that were first published in The Face are Inez Van Lamsweerde, Craig McDean, Steven Klein, David LaChapelle, Glen Luchford, Norbert Schoerner, and Elaine Constantine.

“The Butcher”
The Face, 1997
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Model: Eva Herzigova
Photographer: Mario Testino

When asked which of her editorials was most compelling, Carine named "The Butcher" with Eva Herzigova for the humor: "I had a very good period where I was working at French Glamour and I was working for The Face. The 'butcher' shoot with Eva Herzigova and those sort of stories. They’re memorable stories, and you say why? Maybe because it’s not just about fashion. It’s because it’s a moment of the time." She elaborated in an interview with Self Service:

Ezra [Self Service]: Your early collaborations with Mario Testino were quite provocative in a certain way!
Carine: I think that in the beginning of my love duo with Mario, we did a few series that really disturbed people.
Ezra: Such as some of the stories you did with him in The Face?
Carine: Yes, for example, and I think that we had a lot of humor. We were talking about the problem of the moment, which was mad cow disease.
Ezra: And the other one on royalty.
Carine: I think you need humor, there is not a lot of it in photos, and it's very hard to put humor in photos.

And yet this amazing editrix continues to present that eclectic and unexpected sense of humor in so many of her classic editorials. I have added three more stories from The Face to the photo gallery, notice how the sharp chic of black and white pervades Carine's early work...

“Yves Gauche”
The Face, July 1996
The two films currently being made about the legendary Studio 54 nightclub are only the start of it. Hail the spirit of the original Bianca.
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Models: Astrid Munoz, Gregory, and Samuel
Photographer: Mario Testino

"Naughty Parisian Maid"
The Face, December 1997
When Madame's away, her clothes come out to play...
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Model: Ehrinn Cummings
Photographer: Mario Testino

"Never Mind The Bollocks... Life's A Beach"
The Face, May 2000
Stylist: Carine Roitfeld
Photographer: Mario Testino

The Face editorial images © 1996, 1997, 2000 The Face. All Rights Reserved.

Roitfeld And Testino For V Magazine

V Magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief Stephen Gan confirmed that Carine Roitfeld will style the September cover, “My stage is always open to her and she can perform anytime she wants to on it. She wants it to be a surprise, but it’s for the September issue. We leave for Europe tomorrow, and we will work with Mario Testino. That’s all I can say.” Note that Roitfeld and Testino were the team responsible for the very first cover of V Magazine, the September/October 1999 issue with Jude Law featured here. I cannot wait to see what the fabulous duo has in mind for this September...

V Magazine Jude Law September/October 1999 cover © 2011 V Magazine, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Carine Roitfeld: Corps & Lames

I present with glee the witty words of editor-at-large, Kate Ringo Suzuki, in which she sharply dissects the dangerous beauty of Carine Roitfeld's legendary editorial, "Corps & Lames," originally published in the February 2005 issue of Vogue Paris.

Carine Roitfeld: Corps & Lames
By Kate Ringo Suzuki 

In 2005 Carine Roitfeld teamed up with legendary photographer Mario Testino to produce the now famous Vogue Paris editorial, "Corps & Lames" (which translates as "Body & Blades"), in which she cast the doll-faced Gemma Ward in a mischievious romp through fashion fantasy. I can just picture the two of them giggling, “Let’s piss off zee stupid Americans who watch Fox News!”

At first blush, Gemma is all childlike innocence with her doe eyes, polka dots, ruffled bloomers (a present from Granny?), and white tights. Slowly we come to realize that the tights are in fact thigh-highs and you can see right through the wisps of polka dot chiffon. Then it hits us: Gemma is a dirty little nymphet. The cheeky wench has removed one of her black dominatrix gloves as to better wield her golden scissors. We watch her cut her Barbie’s hair to match her own hairstyle. I guess Carine and Mario were just getting warmed up because I can think of much kinkier things my friends and I did with our Barbies, and it usually involved a Ken doll.

Where is Humbert Humbert? I think he flew the coop and had the nymphet committed. The scene is set on a cold, sterile stainless steel table in the clinical white madhouse bathroom. One minute she is murderously wielding her scissors at an innocent fish swimming in its bowl, the next minute she is cutting her own eyelashes while simultaneously strangling herself with her single dominatrix-gloved hand. Sista is a psycho — she can’t decide if she’s top or bottom.

The kink doesn’t stop here. Carine and Mario go all out. Gemma is their pretty pawn, whom they maninipulate as easily as a delicate puppet on strings. Sweet Gemma, donning a pure white apron front top juxtaposed with black pantyhose with a back seam, performs some kind of ritualistic surgery on a slab of meat. We watch her bending over that now familiar sterile stainless steel table in the clinical madhouse bathroom. I imagine Mario instructing Gemma, “Bend over… a little more… .a little more. Ahhh, yes! Beautiful!” Click. “Beautiful!! Beautiful!!” Click. Click.

Yes, beautiful! And brilliant.

Vogue Paris editorial images © 2005 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.