Vogue September 2017

AT VOGUE, WE’RE NOT MUCH GIVEN TO LOOKING BACKWARD, reasoning that life only goes in one direction—forward—and therefore, so should we. Yet since 2017 marks our 125th birthday (which we decided to celebrate by focusing on remarkable and resourceful women from all walks of life), and since it is September (arguably our most important issue of the year), we’ve allowed ourselves an anniversary opportunity for a rare moment of misty-eyed nostalgia. We have revisited some of our favorite and most enduring cover stars—Oprah Winfrey, Nicole Kidman, and Serena Williams among them. Not to mention many of the iconic models—from Cindy Crawford to Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer to Christy Turlington—whose careers are so entwined with this magazine. They certainly look as ageless and as cool as the denim they wore for…

They’d driven all the way to Mr. Styles’s house before Anna realized that her father was nervous. First the ride had distracted her, sailing along Ocean Parkway as if they were headed for Coney Island, although it was four days past Christmas and impossibly cold for the beach. Then the house itself: a palace of golden brick three stories high, windows all the way around, a rowdy flapping of green-and-yellow-striped awnings. It was the last house on the street, which dead-ended at the sea. Her father eased the Model J against the curb and turned off the motor. “Toots,” he said. “Don’t squint at Mr. Styles’s house.” “Of course I won’t squint at his house.” “You’re doing it now.” “No,” she said. “I’m making my eyes narrow.” “That’s squinting,” he…

PETER BEARD AND ARTHUR ELGORT: Beginnings In 1976, after I’d arrived in New York, aged 20, my very first modeling job was for Vogue. It was not, however, my first sitting; that happened a year or so earlier in Kenya. There, by chance, I made the acquaintance of the rakish photographer-cum-adventurer Peter Beard. When Peter proposed a photo session, though I could never have envisioned the trajectory it would set in motion, I could at least see negotiating a fee for the equivalent of my college tuition—and a deal was struck. Growing up in eastern Africa in the 1960s and ’70s, I could not have aspired to become a fashion model even if I’d wanted to: If they existed, news of their habits never reached me at boarding school. My…

Donatella Versace, Versace “For me, fashion is family. I love the tenderness and timelessness of this image with my brother Gianni and my daughter, Allegra—it was taken by Bruce Weber in 1994 in Miami while we were creating images for the book Do Not Disturb. This year marked the twentieth anniversary of my brother’s passing. For him, creativity was pleasure. He was sketching, thinking, and dreaming all the hours of the day. It was something natural to him, an instinct that he could not deny. He was the biggest inspiration of my life—he taught me to listen to my heart, to fight for what I believe. Looking at this picture, it is like he is still with me here today, pushing me forward.” DONATELLA WITH HER BROTHER GIANNI AND HER…

If you ever get a chance to tour Akron, Ohio, with Savannah and LeBron James, they might show you the tree-lined street Savannah grew up on with her parents, and the low-income housing where LeBron lived with his mom. Probably they’ll point out St. Vincent–St. Mary, LeBron’s high school, where a tourist or two shows up every couple of days hoping for a peek at the gym that the four-time NBA MVP started out at, and that the LeBron James Family Foundation renovated. Also on the tour, Savannah’s high school, where Savannah was a cheerleader and still, in a way, is a cheerleader today. And if you wind up back at their beautiful, expansive, Frank Lloyd Wright–style edge-of-Akron home, you’ll get to hear Savannah, who is warm and friendly and…

GOSHA RUBCHINSKIY—the photographer turned designer behind the self-titled, provocative, and hugely popular skateinspired streetwear line that bears his name—is sitting at the bar of the 105-year-old Hotel Astoria in Saint Petersburg, Russia, hours before his spring 2018 runway show. It’s June, and a vaporous northern light shifts around the tables. In the lobby, gilded plaques frame the elevator banks, each engraved with the name of a famous past guest—Grigori Rasputin, Kylie Minogue, Rudy Giuliani, Luciano Pavarotti, Hillary Clinton, and Vladimir Putin constitute a small sampling. Rubchinskiy, 33, isn’t up there yet, but he makes a poignant correlation: “Tonight—and actually part of everything—is about long-ago memories. It’s about ghosts.” That soul-peeking sentiment is fitting for this somewhat shy man, who is one of the reasons for streetwear’s recent prevalence—and continued relevance—on…