Florence Pugh, Letitia Wright And Others Show Off Stunning Looks At ELLE Style Awards
The Elle Style Awards took place in London on Tuesday, and celebrity attendees like Florence Pugh, Letitia Wright, Bianca Jagger and Billie Piper were among the many who turned out striking looks for the occasion.
Pugh channeled the punk ethos of late Lifetime Achievement Award winner Vivienne Westwood, spiking her cropped platinum hair and wearing a septum ring for the event. She wore a sheer lace dress (reminiscent of the now-famous sheer Valentino dress she wore last year) from Alexander McQueen, whose creative director, Sarah Burton, took home this year's Vanguard Award.
Florence Pugh attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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Burton accepted the award in a minimal, sophisticated look featuring an oversized white button-down shirt and black jeans. The award was presented by actress Wright, whose own McQueen ensemble delivered a tailored-chic aesthetic with its cropped, embellished tuxedo jacket, matching wide-leg pants and pointed-toe pumps. While presenting, Wright called Burton "the nicest woman in fashion."
Sarah Burton attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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Letitia Wright attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood's widower and creative director of her namesake label, showcased his irreverent style at the event with a headscarf, harem pants and a sheer black tank top, topped with a blazer draped over his shoulders. He accepted the Vanguard on behalf of his late wife alongside her granddaughter, model Cora Corré, who donned one of the designer's signature silhouettes: A draped, plunging corseted dress in gorgeous cream shade with strappy sandals to match her dark pedicure.
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Corré and Kronthaler have collaborated several times since Westwood's death, including earlier this year when she walked the final look in Kronthaler's first Westwood runway since the late designer's death in December 2022.
Andreas Kronthaler attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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Former actress and current human rights activist Jagger showed off her timeless beauty with bold, red lips, a glam bouffant and a jaw-dropping black gown with sheer, off-the-shoulder fabric that wrapped down her arms into embellished gloves.
Bianca Jagger attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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Actress Piper brought an eye-catching, colorful vibe to the event in a turquoise satin suit by Nina Ricci. The designer's creative director, Harris Reed, included the look in an Instagram carousel, celebrating it alongside several other favorites from the evening.
Billie Piper attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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The winner of the evening's Modern Pioneer Award, Ncuti Gatwa, also turned it out with a mix-and-match suit featuring a deep blue jacket and wide black trousers accented by ultra-cool, square shades that he left on for his arrival.
Gatwa, who has appeared in "Barbie" and "Sex Education" and was announced as the new lead of the BBC's "Doctor Who" in May last year, recently told Elle, "Clothes are to play with. I love seeing men in 'women's' clothing. There doesn't need to be a label. I believe that fully: That's why I don't like to label myself -- and I don't owe it to anyone."
Ncuti Gatwa attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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"Game of Thrones" star Gwendoline Christie looked ethereal in a flowing, embroidered overlay gown by Fendi, for whom she accepted the Designer of the Year award on behalf of artistic director Kim Jones.
"Congratulations to @mrkimjones on winning the Designer of the Year Award at @elleuk Style Awards!" Christie captioned an Instagram post celebrating the win. "It was fabulous to be back in that room pulsing with such great energy, presenting the award and celebrating one of my cherished friends!"
Gwendoline Christie attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023, in partnership with Tiffany & Co. At The Old Sessions House on Sept. 5, 2023 in London.
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Actress Gemma Chan -- one of five ELLE Style Awards cover stars -- cut an angelic figure in a lacy, floor-length gown perfectly tailored to her figure. She posted about the cover recently, thanking ELLE UK Editor-in-Chief Kenya Hunt and the rest of the magazine's team for her inclusion.
Gemma Chan attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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Hunt, one of the night's shining stars, was radiant in Alexander McQueen as she shuffled between MC duties, topping off the celebratory champagne tower, and looking every bit the style icon throughout the night.
Kenya Hunt attends the ELLE Style Awards 2023 at The Old Sessions House on Sept. 05, 2023 in London.
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Of the awards' return, Hunt wrote on Instagram, "The #ELLEStyleAwards are an iconic part of our story. They began in London in 2002, and were not simply an awards ceremony recognising the voices and talents of a generation, but a highlight on the fashion calendar. Now, as we evolve ELLE UK and propel it into the future, using our platform to create change in the industry, it feels like a fitting time to revive this event."
"I Have So Many Favorite Photos": Photographer Eric Johnson On Creating Hip-Hop Iconography
Though you may recognize his work before his name, Eric Johnson is the photographer behind some of the most memorable music imagery of the last few decades. He's lensed the likes of the Notorious B.I.G. And Faith Evans, and created unforgettable album visuals for Aaliyah, Doja Cat, Eve, Foxy Brown, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, the Hot Boys, and Yung Miami, among many others.
As for developing his signature realistic style of portraiture, which resulted in a legion of magazine features, covers, and more, Johnson was "always very specific" about how things should look—even before he picked up a camera at the age of 16. "When my mom used to go to the disco when I was a little kid in the '70s, I would be like, 'Oh, you should wear this.' That's how I got to people pushing me towards art. I was just that kind of quirky art person…I just think that just naturally I'm a vibey person, but I'm shooting all those things without thinking about it," Johnson tells Vanity Fair.
In celebration of 50 years of hip-hop, Johnson recently spoke with Vanity Fair about what went into creating some of his favorite photographs.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Vanity Fair: Your image of Biggie and Faith for the October 1995 issue of Vibe magazine is an iconic image in hip-hop, what do you remember about that day?
Eric Johnson: That was my first cover [for Vibe]. George Pitts [the founding Director of Photography at Vibe was] like all of our godfathers, he just looked out for us as a photo editor. He made us all so much better. So he was like, "Your photos are looking really great, people are really into you." When I go to meet with George … they wanted an iconic image at the level that we were looking at books like the 100 greatest album covers of all time, things like that. One thing, no one's really shot outside on Vibe covers. And then two, Biggie is from New York, he always represents New York. I was like let's just get a car and park it down by the bridge. I wasn't thinking about anything major. Nothing was planned out in regards to angles and I didn't even know what they were going to wear. I had already shot Faith one time and Biggie was just adorable, just like a little boy following you around talking about random shit. And I'm like dude, I'm still working. But he looked so powerful in a way in photos, but he was also so boyish, because he was so young.
OutKast and Bootsy Collins
Photograph by Eric Johnson.I did hear after the fact that the guys in LA were pissed and they were saying that Biggie was trying to rip off West Coast car culture. When I look back at it, I could see why they would think that, because they're mad at the east coast and Biggie. And we weren't Lowriders, it was just a Cadillac. But that wasn't necessarily New York, but I didn't think about that either. So all of those things together, combined just made it sick.
When the cover was out, whenever I saw [it], I just froze, it was like I just cringed or something. It's not that I didn't like it, but it was just something about it.
The amount of times that people have hit me up about recreating different photos, but especially the Biggie and Faith. And they have so much enthusiasm as if when they tell me, the idea is going to blow my mind. I get if people out in the world are going to do that, I can't really control it. But I'm like that is such a basic idea, when you look at the fact of what went into that day and Puffy's badass, everybody was on top of the world, a nice summer day. We were in our youth, just everything. That's why they came out like that. So people think you're going to sit someone in the back of the car and think you're going to get that same kind of magic? It's insane.
How did the image with Foxy Brown orange fur trimmed jacket come about?
There was a studio on Broadway and she came over and we had a stylist and a make-up artist and those outfits. I was always into those punk images. If I saw someone on the street in London, I would just lose my mind, there's something so pure about it. We're all in New York and it's kind of cool for people in middle America and the rest of the world to see as New Yorkers. I'm not super conceptual, but it's little details like that that make the photos public connect. That is Foxy Brown on the street, no big set up, you could have run into her, you could have walked past and saw so that happening. So something about that I always like. And I think those pictures, they're like amongst my favorites.
It's the 25th anniversary of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, what do you remember about shooting the visuals for this album?
The buzz for the project was insane. With what had happened with the Fugees, [Lauryn Hill] was just like the doll. So just her having the album coming out, everybody was just certain it was going to be big. I didn't know it was going to be big like with ten Grammy [nominations], because I don't think like that, but I kinda knew something. I just felt like, they're giving that to me?!
I still love Lauryn to this day, she's one of my favorites and we had such a cool working relationship. She already had her ideas, she had the album title and she wanted to shoot in a school and we looked at a couple of schools, but then we were like why don't we just shoot in her school. So we went there and we shot in her school. I looked around and I liked the bathroom, because I always liked the girls bathroom, and then went to this classroom, and then we'll shoot in the hallway. We just did all of these different scenarios with no specific cover, just to do a shoot in the school. So that's what we did. Our families are cool with each other, but actually, my mom did her hair. My mom has a beauty salon in the hood in Newark.
It's funny because in different stages of my life, I would be at the beauty salon a lot, so you don't have to go home and be by yourself. So I would be at the beauty salon for hours sometimes. I feel like there's something cheeky about that experience.
It seems like that experience helped shape you and how you see, have seen and are able to capture women.
Oh, my God. I've never even thought of that. And I never heard that before. Literally. But I never I never put those two things together until you said that. But like of course! You literally can learn something new everyday.
Do you have a favorite photo that you've taken?
I have so many favorite photos. I started putting photos on my wall and I think I have about 40, 50 photos on the wall of some of my favorite photos over the years. There's so many good ones, you know? One of my most recent favorite photos of all time is the photo I shot of Doja Cat coming down the stairs. It looks like she's at a ballroom, like in the '70s. You know those houses and those balls and things, I didn't go, but I know. I've seen Paris Is Burning and I've seen things about it. For her to be a rockstar, that photo is so live! So I look at that photo and presently that's my favorite photo. Not that it's better than any of my other ones.
Is there anyone that you haven't worked with that you would like to?
People ask me that and I kinda want to shoot everybody, everyone is popular, everyone is alive and has a story to tell. You know what, Cardi B! I feel like that makes a lot of sense. Especially with my kind of genuine style, she's that type of person that we need to cross paths. It totally makes sense. I'm beginning to shoot all of the hot new artists that I like. I like Lil Uzi [Vert]. All of them. I want to shoot everybody – whoever fucks with me, I want to shoot them.
The Dangerous Marketing Of The Trump Mug Shot
Besides, she continued, "the U.S. Copyright Act excludes from protection any works created by the federal government, but not state or local governments, so technically the state of Georgia owns the photo, subject to fair use limitations." In any case, neither concern appears to have stopped anyone.
The Trump campaign has made out very well, as you might expect from a man whose greatest product has always been himself, and whose view on the world often seems to involve the monetization of all things.
Buying any product from a candidate's store equates directly to money in their campaign bank account, since under federal law any such purchase is actually a donation; the object is the premium you get in return. On Aug. 26, Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, posted on X that since the mug shot was taken, the campaign had taken in $7.1 million, with "$4.18 million yesterday (Friday) alone, the highest grossing day of the entire campaign."
It's the same story at the Lincoln Project, where Rick Wilson, a co-founder, said that shot glasses (one of 10 possible mug shot-related products the creative team had tested) were the fastest-selling product the organization had made since 2020. All proceeds, he said, would go toward their media campaign to raise awareness about the "threat to the Republic" they believe Mr. Trump represents.
"It's a way to capture a moment like this in a way that turns Trump's notoriety and infamy back on itself," Mr. Wilson said. To use that notoriety to a different end, the Green Day tee is being sold to benefit Greater Good Music, a charity helping the victims of the Maui wildfires.
What they and all those involved, including the Etsy and Redbubble sellers — who are simply profiting off a cultural convulsion — understand is that, increasingly, our politics aren't real unless they are advertised. Or maybe they are too real, until they are reduced to the digestible level of advertising.
