Kristen Stewart’s unrecognizably glam turn on the cover of W may have everyone talking, but a Steven Meisel spread tucked inside may start stealing the spotlight.
Today, WWD, made the connection between the famed photographer’s contribution to W — a then-and-now frivolity that dresses a model up on the left page and down on the right — and a project he undertook for the August issue of Italian Vogue. The spreads have a nearly identical concept and model Raquel Zimmermann is used both times.
John Koblin at Women’s Wear takes a look at the possible consequences.
The fallout will be worth watching. If it damages W’s relationship with Meisel, Tonchi will lose out on a big-name photographer he’s craved for the magazine. If Tonchi doesn’t act, it will demonstrate the lengths a fashion magazine editor will go to appease a photographer who holds considerable influence in the industry.
All this on the eve of Fashion Week, no less!
The Observer finally made our way through the September issue of W yesterday, waiting for a friend at Schiller’s. The Meisel spread looked perfectly fine to us — absorbing, even — but then again Keith McNally doesn’t stock Italian Vogue in his Lower East Side boîte, so we couldn’t trace the similarities.
