The Daring Issue

Harper’s Bazaar November 2014 issue. Photo by Alexi Lubomirski

Giorgio Armani Privé dress; Cartier earrings and bracelet

Maison Martin Margiela bustier and Donna Karan New York skirt

Posing alongside The Kiss, a sculpture by Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brâncuși

Altuzarra bodysuit and skirt; Cartier earrings

Balmain bandeau; Philip Treacy hat and Cartier ring

Versace dress and sandals ; Cartier ring and bracelet

Schiaparelli Haute Couture dress

Actress Anne Hathaway is the November 2014 cover star of Harper’s Bazaar US, posing in an Armani Prive gown on the cover photographed by Alexi Lubomirski. Inside the “Daring” issue, Anne stars in a feature made with creative direction by George Lois where she even wears a heart-shaped bustier with the words “I love you” decorated on top. She says about being daring, “I am getting more daring now—I’ll wear my mom jeans in public that haven’t been tailored ‘just so’ yet, just because they feel good.”

Hathaway tips a daring hat to, number one, Tilda Swinton. “Tilda is it, but she’s so cool about it. She’s so cool, she’d be like, ‘Oh, it’s not daring. I just did it.’ Hmm, Jonathan Demme”—who directed Hathaway to her first Oscar nomination, for Rachel Getting Married—“he’s still my mentor and hero. And Matthew McConaughey is the most daring man I know. He never judged himself along the way, and it’s all come together for him so wholly and deeply. He is totally himself.”

Jun 10

Matisse, Patti Smith and Sunflowers

Stefano Pilati drew inspiration from Patti Smith while styling this fashion editorial for Harper’s Bazaar (YSL Remixed by Kristina O’Neill, December 2005). The blouse was inspired by Matisse and Picasso’s muses. Photo: Anthony Ward

Vase of Sunflowers, Henri Matisse, 1898

Patti, Car and Sunflowers. Photo by Judy Linn. Circa early ’70s

Jun 4

A Courageous Fashion Editor

Elizabeth Tilberis, (b 7 September 1947 – d 21 April 1999) born Elizabeth Jane Kelly, known professionally throughout her career as Liz Tilberis, was a British fashion magazine editor.

Tilberis went to Malvern Girls College. She then went to Leicester Polytechnic where as a fashion student, she was expelled for having a man in her room. She then tried to go to Jacob Kramer Art College in Leeds. Andrew Tilberis, was an art tutor, and looked over her portfolio for admission. He was unimpressed with her work, but Liz gave him a speech why she wanted to attend and won him over (and later married him).

In 1967, British Vogue held a contest requiring three essays. Liz was the runner-up and began an internship there, making tea, picking up dress pins, and ironing for fashion shoots for 25 pounds per week. Later stating about her internship: “I succeeded by knowing the right answers, but also when to keep my mouth shut, when to smile and to do really good ironing”

Beatrix Miller, then editor-in-chief, noticed how nice and enthusiastic Liz was, and was promoted to fashion assistant in 1970. In 1971 she married Andrew Tilberis, whom her father forbade her to marry because “he was a foreigner.” They remained married for almost 30 years before her untimely death.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Liz began fertility treatments to try to conceive. They were not successful and she adopted sons Robert in 1981 and Christopher in 1985.

After 20 years at British Vogue, Liz was offered a lucrative job in New York City as part of Ralph Lauren‘s design team in 1987. She sold her house, packed up, and was about to leave for the United States. Anna Wintour, the then-editor, suddenly called Liz into her office, and informed her that she was moving to New York to become American House & Garden‘s new editor. She offered her job to Liz, which she accepted. Its circulation began to rise under her leadership and she said, “My staff are respectful rather than frightened.”

In 1992, Tilberis took over the helm of fashion institution Harper’s Bazaar. In December 1993, Tilberis was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 46, a disease she publicly blamed on her use of fertility drugs. She spent the next seven years at Bazaar balancing chemotherapy and revitalizing the 125-year-old magazine. Under her leadership, the stale magazine became a leading American fashion magazine again with top supermodels and fashion photographers such as Patrick Demarchelier.

Princess of Wales Diana, right, walks through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to attend the Costume Institute Gala with Liz Tilberis, chair of the event, Monday Dec. 9, 1996

Tilberis also served as President of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund from 1997 until her death in 1999. She escorted Diana, Princess of Wales on one of her last visits to New York, even though Tilberis herself was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for her cancer. Diana would telephone and write Tilberis to give her words of comfort and encouragement, until her own untimely death in a car accident on 31 August 1997.

Tilberis died on 21 April 1999 in New York City from Ovarian cancer. Tributes to her were in the June 1999 issue and the entire July 1999 issue of Bazaar.

Mar 30

V.I.P.’s (Very Important Portraits) by Roxanne Lowit

Roxanne Lowit is one of the pioneers of behind-the-scenes fashion photography as we know it today. “For the first 10 to 15 years I was the only one shooting backstage at all the shows. I had no credentials to begin with but quickly realised that that was my métier, that’s what I found most fascinating.”

The revelation came when she was gifted an Instamatic camera while still attending the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York studying Textile Design. At the time Lowit was a keen painter, but with this new tool discovered a more efficient way of capturing the spirit of her subjects. “I wanted to paint the people I admired but nobody had the time, so I thought I’d take a photograph of them and work from the photograph,” she says. “However, once I took the photograph I realised that I didn’t need to capture the whole soul in a painting. So I traded in my paintbrushes for a camera.”

Her background in textile design became her backstage pass when she was invited by the designers who worked from her patterns to photograph the completed garments before their shows. Eventually word got out that Lowit’s images were something worth publishing, and in 1978 she was contacted by Annie Flanders from the SoHo News. “She heard that I was going to Paris so she said ‘if you get a real camera I’ll use your pictures when you get back’. I learnt how to put film in a real camera on the plane on the way over. Next thing I was on the top of the Eiffel Tower shooting with Yves Saint Laurent and Andy Warhol. It was all downhill from there because how could it get any better?”

But things did get better, much better. After that first trip to Paris doors flung open for Lowit and her career as a backstage fashion photographer gained swift momentum. As industry insiders came to know and love her, the invitations to the parties flooded in, which was where much of the magic happened in front of Lowit’s lens. The 80s were heady times for fashion and she was always there, stationed in the fray, ready to catch the fanfare, frivolities and outright excess as it happened. “It was phenomenal,” she recalls. “We had the Supermodels and all those designers who loved the Supermodels. There were great parties – Elton John was always there and all sorts of celebrities started coming to the shows and parties.”

These days Lowit finds the more homogenised collections produced by contemporary designers as a result of an increasingly commercialised fashion industry much less inspiring, but revels in rising to the challenge all the same. “I usually play a game with myself, how good can I make this look?” she laughs. “But really it’s just about taking a great picture and finding a great moment. It’s always exciting to think, where am I going to go and what am I going to shoot next?”For the fashion designers themselves, as Lowit recalls, it was a time of tremendous creative freedom, where their unique artistic vision was nurtured by the industry and experimentation was encouraged. The shows, it seems, were less about selling clothes and more about the artistry, theatre and spectacle of it all. “It was so much more creative back then. You didn’t need a name at the end of the runway to know who it was you were watching,” she tells me. “When you saw long red nails with vampish clothes and great big hair you knew it was Thierry Mugler. When you saw flower dresses and a girl on a horse you knew you were at Kenzo. Stripes and knits, you were at Sonia Rykiel.”

Lowit gets a kick out of shooting just about anyone who gets a kick out of being shot. “All the pictures I’ve taken are important to me. They’re all like my children. It’s always the next image I look forward to. But looking back I think my favourites are the ones where the people just enjoyed having their picture taken – they were just having a good time. That’s really when I can capture something great.”

Roxanne Lowit, Andy Warhol, Jacqueline and Julian Schnabel, Kenny Scharf, Jean Michel Basquiat

Andy Warhol

Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld

Helena Christensen, Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour

Diana Vreeland

Ralph Lauren and Diana Vreeland

Salvador Dalí, Janet Daly and the recipient of a kiss

Helmut Newton

Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Helmut Newton

Peter Lindbergh, Arthur Elgort and Patrick Demarchelier

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino

Patrick Kelly, Iman, Grace Jones and Naomi Campbell

Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista

>Manolo Blahnik and Anna Piaggi

Lauren Hutton and a chauffeur

Elton John in concert wearing the Donald Duck costume, Central Park, New York

Shalom Harlow

Amanda Lepore

Halston

John Galliano

Annabelle Neilson Rothschild and John Galliano

Backstage from Dior Show, Paris

Kate Moss and John Galliano

Kate Moss

Ellen Von Unwerth and Mario Testino

Herb Ritts, Christy Turlington and Steven Meisel

Oct 27

Tales of Unexpected

Photos by Tim Walker for Vogue UK, December 2008

Tim Walker creates this candy coated acid trip of a universe featuring models Karen Elson, Georgia May Jagger, and Sophie Drake, as well as various actors, designers, and British eccentrics, including Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter. The story uses quotes from Roald Dahl stories and the editorial includes an article by Dahl’s granddaughter, model Sophie Dahl.

Oct 22

Tim Burton’s Tricks & Treats

Fashion editorial by Tim Walker. Harper’s Bazaar, October 2009

Oct 19

A Matter of Life and Death

“I find the vast majority of fashion is perpetuating something that has already been – particularly with how human beings are portrayed within it. I find it repetitive; I think I’ve always been drawn to something that’s a little more individual.”

Tim Walker

Malgosia Bela by Tim Walker, Harper’s Bazaar October 2009

A private world, Vogue Italia November 2008. Models: Alice Gibb, Sunniva Stordahl

Nathaniel Lyless and his bone bed, 2010

Agyness Deyn with Skull pipe, 2011

Tim Walker’s fascination with the make-believe world of fashion photography started early. As a 19-year-old intern at Vogue he established its Cecil Beaton Archive before studying art and photography at Exeter Art College. On graduation he worked briefly as a freelance photographic assistant in London before moving to New York as full-time assistant to Richard Avedon. At 25 he shot his first Vogue fashion story. He was the recipient of the second ‘Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator’ at the British Fashion Awards (2008) and the following year he received an Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, New York, for his fashion photography. In 2011 his short film The Lost Explorer premiered at Lorcano Film festival and went on to win the Jury Award at the Chicago United Film Festival. He is also well known for his advertising campaigns for Mulberry, Hèrmes, Valentino and many others.A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1946) is one of the films that have inspired and influenced some of his images.

Jul 22

Sail Forth!

“…Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

O my brave soul!
O farther, farther sail!
O daring joy, but safe! Are they not all the seas of God?
O farther, farther, farther sail!”

Walt Whitman

Fragment from 183. Passage to India

(Note: E.M. Forster borrowed the book’s title A Passage to India from this Whitman’s poem)

Model Kim Nye wearing Ralph Lauren 1992 Spring Summer collection. Ad campaign photographed by Bruce Weber

Jul 4

Fashion, Stars and Stripes

Photo credit: Hedi Slimane

John Varvatos’ scarf

Photo credit: Beau Grealy

Pumps designed by Charlotte Olympia

Ralph Lauren

Illustration by Lauren’s long-time collaborator, Audrey Schilt

Tommy Hilfiger

Halston at Warhol’s Montauk, NY beach house

Orpheus Descending. Photo editorial by Nathaniel Goldberg

Marc Jacobs

Blake Lively

Michael Kors

John Galliano and models photographed by Simon Procter

Dress by Catherine Malandrino

Jacket Adidas by Jeremy Scott

Jul 2

American Flag on Harper’s Bazaar

Cover from July 1942

Cover from July 1943 by Erwin Blumenfeld

Sarah Jessica Parker by Patrick Demarchelier, February 2001

Meg Ryan by Patrick DeMarchelier. Harper´’s Bazaar Magazine [Australia], April 2002

Drew Barrymore by Alexi Lubomirski. November 2008

Jun 16

Like Father… (Artists)

English author, critic and mountaineer Leslie Stephen and Virginia Woolf

Painter Lucian Freud with his daughter, fashion designer Bella Freud

Gerolamo “Gimmo” Etro, the brand’s founder and his four children: Jacopo (manages textiles, leather goods and the home collections), Kean (is responsible for the menswear collections) , Ippolito (the CEO) and Veronica (is responsible for the women’s collections).

Gabriel García Márquez, his wife Mercedes Barcha, alongside their sons Rodrigo (screenwriter, television and film director) and Gonzalo (graphic designer)

Spanish fashion designer Adolfo Dominguez and two of her three daughters

Tommy Hilfiger and His son Richard, a rapper who is known as Ricky Hil

Alex Bolen, her wife Eliza Bolen, Oscar de la Renta’s step-daughter, and Moisés de la Renta

Jerry Hall, Oscar De la Renta and his adopted child Moisés, who debuted his very first collection (a limited edition T-shirt line called MDLR for a Spanish chain) in 2010

Ralph Lauren, his wife Ricky and their children Andrew (film producer and actor), David (Senior Vice President, Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications at Polo Ralph Lauren) and Dylan (owner of Dylan’s Candy Bar, which claims to be the largest candy store in the world, based in New York City)

Pablo and Paloma Picasso

John and Anjelica Huston

Henry Fonda with his children Peter and Jane

Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia and Roman

Alain Delon and Anthony

Vincente Minelli and Liza. Photo: Bob Willoughby

Mel Ferrer with Audrey Hepburn Holding Newborn Sean

Alfred Hitchcock, Alma Reville and Patricia

Kelly Curtis, Jamie Leigh Curtis, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh

Robert De Niro Sr. (painter) and Robert De Niro Jr.(actor)

Jaime Haven Voight, Angelina Jolie, and Jon Voight. Photo: Ron Galella

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and their blended family

Steve McQueen, Neile Adams, Terry Leslie and Chad

Jean Paul Belmondo and Patricia

Heath Ledger and Matilda

May 7

Amazigh Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein’s collection inspired by Amazigh or Berber Jew tribes. Date unknown. Circa 1975-1979

Francisco Costa’s collection for Calvin Klein. Look No. 3. Fall/Winter 2013.

Calvin Klein was hailed as the new Yves Saint-Laurent, and was noted for his clean lines. Klein, who was born on November 19, 1942, was one of several design leaders raised in the Jewish immigrant community in the Bronx, New York, along with Robert Denning and Ralph Lauren. At Vogue, Klein became a protegee of Russian banker and socialite Baron de Gunzburg, through whose introductions helped him become the toast of the New York elite fashion scene even before he had his first mainstream success with the launch of his first jeans line. The September 1975 Vogue trumpeted, “If you were around a hundred years from now and wanted a definitive picture of the American look in 1975, you’d study Calvin Klein.” Klein was immediately recognized for his talent after his first major showing at New York Fashion Week.

Apr 2

Fashion Takes Its Bite of the Big Apple

Peter Som, United Bamboo, Imitation of Christ, Jeffrey Chow, Behnaz Sarafpour and Sebastian Pons

Actress and Imitation of Christ creative consultant Chloë Sevigny, with Elephant lead singer Diego Garcia, Hope Atherton and male model

Michael Kors, Carmen Kass and Mexican actor Diego Luna

Mark Badgley, James Mishka, Vera Wang, a group of rappers and models

Narciso Rodriguez, Oscar de la Renta, his daughther Eliza Reed Bolen, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Eugenia Silva and other models

Proenza Schouler designers Lázaro Hernández (left) and Jack Mc Collough. In this picture they attempt to corral a llama, inspired by Inge Morath’s 1957 photograph in which the animal rides a cab through New York City.