Paradise Blue - Karmen Pedaru: Vogue Paris June/July '11
There's another photo shoot from the June / July 2011 issue of Vogue Paris that has caught our eye, and this time not for allegations of copying. Instead it's all to do with contrast. Contrast between direction. Contrast between things said. Contrast between editors.
This all comes about because for a long time Vogue Paris was a print media title of influence. Every issue not only sparked debate, but also spurred on the imagination. Thus when Carine Roitfeld was replaced by Emmanuelle Alt as the title's Editor-in-chief, questions were raised. After all, Alt doesn't possess the same self-proclaimed "irreverence" that Roitfeld does, and it's that irreverence that received the credit for helping Vogue Paris 'push the envelope' under Roitfeld's hand. With Alt sitting so differently to Roifeld and, in her own words, wanting to change the direction of Vogue Paris to make it a magazine that features only the "girl who looks like she belongs in real life" questions were raised as to the magazine's direction.
One of the lead photo shoots for the latest issue of Vogue Paris leaves us feeling that the direction remains largely unchanged so far. It's a fashion pictorial as escapism. The perfect locale graced by the perfect body and all with a heady infusion of summer 2011 fashions.
Fashion as escapism is, after all, what we still want from our fashion media, be it new or old, print or web. This particular photo shoot captures a deep bronze tanned Karmen Pedaru styled in blues ands gold so strong that they make the colours of both the ocean and sand seem lacklustre in comparison. As a piece of escapism, it nails it. Few will view the pictorial and not want to own a featured piece, fewer still wouldn't want to be whisked away to the same shore and cliffs. As such it's walking a fine line between Alt's "real girl" and the escape from reality that Roitfeld always gave us.
The question is, however, with the pictorial styled not by Alt but by Anastasia Barbier, and with it potentially arranged when Roitfeld was still at the helm of the title (it's photographed by Cedric Buchet who did a number of shoots for Roitfeld with Barbier), is the change Alt has promised still a few issues away?
You can see a preview of Karmen Pedaru's photo shoot for the June / July 2011 issue of Vogue Paris by clicking on the thumbnails and browsing through the gallery, while you'll find the real deal in the issue once it hits newsstands worldwide.
Written by Daniel P Dykes.
Model: Karmen Pedaru
Photography: Cedric Buchet
Fashion Editor: Anastassia Barbieri
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