October 2012: Letter from the editor

By Bernadette Morra | September 10th, 2012 | 8:00 am

Photography by Vanessa Heins; hair and makeup by Veronica Chu for Plutino Group; shot on location at the Royal Ontario Museum.

The speed with which Carly Rae Jepsen has shot to stardom has been positively meteoric. Between the time we started discussing a cover and the actual shoot, she became a household name. Jepsen was tailed by paparazzi when she arrived at the Vancouver studio where Gabor Jurina was set up to photograph her; features editor Elio Iannacci had to post gatekeepers at the door to keep them at bay.

But the singer couldn’t have been more sweet, and eagerly explored her sexy side in a body-con McQ by Alexander McQueen dress and leopard-spotted Louboutin pumps. “Whenever Gabor showed her which angles were working best for her, she was happy to go back and perfect the pose,” says stylist Zeina Esmail.

Photography is always a collaborative effort, notes Bryan Adams, another Canadian singing superstar. Adams discusses his portraits of Mick Jagger, Daphne Guinness, Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Rey in “Northern Exposure” (page 164). We are left with the impression that despite his fame and fortune, Adams is an artist at heart. This is one VIP parent we can’t imagine buying Dior for his 18-month-old.

But, as Shawna Cohen reports in “Little Luxuries” (page 70), many celebs do. “If the kids look good, they look good. Almost as an accessory,” comments a boutique owner who stocks Lanvin flats from size 2 years. What’s next? Designer diapers?

If the Hollywood set really doesn’t know what to spend their money on, Kari Molvar has some suggestions in “Treasure Hunt” (page 134). Her roundup of the world’s most expensive beauty products includes a $130,000 nail polish with a diamond-studded cap—even a jewellery lover like me doesn’t get the point of that.

There are many great reads in this issue. But the one that touched me most was makeup artist Sheri Stroh’s account of her determination to switch to chemical-free beauty products after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36 (page 130). Sheri did my makeup for my first ever Editor’s Letter—a photo I love and still use as my Twitter profile shot. Within a year of that picture being taken, Sheri was in the throes of surgery and chemo. Hers is just one of the many inspiring stories you will likely hear during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Please share your thoughts with me on Sheri’s story, and our entire October issue, at letters@fashionmagazine.

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