Showing posts with label Elle Magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elle Magazine. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

 Women for Bees





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Monday, August 5, 2019

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Angelina Jolie on Why the World Needs More Wicked Women





Trench coat with cape, Burberry. Earrings, Rosantica.


What is it about the power of a woman free in mind and body that has been perceived as so dangerous throughout history? In the past, the Old Testament command “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” was taken literally. Tens of thousands of people were executed for maleficia, the alleged crime of evil deeds through magic, from the witch hunts in Europe to the Salem trials in America. The vast majority of these were women.

Angelina with her dogs, a Rottweiler and a pit mix chosen as puppies from a shelter by her eldest sons. Dress and belt, Dior. Bracelets, Cartier. Pumps, Jimmy Choo. Vintage earrings.

Like the ultimate conspiracy theory, anything you couldn’t explain—from a crop failing to a child falling ill—could be put down to the influence of a supposedly wicked woman. These were often destitute widows, eking out an existence as healers on the fringes of society, or younger women whose seductive powers could easily be attributed to magic.
Women could be accused of witchcraft for having an independent sex life, for speaking their mind on politics or religion, or for dressing differently. Had I lived in earlier times, I could have been burnt at the stake many times over for simply being myself. 

The accusation of witchcraft has been used to control and silence women in almost all societies and in every century. Joan of Arc was put to death by fire in fifteenth-century France for idolatry and heresy, including wearing men’s clothing. The initial charges against her included witchcraft, and she was accused of dancing near a fairy tree at night—textbook witchy behavior.

 It is so ludicrous that it almost seems funny, until you consider that a woman dancing or singing in public is viewed as illegal or indecent in many countries today. Iranian girls who post videos of themselves dancing are challenging what the country’s law and religious dogma still deems unacceptable behavior for women, six centuries later.

Since time immemorial, women who rebel against what is considered normal by society—even unintentionally—have been labeled as unnatural, weird, wicked, and dangerous. What is surprising is the extent to which this kind of myth and prejudice has persisted throughout the centuries and still colors the world we live in.
It is startling how often women who run for political office in democratic countries are described as witches. Bring together a group of strong women, and before too long someone will brand them a “coven”—the technical term, to be clear, for a gathering of witches meeting at night to consort with the devil. Women who stand up for human rights in many countries are still labeled “deviant,” “bad mothers,” “difficult,” or “loose.”
Jolie, an instrument-rated pilot stands beside her own plane. She bought it when her son Maddox was young (the tail number is his initials and birth date). Jumpsuit, Stella McCartney. Aviators, Dolce & Gabbana. Earrings, J. Hannah.


In my work, I travel often to countries where I know that if I were a citizen there, my beliefs and actions as a woman could land me in jail or expose me to physical danger. Female human rights defenders across the world are incarcerated for their political views or for defending themselves or others, with courage I can hardly imagine. For all our modern advances, the independence and creative energy of women is still frequently seen as a dangerous force to be controlled, often in the name of religion, tradition, or culture.
Consider the estimated 200 million women and girls alive today who have suffered genital mutilation. Or the approximately 650 million women and girls worldwide who were made to marry before they were 18 years old. Thousands of women and girls are murdered by family members in so-called honor killings each year, as a punishment for exercising their own free will. And when thousands of Sudanese women took to the streets of Khartoum calling for free elections in their country this summer, the order went out to “break the girls,” leading to scores of alleged rapes by security forces.

Jacket, Celine by Hedi Slimane.



None of this is to dismiss or downplay for an instant the terrible abuses against men and boys—including modern allegations of witch-craft. But looking across the world, we have to ask, Why is so much energy expended to keep women in a secondary position?
Looked at in this light, “wicked women” are just women who are tired of injustice and abuse. Women who refuse to follow rules and codes they don’t believe are best for themselves or their families. Women who won’t give up on their voice and rights, even at the risk of death or imprisonment or rejection by their families and communities.
If that is wickedness, then the world needs more wicked women.

Trench coat, Galvan. Earrings, Bulgari. Bag, Celine by Hedi Slimane.

But it is also true that women don’t wake up every morning wanting to fight. We want to be able to be soft and nurturing and graceful and loving—not everyone is born to fight. And we don’t have magical powers. What we do have is the ability to support one another, and to work with the many great men who value and respect women as their equals.  

I think of a father whom I met the first time I went to an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan, during the rule of the Taliban. He had been beaten so badly for sending his daughters to school that the whites of his eyes were yellow from the damage to his liver. I think of a Syrian husband I met whose wife became paralyzed after she was shot in the spine by a sniper. They were living in a refugee camp, with no possessions and nowhere to go, but I do not think I have ever seen a more loving couple or devoted husband. And I could not be prouder of my sons for the men they are becoming, the way they respect their sisters and are respected by them.

Who we are meant to be in life is something we all have to work out for ourselves. I think we can often go offtrack as women, because our instinct is to nurture or to adjust ourselves to society’s expectations. 

It can be hard to take the time to ask ourselves who we truly want to be—not what we think other people will approve of or accept, but who we really are. But when you listen to yourself, you can make the choice to step forward and learn and change.
I remember when that moment first came for me. I was in my twenties, meeting refugees in Sierra Leone during the closing stages of a brutal civil war. I understood for the first time the level of violence that exists in the world, and the reality of life for the millions of people affected by conflict and displacement. And I discovered my life’s work and purpose.

I often tell my daughters that the most important thing they can do is to develop their minds. You can always put on a pretty dress, but it doesn’t matter what you wear on the outside if your mind isn’t strong. There is nothing more attractive—you might even say enchanting—than a woman with an independent will and her own opinions.

With love to all the wicked women, and the men who understand them. —Angelina



Styled by Elizabeth Stewart; hair by Adam Campbell at the Wall Group; makeup by Toni G for Joe Blasco Cosmetics; manicure by EmiKudo for OPI; set design byJack Flanagan at the Wall Group; produced by Nathalie Akiya at Kranky Produktions.

This article will appear in the September 2019 issue of ELLE, on newsstands August 27.


Alex Lubomirski has become their preferred photographer.  OUATIH and now Maleficent.

 






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Tuesday, March 13, 2018




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Thursday, February 8, 2018































Angelina Jolie does not have a project to promote. She’s neither starring in, nor directing, a March film. Bucking the standard reasons for doing press, the Academy Award–winning megastar is on this month’s cover of ELLE to draw attention to an occasion that doesn’t come with a red carpet: International Women’s Day (March 8).

For the better part of the last decade, the 42-year-old has devoted herself to shedding light on women’s rights, or lack thereof, across the globe. Serving as a goodwill ambassador and special envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, she’s completed nearly 60 field missions, including visits to Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. As cofounder of the British government’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, she’s met with rape survivors in Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Days before her ELLE shoot, the Guardian published Jolie’s call to action against gender-based violence, co-authored with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Despite all her advocacy, Jolie confesses she’s always been reticent when it comes to politics. Still, she recognizes that political action can sometimes offer a more direct route to changing things for the better.

To that end, the following story is a thoughtful conversation between her and longtime politician John Kerry. Jolie first met the 74-year-old statesman—a Vietnam veteran, presidential candidate, and, most recently, U.S. secretary of state—five years ago at the London G8 Summit. It’s a frigid December morning when the two reconnect at the Ritz-Carlton in New York. Kerry, who unexpectedly bumped into his daughter Vanessa on the street, brought her along for a brief hello. The four youngest of Jolie’s six children will arrive later. Jolie is in town to accept the Global Citizen of the Year award from the United Nations Correspondents Association and to do some Christmas shopping. They’re both looking forward to 2018, when Jolie will speak to students at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where the former secretary oversees the Kerry Initiative. Kerry, in turn, has agreed to speak at the London School of Economics, where Jolie is a visiting professor.

Here, a small preview of some of the huge issues they are working tirelessly to remedy. Listen in.


Angelina Jolie: Thank you for speaking with me for International Women’s Day.
John Kerry: My pleasure. How’s your family?
AJ: All right. The kids will be here soon. You have grandkids now?

JK: I am having the best time being a granddad. They’re so smart, it’s scary.
AJ: They really are, just their clarity....

JK: I’ve just come back from a climate summit in Paris. I know this is something you feel strongly about, why we need to be engaged globally.
AJ: That’s one of the things I’d love to talk to you about. There is this question of, can you be a citizen of the world and still be a patriot? It shouldn’t even be a question.

JK: It’s something we need to talk more about. What it means to be an American. We need to do a better job of explaining why all Americans should feel proud of the things that we have done in countries around the world.
AJ: I’m very patriotic, as I know you are. For me, it goes hand in hand with being proud of what America stands for. For instance, I’m the only person in my house who was born in America.

JK: I wasn’t aware of that.
AJ: It’s only because we are a country based on people of different backgrounds and faiths coming together that I can have this family. My daughters have the freedoms they have because of being American. And we are at our best when we are fighting for others to have the same rights. Particularly other women. 

JK: The challenge is describing how a conflict in North Africa or wherever else relates to all of us. How it impacts migration, terrorism, the economy.
AJ: The way I see it, even if you are a person who doesn’t want to have to care about international issues, you are still affected. Stepping back is dangerous.

JK: Last year, we had a discussion at the Jackson Institute at Yale on climate change. When you say “Save the planet” to most people, their eyes glaze over. But again, it’s about how it impacts all of us—especially jobs. What if you are a farmer and things won’t grow in certain places? What does it mean to have more frequent and destructive superstorms? [As U.S. secretary of state, Kerry negotiated and signed the Paris climate accord in 2016. Last June, Trump announced that the U.S. intends pull out in 2020.]
AJ: It must be a frustrating time, with America withdrawing from the climate agreement.

JK: The truth is, more than 90 cities, including New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, are 100 percent committed to live by the Paris agreement. The American people have not pulled out. Climate change negatively affects all the issues you’re working on—violence against women, refugees.
AJ: There are already more people displaced by climate change than by war. Was the environment what drew you into politics?

JK: When I came back from Vietnam, I didn’t immediately protest the war. I was still processing it. But I did become part of the first Earth Day, in 1970. We got 20 million people to come out, and from that came the Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and the EPA. Guess who signed the EPA into law? Richard Nixon. Why? Because it was a voting issue. Then, in the election of 1974, we targeted 12 members of Congress, labeling them the “dirty dozen.” Seven of them lost their seats. Boom. Everybody was shocked.
AJ: I was quite anti-politics when I was young. I started working on human-rights issues and meeting refugees and survivors mostly because I wanted to learn. I also had this romantic idea that I would get my boots on and be a humanitarian. But at a certain point, you realize that’s not enough. You have to find the root of the problem. And that, so often, brings you back to the law and politics. For instance, I kept meeting refugees who were survivors of systematic rape—rape used as a weapon. Yet there were virtually no convictions. It fired me up to start working with governments and lawmakers. When it comes down to it, we still treat violence against women as a lesser crime.

JK: It’s shameful.
AJ: You have to identify what will make that change. Find the people in politics you can work with, and hold them to their promises.

JK: That’s democracy: It’s about accountability. You have to fight and keep pushing. Do you feel like you’ve been effective?
AJ: In some countries, sexual violence is less of a taboo discussion. It’s something more people expect their leaders to act on. Over 150 countries have signed a commitment to end impunity for war-zone rape. There are new teams in place to gather evidence and support prosecutions. I was in Kenya last summer as UN peacekeeping troops received new training, since peacekeepers have been part of the problem. We’re working with NATO on training, protection, and getting more women in the military. But there is so far to go.

JK: When I was a young prosecutor, a lot of people didn’t believe that violence against women was a crime. We tried to chip away at that old thinking by expanding counseling programs for rape victims and hiring and promoting more women prosecutors.
AJ That’s exactly it: changing thinking as well as laws. I think of how hard women fought to get us to where we are today. Everything counts, from the way you hold yourself in your daily life and educate yourself on your own rights, to solidarity with other women around the world. 

JK: I hope readers understand how important their individual voices are.
AJ: And that they feel their voices are being heard. I tell my daughters, “What sets you apart is what you are willing to do for others. Anyone can put on a dress and makeup. It’s your mind that will define you. Find out who you are, what you think, and what you stand for. And fight for others to have those same freedoms. A life of service is worth living.”


Hair by Adam Campbell at the Wall Group; makeup by Matin; manicure by Mary Soul; grooming by Susan Phear; set design by Bette Adams for MHS Artists; produced by Nathalie Akiya for Kranky Produktions; fashion assistant: Yashua Simmons

This article originally appears in the March 2018 issue of ELLE.









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Friday, May 16, 2014








businessoffashion

Cover Stories

Behind Elle’s Angelina Jolie Cover

By Lauren Sherman
In the next instalment of Cover Stories, we explore the story behind the making of the June cover of American Elle and how the title tapped Hedi Slimane to give Angelina Jolie just the right fashion edge to generate plenty of positive buzz for the magazine, the designer and the actress, just before the debut of her latest film.

NEW YORK, United States — What are the elements of a successful magazine cover? The right celebrity? A great photographer? A provocative statement? Strong styling? A smart seeding strategy? The cover of American Elle’s June 2014 issue seems to have ticked all the boxes.
Images of the cover, featuring actress Angelina Jolie shot by Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane, were first released by Elle’s PR team on May 7th, almost two weeks before the magazine was set to hit newsstands. And so far, the strategy seems to have worked, generating more than 200 news stories, according to a Google search, as well as thousands of social media shares.
Cover of Elle (US) June 2014 | Photo: Hedi Slimane for Elle
Cover of Elle (US) June 2014 | Photo: Hedi Slimane for Elle

For Roberta “Robbie” Myers, Elle’s editor-in-chief, a successful cover is one that people won’t stop talking about. “I’m always satisfied and happy when people are talking,” she says.

To ensure Elle achieves this kind of buzz, her team begins thinking about possible cover subjects months — sometimes years — before an issue’s publication date. The negotiations are different for every cover, but they typically require the magazine’s entertainment director to convince a celebrity’s publicist that they are the right publication to present a given star at that moment of their career. Sometimes persuading them is easy. Other times it’s not. And, depending on the subject, there may also be the thorny issue of approvals to discuss (every magazine has a different policy, but some are known to give top celebrities final approval over images). Celebrities can also stipulate things like making sure the beauty brand they are representing is mentioned in the credits.

The complexities of these kinds of negotiations, plus the realities of long lead times for print, mean editors, who need to anticipate who their audience will want to read about by the time an issue finally comes out, must learn to look into the future. “It’s all about looking forward — sometimes six months, sometimes a year, sometimes two years — to see what is going to be happening in the culture. We put women on the cover who are making the culture,” says Myers. In this case, she and her team started talks with Jolie and Disney — the studio behind Jolie’s new film, Maleficent, which opens days after Elle’s June issue drops — more than six months ago.

Securing major magazine covers is a critical part of marketing any big-budget film and studios must be strategic about which publications to partner with. To snag Jolie, Elle offered global reach — more than 20 international editions of Elle are scheduled to run the 16-page cover story. “The fact that Elle is a global brand with more international editions than any other fashion magazine brand created an opportunity for Angelina and Disney to do one shoot and reach every time zone in the world,” says Myers. Elle also held out the promise of working with Slimane, who has photographed Jolie privately in the past and frequently dresses her for red carpet appearances. For some time, Slimane had been in talks with Joe Zee, Elle’s creative director, about doing a special project for the magazine. And this one had the right appeal.

“It’s about a woman really in control of her life,” says Myers on the cover story, photographed by Slimane and written by deputy editor Maggie Bullock. “[Jolie] is firing on all levels: intellectually, emotionally, work, children.” But, crucially, the idea was also to portray Jolie, not only as a strong and multi-faceted woman, but also as a lover of fashion, the kind of thing that can help position popular actresses for lucrative business deals. (Jolie recently collaborated with Stella McCartney on a line of children’s clothes pegged to Maleficent and, last year, launched her own jewellery collection, Style of Jolie, with Robert Procop.)

For what was a rare black-and-white shoot, Slimane created several custom pieces for the actress to wear. “It’s been a really long time since she’s been shot in this way,” says Myers. “Often you’ll see her on the red carpet, or you’ll see her in the tabloids surrounded by her children. It’s exciting to get her in this kind of fashion.”

Of course, Jolie is also one of the most famous women in the world, which certainly won’t hurt Elle’s sales at the newsstand. In 2013, the best-selling covers of American women’s magazines featured Kim Kardashian, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Lawrence and other mega-celebrities. These days, fashion models, who once ruled magazine covers, are rarely featured. “I think celebrities are more knowable in a way. We can project more on to them and people feel very familiar with them,” says Myers. “That said, I think featuring a mix of celebrities and models is important. Fashion is defined as ‘that which is current,’ so even though the culture has become more celebrity-obsessed over the past decade, models are at the heart of the fashion industry. We always put women on our covers who are at an inflection point in their lives, professionally or personally. We had [model] Joan Smalls on [the cover in] January and the response was incredible.”

In the end, the Jolie cover works because it follows a powerful formula without feeling formulaic. “You rarely see a black-and-white cover on a newsstand. And Hedi is such an amazing photographer; he captures not only [Jolie’s] beauty, but also her fierce strength and intelligence,” says Myers. “We let the image speak for itself. We didn’t load it up with cover lines. It’s just a beautiful thing to look at.”

Disclosure: Lauren Sherman is a contributor to Elle’s website, Elle.com.



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Wednesday, May 7, 2014





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Whether she’s tackling films, family, or philanthropy, Angelina Jolie has never been one for small measures. As she prepares to terrify children worldwide as Disney’s deliciously evil Maleficent (the film opens on May 30th), the actress and director works with Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane on a shoot that spotlights her stripped down, very real self for ELLE’s June cover—as well as a 16-page portfolio that will be featured in more than 20 editions of ELLE around the world.
Jolie spoke candidly with ELLE deputy editor Maggie Bullock about life with her fast-growing children (Shiloh's got a half-pipe!), doing only the work that really matters (including the biggest passion project of her career), and why she and Brad are still passionate and “more interested in each other” than ever. In this exclusive preview, Jolie reflects on the perception of her early years in the spotlight:

 The tumult of her twenties, was “misinterpreted as [me] wanting to be rebellious,” Jolie says. “And in fact it wasn’t a need to be destructive or rebellious—it’s that need to find a full voice, to push open the walls around you. You want to be free. And as you start to feel that you are being corralled into a certain life, you kind of push against it. It may come out very strange, it may be interpreted wrong, but you’re trying to find out who you are.”
What she hit upon was a deep and abiding fear “of a life half-lived,” she says. “I realized that very young—that a life where you don’t live to your full potential, or you don’t experiment, or you’re afraid, or you hesitate, or there are things you know you should do but you just don’t get around to them, is a life that I’d be miserable living, and the only way to feel that I’m on the right path is just to be true to myself, whatever that may be, and that tends to come with stepping out of something that’s maybe safe or traditional.”

Related: Angelina Jolie: Our Wonder Woman

The full interview can be found exclusively in ELLE’s June issue, available on the digital newsstand now, and on newsstands in select cities starting May 13, and nationwide on May 20. For more exclusive sneak peeks throughout the month follow @ELLEmagazine on Twitter and @elleusa on Instagram.

Photo: Hedi Slimane
































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