ELLE USA No. 432 December 2021-January 2022
Who is KAIA GERBER? Born in Los Angeles, September 3, 2001, an OMEGA and YSL Beauty ambassador, the American Horror Story actress, the uprising nova model, and the daughter of super model Cindy Crawford—Kaia Gerber with 1,77m height and the resemblance to her mother’s elegance, perhaps, with a more of a touch of French exquisite, is gracing her debut ELLE USA cover: dark eye shadow and coral rosy lip colour by YSL, flowing touch of brunet dyed layering hairdo effortlessly fiddling with her bare shoulders, the ostrich feather piece with studded fishnet top and sheer mesh bodysuit and Commando thong by Saint Laurent, under the lens of Photographer Nathaniel Goldberg, the next-gen It-Girl Kaia Gerber strike the sensual poses for the best holiday looks.
Suffering from the attack of the pandemic, the decline of publication business and the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s been a long while that ELLE USA fails to present astonishing cover girls for the dozens months. To be honest, October 2021 ELLE USA showing Billie Eilish on cover was supposed to be one of my beloved collections, woefully that the defectiveness plus the lack of thickness of the physical copy holding my excitement back. Fortunately No. 432 the Holiday Issue returns ELLE USA its bona fide; Editor-in-Chief Nina Garcia (always love her at The Project Runway) concludes Kaia Gerber on haute couture styles from chic to charming. No matter shining in crystals, Kaia sexually models MIUMIU dress and socks with Swarovski ring, poses fearlessly in silver sequined pantsuit from AZZARO Couture, or wearing poppy red lipstick, Kaia wows we readers with CHANEL off-white overall with Byzantium-inspired jewelry. Last but not the least, mix-and-match game never defeats Kaia: poses with sensual gazes in Dior wide-bream hat with EMPORIO ARMANI suspender pants or wears BOTTEGA VENETA dress and boots mixing Celine bow tie and completes the look with Omega watch, even only GUCCI red velvet suit from 1996, originally wore by Gwyneth Paltrow, Kaia rebels its formal way by wearing without any lingerie underneath.
One of the most unfortunate parts of Kaia Gerber’s debut cover issue for us the readers is the absence of interview from the fashion campaign pages. Instead, my further knowledge about the genuine words from this super nova model, are from the article of VOGUE USA June/July 2021. Together with her brother Presley, Kaia talks about how lucky she is during these merciless years, to stay at her parents’ Malibu apartment, able to pursuit her modeling and acting career with her family’s full support. Nevertheless, she also points out that for her early maturity due to her mother’s spotlight, even she “always wanted to be good and easy, not to make trouble,” but “once when you do that, you sometimes end up losing your voice.”
Slightly lamentably, this silence of Kaia from every page turn at ELLE USA holiday issue realizes the words she told at VOGUE last summer. In order to avoid the paparazzi’s unprofessional guessworks and to enhance the value of fashion publication, those voice of talented females, regardless of age, ethics or careers, must be recorded, resourcefully and carefully well.
For the photography, in order to respond to the pastel blue tone of the cover, I adopt Chanel le Vernis #615 Sweet Lilac and Les 4 Ombres Eye shadow #262 Tissé Beverly Hills; also due to Kaia has been conquering CHANEL runways, I replenish Chanel Hydra Beauty 5ml micro serum, moisturizing cream and lip balm, le volume stretch mascara #10 Noir. Chanel CHANCE Eau de Tendre and Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum 2ml are always the cutest table setting must-have, which the upright settings can create a more of abstract vision due to the magazine shoot is always flat lay technique. As for accessories, Chanel CC logo Swaroski crystal brooch, heart shape earrings and holiday limited edition camellia flowers are never too lavish to overuse them. Before my upcoming Chinese New Year holiday 2022, reading ELLE USA Holiday issue offers me the simulated getaway during the chilly snowy Helsinki days.
Further Reading about KAIA at VOGUE:
https://www.vogue.com/article/kaia-gerber-cover-june-july-2021
