Home/Women's Lifestyle/Vanity Fair UK/July - August 2024/In This Issue
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Editor’s LetterAt the height of the conspiracy theories about Kate Middleton’s whereabouts after a planned surgery, as rumors swirled about body doubles, deepfakes, and other deceptive tactics of the disinformation age, it struck me that the British monarchy was again—ironically—proving its resilience. Outside of world leaders and Taylor Swift (more on her shortly), who but the future Queen of England could generate such attention, such interest, such unhinged speculation? The truth turned out to be humbling, scary, and all too common. A cancer diagnosis is the great leveler, the kind of thing everybody fears and all the money in the world can’t prevent. In our cover story, Katie Nicholl explores its chilling effect on the House of Windsor, in a season when not one but two of its four core members…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024ContributorsDara LIND“CROSSING OVER,” P. 84“It’s easy to present images of the US-Mexico border as a spectacle,” says Lind, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council and longtime immigration reporter. She was instead grateful for the opportunity to explore the fuller picture.Savannah WALSH“NO NONSENSE,” P. 50“At 25, she’s a brighter version of herself, ready to embrace her newfound pop stardom because she now knows it’s only just beginning,” says Walsh, who first interviewed Sabrina Carpenter shortly after her 21st birthday. Walsh, a Kansas City, Missouri, native, can be found working late, ’cause she’s a writer.Emma SUMMERTON“NO NONSENSE,” P. 50Summerton, who photographed idiosyncratic pop star Sabrina Carpenter, has a fondness for detail and a fervor for fashion. In 2023, the Australia-born photographer became just the fifth woman to shoot the Pirelli calendar…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024GOLD RushJOIE DE VIVREGRIFFITH JOYNER: RUSSELL CHYNE/ALLSPORT/GETTY IMAGES. ALL: COURTESY OF THE BRANDS.…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Pool PARTYTHE TERM “hotel art” doesn’t typically inspire visions of creative brilliance, instead calling to mind a framed seashell print at a beachside bungalow, sketches of the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty, or oil paintings of horses in snow at grand ski resorts out West.But over the years some hotels, through wealth or by happenstance, have displayed real art—art that should be hanging in a museum, or at the very least a blue-chip gallery. In its heyday, the Ancien Hôtel Baudy in Giverny was host first to Monet, then Pissarro, Renoir, and more Impressionist biggies, with many artists’ work ending up on its walls. A few decades later on the opposite side of France, the owners of La Colombe d’Or in Saint-Paul de Vence struck up a friendship with Matisse…3 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Face LIFTWhat do the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Patek Philippe Nautilus, and Omega Constellation have in common? All three (and many more) have showcased the genius of prolific watchmaker Gérald Genta. Twenty-five years after its 1972 release, Audemars Piguet scaled down the Royal Oak to its smallest size ever for female clientele; another quarter century later, this petite version offers a fresh interpretation for the modern woman. Clocking in around the size of a nickel with a frosted gold finish, the textured metal sparkles without gems. Beauty, brains, and efficiency.SET DESIGN, JOCELYN CABRAL. FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS.…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024CHICAGO BluesAS THE DEMOCRATIC National Convention barrels down on Chicago this August, it’s not lost on historians that Grant Park, stretched along the shores of Lake Michigan in the city’s downtown Loop, has been a kind of American omphalos: a venue for celebration, surely, but also a portal to the belly of the American beast.Borne out of the ashes of the Great Fire of 1871, the 312-acre park was established three decades later, and its elegant promenades and groomed lawns soon became a people’s playground, the site of both the Art Institute and Field Museum. During World War I, the traveling US Government War Exposition held a highly attended spectacle there, with a display illustrating trench warfare, medical treatments, and new technologies.In my lifetime, two other gatherings in Grant Park—one not…6 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024A Royal ChallengeWHEN KING CHARLES was crowned just over a year ago, nobody, not even the king himself, could have predicted the first year of his reign would play out as it has. Just nine months after his coronation, watched by some 400 million people around the world, in a coincidence as bizarre as it was unprecedented, the monarch and his beloved daughter-in-law the Princess of Wales were both admitted to the same London hospital within days of one another. And then the one-two punch of why: Despite initial assurances that neither condition was believed to be cancerous, the palace announced that Charles had in fact been diagnosed with cancer, and after several weeks of brutal speculation and online conspiracy theories, Kate had too.The earlier hospitalization announcements, released to the public just…13 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024HAUTEAUTEURRIDLEY SCOTT IS standing next to a tiger. The big cat is frozen in motion, leaping off its hind legs, broad mitts set to attack. This is the set of Gladiator in Kalkara, Malta. The year is circa 1999, which you might have surmised from the style of the shades worn by the crew members in the shot’s middle ground, framed between Scott, the animatronic tiger, and the back of leading man Russell Crowe’s head. The tiger had its moment, slain by Crowe’s Maximus in a pivotal fight scene. In this photo, though, it’s just a dusty stuffed animal in a fake Colosseum with a middle-aged director prodding its belly in a mock-neck T-shirt and baseball cap. Scott’s outfit here is rigorously basic, the only bit of ornamentation a metal…9 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024SUSPICIOUSMINDSON THE WEEKEND of September 22, 2023, 4,000 women, and some men too, descended on the Orlando World Center Marriott for the sixth annual CrimeCon, described by its founder, Kevin Balfe, as a place where victims can feel “loved.”Launched in 2017, CrimeCon brings together consumers and content creators within the true-crime genre for presentations by criminology experts, law enforcement, victims, and niche celebrities, such as renowned pedophile catcher Chris Hansen. The convention’s attendance pales beside events like Gamescom (around 320,000 participants) and comic conventions (more than 126,000 at LA Comic Con alone) but distinguishes itself by its overwhelmingly female spectatorship; Balfe estimates that 80 percent of his attendees are women.CrimeCon Orlando kicked off in the Grand Ballroom with a neon-themed rock concert by the Sole Purpose, featuring guitarist Creighton Waters,…26 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024PATTI SMITHWhat is your idea of perfect happiness? Clarity when I am writing. What is your greatest fear? Collapse of the imagination. If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be? A long-distance runner.What is your most treasured possession? My wedding ring, a plain gold band. What is your favorite journey? Entering the pages of a great book and gliding through the mind of the author. What is your greatest regret? Not spending more time with my mother, sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee, and listening attentively to her stories. What or who is the greatest love of your life? My late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith, remains the love of my life. When and where were you happiest? Tramping through the woods in South Jersey in 1957…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024SHOWCASEGO, GABRIELLE, GO! Coco Chanel was no layabout—she played tennis and golf, skied, rode horses and sailed. She designed costumes for tennis and beach-going, outfits for skiing and ice-skating, and is widely credited with designing the first version of the modern women’s swimsuit. This year, Patrice Leguéreau, director of the maison’s Fine Jewellery Creation Studio, celebrates Chanel’s athletic style with a new high jewellery collection, Sport. Rife with No. 5-shaped karabiners for clasps, “sport-cord” chains and hi-tech materials (such as carbon fibre and aluminium) among diamonds, rare Kashmir sapphires and pigeon’s-blood rubies, the collection is designed to sleekly follow the body’s lines. Chevrons evoke speed, the iconic star celebrates victory, and an aerodynamic approach to fit allows for unprecedented freedom of movement (when donning fistfuls of diamonds, that is). PBs…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024State ofPLAYA popular Instagram refrain is “Don’t grow up—it’s a trap”. Contemporary jewellers are catering for those with Peter Pan-like tendencies with nostalgic pieces that evoke childhood toys, albeit using very grown-up materials.At Boochier, founder Melinda Zeman riffs on spiralling slinkies and Nintendo Game Boy motifs, rendered in solid gold and gemstones. “I find childhood objects inspiring because it’s a magical time when imagination knows no limits and dreams take flight,” she says. Nostalgia offers “a sense of escapism—it helps us revisit cherished memories and emotional connections.”Nadine Ghosn’s new collaboration with Crayola instantly transports us to childhoods spent furiously colouring in. It began with a bespoke crayon bangle made for the rapper Lil Yachty, crafted in brushed 18-carat gold and turquoise and emblazoned with his name. Now she has launched a…3 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Simple PLEASURESFine jewellery isn’t immune to fashion’s swinging pendulum. After years of layering multiple charms and chains, there’s a move towards a more streamlined aesthetic: less neck mess, more a single statement piece. The contemporary “one-and-done” necklace is collar-length, resting on or around the suprasternal notch. Liv Luttrell’s satin-finished gold collar from the new Stone River collection is a gorgeous example: an intricate hand-engraved, less-is-more ode to ornamental Japanese gardens.Diamond rivières have been given a new lease of life as part of an elevated everyday wardrobe. Sophie Bille Brahe has mastered the modern rivière: her Collier de Venus necklace insouciantly dangles a one-carat diamond on an asymmetrical stream of bezel-set stones. “If I could only have one piece of jewellery, I’d go for a tennis necklace,” she says. “I like wearing…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Dramatic IRONYCURIOSITY MAY HAVE KILLED the cat, but it made Lydia Courteille one of the most original jewellers of our time. Pigs’ ears, Inca mummies, and Marie Antoinette’s decapitated head have featured in Courteille’s fantastical, often outsized, one-of-a-kind jewels. Her latest collection, Shamanic Dreams, was inspired by the psychedelic rituals of Mexico’s Huichol people, with mindwarping colours to match.Lydia Courteille began selling antique jewels from her bijou shop by the Place Vendôme in Paris, and since 1998 has been creating head-spinning jewels for the brave. She grew up in a Parisian suburb where she felt compelled to self-educate. “I read many books, researched anything I could get hold of, and collected stones, butterflies and stamps. We didn’t have a TV until I was nine, so I took myself to museums, kept…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Art ofSTONEA NEW PRODUCT reveal is a great way to make headlines, but in the case of lab-grown diamond company Skydiamond, its latest collection launch is contentious.A month before Skydiamond was due to unveil Gaia designed in collaboration with model Lily Cole, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against Skydiamond filed by the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) “for misleading marketing and advertisem*nt of laboratorygrown diamonds.”By not using qualifying language such as “lab-grown diamonds” or “synthetic diamonds” in its campaigns, the NDC claimed, Skydiamond risked confusing consumers. “This is vital information given the significant and growing price difference between laboratory-grown and natural diamonds,” says Raluca Anghel, NDC head of external affairs and industry relations.Skydiamond’s founder, the eco entrepreneur Dale Vince, seems content to embrace the ruffed feathers. “This [ASA] ruling…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024NarrativeFORMHIS OWN STORY has some wonder in it. Once upon a time (2010 to be exact), a 15-year-old boy got a summer job down the road from his grandparents’ house. He wanted to earn money and gain experience. Nothing unusual there—but when the boy is a young Ben Hawkins, whose grandparents live off Hatton Garden, London’s historic jewellery quarter, and the work is with some of the world’s most recognised jewellery artists, the outcome of this prosaic beginning is a lot more magical.This early exposure to the beauty of jewellery-making left him feeling at home in the workshop. “I remember the second I went in—as soon as I got there I loved working with my hands. I felt like I was in,” says Hawkins. “I left school and started the…3 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024OYSTER DressingIN RECENT YEARS the driving trend in pearl jewellery has been about edgy and cool designs, and certainly not your grandmother’s pearls. Meeting that head on with rebellion, not to mention pearl-harvesting cred, is the Japanese jeweller Tasaki. To mark its 70th birthday this year, Tasaki unveiled designs that showcased its signature disruptive creativity—think stacked, architectural pearl chokers, or classic strand of pearls structured with geometric nods, even pearl-bedecked sunglasses and trainers (yes, really). Unexpected and irreverent, this is a jewellery house at the height of its creative powers.Such dynamism stems from Tasaki’s history. It was founded by Shunsaku Tasaki, the son of pearl farmers, who grew his company from a local pearl trader and wholesaler into a luxury brand and retail powerhouse. Today it has 1,500 employees and more…5 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024ShiningSTARTHE WORD LUMINOUS is often a cliché, but in the case of American actress and one-time rapper Taylour Paige, it’s true. The California native has one of those sunbeam smiles that disarms an entire room—even one of the burly bodyguards protecting the jewels she’s about to wear. The poor diamonds can barely compete. “My favourite piece of jewellery is my engagement ring,” Paige says. “My husband [fashion designer Rivington Angulo] did it all by himself and we got married just three months after we met.”The actress splits her time between Miami, where she now lives, and whichever location she’s filming at—and that’s a lot of locations. At the time of our shoot, Paige was working in Toronto on the upcoming horror series Welcome to Derry (a prequel to the It…3 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Chao’s THEORYTHERE’S NO ONE particular thing about Taiwanese jeweller Cindy Chao’s work that defines it, but there are few other jewels, save, perhaps, a royal crown, that warrant a 360-degree view. Chao’s works—organic, sensual and seemingly undulating with movement—are like sculptures, in that the viewer can walk around them and see something new and beautiful from every angle. There’s no “back of the brooch” or “underside of a necklace” here—every surface, facet, crevice, fold and edge is worth closer inspection.This year marks 20 years of Chao’s brand, Cindy Chao The Art Jewel, for which she has created a 20-piece collection, two from which are photographed here, alongside two pieces from her White Label collection. Using materials such as walnut wood, titanium, important fancy-coloured diamonds and gemstones that capture the full kaleidoscope…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Ode to JOUYIN THE NEW Dior high jewellery collection, boughs of turquoise blooms and sapphire- and diamond-leaved trees make up the flora surrounding an exquisite central sapphire in a high jewellery necklace. But what’s that nesting in the foreground? When you look more closely, tiny swans appear, alone or in loving pairs, their elegant necks bent just so.It’s this sort of delightful detail that can be found almost hidden in Diorama & Diorigami, the new collection by Victoire de Castellaine, which is inspired by toile de Jouy, the highly illustrated fabric that emerged in 18th-century France, often depicting bucolic scenes of charmed lives—ladies and gentlemen strolling through gardens, fountains bubbling around them; contemporary thrills like hot-air balloons floating through perfect puffs of cloud; or scenes from classical mythology. The jewellery collection distils…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Over theRAINBOW@vanityfairlondonFiner ThingsDOUBLE LOCKED: Gucci’s iconic Interlocking G fine jewellery range gets a modern twist with these new editions in green agate and pink gold (2). gucci.comWELL TIMED: The new Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36mm watch (6) is the very embodiment of quiet luxury, with a white lacquer dial and Roman numerals. rolex.comOn BeautyLIP SERVICE: Perfect your pout with the new Augustinus Bader x Sofia Coppola tinted lip balms (1). augustinusbader.comBEAR NECESSITY: Notes of jasmine and lemon in a shimmering teddy-shaped bottle—Moschino Toy 2 Pearl (4) is the scent of summer. moschino.comCLEAN SWEEP: Vintner’s Daughter Active Renewal Cleanser (5) is gentle yet effective, and noticeably boosts tired, dull skin. vintnersdaughter.comStyle FilePRINCE OF PERSIA: The buildings and hues of Tehran inspired Abtany’s latest collection, such as these Talar (meaning hall) leaf-print swim…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024VANITIESWhen Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski announced his next project, a Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt, everyone in Hollywood auditioned for the young lead. Last summer, a paparazzi shot of Pitt and Snowfall’s Damson Idris wearing racing suits on an F1 track in the UK let the world know who got the part. “That was our first day of filming,” says Idris. “I look to my left, it’s Brad Pitt. I look to my right, it’s Javier Bardem. I look at my hands, they’re shaking. And we shoot all of this epic stuff and all the amazing drivers are there, from Lewis [Hamilton] to [Max] Verstappen to everyone.” From set in Abu Dhabi, Idris dispatches a typical day behind the wheel: “I was in the car for 45…4 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024CREATIVE STAYSTHE PENINSULA CHICAGOThe Magnificent Mile hotel has displayed work on loan from collector Beth Rudin DeWoody, and in April, from the Pizzuti Collection—this Nick Cave Soundsuit included.BAUR AU LAC, ZURICHWorks from Hauser & Wirth spangle the collector’s choice crash pad. A Nicolas Party landscape welcomes visitors; William Kentridge’s sculptures dot the grounds.CHEVAL BLANC RANDHELIBernard Arnault’s Maldives gem exhibits this Vincent Beaurin, while Joël Andrianomearisoa’s pieces will dwell in the Seychelles location, set to open this fall.21C MUSEUM HOTEL, KANSAS CITYLaura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson have stuffed their properties with works from their sprawling collection. Here, a Patty Carroll–designed immersive suite.W SOUTH BEACH, MIAMIThe W houses an outpost of the art world’s favorite restaurant, Mr. Chow; Tom Sachs’s huge bronze Hello Kitty; and a Damien Hirst.NICOLAS PARTY, POOL, 2023–2024, GLASS…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Power TRIPStyle FileSUMMER SUITING: Loro Piana (7). POCKET SQUARE: Brunello Cucinelli makes the best pocket squares, and I have quite the collection. In the summertime, I’ll wear a nice silk square (1). To me, a pocket square completes an outfit, and I rarely ever go without one. WRIST CANDY: Audemars Piguet for a dress watch (5).Self-careHAND WASH: Aēsop Resurrection (13). COLOGNE: Creed Aventus (4). The scent is classic and fresh with hints of ginger, sandalwood, and pink peppercorn. DAILY VITAMIN: Perelel + Erewhon (8).At HomeRECENT ADDITION: A pair of table lamps circa 1955. I have a passion for vintage lighting. During all of my travels, I make a point to source something. FINE CHINA: Ginori 1735. I have sets in green, yellow, and pink (9). AROMA: The Diptyque Baies candle is…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024SCARE TacticsON ONE OF my near-daily calls with my younger brother, who lives in Los Angeles, I mentioned my anxiety about November’s election—and just maybe having to leave the country after it’s all over.“I might just want to have a small apartment in Canada or Mexico or something, just in case Trump comes back into power,” I said.He scoffed, albeit in a very loving and gentle way. “You know, the worst case would be something like what happened to Grandpa,” he said, pausing. “And you know that kind of made his career.”What happened to my grandpa, Howard Fast, is that his government deemed him a radical and in 1950 threw him in jail. Howard had been a best-selling novelist, whose books, like Citizen Tom Paine and Freedom Road, explored race, class,…7 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024NO NONSENSELESS THAN 24 hours ago, Sabrina Carpenter made her Coachella debut. Now she’s feeling a bit hungover. “Not a literal hangover,” she says, “but just, like, an energy hangover.” Working late ’cause you’re a singer—as she purrs on “Espresso,” a top contender for song of the summer—can be tough on the vocal cords. “I sound like a man more than I usually do,” she says. Despite the dry desert air, though, the 25-year-old singer seems anything but world-weary. “I thought I was really old when I was 21,” she says. “I feel now that I’m truly just getting started.”A handful of years ago, Carpenter was the classic Disney performer, starring in shows like Girl Meets World and releasing albums through the studio’s label, Hollywood Records. Then two things happened: She…5 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024The Arc of HopeTHE NIGHT OF October 5, 2023, found the engineer Shireen Shelleh at a dinner she had dreamed about for years. Inside the boardroom at the headquarters of the Bank of Palestine in Ramallah, she took her seat at a long conference table among 30 others, mostly members of the Palestinian business elite. A few seats away sat her design colleague, an Israeli-born architect.Shelleh and her companions had gathered to discuss a single urgent question: how to revive the Arc?The Arc had been a visionary study conceived in 2005 by the RAND corporation. The proposal had been among the grandest of ideas and ideals: to remake the economy, infrastructure, and transportation system of the West Bank and Gaza. If it had worked, its creators believed, it would have laid the foundation…34 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024THE RED QUEEN IN EXILEGRAB A COFFEE at the Golden Pear in Southampton, New York, drive due south almost a mile straight down Main Street, take a left onto Gin Lane. It’s just a five-minute drive. As your GPS will tell you, you’ve arrived. The storied street, one of the most exclusive in the Hamptons, runs parallel to the ocean. It’s filled with grand old shingled homes, some built in the late 1880s, hidden from view behind hedgerows of privet, a hardy shrub first brought to the Hamptons by English settlers in the 1600s.From your turn onto Gin Lane, it’s another 0.7 miles to number 376. Here sits a cedar-shingled house—which you can’t see from the street—built in 1888 on the Rosa rugosa dunes for railroad tycoon Robert Olyphant, the great-great-grandfather of actor Timothy…20 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Editor’s LetterThis year’s issue of Vanity Fair On Jewellery marks my 10th year as editor, a fact I only realised recently when my phone shocked me with one of those unbidden “on this day” photo montages of our covershoot with Lily James for the 2015 issue.Looking back on 10 issues’ worth of jewellery stories, shoots, profiles and essays, it’s interesting how much has changed in the industry, and how much hasn’t. Those big-name, big-brand jewellery houses we all know and love continue to dominate the landscape, but there are plenty of houses who have sadly not made it, and either quietly shut up shop or not so quietly gone up in legal flames.There are the independent jewellers who were just starting out 10 years ago, and are now huge success stories…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Citizen ARCANESince the dawn of time, humans have adorned themselves with objects that are as symbolic as they are decorative, wearing talismans, lucky charms and protective amulets. Today, designers continue to embrace spirituality and mysticism in jewels that have their roots in ancient beliefs.“I wouldn’t say I’m superstitious, but I do throw salt over my shoulder for good luck,” says Lauren Harwell Godfrey. Hence her new Supernova collection includes a miniature 18-carat gold salt shaker filled with pink sapphires. A celebration of “the magic in the universe”, the range sees supernatural and cosmic motifs including shooting stars, unicorn horns and evil eyes rendered in her signature technicolour aesthetic. One bracelet is designed to look like a digital watch, forever stopped at 11.11. “I love that there is a magical time of…3 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Social STATUSFLASH MOBAt the beginning of this year, the internet decided it had had its fill of quiet luxury. Clean girl was out; instead enter the cinematic mob-wife trend, with her (faux) fur coats, big hair and even bigger bling à la Michelle Pfeiffer in Married to the Mob (top right).Chunky, bold yellow gold is central to the mob-wife aesthetic; think bulbous chokers and doorknocker earrings to compete with all that hair. Deborah Pagani’s new Honey Siren tubogas necklace is a sizzling ode to 1980s style, while Jemma Wynne’s chubby Carpe Diem heart charm encapsulates the sentimentality behind the chutzpah. Jessica McCormack was ahead of the trend with her Carmela collection, named after the quintessential Sopranos mob wife: all sinuous streams of gold and diamonds, evoking her glamour and sex appeal.The…5 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Centreof ATTENTIONSEA CHANGEThe new collection by David Morris is an ode to the eternal glamour of the French and Italian Riviera: summer playgrounds of the jet set. Voluminous yet airy, diamonds and pink sapphires seem to float like water droplets on sunkissed skin, thanks to their intricately crafted architecture. Contemporary finishes such as endlessly adjustable chains and sprung bangles mean the pieces radiate an easy elegance.SONGS OF ’PRASEChrysoprase has long been part of Cartier’s gemstone arsenal, used in figurative animal brooches, Tutti Frutti designs and Aldo Cipullo’s abstract ’70s creations. New additions to the Clash collection celebrate this variety of chalcedony’s lush, apple-green glow. Bulbous beads of chrysoprase are flanked by rounded gold pyramids like tempting exotic fruit, ripe for the picking.If the Diamond Fits, Wear ItJessica McCormack’s mission is to…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024In GoodCOMPANYSanaz Doost JewelryInspired by Persian architecture, Sanaz Doost’s work comprises gloriously complex detailing within sweeping shapes. The poised Moshaba ring epitomises that approach. sanazdoost.com, instagram.com/sanaz.doostMegan BrownMegan Brown grew up in a fabric mill, which helped inform her design language—her Woven Bombé Ring has all the detail of the finest tapestry. meganbrownjewellery.com, instagram.com/meganbrownjewelleryBlue Blue DriverBlue Blue Driver is establishing herself as a creative force in the gold-engraving community, with the prettiest details picked out in wonderfully intricate form on this Dogwood Signet with diamonds. bluebluedriver.com, instagram.com/blue.blue.driverLauren NewtonNewton’s zoologist background is evident in the detail of her work—tiny snake scales are evident on this ring, naturalistically coiled around the central stone. laurennewtonjewelry.com, instagram.com/laurennewtonjewelryFira EzawaEzawa’s freehand engraving technique can convey anything from the veins in ginkgo leaves to the patterns in coral as…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Settingthe SCENE“THERE ARE TWO TYPES of inlay,” explains Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos, founder and CEO of jewellery gallery Mahnaz Collection in New York, as she holds up a lapis cuff to illustrate. “Cutting and setting hard stones next to each other, or channel inlay, placing stones tightly within a metal frame”.Inlay is a technique found in ancient civilisations. Native American inlay jewellery has sustained communities and evolved through generations, creating a vital link between past and present. “Southwestern tribes learned from each other,” says Ispahani Bartos. “There was a sharing of jewellery knowledge.”She describes Charles Loloma as a “master of all kinds of inlay”—he is responsible for developing height inlay, a technique inspired by the mountainous mesas and buttes he saw in his native Hotevilla-Bacavi, Arizona. “Loloma figured out how to create…3 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Create a SceneSWAROVSKI CREATED DIAMONDSSwarovski has supplied lab-grown diamonds to other businesses since 2016, but last year the Swiss maker launched Galaxy, its first fine jewellery collection featuring its own-branded Created Diamonds.LYLIEBritish brand Lylie uses only recycled antique natural diamonds or lab-grown diamonds to minimise greenhouse emissions. Founder Eliza Walter says her lab-grown gemstones are fully traceable to “a handful of selected suppliers”.MATILDEMatilde sources lab-grown diamonds from Antwerp-based firm Madestones, which was independently certified as a carbon-neutral company in 2021. Madestones diamonds are produced in India using both HPHT and CVD methods.…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024PoeticLICENCEFAIRIES AND WHALES, frogs and mushrooms, unicorns wrapped around rainbows—Contes de Fées, Chopard’s new Red Carpet high-jewellery collection, is as full of charming and wonderful characters as a children’s library. Launched each year at the always glamorous Cannes Film Festival, of which the Swiss maison has been an official partner since 1998, Chopard’s annual high jewellery collections are aways a whimsical, fantastical addition to the smorgasbord of jewels worn by the stars on La Croisette, and this year’s was indeed no exception.Some 77 one-of-a-kind pieces (in tribute to the festival’s 77th year) designed by Chopard co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele were created by hand for the collection, from a sweet little mushroom ring adorned with an array of diamonds in earthy colours, to a poetic, diamond-set tiara, at the…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Getting SERIOUSCASTRO SMITH IS HARD at work when I arrive at his London studio. The hand-engraver and jeweller is at the bench carving deep into the surface of his latest ring. His intricate design of an old-fashioned sailing ship—one worthy of Nelson with its multitudinous sails and rigging, not to mention a healthy dose of seafaring romance—is packed into a tiny 2cm-high, 18-carat gold canvas. Just that morning he was studying antique naval engravings to get the details just right. He is revisiting one of his earliest, most enduringly popular designs, which is a nod to his family’s seafaring heritage on the coast of northern England. The passion and the satisfaction he derives from being at the bench is obvious, something he describes lyrically as “crafting a rich happiness”.The ship ring…4 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024TheGATHERER“MY AGENT FOUND ME DOING A DANCE ON TIKTOK.”“WE ARE THE SALT-WATER PEOPLE, and our land stretches more than 400 kilometres, from Cairns to Port Douglas,” says Yirrganydji model Nyree Kemp, from Queensland in Australia’s far north. “I’m proud of my culture. Some of my family still speak our language. I’m happy to have the opportunity to represent my people to the world.”Kemp seems like any other teenager as she prepares to be photographed in jewellery by Cartier as the French maison stages its first major high jewellery event in Sydney. In a hoodie and jeans, with headphones around her neck and a soft drink in her hand, she’s talkative and inquisitive, chatting about what she likes doing when she’s not working.“When I am back home I love going for…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024UrbanRENAISSANCEBOREDOM IS AN alien concept for Francesca Amfitheatrof. The artistic director of watches and jewellery at Louis Vuitton talks at a galloping pace, flitting between the birth of luxury, 19th-century scientific discoveries and the infancy of the French railway system, before most of us have time to sip a cappuccino.We’re discussing the inspiration for her sixth high jewellery collection for the house, Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds, which honours the creatively fertile period following the French Revolution. “It was an explosion of craft and industry,” says Amfitheatrof. “It culminated in Paris becoming the centre of the world for what we know as luxury today. It was different to the British industrial revolution—France didn’t have coal, so it didn’t have that incredible boost of energy; it was a lot slower.”Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s renovation…4 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024INTO THE WILDSo often a jewellery house comes up with a new design featuring a particular animal, and people gasp at its novelty; but in almost every case, Cartier has already done it, and probably more beautifully. The vast menagerie that makes up Cartier’s faunal archives includes everything from giraffes to owls, tree frogs to poodles, and even a pair of fighting co*cks. In the fish category alone they have taken inspiration from sail fish, puffer fish and peaco*ck fish, while dogs have come in breeds as specific as the Dachshund and the Scottish Terrier.But no animal is more evocative of the maison than the majestic panther. The feline first appeared at Cartier in 1914 in the form of an onyx-flecked ladies’ watch, was long associated with famed Cartier designer Jeanne Toussaint,…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024ACCESS IS EVERYTHINGOne year PRINT ISSUES + INSTANT DIGITAL ACCESS+ FREE GIFT* + FREE home delivery+ EXCLUSIVE CONTENT on vanityfair.com+ EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to the complete archive, since 1913FULL ACCESSVANITYFAIR.COM + THE COMPLETE ARCHIVE + DIGITAL EDITIONSFREE GIFT*RRP £25FREE NEW M·A·C MACXIMAL SILKY MATTE LIPSTICK, RRP £25*Experience the new M·A·Cximal Silky Matte Lipstick - the iconic M·A·C lipstick, now bigger and better, with more colour, more comfort and more wear. The nourishing organic cocoa and shea butter-infused formula glides on with ease to give 12 hours of pigment-rich, silky colour. The range consists of 40 new and iconic shades. New subscribers have a choice of the best-selling Ruby Woo, Mehr or Velvet Teddy shades. For further information visit maccosmetics.co.ukALL FOR ONLY £28*CHECKOUT.MAGAZINEBOUTIQUE.CO.UK/ITEM/VAF/CVF2341701858 438819 OR SCAN THE QR CODESCANE ME*Offer is subject to terms…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Gone CountryOver the last few years, country music has broken streaming records and minted new stars, giving this summer’s festivals devoted to the genre an added allure. At Under the Big Sky in Whitefish, Montana, perennial crowd-pleaser Miranda Lambert is headlining alongside bluegrass sensation Billy Strings and Americana stalwarts Turnpike Troubadours, but you can also catch the renowned Tanya Tucker and talented up-and-comers Sierra Ferrell and Kaitlin Butts. The Faster Horses Festival gives die-hard fans the chance to camp on the Michigan International Speedway to see radio’s biggest names live. In addition to headliner sets from Yellowstone fan favorite Lainey Wilson and country’s most recent unlikely star, Jelly Roll, come for performances by Hardy and Ernest, two members of Morgan Wallen’s brain trust who throw concerts every bit as fun as…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024TEA TimeGARDEN VARIETYBALMORAL: KEYSTONE/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES. ALL: COURTESY OF THE BRANDS.…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Land ofPLENTY1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024In Praise ofALTERNATE ENDINGSNEVER LOSE HOPE.“I love you. Bye, Felicia!” I texted my friend Katerina on October 27, 2016. The sassy send-off had been in the culture for two decades (a reference from the film Friday), but it had only crossed our transom that year. We used it affectionately and, therefore, ironically. Unbeknownst to me, it would be our last text exchange. She died unexpectedly on November 1.Our friendship had been a salvation in the latter half of what I now call my Dark Decade, roughly 2004 to 2014. Though that stretch of time included some moments of joy, they were few and far between. For the most part, I was in a sea of pain, coming to grips with what it meant to have been standing at the center of a political…6 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024Swift 101LAST FALL I told Harvard’s English Department that I planned to offer a class this spring on Taylor Swift. No one objected; Harvard professors like me get lots of latitude in confecting electives as long as we also offer the bread-and-butter material our majors need. (Most of my work is poetry-related; I also teach our regular undergrad course about literary form, from Beowulf on.) I’d call my new class Taylor Swift and Her World, as in: We’d read and listen to other artists and authors (part of her world). But also as in: It’s her world; we just live in it.I’ve been living in it ever since. I thought I’d be teaching a quiet seminar: 20-odd Swifties around a big oak table, examining and appreciating her career, from her debut…7 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024THE RACE OF HIS LIFEOn a sunny afternoon, the views from Joe Biden’s campaign headquarters in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, are so clear that if you squint hard, you can almost see the White House, 100 miles to the southwest.The floor plan is open and the windows run just about floor to ceiling, so all 200 staffers share in the sweeping vista.With the striking exception of probably the most important person on the premises. That Jen O’Malley Dillon sits at the very center of the office is appropriate symbolically: She is a hub of the reelection effort’s leadership infrastructure. It also means that O’Malley Dillon, officially the campaign chair, is the only person on the team who occupies a dimly lit cubicle. Four years ago, J.O.D., as most everyone in Bidenworld knows her, became the…24 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024CROSSING OVERTHIS IS WHAT ABANDONMENT LOOKS LIKE. First abandoned by the hope of making a life in their home countries, compelling them to flee. Then left behind by smugglers, who could successfully get them to the United States alive, but whose responsibility for their survival ends abruptly in the desert. Finally, waiting to present themselves to federal agents to start (they hope) the next phase of their lives, many newcomers find that processing is at capacity. They’re stranded before being formally apprehended.Photojournalist Go Nakamura witnessed desperation and determination in the border deserts of California and Arizona during reporting trips in November, December, and April, and captured how the US-Mexico border has become one site of an ongoing global crisis. The UN’s refugee agency estimates that nearly 40 million refugees and asylum…7 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024THE ABYSS87 HOURS LEFTInside the operations room of Canada’s Atlantic-focused Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, or JRCC, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, red lights flashed and an alarm sounded as the call came in. The four men on duty—three from Canada’s Coast Guard, the other from the Royal Canadian Air Force—adjusted their headsets, noted the caller’s number, then “figured out where the lat and long was,” essentially identifying the vessel’s precise position through its coordinates.The voice—a male’s, sounding “stressed and shocked”—told JRCC operators that a private submersible called Titan had detached from a modified icebreaker called the Polar Prince early that morning, began to descend beneath the waves some 10 hours prior, and had yet to resurface, contrary to its expected return time and dive protocols. That meant the last visual contact with…26 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024ContributorsSimon EMMETTSHINING STAR, P. 78Known for his portrait photography, Simon Emmett was the perfect choice to shoot our cover star, actress Taylour Paige. He recently photographed Adele for her 30 album cover, and completed his rock documentary Welcome to the Darkness, which follows British rockers the Darkness.Tanya DUKESFLIGHT OF FANTASY, P. 56Former lawyer Tanya Dukes profiles jewellery designer Michael Robinson in this issue. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Elle Decor, The Business of Fashion and Watchionista, and has been recognised with the GEM Award for Media Excellence and a Folio: Eddie Award.Sarah ROYCE-GREENSILLSHOWCASE NEWS, P.27Interviewing designers and craftspeople is a highlight of the job for jewellery expert Sarah Royce-Greensill, who compiles our News pages. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Telegraph (where…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024ManyHappy RETURNSSHAPE SHIFTINGA century on, Art Deco jewellery still feels as modern and enticing as it did in the Roaring Twenties. The geometric glamour of the movement proved a rich source of inspiration for Briony Raymond, whose Aurora collection was inspired by New York’s Fuller Building, where her atelier is housed. Fluted rays of gold recall its angular architecture in fan-shaped earrings and cuffs. Brazilian brand Sauer’s new collection is inspired by the “organic abstraction” of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, regarded by some as the founding father of American Art Deco. A pair of onyx and emerald earrings are reminiscent of the Egyptian Revival era. And Greek jeweller Lito channels speakeasies and flapper style with her Paris 1925 range, combining angular golden gadroons and emerald-cut gemstones with seductive golden fringing, just…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024TheMETAMORPHOSISRemodelling, revamping, upcycling—whatever you call it—is the age-old practice of refashioning gold and gemstones, and it is increasingly popular in an era that prioritises sustainability and circularity. Fine jewellery is, after all, the most endlessly recyclable adornment going. Just don’t make the mistake of underestimating the cost as there’s significant artistry and craftsmanship involved in transforming old to new. But the results are worth it: by breathing new life into unloved gems, you’re writing a new chapter in their story.…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024AnniversariesPIAGETPiaget is toasting its 150th anniversary by showcasing its goldsmithing prowess. Five new Possession rings revisit archive techniques including chains, snakeskin effect and chevron-patterned gold.ANABELA CHANAn eight-piece collection marks the 10th anniversary of London-based jeweller Anabela Chan, with ombré in anodised recycled aluminium. New versions of her butterflies and florals also feature.PRAGNELLFor 70 years, Pragnell has sold jewels from a 16th-century showroom in Stratford-upon-Avon, which has had a makeover. To celebrate, it has crafted a platinum and diamond collar set with an 18.99-carat antique Muzo emerald.CINDY CHAOTo commemorate two decades, Cindy Chao The Art Jewel launches 24 titanium brooches. She has hand-carved each creation, selecting gemstones to blanket 12 dragonflies and 12 leaves. Collectors form an orderly queue.…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024CrystalPALACEFOUNDED IN ARMENIA, developed in Lebanon and headquartered in Switzerland, Boghossian’s nomadic history was necessitated by war and persecution. Throughout the upheaval, gold and gemstones allowed third-generation jeweller Ohannes Boghossian and his family to establish themselves wherever they landed.Now helmed by the fifth and sixth generations, the Boghossian family’s travails have informed the house’s richly artistic aesthetic. The exotic colours of the Far East are combined with motifs from Middle Eastern architecture, realised with a technically advanced Swiss precision. Its multicultural ethos comes to the fore in Palace Voyages, a new high jewellery collection comprising 14 sets inspired by palaces along the ancient silk route—from the Qianlong Palace in Beijing to Brighton’s Royal Pavilion via Jaipur’s City Palace and the Bahia Palace in Marrakesh.“Like a jewel itself, a palace distils…2 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024BOLD FacedONCE A DAY, MONDAY TO Friday, Patcharavipa “Pat” Bodiratnangkura and Kenzi Harleman receive a memo from their workshop in Bangkok. Like clockwork, the duo’s team, which counts two goldsmiths and three gem-setters in addition to three artisans charged with wax-casting, plating and polishing, sends detailed progress reports on new creations. Among them are bespoke orders such as wedding rings; jewellery bound by tradition but expressed the Patcharavipa way. “They come to us because they know that we provide something a little bit different,” says Harleman. And this is what has attracted the likes of Rihanna, Janet Jackson and Marina Abramovic to wear the designs.The brand’s signature is bold shapes, artfully expressed in white gold, platinum or Siam gold, an 18-carat alloy with a warm, sunshine glow. At Patcharavipa, precious metals…4 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024FLIGHT of FantasyMICHAEL ROBINSON IS a man of very few words. In 2022, he relocated his one-man jewellery company from Australia’s Gold Coast to academically inclined Boston, though he wasn’t much bothered to mention it beyond his immediate circle or update that small detail on the company website nearly two years later.And since moving to the northern hemisphere, he’s helmed David Michael Jewels solo. The business was co-founded with his identical twin brother—the “David” in the company name—but there was no grand public pronouncement about that either. (For the record, the siblings are as close as ever, though David has shifted his focus to the watch sector.) “I don’t tend to make a great big fanfare about anything,” he says.In fact, virtually everything about Robinson’s work is at odds with the quickfire,…4 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024ACCESS IS EVERYTHINGOne year PRINT ISSUES + INSTANT DIGITAL ACCESS+ FREE GIFT* + FREE home delivery+ EXCLUSIVE CONTENT on vanityfair.com+ EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to the complete archive, since 1913FULL ACCESSVANITYFAIR.COM + THE COMPLETE ARCHIVE + DIGITAL EDITIONSFREE GIFT*RRP £25FREE NEW M·A·C MACXIMAL SILKY MATTE LIPSTICK, RRP £25*Experience the new M·A·Cximal Silky Matte Lipstick - the iconic M·A·C lipstick, now bigger and better, with more colour, more comfort and more wear. The nourishing organic cocoa and shea butter-infused formula glides on with ease to give 12 hours of pigment-rich, silky colour. The range consists of 40 new and iconic shades. New subscribers have a choice of the best-selling Ruby Woo, Mehr or Velvet Teddy shades. For further information visit maccosmetics.co.ukALL FOR ONLY £28*CHECKOUT.MAGAZINEBOUTIQUE.CO.UK/ITEM/VAF/CVF2341701858 438819 OR SCAN THE QR CODESCANE ME*Offer is subject to terms…1 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024CONTINENTAL DRIFTA AUSTRALIANS USED TO talk a lot about “tall-poppy syndrome”, the tendency to cut down those deemed too successful or too vocal about their success. For Alban du Mesnil du Buisson, managing director of Cartier Australia and New Zealand, that’s no longer the case, and it’s why the Parisian maison chose Sydney as the host of a grand high jewellery event for the entire region this past February.“There’s an appetite for high jewellery in Australia,” he said on the morning that a bespoke high jewellery exhibition opened in a vast former wool store at the city’s art and culture hub Pier 2/3, perched almost underneath the iconic Harbour Bridge.“To hold this event in Australia is really a milestone for us,” he said. “Of course, Cartier has been present in the…5 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024The Lay of the LANDDRAMATIC LANDSCAPES AND rich iconography abound in Scotland, and it’s no wonder that its historical legacy is lionised by successive generations of jewellers and craftspeople.Take the work of Ellis Mhairi Cameron. When I call to meet at short notice, I’m in luck. The nail artist booked to taper the jeweller’s signature long black talons has cancelled, leaving room for us to discuss something sharper; her skean dubh. This ceremonial knife, an essential part of Highland dress, is tucked into kilt hose and secured in place by garters. Decoration could include a thistle or Celtic weave. Hers is a more novel approach—steel set with off-white, grey and salt-and-pepper diamonds. “It’s a wonderfully indulgent project,” she says. An American gentleman first sparked the idea, suggesting she make a skean dubh objet d’art…4 min
Vanity Fair UK|July - August 2024GOOD AS GOLDINSIDE THE EXTRAORDINARY GOLD MUSEUM OF BOGOTA SITS A LARGE SEA SNAIL SHELL SEEMINGLY MADE OF GOLD.Almost the size of a rugby ball, the item was created in the Yotoco Period somewhere between 200 B.C. and 1300 A.D. in the Calima region of Colombia. Seven very thin sheets of pure gold were pressed onto the shell, with carefully folded sections and small clips holding them together. The shell has since crumbled into dust, but the item remains a marvel—an extraordinary golden object that looks as if it could have been made yesterday. Today, Colombia is a medium-sized producer of gold—it ranks 17th globally—producing around 60 tonnes of it in 2022 compared to China’s 375. And while there are industrialised, large-scale gold mines in the country, around 350,000 people work in…8 min
