Ah, the icons have arrived! And with them, the second of the major glossy’s September issues — the first, of course, being Vogue’s bonkers mess of a supermodels cover.
The profiles — the interviews for which Harper’s makes sure to note were all completed before the strikes — are part of a larger package featuring “14 people who are helping to shift narratives, open doors, and reshape the culture.” These also include folks like Greta Lee and Teyana Taylor, as well as non-celebs like Tennessee state representatives like Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, and basketball player Angel Reese. Lots to read!
As far as our cover stars go, as you can imagine, Doja Cat is always an interesting read, and this segment seems relevant to our interests, although she also said some very insightful stuff about the nature of fame:
I’m in this kind of chaotic place right now when it comes to fashion, where I’ve just been going into my closet and picking out the most random, weird, not-fitting thing to mix with another thing that does not really fit. It’s like mashed potatoes. But I’m embracing that. It’s a little punk. It’s experimental for sure. It’s very manic. But I am going in a darker direction when it comes to visuals and fashion. I have a lot of pent-up feelings and anger, and I want to express it with beauty. I’ve been playing with a lot of prosthetics lately.
Kendall Jenner reads like most profiles of Kendall Jenner — which is not a ding on the writing, which is very well done, just that I think we all know everything that Kendall Jenner is willing to tell us by this point, which is also actually a point that the piece touches on.
And Paul Mescal editorial will surely do it for the people who are into him, and I’m happy for those folks, although I am personally too aged to get into that hair situation. I admit I’ve literally never seen him act in anything — I know! I was just not emotionally able to deal with Normal People in 2020, 2020 was not an emotionally stable time for me or many others! — so perhaps that’s part of it? Having said that, the accompanying profile is excellent as well:
“If I’m going to make TV shows like Normal People, there’s going to be an appetite from the world,” he says of the public’s interest in his personal life. “Eighty percent of that is palatable. And then 20 percent of it is devastating.”
Being famous seems like a PITA in so many ways, honestly.
