Modern Beauty Trends: In: Jennifer Lawrence’s Autonomy

Thursday, February 22, 2018

In: Jennifer Lawrence’s Autonomy | Out: Attached Heads

Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t need your criticism. Gucci could use your extra head, though.
View this email in your browser

“In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.” —Drew Barrymore

Carrying Your Own Severed Head as a Statement Accessory

A Simple Bag for Evening

Under the guidance of creative director Alessandro Michele, Gucci has become so delightfully extra it can be hard to imagine how the brand will continue to top itself in the maximalism department without overdoing it. Well, for its latest collection, shown on the first day of Milan Fashion Week, Gucci decided that this season’s must-have accessory should be an exact replica of your own severed head. Yes, two models walked down the runway (dressed up to resemble an operating room) while holding eerily accurate replicas of their own heads, commissioned from a special-effects company. Other models carried lifelike models of snakes and dragons down the runway. Yet somehow, even that didn’t take away from everything that was going on with the actual clothes. Here, a brief list of just some of the influences to be found in the collection: Lil’ Kim’s VMA nipple pastie, the New York Yankees, killer clowns, dry cleaner bags, Japanese Manga, Russ Meyer’s 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Chinese architecture, and the Paramount Pictures logo. Yeah, it’s a lot. See it all here, then be sure to see it again, because you probably missed some details the first time around.

Jennifer Lawrence’s Versace Dress

Her Coat

During a press day in London for her upcoming film Red Sparrow, Jennifer Lawrence traded in her usual Dior for a sultry Versace number that echoed Elizabeth Hurley’s famous safety-pin dress. Clearly, she was eager to show it off. Yet when she stepped outside, sans a coat, into the relatively chilly London weather to pose for a quick photo op with her bundled-up male costars, the resulting photo quickly went viral, with some viewing it as chilly evidence of the unequal image demands Hollywood places on men and women. Well, Lawrence wasn’t having the debate and slammed it as “utterly ridiculous” and “sexist” in a Facebook post. “I would have stood in the snow for that dress because I love fashion and that was my choice,” the actress wrote. “This is sexist, this is ridiculous, this is not feminism. Overreacting about everything someone says or does, creating controversy over silly, innocuous things such as what I choose to wear or not wear, is not moving us forward. It's creating silly distractions from real issues.” Lawrence went on to clarify that everything she wears is her choice, and, for what it’s worth, she did show up to the event in a full-length coat. She just took it off for the picture.

Female Action Flicks

Machismo

Speaking of Jennifer Lawrence, her film Red Sparrow doesn’t come out until March 2, but it is part of a notable trend. Every weekend for the next month, Hollywood is releasing a big-budget flick in the action, sci-fi, or adventure genre with a female lead (or leads, in some cases), and every single one of the films features an actress with an Oscar. There’s Sparrow, of course, and then the weekend after, we finally get A Wrinkle in Time, with Reese Witherspoon, Oprah, and Mindy Kaling. On March 16, we’ll also finally get to see how Alicia Vikander does following in Angelina Jolie’s bootsteps, in Tomb Raider. We are truly blessed. Before all of that, this weekend we get Natalie Portman in Annihilation, leading a crew that also includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, and Tessa Thompson. The early reviews for that film are stellar. Entertainment Weekly calls it “a lavish, magnificently unnerving visual feast.” Not to put too much pressure on the general moviegoing audience, but how these movies perform at the box office could have myriad lasting repercussions in Hollywood. It’s one thing to have one female-led genre movie do well, but to have potentially four in a month’s time? It could be major.

Julia Ratner

@Dear.Ratner

Julia Ratner may not be the most popular model on Instagram by total follower count, but she does have the most engaged fans on the platform. Find out which other models (including Kaia Gerber) have super-loyal IG fans, here.