Contrary to appearances, Vogue is a hip magazine. At least, editor Anna Wintour keeps up with hot young things. She made sure to find out from her daughter Bee Shaffer which lady sings about kissing girls. She put Beyoncé on a cover — devoid of her most favorite sequins, sure, but still, she got a cover. And Lady Gaga appears in this month’s issue, poking out of a wood-burning oven in a Hansel and Gretel–inspired spread. Grace Coddington tells the London Times that she had originally wanted a different diva for that part: Susan Boyle. However, Anna is just as up to speed with hot old things as she is hot young ones, and chose Gaga instead.
“Annie Leibovitz wanted her too,” says Coddington wistfully, “but I think Anna thought it was just all too British and not right.” Wintour raised Lady Gaga against Coddington’s SuBo. “I have to say I didn’t really know who Lady Gaga was. She turned up in a white rubber coat, stark naked underneath. No buttons, nothing — and completely you know, shaved, and this huge wig because she’s so insecure without it. But she was wonderful.” Hold on, Grace, you famously don’t like celebrities. “I don’t rule them out altogether if they’re the right person for the job. It’s because of characters like that that I still love my job”.
Yeah, SuBo would have arrived wearing undergarments. And putting her in the oven would have been so awkward. But you have to love that Grace, who is an expert on all that is cool and happening in fashion, is more familiar with Boyle than with Lady Gaga.
Grace Coddington: the Vogue visionary [Times UK]
