If you’re lucky, a moment will arrive on a fashion shoot when a sensation that feels an awful lot like magic occurs. To be honest, with this month’s cover star, there were half a dozen such moments as we gathered in a New York studio over two days in late July, under the all-seeing eye of photographer Steven Meisel, to take a series of pictures of the one and only Adele. “I felt like I was disappearing into the camera lens!” she exclaimed of the alchemy that happened between photographer and subject as the shutter clicked on her cover shot.
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It was all in aid of a publishing first, as this month Adele features simultaneously on the covers of both British and American Vogue. For this historic moment, both magazines have gone all out: two fashion stories captured in two cities, two wide-ranging interviews, one with a British writer, one with an American writer, for a spectacular transatlantic takeover by one of the biggest-selling female artists of the 21st century.
Naturally, when it came to the preparation, I was excited – and immediately called Meisel to see if he would consider taking on the assignment for British Vogue. As industry watchers will know, the legendary image-maker rarely photographs celebrities these days, but he adores Adele, as we all do, and so he said yes straight away. Well, it is Adele, isn’t it? I can still remember my first time hearing her voice, years before she became the record-breaking dynamo we know today. I can recall Alec, my partner, saying to me: “You’ve got to listen to this girl on Myspace,” and he’d play me “Hometown Glory”. It was clear not only that she had a rare gift with that voice, but in terms of connecting with people’s emotions, hers was a once-in-a-generation talent.
That’s what I loved most, on top of her being this brilliant Brit who became a national treasure as well as an international one. If anything, as you will discover in her full, frank and fabulous interview with Giles Hattersley, she seems to have become even more blazing, bawdy and British post her move to Los Angeles.
On the shoot, our watchword was “timeless” – just like the person we were there to celebrate. Post-divorce, reimagining her life and career after her tumultuous twenties, now 33 with a son, a new man and millions of fans across the world, this is a woman in her prime, asking the big questions about life and revelling in her power, both personal and professional. When, on the final shot on the second day, Adele decided to play us the closing song from her album – a sweeping musical arrangement harking back to the heady days of old Hollywood with lyrics full of hard-won wisdom – there were goosebumps all around, and a few tears, as she sang along under the glimmering lights. Welcome back, Adele. We’ve missed you.
Read Adele's British Vogue Cover Interview
Meisel also trains his lens on the autumn/winter 2021 collection by Marc Jacobs, an exquisite set of looks from one of the most-loved designers of the past 30 years. In fact, this is an issue packed with fashion that must be seen. Photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott find model Kristen McMenamy in an after-hours mood, and dressed for it, too. And in this month’s Trends section, from the best gold accessories to the allure of sheer, shimmer and sequins, it’s all about a little personal indulgence, whether you’re entertaining at home or hitting the town. Speaking of the joyful abandon to be found in a dose of glamour, supermodel Claudia Schiffer takes us back to the 1990s, writing about the highs (and more highs) of a fabulous decade in fashion, as she publishes Captivate!, her edited photographic ode to that influential time.
Elsewhere, I am pleased to see how the arts are truly thriving once more, and Vogue has a host of exclusive reports on some of autumn’s most talked-about cultural events. As Irish-American film star Saoirse Ronan makes her London stage debut in Macbeth at the Almeida, she and Scottish actor James McArdle give us the lowdown on the drama of the season. As for the musical of the season? That will surely be the revival of Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret, with Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee, bringing the Kit Kat Club to the Playhouse Theatre in November. Take a glimpse at the preparations. Meanwhile, in anticipation of a major show of works at The National Gallery in December, we visit the ever exuberant and erudite Kehinde Wiley at his Brooklyn studio in New York.
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It may be autumn, but it feels as though life is springing anew. As Wiley, Barack Obama’s much-admired presidential portraitist, tells British Vogue, it is the urge of every artist to have “something to rub up against”. We’ve all certainly had that of late, in fashion and beyond. Now, we are finally seeing the results.
The November 2021 issue of British Vogue is on newsstands on Friday 8 October.
