V147: PENÉLOPE CRUZ PUMPS UP THE JAM!

PEN ÉLOPE PUMPS UP THE JAM

PHOTOGRAPHED BY JACK BRIDGLAND

INTERVIEWED BY DUA LIPA

STYLED BY GRO CURTIS

PEN ÉLOPE PUMPS UP THE JAM

CONSTELLATION

Co-Axial Master Chronometer

LIU SHISHI’S CHOICE

For the actress Liu Shishi, style is an artform. With her background in ballet and a captivating career on screen, she has found the perfect balance between beauty, confidence, and grace. This effortless look continues on her wrist, where she chooses the OMEGA Constellation Co-Axial Master Chronometer. Crafted in stainless steel and 18K Sedna™ Gold, it features an opulent motherof-pearl dial, and exudes the very same spirit of sophistication that Liu Shishi brings to every hour.

INTRODUCING THE FIRST MCM MAVERICK CARA DELEVINGNE

SPRING FEVER

They share a single planet but women are building their own unique universes. From cinema icons like Penélope Cruz—interviewed by music and podcasting powerhouse Dua Lipa— to Kaia Gerber, the indubitable princess of fashion modeling and freshly minted actor— we’ve never had more examples of women who are not only at the top of their creative game but also at the top of their industries.

As we welcome spring, we welcome a convergence of many different women’s worlds into the pages of V, from our HEROES (Kim Gordon, Yoko Ono, and Isabella Rossellini) all of whom paved the way for and inspired others in this issue, to Kristen McMenamy, the fashion world’s eternal darling, who embodies the untamable and passionate energy of femme fatales in a King Kong-sized shoot. If there is one thing all the women in this issue have in common, it’s that they are badass. And they stand in the center of worlds of their own making.

Speaking of worlds, “All The World’s a Runway” features Spring Summer 2024’s most enticing looks by designers from New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Japanese photographer Takashi Homma and stylist Shun Watanabe offer their take on the concept of “home” in their shoot for Benetton, defying age-old stereotypes on domesticity and family by way of colorful, anime-inspired hair, an authentic neighborhood setting, and strategic casting (which includes a canine modeling debut from one very good girl). In honor of International Women’s Month, we wanted this issue to be for the girls, but in true feminine fashion, we shared the space with a couple of boys, too, because women understand that sharing the glory makes the world go round. MS. V

Murray Arthur, Justin Bayley

DoBeDo Represents Nikki Stromberg, Maddy Thompson

Julian Watson Agency Stephanie Chan, Georgina Spencer, Yasmeen Oweiss Box Artist Management Ben Totty

Saint Luke Artists Darya Nadina

Home Agency Christine Lavigne, Robin Pacheco, Josephine Whittaker, Chloe Yang

L’Atelier NYC Malena Holcomb Forward Artists Shae Cooper

Streeters Rayna Donatelli, Tyler Williamson, Maddie Hoelzer, Sarah Westrick, Gary McAllister, Sasha Respinger

CLM Kirby Calvin, John Van Alstyne, Taylor James

The Wall Group Alexander Williams, Corinne Martin

Caren Caren Fisk Wise & Talented Camille Ferrand

Obvious Print Merwen Belkeddar Paradis Jovita Lee

Walter Schupfer Management Christina Zuleta

Mane Addicts Jen Kelly Nuria Sanez Nanami Tashiro

LMC Luke Miley viewFinders Dana Brockman

11 Howard Hotel Greg Foley Interns Anna Henderson, Yixiao Zhao, Liv Vitale, Marli Giedt, Maggie Schut, Fabrice Laguerre, Anastasia Inborn, Brandon Brownstein, Natalie Cohen, Will Fleming, Abby Lorenzini

HEROES

Indie rock dream girl, arthouse icon turned farmer, and performance artist for the ages—what do they all have in common? An unwavering commitment to themselves.

ISABELLA ROSSELLINI

THE ITALIAN ICON SETTLES INTO FARM LIFE

“Sharks have two dicks,” actor Isabella Rossellini tells me in a tone so casual, you’d think she was directing me towards the nearest bathroom. We’re in the bed and breakfast attached to her 28-acre estate, Mama Farm, located in Brookhaven, New York—a small Long Island town that is something of a hideaway for untouchable New Yorkers such as Anna Wintour and Martha Stewart. The rooms at the farm’s B&B are cozy and drenched in natural light; the walls are peppered with local artworks that almost exclusively depict animals. One large, brassy frame contains an image of two rhinos humping. It’s no secret that the Italian icon knows a lot about animals and their sex lives. In 2008, she created, wrote, directed, and starred in Green Porno, a Sundance Channel show about the mating and maternal behaviors of different animals,

and in 2019, Rossellini earned a master’s degree in animal behavior from Hunter College. In 2013, she (literally) bought the farm and, contrary to the idiom’s implications, it brought her and the local community a new lease on life.

Sitting in a sun-soaked reading corner of the B&B while the 71-year-old Lancome ambassador gets her makeup done and her three dogs lick at my ankles and tug on my pants, Rossellini tells me she decided to dedicate herself to this venture because she was interested in animals.

“Instead of having a house with a tennis court or a swimming pool,” she thought, “I’ll have a little farm like the one we used to have in Italy. ” During the summer, the property has the buzzing, communal energy of an Italian piazza, with folks coming in from the city and neighboring towns to try the now-famous farm-to-table dosas made by Patty Gentry, a chef-turned-farmer who rents

3 acres from Mama Farm for her project, Early Girl Farm. “I like conviviality. Maybe if there was another owner, they’d say, ‘This is private property, and here’s my gun: Bang, bang!” Rossellini shares before erupting into laughter, finger guns in place.

There’s a hard-to-place yet timeless girlishness to Isabella Rossellini, as evidenced by her playfulness. She is the daughter of two cinema icons, Italian director Roberto Rossellini and Swedish actor, star of Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman; Rossellini’s childhood was, as expected, colorful. In a 1983 interview with David Letterman, she recalls having “all sorts of animals: cats, dogs, and, Father once came up to the hotel where we were living during the divorce with a kangaroo.” Perhaps it was this early exposure to exotic animals—in addition to the charming chip in her front tooth, a relic from her childhood spats with her brother Roberto—that has kept the actor’s youthful wonder and whimsy intact throughout the decades. Aside from her beloved roles in cult classics like Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her, Rossellini has also pursued passion projects like her 2018 book, My Chickens and I—copies of which can be found on Mama Farm, discreetly tucked into stacks of other titles—and the adorably named documentary Animals Distract Me, filmed in collaboration with the Discovery Channel.

Talking to Rossellini, it’s clear that she defines happiness as a morning full of goats, dogs, and chickens. She jokes that traditional narratives of success were never really for her, anyway, “I don’t care about the green lawn because I didn’t grow up with it. I’m not like, Look, my lawn is so green, it is mowed so well,” she quips in a lofty accent. In addition to Mama Farm, Rossellini also has four movies coming out this year which include La Chimera (an Italian-language movie starring recent VMAN cover star Josh O’Connor) and Problemista (an A24 production written and directed by El Salvadorian comedian, Julio Torres). When we spoke, she was gearing up for the French and Italian run of a monologue-style stage performance called “Darwin’s Smile” inspired by “the book [Charles] Darwin wrote called The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals where he wondered why smiling or trembling, or screaming, is understood all over the world.” Rossellini is busy and shows no signs of slowing down. Thankfully, running after chickens and eating locally grown produce has proven to be very good at keeping people young, spry, and, by Rossellini’s definition, happy.

SAVANNAH SOBREVILLA

KIM GORDON THE QUEEN OF INDIE COOL FINDS HER SONIC TRUTH

There’s an image that comes to mind when you think about the platonic ideal of the indie rock girl: she stands on a stage in a mini skirt, one ankle-booted foot placed firmly on the downstage monitor, guitar slung low, hair shaggy, sunglasses on. She’s simultaneously remote and larger-than-life, a paragon of cool.

For forty years Kim Gordon has been the real live woman standing inside this silhouette. You could say she invented the indie rock girl archetype, or that it was invented around her. Gordon grew up in the nihilistic dreamscape of 70s L.A. and attended art school there before moving to gritty, grimy New York in the early 80s. It was the era of Basquiat and Danceteria, young Madonna and old Warhol. And it was there—in that burned-out promised land—that Gordon met her future husband, Thurston Moore. Together they formed Sonic Youth, the legendary noise rock band that went on to establish a signature sound (anarchic, guitar-soaked) and way of life (rigorous, communal) that remains profoundly influential to weirdo aspiring iconoclasts.

In 2012 Sonic Youth ended, as did Gordon and Moore’s marriage. Now 70, Gordon is still very much the imperiousseeming rock and roll goddess you’d expect. As she settles into a chair in the lobby of her New York hotel and orders a tea, I find myself doing what I do every time I see her in real life: deconstructing her outfit. Why does that sweater look so good? What are those necklaces? Maybe I should go blonde?

But she’s also an artist with a new record—The Collective, Gordon’s second solo album, out March 8th—who wakes up every day into a swell of emotions about the release. “I’m frustrated at how long it’s taken, to be honest,” she says. But then, “the idea of having to memorize lyrics and perform it live is kind of terrifying.” She smiles. “Also, is it really good or is it bad?”

Spoiler alert: It’s really good. The lead single, “Bye Bye” features Gordon’s boss femme vocals sing-speaking a predeparture to-do list (“Call the dog groomer, call the vet …Milk thistle … Advil… vibrator”) over layers of seductively sleazy noise. L.A.-based producer Justin Raisen made the beats and Gordon brought the “dissonant guitars and fractured abstract poetry.” She smiles broadly. “It was almost a challenge: like, deal with this.”

There’s space in a post-Sonic Youth world for this Gordon – the restless solo musician with difficult, pretty ideas. And there’s space for other parts, too, like Kim Gordon the visual artist. Her first gallery show was at White Columns in New York in 1980, her most recent was in L.A. last year, and she’s currently pondering a series based on iPhone photos of people’s living rooms. It could be cool, like the work of “an interior decorator slash psychologist.” Or, “it could end up just looking like Airbnb art.”

Then there’s Kim Gordon the writer. Her first published piece was an essay on masculinity in the No Wave scene called “Trash Drugs and Male Bonding” (1980). Her latest is a tribute to her brother, Keller Gordon, who she has described as the single biggest influence on her life, and who passed away last year. “I wanted to celebrate him,” she says. “He was brilliant but because he was schizophrenic he never got to build anything.”

The always-and-forever “girl in a band” (the title of Gordon’s 2015 memoir) is also an always-and-forever artist, relentlessly searching for her next moment of self-expression. “I may be a sociologist more than anything,” Gordon reflects, as she finishes up her tea. “I don’t know,” she continues. “I’m still waiting to grow up and feel like an adult.” LIZZY GOODMAN

Kim wears jacket and necklace CHANEL On eyes CHANEL BEAUTY Stylo Yeux Waterproof Eyeliner in #10 Ébène

Photography

YOKO ONO

TATE MODERN INVITES US INTO THE PROVOCATIVE PERFORMANCE ARTIST’S OEUVRE

It is impossible to envision the counterculture of the twentieth century without Yoko Ono coming to mind. Known as an eccentric avant-gardiste, as well as an outspoken activist, Ono is a pioneer of multimedia art, treating her practice as a way to express both her dreams for society and her musings on it.

Her pieces, known for being experimental and radical by the art world and general public, have now been curated by the Tate Modern into an exhibition titled Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind. Comprised of over 200 scores, films, installations, music and photography, it is the largest collection of Ono’s work ever seen in the U.K. The exhibition is loosely chronological, covering the artist’s time in New York, Tokyo and London, creating a timeline of a life conceptualizing art and making public statements.

The exhibition intends to engage the public in a discourse: Add Colour (Refugee Boat) invites visitors to paint on blank walls and a boat, reflecting on the refugee crisis, and visitors are encouraged to take puzzle pieces of the sky from the Helmets (Pieces of Sky) piece.

Through this curation, Ono claims her space in the spotlight while also welcoming us into her process, reframing her notoriety as the muse of one of the great musicians of our time. Her draft of Grapefruit, which inspired John Lennon’s song “Imagine”, and photos of her first ‘instruction paintings’, which detail philosophical approaches to making paintings, will be on display for the first time. Her use of her platform gains traction in today’s digitalscape, when collaboration and social leverage has never been more ubiquitous. Some of her humanitarian pieces, in partnership with Lennon, highlight the magnitude of what they achieved leveraging their global celebrity together, like the film BED PEACE (1969), in which they speak with the world’s media in Amsterdam and Montreal to promote peace during wartime.

Like Ono’s footprint on global activism, her expressions of feminism through art are significant. Films, such as Freedom, and music; like Sisters O Sisters, Woman Power, and Rising, all made between 1970-1995 are exhibited in recognition of her ruminations on womens’ justified rage towards gendered violence.

At last, Ono’s reputation as one of our century’s best dreamers has been put on full display. As an artist whose work inspired many other creative trailblazers from Björk to Lady Gaga to Patti Smith, in this installment Ono shows us how she paved her own way. Collectively, we are offered both a window into the unseen facets of her imagination and an opportunity to contribute to it; may her unbridled creativity offer us some inspiration as we build a more vibrant future.

ALYSON COX

YOKO ONO: MUSIC OFTHE MIND will be on view at the Tate Modern until September.

Yoko Ono with Glass Hammer 1967 from HALF-A-WIND SHOW, Lisson Gallery, London, 1967. Photo © Clay Perry

V NEWS

“I love how glossy, classy, and audacious these are. Hypothetically, I’d save these Guccis for a last date with my very kind sugar daddy who just got to be too much, so I left him after a drink, and then went to a really nice restaurant for one last night with his credit card. Another option is to wear them with some baggy jeans.”

—Alyson Cox, Producer

“The girls who get it, get it. The Chanel slingback is such an it-girl shoe, it needs no explaining. I can imagine buying these at 31 Rue Cambon (of course), throwing them on to match my tweed suit, and sneaking my way into Coco Chanel's apartment above the boutique and having a little solo kiki. Once I eventually get caught by securité, handcuffed as I click-clack my way down the mirrored staircase, I'm transported to a courtroom with my crystal embellished sling-backs sparkling the whole way through—à la Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, minus the misdemeanor.”

—Kevin, Digital Managing Editor

“I’m Melanie Griffith in Working Girl except instead of trying to make it in the business world, I am trying to make it as a pop star in Desperately Seeking Susan-era New York. Every morning I leave my dirtbag outer borough goingnowhere boyfriend behind, endure a long commute to the city where I slog through my coffee-fetching, phoneanswering day job, dreaming of my future stardom. As the work day ends and dusk finally begins to fall I pull these classic but witty Fendi pumps out of my Chinatown tote and slip them on, getting into the groove as I head (way) downtown.”

—Lizzy Goodman, Contributing Senior Editor

“These are perfect for somewhere hot and sexy like Miami. Like, I’m at a chic dinner, eating overpriced sashimi, wearing a vintage slim-waisted constructed blazer and a flowy satin skirt with a slit, and I’m dining with the city’s hottest it-boy architect. (Did he design this restaurant? Maybe.) They’re sexy, sophisticated, and for the girl who knows who she is.”

—Jessica Rivera, Marketing Manager

Maria wears all clothing and shoes GUCCI

Shorts and shoes CHANEL

The trend forecast predicts we’ll all be a little closer to the sky this year. With our heads in the clouds and high heels on our tippies, the V staff walks and talks us through the who, what, where of this season’s most playful pumps

Blazer RALPH LAUREN Tights WOLFORD Shoes SERGIO ROSSI Makeup Yuki Hayashi ( CLM ) Hair Edward Lampley ( CLM ) Model Maria Keidj (The Lions) Executive producer Sacha Di Bona (Savvie) Producer Zak Riddle (Savvie) Production designer Michael Sturgeon (Monday Artists) Lighting and digital technician Nelson Castillo Stylist assistants Liv Vitale, Maggie Schut Production design assistant Zachary Tucker

“These Dolce pumps are good for a spring wedding. One where you’re the bridesmaid who’s trying to steal the spotlight from the bride. I could see Alexa Demie’s character in Euphoria wearing them because they’re so feminine and trendy, but also a little risqué.”

—Xander

Ang, Senior Fashion Editor

“These Sergio Rossi heels tell the story of an Upper East Side soccer mum who loves to dress matchy-matchy while having tea at the Plaza with her kids, but she leads a double life. On weekends, she participates in cage fights somewhere in deep Brooklyn, just to feel something. She can’t escape her style DNA so, of course, she will choose designer shoes that are matchy-matchy. In this case, she’s coordinating with the cage.”

—Gro Curtis, Fashion Director

“I love that Prada is for weird fashion girls with, like, frog obsessions and Ren Faire pasts. If you’re donning these lowkey yet statement-making rust-colored mules, all you need is a pair of wired headphones (playing old Grimes), a coquette baguette (meaning a baguette with a satin bow on it), a thrifted school uniform of sorts, and a copy of any Ottessa Moshfegh novel and, boom, Coppola dreamgirl.”

—Savannah Sobrevilla, Editor

“In the 1968 sci-fi/comedy classic Barbarella, the President of planet Earth sends a sexy and glamorous space adventurer (Jane Fonda) out into the cosmos to retrieve an important scientist. I’d like to think she could wear these Louis Vuitton metallic heels in the modern day remake.”

—Mathias Rosenzweig, Digital Director

Jacket and shoes LOUIS VUITTON Tights WOLFORD

Skirt, socks, shoes PRADA

V GIRLS

London calling! From playing Gilded Age New York mean girls and unattainably cool modernday celebrity assistants to Shondaland queens, we’re excited to see where these British-based actors take us next

DEVON ROSS

THE IRMA VEP STAR TAKES TO THE STAGE

While 2024 marks the release of Devon Ross’s debut EP, Oxford Gardens, you could argue that the 23-year-old has been preparing for the project her whole life. Music is in the Toronto-born artist’s DNA—her father is Craig Ross, Lenny Kravitz’s lead guitarist. Most of her early memories involve music, either listening to the Beatles-heavy rotation of ’60s and ’70s rock her parents played around the house or tagging along on her father’s tours. The latter experience gave Ross a holistic perspective on the music industry—understanding the work behind all the glamor.

“I’m just really lucky to have grown up around that kind of stuff,” she shares. “Obviously, I’m still learning all the time, but there are a lot of things that I just know from growing up around [musicians]. It’s a space that I’m already comfortable in.”

But despite her native ease with the craft, Ross didn’t originally imagine a career in music. After her parents separated, she alternated living with both parents and grew up between Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York. Taking up the guitar was a way to cope with being a perpetual new kid, but she didn’t see herself taking to the stage like her rocker father. She left school in the 11th grade, determined to follow in the footsteps of

her model mother, Anna Bauer. Many agencies rejected her for being too short at 5'7", but Ross refused to give up until she got signed. 2019 brought her big break when Alessandro Michele tapped her for Gucci’s SS20 runway show in Rome. Her signature black wolf-cut and punkpixie beauty captured the attention of fashion’s big names, and Ross quickly landed shows and campaigns for Valentino, Simone Rocha, Vivienne Westwood, and more.

Soon, the restless creative craved a new challenge. She found it in acting. After submitting an audition tape, Ross landed a role as the cinema-obsessed assistant to Alicia Vikander’s Mira Harberg in the artsy HBO meta-series Irma Vep. The show’s glitzy premiere at Cannes in 2022 propelled Ross into the spotlight. Yet, as the buzz around the young talent reached a fever pitch, she realized she needed a way to step outside the noise. She turned to her earliest creative outlet: music.

“In May [2023], I went through a really big change in my life. I went to Paris to be with my family, and I just started writing songs the minute I got there, in my bedroom closet,” she recalls.

The result: 4-track EP Oxford Gardens, a hazy alt-rock record bolstered by Ross’s candid lyricism and hypnotic guitar riffs. Her airy vocals weave tales of bitterness and gloom, tempered by calls to move on—to “dye your hair/ get off the floor,” as she croons on lead single “Killer.” Mastered at London’s Abbey Road Studios, the project’s effortlessly cool sound and vulnerable storytelling created the perfect formula for repeat listens. Besides helping Ross through a tough time, making Oxford Gardens also helped the multi-hyphenate find confidence in herself as an artist.

“I’ve watched people do this my whole life, so it was really cool to actually do it for myself,” she says. “I learned that I could do it.” Wielding dreamy vocals and a bewitching sound, Ross is poised to follow in the footsteps of the retro rockers she adored as a kid—and inspire a new generation to jam along. BAILEY

BUJNOSEK

Devon wears all clothing and shoes PRADA

INDIA AMARTEIFIO

THE STREAMING QUEEN TALKS GIRLHOOD

Playing the role of a queen requires natural poise, effortless grace, and, ideally, a proficient understanding of depictions of royalty through Shakespeare’s timeless classics. Luckily for India Amarteifio, she checks off all the boxes. Yet, when connecting with depictions of girlhood portrayed by her character, the titular role in Netflix’s Bridgerton spin-off, Queen Charlotte, the actress struggled.

“I was raised by a progressive single mother, so I never depended on a man; I never depended on anyone apart from myself,” she says. When discussing Charlotte dropping to her knees, kissing George’s feet, and expressing the idea of undying love, the actress notes that she “couldn’t relate to that feeling.”

With period pieces, the allure lies in the opulent wardrobes, the beauty of that gilded time, and the glimmering sheen associated with royalty, making it easy to overlook the entrenched classism, racism, and misogyny. “I found it fascinating that the focus was immediately on procreating, its implications for the

state, and a woman’s place. It’s so far removed from the majority of society now,” Amarteifio. However, she attributes show writer Shonda Rhimes for infusing hints of modernity while distinctly deviating from stereotypes when portraying her female characters. “It’s what draws me to her writing.”

But there was one thing that Amarteifio and Queen Charlotte could both relate to—remaining emotionally vulnerable and hopelessly romantic in a world full of cold realities. “I’m able to be that way, to be emotional by trusting my gut,” she says. In British society, Amarteifio notes, the ‘keep calm, and carry on’ mentality equates being openly emotional with being soft, “It makes you feel weak.” This sentiment was something that followed her throughout her journey with girlhood up until recently.

“I felt a lot of guilt [being] an emotional person because I [saw] emotion as weak for a long time. I feel like, especially as a Black woman, you’ve got that added pressure to be strong.” In her personal and professional life, she claims that this connection with her emotions expands her perspective. “You experience high highs and low lows, but the lows make the highs so much more worth it.”

As we enter a digital era dissecting aspects of girlhood—ones that depict hot girl walks, girl dinner, girl math, and more, Amarteifio observes that while some trends amuse her, she cannot fully embrace them: “I don’t eat girl dinner; I eat real dinner.” Nevertheless, she grapples with the complexity of defining the current state and of girlhood. Questioning the oversimplification of the trend, she wonders if it stems from the male gaze. It’s a nuanced issue because “we’ve been through so much; we should also be allowed to oversimplify things.”

Growing up, this idea of striving to be a “successful, independent woman, one of class,” shaped the narrative of how she was supposed to behave. But as she grows up in the industry, she’s “constantly surprised” by different women and different gender non-conforming femmes that reform that traditional narrative. Some of her favorite works of art are by women of color, specifically Black women, who aid in diversifying stories. “It isn’t just about telling stories of suffrage. You are Black, but that’s not your only definition.” She mentions, “The idea of being a woman, to me, is not being stuck in a binary.” For her, stepping into the role of Queen Charlotte was the first time she was able to explore the multifaceted of girlhood. TIANA RANDALL

India wears all clothing VALENTINO Earrings CHRISTIAN LACROIX Shoes VIVIENNE WESTWOOD On

Makeup Nicola Brittin (Saint Luke) using NARS Hair Hiroki Kojima (Caren) using VIRTUE Manicure Robbie Tomkins ( LMC ) Production Lauren Sloan (Lalaland Production) Digital technician Alex Gale Photo assistants Seb McCluskey, Milan Rodriguez Stylist assistants Keisha Adams, Nkechi Managwu Makeup assistant Yolanda Dohr Production assistant Jamie Alderman Location Lock Studios

IMOGEN WATERHOUSE

THE BUCCANEERS BRIT BUILDS HER CAREER

Dialing in from her London home, Imogen Waterhouse is comfortable. Contented, even. It’s the week before Christmas and her latest streaming series, The Buccaneers, has just been renewed for a second season. She appears bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a soirée with a circle glitzy enough to make any socialite north of the Thames’s eyes water. Dancing and karaoke-ing alongside the likes of Georgia May Jagger and sister Suki at the lavish Broadwick Soho Hotel, she shared the night with her 100k followers and (quickly) counting. Catching up via Zoom, Waterhouse dons chic loungewear with her hair tossed up in a simple baseball cap—she has that je ne sais quoi of rising starlets down pat. Stylish wardrobe? Check. Buzzy posse? Of course. Ineffable star quality? Confirmed. Hit series? Secured.

“Acting was always a part of my fabric. When I left school, I was playing with a few ideas of ‘Maybe I should do this, maybe I should do that’ but it always came back to some sort of performing,” says Waterhouse, best known as Immy.

“I remember having a moment when I was like, ‘If I don’t try now, then I’m going to be angry at myself later in life. I may as well just give it a go and see what comes of it.’”

And it’s been going. Waterhouse’s star is on the rise with an expansive portfolio featuring standout performances in household-name dramas. After formally training as an actress at the Oxford School of Drama, Waterhouse landed a starring role in psycho-thriller Nocturnal Animals alongside Nicole Kidman and CW series, The Outpost before landing The Buccaneers, Apple TV’s answer to the period romance rage.

Adapted from an unfinished Edith Wharton novel of the same name, Waterhouse plays the lively, popular and all-American, Jinny St. George, who finds herself amongst the crinoline and class system of Victorian England in her search for love. Yet don’t be fooled by the “period” in its description—this isn’t Downton Abbey fare. It’s cotton candy visuals soundtracked by Lana Del Rey and Lucy Dacus. It’s corsets and lesbian lovers. It’s stiff upper lip Brits meet brash Americans—a classic trope we all eat up, Waterhouse included.

“It’s nice to see a fish out of water,” reflects Waterhouse. “The English society was really like this—keep it all in, don’t express yourself. Even today, English people are expected to be very humble whereas Americans are a lot more free to be proud of themselves. It’s two cultures clashing which always makes for an interesting dynamic.”

As she wades into the limelight, it’s clear Waterhouse is on the cusp of something much bigger. She speaks tentatively yet deliberately, carefully considering her words like she has her roles. “Delete that” and “actually, never mind” pepper her speech. Her captivating cadence is punctuated by a laid back yet reasonably posh accent. Equal parts attainable yet aspirational, Waterhouse feels just as much “girl next door” as “red carpet darling.” It’s that perfect formula for it-girldom that shows itself only once in a blue moon—maybe twice for lucky sisters.

SAM TRACY

Imogen wears all clothing MIU MIU Gloves PAULA ROWAN

Sometimes more is less. Such is the case with sheer fabrics—the more you wear, the less you conceal. If you’re feeling bold this spring, mess around with some diaphanous looks to create a slick second-skin look

PEN ÉLOPE TAKES THE WHEEL

After her 90s-inspired shoot with Jack Bridgland, actor Penélope Cruz sat down with her friend Dua Lipa to talk about the making of Ferrari, their mutual friend, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, and memories from last year’s Met Gala

Photography JACK BRIDGLAND

Interview DUA LIPA

Fashion GRO CURTIS

Something I regret not telling international icon and Academy Award-winning actor Penélope Cruz while moderating her V cover interview with fellow A-lister Dua Lipa is that a little piece of Maria Elena, the deranged, riveting artistic genius Cruz plays in 2008’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, lives in all Spanish-speaking women. As you may remember, in the Almodóvar-directed modern classic Maria Elena tries and fails twice to kill her ex-husband Juan Antonio (played by Cruz’s real-life husband Javier Bardem) once with a knife and once with a gun; she sleeps with his lover Cristina (Scarlett Johansson); and regularly touts her intellectual superiority over the two while they each find in her a creative muse for the summer. Cruz’s portrayal of Maria Elena is passionate, hypnotizing, and filled with rage. She taps into the fire a lot of women, Spanish-speaking or not, possess but don’t know they can fully inhabit, perhaps, until they witness her doing it so uninhibitedly. It is no secret that the soon-to-be 50-year-old can deliver a layered and thought-provoking interpretation of a character that could have otherwise been reduced to “difficult woman,” Cruz sees film as a medium meant to spark debate. When she read the script for Michael Mann’s Ferrari, she saw an opportunity to platform the intellect, grief, and unrecognized achievements of a woman who actually existed, Laura Ferrari. In her conversation with Dua Lipa—whose Spanish is impressively accent-less—Cruz unpacks her predilection for these complex roles and what drew her to the part of Laura, how her witchy ways manifested her famous, decades-long relationship with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, and why she left Dua’s 2023 Met Gala rave early. Spoiler alert: It was because she was sleepy. She’s just like us, for real. SAVANNAH

PENÉLOPE

CRUZ: I love your red hair.

DUA LIPA: I think it’s a little crazy right now, I kind of just woke up and tied it up.

PC: Thank you so much for doing this. I know how busy you are.

DL: Oh, no, thank you. I’m so happy to do this. I’m just such a fan of you as a person, but also of everything that you’ve done.

PC: That’s how I feel about you. You’re one of the kindest people that I know. Those two days that we spent together, I got addicted to you and I miss you so much.

DL: I miss you too. I need to come to Madrid and see you. I know that you’ve been on the craziest promo run, I feel like you’re always on a promo run. It’s like you’re doing a movie and then you’re on the red carpet and you’re looking glamorous and then you’re in a photoshoot. It’s just like, one thing after the other and I feel like all the works that you’re producing are just amazing.

PC: Thank you. I don’t feel like that because I only make like one movie per year or maybe every two years. I feel like lately because of COVID and then the strike, everything got pushed together. I’ve been lucky with the results of those projects, but I don’t work a lot. Not as much as before I had kids. But thank you for what you said. That’s how I feel about you. I don’t know how you do it. Always that energy. And you give so much and your talent is out of this world. I wish I had your energy.

DL: Oh my gosh. I was reading that you, I guess prior to having kids, made four movies a year.

PC: Yes.

DL: In Madrid and in LA , like non-stop. When you’re passionate about something, it’s like a hamster wheel. I love that you’ve found balance and something that works for you—and I want to get more into that—but first, I want to talk about just cinema overall. I feel like 2023 has been such a big year for movies. But I think a lot of them have been, like you said, pushed because of the pandemic and it feels like this heavy influx of a lot of different things. What are your thoughts on some of the movies that have come out in 2023?

PC: I see what you’re saying. In a way, we’re still recovering from COVID—our industry and every single industry in the world, it has affected everything. I feel that so many projects fell apart, and they will never be made. Between that and the strike that also created so much suffering, so many people in our industry that maybe don’t have the most privileged positions lost so much. It was really really hard for so many people, but, after all these things, having a year with so many great films is so encouraging for the industry and for everyone involved. I feel so lucky and so privileged to be a part of that and to be working. When I was a little girl and I was praying to be able to do this job, ‘Just let me do it. Please God, let me do this enough so [that] I can make a living out of it.’ Everything else that is happening is like an extra that I never asked for. I could not afford to dream about that.

DL: That’s beautiful. Tell me about... I know you’re a little bit of a witch, and manifest things.

PC: Oh! [Laughs.] Who told you that?

DL: Even when you were younger, and you wanted to work with a mutual friend of ours, Pedro [Almodóvar], for example, I read that you just dreamt about it, you thought about it all the time, you visualized him in different places. Tell me about that.

PC: Can I ask who was that person that told you that I was a little bit of a witch?

DL: It was Pedro.

PC: It was Pedro. Okay. When I met him, I was 17 or 18, and he didn’t cast me because I was too young for that role. But he told me, ‘I will write a character for you for another movie.’ And then he did. But when I met him, I told him, ‘Pedro, I used to think about you and have this feeling that I was going to see you. Go to your neighborhood and see you or go to a cinema in the center of Madrid—he didn’t live near there and me neither—and at the end of the movie, I will go out and [you] would be there.’ At the beginning, I know he didn’t believe me. He thought, Oh, my God, this is adorable and so young! When he saw that things started to happen between him and—[we had] like this huge connection. And I really believe in that. I don’t mind if somebody laughs at me when I say that because it has happened all my life.

DL: Me too, me too.

PC: I imagine that you and I have a connection like that. But I know a lot of people only believe what they can see and touch. And that’s okay. I don’t judge that, but that’s not my case. When I was dreaming about working with Pedro, it was like saying to my parents, like, I want to be an astronaut. It was almost impossible. But the fact that they didn’t laugh at me and they allowed me to try and dream big. Dream big was like: I’d like to work in different languages, different countries, but my main dream was to meet this man, I want to meet Almodóvar. I want to be his friend because I know that we have something in common and I want him in my life. It was not just about working with him. It was everything. He is one of the most important people in my life. But it’s true that a lot of like strange, magical things have happened between him and I from day one. I love that. For me, that was one of the most special things in life.

DL: I mean, I believe that and I believe manifestation. I think it’s so important to put your ideas out into the world. You have to say them even if they’re scary. I think your dreams have to scare you sometimes, because it’s the only way that you’ll be like, ‘I’m just gonna try.’ It’s the same for me with music. It seemed like something that would never happen to me, but I was like, ‘I’m hoping that if I dream hard enough or envision myself on the stage, or I imagine myself performing or getting up and doing that—I just hope it happens.’

PC: In my career, that has been like the biggest engine, because I didn’t [know] people who could make a living out of something related to the arts in general. I didn’t know anybody. Also, my parents didn’t know anybody. It was like, it was too big of a dream. The fact that I’m making a living out of this has to do so much—apart from being grateful for all the people that have given me opportunities—with putting it out there. and dreaming about the dream. Creating, dreaming.

DL: I want to talk to you about Ferrari obviously, because that’s your next big thing. Something that, from what I can tell, you’re also very passionate about. The thing that I love [about you] is the way that you embody female characters, the authenticity that you bring to [them] is really powerful. You want to dive into the complexities of life and I feel like you have a very non-judgmental approach towards the women that you portray.

PC: That’s the biggest compliment that you can give me.

DL: You find a lot of grace with all their life stories—at least, that’s what I see as a person from the outside looking in—and I just want to know, what was the process like for you embodying the role of Laura Ferrari?

PC: [Laura] was a real character, but not a lot of people knew about her. Everyone knew about Enzo, he was a very idealized, iconic figure.

If you walk around Modena, [Italy,] he’s untouchable. But when I did my research, in Modena with Michael [Mann, Ferrari’s director], we discovered that people didn’t want to talk about this woman. They prefer to keep her in the shadows like she was all her life. I realized that she actually did a lot for the company. She was not crazy like people would tell me in the street, she was deeply depressed because she had lost her son and, also, her husband went to create another family and had another son with somebody else. Everyone where they lived knew except for her. So she was broken.

One of her only motivations to stay alive was the connection with the company. She felt it was also her own because she was one of the first investors. Enzo knew that and that’s why he always gave her a place that was very criticized by all the other men. I mean, she could have had a much better place. She was the one controlling the finances and she was very smart and meticulous and obsessed with detail like [Enzo] was. But it was one more case of a woman living in the shadow of men and that being approved and supported by all of society. I felt like a feel for revenge. Looking around and seeing that there are so many women around the world, living very similar situations, I think for Michael and I, it became like a personal necessity to give this woman a voice because she represents so many others today.

DL: Even though you touched on it a little bit, your character goes through grief, infidelity, financial hardships—were those some of the main things that attracted you to the role? How did it come about for you to get involved in this project?

PC: Apart from the fact that it was so attractive to me, the idea of working with Michael Mann because I think he’s one of the greatest directors of all time, [and] also the idea of working with Adam [Driver] because she’s such a great, amazing actor, the character inspired a lot of compassion in me. When I’m choosing a project, that’s the biggest thing. Because I know movies don’t change the world, but I think sometimes you touch on something that can reopen an important debate. I think that has an important role in our society.

Head to VMAGAZINE.com to read the extended story.

OKAY KAIA

In a homecoming of sorts, model royalty (and emerging actor) Kaia Gerber strips it back with tomboyish ease in her shoot with photographer Mario Sorrenti. It feels like only yesterday that V’s editor-in-chief, Stephen Gan, met Kaia at 13, when the world knew her as supermodel Cindy Crawford’s daughter. Even closer in our memory is her shoot with Inez and Vinoodh for the cover of V125, still a baby-faced 18-year-old. Four years later, though she still possesses those soft, girlish features, Kaia has grown into her own as a model, artist, and person. Standing before us today is a 22-year-old woman who will always feel familiar and full of promise. And if her covetable cool stance is any indicator, she feels at home in the pages of V, too

Photography MARIO SORRENTI

KRIS KONG

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Kristen McMenamy, whose larger-than-life presence in fashion history is hard to miss. Captured on a latex-clad rampage by photographer Sølve Sundsbø, the iconic model has yet to miss her mark Photography SØLVE SUNDSBØ Fashion GEORGE CORTINA

The chameleonic career of Kristen McMenamy has progressed like an everlasting dream, with a mere sample set of her artistic output chronicled in the pages of Interview, W, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and Dazed as well as runways of Versace, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi, and campaigns for Balenciaga, Calvin Klein, Givenchy, and Jean Paul Gaultier. (Lest we forget her infamously catty shoot with Nadja Auermann and Richard Avedon in 1995.)

The androgynous throughline of McMenamy’s work has been a key element of her success. In her early days, her alien tomboy look opened doors that, at first glance, did not seem to have even been there—closed or otherwise— when she first entered the scene.

When NARS founder Francois Nars shaved off McMenamy’s eyebrows for Anna Sui’s FW show in 1992, it foretold the arrival of grunge’s impactful wave in fashion. This was the catalyst that took McMenamy from a lanky goth Pennsylvanian to an icon of alternative style, crossing lines of queerdom experimentation and following the cultural pulse wherever it took her. As Karl Lagerfeld put it in 1993, “She is modern fashion, which is not to be obsessed with beauty but with life, personality, vitality.” Four years later, it’d be Lagerfeld giving McMenamy away at her wedding.

If one were to drop into the clubby, gritty districts of today’s New York, Paris, Berlin and beyond it would be easy to spot her acolytes in daring looks that aren’t far off from a classic McMenamy moment. As a muse, McMenamy has been a source of inspiration for queer artists, designers, and activists alike. Her impact resonates in the work of those who continue to push boundaries, creating spaces for diverse representations of gender and sexuality. By defying societal expectations and embracing her androgynous allure, she has become a standard bearer of a broader cultural shift that celebrates individuality and authenticity.

Punch in Kristen McMenamy on Google Search and start scrolling. You’ll find Vogue Italia covers from Franca Sozzani’s reign, a guest spot on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and an Instagram that provides a masterclass in personal style and charisma. On her page—a certifiable editorial spread of its own—she shines in hot pink heels, “smizes” in a cheeky selfie, and lowers a chain dripping with diamonds into her mouth with chopsticks. Superb.

Such charm, haute oddity, and accomplishment come but once in a great while, and we’re fortunate to share this timeline with the icon herself. In this spread, McMenamy invites us into the storm of her world, where sartorial rules and hardline versions of identity are thrown to the sideline with gusto. She gleams, she plunges, and she jolts with her trademark electricity, reminding us of the freedom that life allows when we just lean in (and throw on some leather).

SAM FALB

Romper CELINE by Hedi Slimane Necklace VENYX by Eugenie Niarchos Gloves GIVENCHY Tights WOLFORD

ALL THE WORLD’S A RUNWAY

For SS24, V rounded up some of the strongest looks from different designers hailing from every fashion capital—London, Milan, New York, and Paris. While some leaned into their roots (New York can’t escape its corporate cœur and we like it that way) others tried something different (London, for example, has never looked so colorful). As you flip through this season’s best, listen closely to hear what each city has to say

Fashion direction GRO CURTIS

Makeup Alice Dodds using GUCCI BEAUTY Hair Tom Roppongi (Julian Watson Agency) Models Lara Menezes (Next), Boyu Wang (Muse), Florence Huntington-Whiteley (Premier), Alana Filisberto (IMG), Mayor Dutie (Elite), Caren Yepkemei (Perspective Management), Devi Rae (Premier), Greta Carnbring (Next), Tara Halliwell (Models 1), Ajok Madel (Premier) Set design Lizzy Gilbert

From left to right:

Anyier wears dress and shoes PHILOSOPHY DI LORENZO

Greta wears all clothing, accessories, shoes DOLCE & GABBANA

Jadi wears all clothing, accessories, shoes JIL SANDER

Dolly wears all clothing and shoes BRUNELLO CUCINELLI

Suzune wears all clothing, accessories, shoes THE ATTICO

Hana wears all clothing, accessories, shoes PRADA

Mayowa wears all clothing, accessories, shoes FERRAGAMO

Litay wears dress, scarf, shoes ROBERTO CAVALLI

From left to right:

Lyra wears all clothing, accessories, shoes FENDI

Dolly wears all clothing GIORGIO ARMANI

Shoes ROGER VIVIER

Mayowa wears all clothing, accessories, shoes MAX MARA

Sculy wears all clothing, shoes TOD’S

Litay wears all clothing, accessories, shoes VERSACE

Suzune wears all clothing, accessories, shoes ANDREADAMO

Jadi wears all clothing, accessories, shoes LORO PIANA

Anyier wears all clothing, shoes GUCCI

Hana wears all clothing, accessories, shoes ETRO

Makeup Annabelle Petit (Wise and Talented) using VICTORIA BECKHAM BEAUTY Hair Anne Sofie Begtrup (Wise and Talented) using ORIBE Haircare Models Anyier Anei (Women 360 Paris), Greta Bultmann (Next), Jadi Wegener (Viva), Dolly Baby (Next), Suzune Oda (Silent), Hana Grizelj (Select Paris), Mayowa Adagunduro (Silent), Litay Marcus (IMG), Sijia Kang (Silent), Lyra Westecott (Women), Sculy Mejia (Select Paris) Set design Athanasios Kanakis Production Julie Giudicelli (Obvious Print) Photo assistant Pietro Frizzi Stylist assistant Liana Sipos Makeup assistant Marie Urbes, Camille Lam Hair assistants Chloe Ballard, Mily Serebrenik Set design assistant Laura Pouppeville Location Studio Mac Mahon

NEW YORK CITY

Stylist Xander Ang Makeup Frankie Boyd (Streeters) Hair Jenni Wimmerstedt (Paradis) Models Aun’jell Yepp, Tiffany Guo, Eden Joi, Afra Bommarco, Bhumika Arora, Jade Huber, Amilina Estevao, Isabella Emmack, Jazelle, Harleth Kuusik (The Society) Production Hannah Flynn (Jason Kibbler Studio) Digital technician Kylie Cotts Photo assistants Justin Mulroy, Mike Skigen, Iain Gomez

Stylist assistants Liv Vitale, Natalie Cohen Makeup assistants Amelia Berger, Aya Iwakami Hair assistants Vanessa Verea, Summer Key Location Salt Studios

Photography Jason Kibbler

Makeup Annabelle Petit (Wise and Talented) using VICTORIA BECKHAM BEAUTY Hair Anne Sofie Begtrup (Wise and Talented) using ORIBE Haircare Models Anyier Anei (Women 360 Paris), Greta Bultmann (Next), Jadi Wegener (Viva), Dolly Baby (Next), Suzune Oda (Silent), Hana Grizelj (Select Paris), Mayowa Adagunduro (Silent), Litay Marcus (IMG), Sijia Kang (Silent), Lyra Westecott (Women), Sculy Mejia (Select Paris) Set design Athanasios Kanakis Production Julie Giudicelli (Obvious Print) Photo assistant Pietro Frizzi Stylist assistant Liana Sipos Makeup assistant Marie Urbes, Camille Lam Hair assistants Chloe Ballard, Mily Serebrenik Set design assistant Laura Pouppeville Location Studio Mac Mahon

FACE SHOW

Motion, transparency, and fantasy are all at play this spring. In the stream of soft sheer sets juxtaposed with loud leather looks on model Guinevere van Seenus, we’d be remiss if we didn’t add a touch of masquerade magic to the fashion fun

Photography

CHRIS COLLS

Fashion ANNA TREVELYAN

Japanese photographer Takashi Homma made a name for himself in the ‘90s after a 2-year stint at i-D Magazine and the success of his photo project, Tokyo Suburbia, in 1998. His approach is simple yet effective, photographing quotidian scenes that capture the style, people, and energy of Tokyo’s surrounding neighborhoods. In his recent shoot with United Colors of Benetton, Homma takes us to his safe place, 市外 (translation: the burbs), to deliver what he does best in his distinctly tender and timelessly out-of-this-world way

Photography TAKASHI HOMMA

Fashion SHUN WATANABE

Fashion direction NICOLA FORMICHETTI

From left to right: Iroha wears polo shirt, pants BENETTON Jacket, skirt, socks stylist’s own Nina wears polo shirt, pants BENETTON Long sleeve shirt, arm warmer, belt, socks stylist’s own Necklace model’s own

Eito wears polo shirt BENETTON Pants, belt, socks model’s own

From left to right: Iroha wears dress BENETTON Long sleeve shirt and tights stylist’s own Socks and boots model’s own Kei wears all clothing, bag, shoes BENETTON Harness, belts, trunks, socks stylist’s own Hair necklace hair stylist’s

From left to right: Nina wears polo shirt, pants BENETTON Belts and skirt stylist’s own Under shirt, necklace, shoes model’s own Ryura wears polo shirt, shorts, bag BENETTON Long sleeve shirt, shirt (on waist), gloves, belt, tights, socks, all jewelry stylist’s own Boots model’s own

Makeup Tamayo Yamamoto Hair Tomihiro Kono Models Yuki Beniya (Tokyo Rebels), Ryura (Number Eight Models), Kei, Eito, Nina, Iroha Production Nanami Tashiro Casting director Shimana

WHAT V WANT

As Frank Sinatra put it, it’s time to “start spreading the news” as CHANEL’s latest fine jewelry flagship on Manhattan’s famed Fifth Avenue proves how lucky the number five truly is

Ask any CHANEL devotee and they’ll tell you that the number five is a major symbol for the brand. More than just an iconic marking, the importance of the number five itself dates all the way back to the house’s founder Gabrielle Chanel. How so? Legend has it that Ms. Coco Chanel herself would show her couture collections on the fifth day of the given month, a nod to the fifth sign of the zodiac which just so happens to be her astrological symbol (classic Leo behavior.) And perhaps the most important five in her life: the legend that is the revolutionary N°5 fragrance, a fan favorite amongst scent connoisseurs.

Following the same beat decades later, CHANEL is introducing its latest five on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. Finding a new home in the city’s historic Crown Building, nestled alongside the likes of some of the world’s greatest high jewelry makers, the house is dedicating its brand new digs to its unparalleled watches and fine jewelry offerings, as the first freestanding boutique in New York to carry the special items exclusively. Adding to the glamor of the new space, New York-based architect Peter Marino used 730 Fifth Avenue as his latest playground, creating a twostory flagship experience that many will consider a treasure in and of itself. The gilded walls of the new boutique will see the introduction of exclusive creations, including the arrival of the Lucky N°5 Collection—which includes the bracelet seen above, set in a white gold finish with sparkly diamonds that could outshine even the Empire State Building on a sunny day—reminding us all that CHANEL is more than ready to find that diamond in the rough for you. KEVIN PONCE

Bracelet CHANEL 18K white gold, diamonds (Price Upon Request,

Photography DAMIEN ROPERO