It’s impossible to do it all on your own. These fve power couples take each other to the next level. Through love, hard work, and sheer determination, they continue to grow. And we grow with them
YOKO OnO AnD SEAn lEnnOn
Watching Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon interact, one gets the sense that while they are devout pacifsts, their union is such that it’s them versus the world. Not in the sense of combat or anything remotely violent, but rather in an endearing, protective way. She whispers to him, he translates to a crowd. She dances while he sings. As special as it is, their bond goes beyond normal family ties; they are collaborators. Recently the pair has channeled their infuence to educate the public on the dangers of fracking, even going so far as to perform an adorable ditty on the Jimmy Fallon show called “Don’t Frack My Mother.” (Their website, artistsagainstfracking.com, has garnered the support of nearly 200 like-minded superstars including Lady Gaga, Questlove, and Susan Sarandon.) Additionally, Yoko, a highly recognizable yet often undervalued artist, and Sean, a successful musician in his own right, are working on an album together, due out later this year. Two halves of a whole, mother and son were asked the same four questions about how they relate to each other personally and professionally. sarah cristobal What do you admire most about your son? Yoko Ono He does try to do his best in everything he does. Does your relationship change when you’re working together? YO Not really. We are always the same. Do you love working together? YO It’s getting better every time. 1 56
Who or what inspires you these days? YO Funny you should ask…I was just thinking that it’s getting to be inspiring to work with my son, because he is so diferent from me in how he organizes things, and yet we talk the same language. What do you admire most about your mom? Sean Lennon I think her strength and resilience both creatively and physically. This is a woman who survived Tokyo being bombed in WWII, heard the Emperor surrender on the radio, as well as news of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She was disowned from her family for marrying the artist Tony Cox. Then she meets my dad, and goes from being the reigning queen of the avant-garde in London, the toast of the town, to being scorned by so much of the world. Her career gets completely overshadowed. They move to New York, and my father is murdered while they are arm in arm. Since then she’s been running the business alone while raising a child, in an often-hostile world. I think her strength and resilience are remarkable and admirable. Does your relationship change when you’re working together? SL Our interactions work best in the studio when things have a more professional tone. As soon as we slip into mother and son mode, arguments can quickly ensue. I try and keep the personal stuf out of the workplace if I can manage it. Do you love working together? SL I do feel very lucky to be able to work with her. Many parent-child relationships dissolve into a series of boring lunches and dinners, perhaps a few feeting holidays. We get to really make something concrete, something we can hold onto years later and reexamine, something that will in fact outlive us both. Who or what inspires you these days? SL I am almost always inspired. The world is a bountiful place, both beautiful and horrifc. If I am ever uninspired it is my fault and certainly never the world’s.
Yoko ono and sean lennon in new York citY, januarY 2013
PhotograPhy PhiliPPe Vogelenzang Fashion brandon Maxwell
Makeup for Yoko Ono Michiko Boorberg for YSL Beauty Grooming for Sean Lennon Kristin Gallegos for Laura Mercier (CLM) Hair Wesley O’Meara for BanGStYLe (the Wall Group) Set design erin Swift (Kate Ryan Inc) Digital technician toto Cullen Photo assistants Pavel Woznicki and Janneke de Jong Stylist assistant Hayley Pisaturo Set design assistant adam Santucci Location MetroDaylight Studio
The unIversAlly Adored moTher And son