All Aboard Vogue Air! An Inside Look at Fashion’s Most Exclusive Airline
All aboard Vogue Airlines! Or, to be more specific, the private American Airlines shuttle that flew models, hair and makeup teams, and Vogue staff from JFK to LAX just in time for Vogue World: Hollywood. Luckily for all of you, what happens on Vogue Air doesn’t exactly stay on Vogue Air: Here, Florence and Irene recap the ultimate flight of fancy.
We arrive at the airport at 4:30 a.m. The line to check in for Vogue World: Hollywood is long, despite the fact that we’re 30 minutes ahead of our call time. We don’t mind waiting, however, because the excitement is through the roof and we feel very VIP with our dedicated Vogue World check-in. In line, we already see some of fashion’s biggest names, including Liya Kebede, Lila Moss, and Alex Consani, all waiting to get their seat assignments for Vogue Air.
We’re all checked in now and waiting to be escorted through TSA and up to the American Airlines Greenwich Lounge. Lila Moss is heading our group and we accidentally bump into her. (No one tell the Vogue casting team that we almost injured one of their models!) Luckily, she is an angel and tells us not to worry—it’s very early, after all. At security, we’re brutally humbled when, for a moment, the airport agents assume we aren’t with the models. Thankfully, however, our Vogue and Dogue merch serves as suitable proof of our employment.
Thanks to all the beautiful Vogue World: Hollywood signs at JFK, we make it to the Greenwich Lounge—aka the Vogue World: Hollywood lounge—in one piece. We see our coworkers, but we walk past them; our working hours don’t begin until 9 a.m. Over granola and yogurt, we catch up with models like Sherry Shi, who recently made her first runway appearance after a two-year break.
Slowly but surely, the group begins to make moves toward our gate. Dispirited by the length of the line for the elevators, we opt to carry our suitcases down the stairs—a grave mistake. We really need to start working out more. Maybe we should try to train with the models this weekend? They look so strong!
The line to board is long—so long, in fact, that we get stares from the other travelers at the airport trying to navigate around us. Then, after we’ve all found our seats, Vogue casting directors Iggy and Morgan are ready to let the models rest…until one of them, Lulu Tenney, tells photographer Acielle Tanbetova that she’s ready to shoot. Still, we let the girls rest for a few minutes before they have to get to work. At about the same time, we discover that we’re not seated together on the plane. This actually works out in our favor, because it means we can get our own beauty sleep instead of spending the entire six-hour flight gossiping.
We’re allowed into the cockpit (!), where we meet pilots Pete and Joel. Joel, as it turns out, is a friend of our boss, Chloe Malle (their kids go to school together), which we find reassuring (Vogue x American Airlines synergy!). Pete and Joel mention that while this isn’t the most famous bunch of celebrities they’ve flown, it is the most famous bunch of people they’ve had aboard the same aircraft. They also call our flight the most fun…a bit of wishful thinking, as we sit on the tarmac at JFK, that we hope bears out.
Vogue’s global design director, Parker Hubbard, wakes us up: The time has come to get Acielle up to photograph the girls. (This wouldn’t be Vogue Air without a little content!) Everyone is happy to have their photograph taken, with models Nora Attal and Ugbad Abdi saying that this is just like their plane from Milan to Paris during Fashion Week, except better because it’s solely Vogue people. (Also, here on Vogue Air, everyone is treated like they’re flying first class, down to the decadent breakfast menu and free Vogue World: Hollywood goodies, including a garment bag and custom Vogue x American Air amenity kit.)
We start to photograph the girls, and everyone gets into it. They practice their walks and poses in the plane’s aisles and even try their hand at working as flight attendants, passing around snacks and water. (The rest of the Vogue staff chuckle at the back of the plane as all this unfolds.)
All of a sudden, a familiar voice comes on over the speaker system: that of Vogue’s global director of social media, Sam Sussman, who is welcoming us aboard Vogue Air (four hours after our flight took off, mind you). She gives us a very important weather update—“There is a 100% chance that you all slay at Vogue World: Hollywood on Sunday”—that, while mostly directed toward the models, feels inspiring to the rest of us nevertheless.
Any Vogue staffer who attempted to get some shut-eye before landing is now awake, roused by the screams and cheers of the models. At the same time, some of those models come around with snacks. Entertainment and top-notch service? Who could ask for more?
Another voice can be heard over the speaker. This time it’s an actual American Airlines flight attendant, who cautions us that someone has lost their reading glasses. A concerned energy descends over the plane as passengers check their seats and wonder to themselves who lost their glasses. Was it a Vogue staffer? Was it a model? Was it a makeup artist? Unfortunately, we never do get the answer—nor do the glasses surface. Consider it a mystery that will live in perpetuity on Vogue Air.
The excitement really starts to set in as we see our little plane icon inch closer and closer to LAX on the in-flight map. We’re going to Hollywood, baby!
With hardly a bump, we land at LAX, and the American Airlines Vogue World: Hollywood express has reached its final destination. But the fun is really only beginning, as we deplane directly onto the tarmac to see Alex Consani waving a Vogue World: Hollywood flag out the window of the cockpit to welcome us to Los Angeles. An iconic end to an iconic journey. Until next time, American Airlines!
Photographed by Poupay Jutharat1/48
Photographed by Poupay Jutharat2/48
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