This 2019 Josh Olins Adut Akech Shoot Reminded Me Why I Love Fashion
This story is part of a series, Past/Present, highlighting images and articles from Vogue that have personal significance to our editors.
When I was in middle school and just beginning to develop my fashion appreciation, my sister—older by three years—started educating me in the art of the magazine tear sheet. Her bathroom walls were littered with the campaign and editorial staples of the time: Kate Moss’s Calvin Klein Obsession ads; Kate Moss’s Calvin Klein Jeans ads; and a few pages of Steven Meisel’s legendary 1992 grunge shoot for this magazine, styled by Grace Coddington, for good measure.
I poured over the pages of Numéro, i-D, Pop, and Purple for years after, clipping visual inspiration to pre-Pinterest mood boards, but stopped this activity—like so many others—when the pace of life picked up and adulthood set in. I hadn’t felt the urge to rip up a magazine (so messy! So wasteful!) until a final release meeting for our January 2019 issue.
Right before an issue of Vogue closes, our entire team gathers to go through every single image and story for the month, and usually that is when you get to see what other editors have been working on. This issue included a portfolio that the iconic British stylist and Colville brand founder Lucinda Chambers worked on for us, and when we got to it during the meeting, I stopped in my tracks.
The format is familiar: beautiful girl, beautiful makeup, beautiful clothes, in a studio. But every aspect of that formula is exceptional here: The girl is Adut Akech, the Sudanese now supermodel who was just coming off her first few breakout seasons on the runway; the frosty pastel eye shadows that makeup artist Sally Branka swiped across Akech’s lids pop against her radiant skin; the photography by Josh Olins captures the movement of the clothes with just the right amount of subtlety.
And the fashion! The colors, the volumes, the textures, the accessories—everything is so impeccably selected and so perfectly put together that each image is elevated to an entirely new level. When we got our issues at the office, I gingerly removed the close-up of Akech with purple lids from the magazine’s spine and put it in my top desk drawer as a small reminder of why I wanted to work in fashion in the first place.
“Practical Magic,” photographed by Josh Olins, was first published in the January 2019 issue of the magazine. Fashion Editor: Lucinda Chambers. Hair, Cim Mahony; makeup, Sally Branka.
Photographed by Josh Olins, Vogue, January 20191/3FULL SWING: An azure blazer—when worn atop a primly pleated two-tone skirt—is polite with a punch. Calvin Klein 205W39NYC blazer, turtleneck, and skirt. PUT A BOW ON IT, left: What happens when oversize neutral staples brush up against juicy color? An exceedingly charming take on utilitywear. Salvatore Ferragamo jacket and pants.
Photographed by Josh Olins, Vogue, January 20192/3HEAVY WEATHER: Pair your technical pullover with a playful going-out dress, and your daytime uniform is instantly transformed. JW Anderson jacket. Emilia Wickstead dress. HOP, SKIP, AND A JUMP, left: The girl on the go would do well to consider a crisp and bold Prada polo shirt, kicky Fendi skirt, and proper Hermès handbag for her next jaunt about town. The Upside leggings. Preen by Thornton Bregazzi boots.
