The popstar and partner to Elon Musk has just given birth to her first child. A photoshoot by Ryan McGinley provides an up-close look at her in the ninth month of her pregnancy.
Milan, 5 May 2020 – Grimes, who on 4th May welcomed her first child, a boy, with her partner Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, is one of the stars of the May issue of Vogue Italia. Photographer Ryan McGinley portrayed her in a shoot that saw her immersed in an unusually gothic California during the ninth month of her pregnancy.
The shots are accompanied by an interview in which the 32-year-old, whose real name is Claire Boucher, environmental activist and techno-feminist, talks about digital identity, motherhood, technology and fashion, and imagines the future post-coronavirus.
Just a few days before giving birth, Grimes had the following to say about the wait: “It’s definitely very challenging to be pregnant in the middle of a pandemic. It’s tough not being able to see friends and family. A friend of mine unfortunately passed away recently, and it was a nightmare not being able to be there for her loved ones. It won’t be easy to be in hospital… I won’t go into detail, but I feel very empathetic for anyone who is going through this same phase. And I trust what the maternity wards are doing to manage the situation, I have a great deal of respect for the work that doctors do”.
“Fashion has been generous with me. It’s allowed me to promote my work”, says Grimes. “Fashion is one of the ways the human body can be transformed into a work of art, so I take it very seriously”. She continues: “I’m really passionate about digital fashion in video games, and prefer the ones which offer plenty of clothing options, or where buying virtual clothes is actually an integral part of the game. I think that it’s a mark of cultural progress, and it’s definitely more sustainable than creating and consuming real clothes”.
Reflecting upon the exceptional times that we are currently experiencing and what awaits us following the pandemic, Grimes points out that we are facing “an interesting change in consumption habits. This is an opportunity to have a good, long think about how we’re living, even if it’s an uncomfortable truth!” She concludes on a positive note: “Human beings are incredible. Even in our darkest hour, we’re surrounded by wonder”.
Grimes was photographed in Vogue Italia by Ryan McGinley, who chose the same setting for the self-portraits of the shoot he did for L’Uomo.