Milan, 29 th April 2019 – French actress Vanessa Paradis, posing for the first time for German photographer Peter Lindbergh who portrayed her as the Marianne of Europe, is only one of seven cover subjects chosen by L’Uomo Vogue to hit newsstands on April 29, one month shy of elections to the European Parliament, in its special issue celebrating unity of the continent – unity which the neo-nationalist wave is jeopardizing.
It’s a natural choice for a brand founded on the excellence of international photography – a form of art which by its nature draws people closer rather than pulls them apart – meeting the excellence of international fashion, which has always transcended borders and represented the shared evolution of customs and values of generations growing up in different countries. True to this vocation, L’Uomo Vogue publishes all its texts in English.
“To talk about Europe choosing to highlight what unites us instead of what divides us – to show the faces, the places, the stories, the dreams which make the European project still relevant” – such is the intention of Emanuele Farneti, Editor-in-chief of L’Uomo Vogue and the author of an op-ed titled I Love EU. “For this special issue we have brought together artists, photographers, writers who share our view that the founding fathers’ dream of peace and unity is far from dead, in fact it’s more relevant than ever, but it need to be fueled by beauty and emotion. At this sensitive time everybody needs to do their part, fashion included”.
Five of the seven covers are taken from the fashion features, all EU-themed, all shot in Europe by European photographers. Lindbergh chose Paradis as an icon of contemporary Europe. Annamarieke Van Drimmelen shot her story along Dutch canals, a metaphor for the waterways circulatory system transcending borders and keeping the continent together. Andreas Larsson set his story on trains – a tribute to InterRail as a symbol of free movement. Instead of models, Robi Rodriguez cast ordinary men of Spain, the Southern border of Europe, a land of encounters and mixtures. Solve Sundsbo focused on the opposite Northern border and portrayed Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman, star of House of Cards.
The sixth cover is an outtake from We the People, a portrait portfolio of ordinary men from 20 countries of the Union. Kofi Lawson was chosen to represent them: born in Ghana, as a child he moved to Denmark where his father had graduated and found work, he is married to a girl from Copenhagen, has fathered two children, considers himself proudly Danish and is the symbol of a little-talked-about category of migrants, those who do not flee poverty or war but simply look for a new chance at life and choose to call Europe home. The seventh cover, finally, is an original work by world-famous Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli, who reworked Guido Reni’s 17th-century painting The Rape of Europa – the mythological Phoenician virgin that Zeus took advantage of by disguising himself as a white bull – adding one of his trademark teardrops in which he inserted a portrait of Marine Le Pen, as a representative of the enemies who are manipulating and besieging the Europe of today, its unity, its political and cultural heritage.
In the pages of this special issue, Roberto Saviano and Bernard-Henri Lévy have a conversation on Europe and populism. Writer and director Emmanuel Carrère talks about France, the ‘yellow vests’ and the ‘elite vs people’ debate. Award-winning photographer and anti-Brexit activist Wolfgang Tillmans shares his pro-EU campaign. Gallerist Thaddaeus Ropac and auctioneer Simon de Pury present the fundraiser they have launched with Bernard-Henri Lévy and the members of the ‘United Artists for Europe’ collective. Original ‘Love Letters to Europe’ are penned by four non-European writers: American David Leavitt and Stefan Merrill Block, South-African Richard Mason, and the Indian poet Tishani Doshi who explains that “I still love her [Europe]. I always will. I’m waiting for her to find herself.” Images of European hope chosen by five photo editors complete the package, together with a selection of iconic pictures shot in Europe for L’Uomo Vogue in the magazine’s 50 years of history.E