Despite our beloved Luigi & Iango-shot covers becoming a thing of the past, the change in the air at Vogue Japan appears positive. Tiffany Godoy is now the magazine’s head of editorial content and Asian representation has been at the top of the agenda when it comes to cover stars. Recently, we’ve encountered everyone from Yumi Nu to Mika Schneider (twice). Now Hikaru Utada graces the publication for the very first time for July 2022. Photographed by Shoji Uchida and styled by Kyohei Ogawa, the Japanese-American singer and songwriter wears an ensemble from Sacai’s Fall 2022 collection for the striking cover shot.
“Absolute icon!” praised russianelf the moment the cover dropped.
“Reminds me of Irving Penn’s photographs of Issey Miyake’s work back in the 80s and 90s,” Paul Lintag pointed out.
“I’m loving the return of the white background and a more classic direction,” admitted kokobombon.
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RedSmokeRise shares the same sentiment: “I like it! Simple and clean!”
GivenchyHomme likes it, too. “Oh I’ve missed this. It’s all about the subject and the clothes, nothing else. It’s exactly how it should always be!”
“I love the dominance of red against the stark, clean background. An austere, effective composition that highlights the architecture of the clothes well,” raved an equally impressed Ken Doll Jenner.
But not everyone is buying it. “I like the fact that it’s Vogue Japan with an all-Japanese team, but why did they make her look like a CGI character?” asked Urban Stylin.
“There’s just something about this that I severely dislike. Perhaps it’s Hikaru Utada’s vacant expression or the placement of the cover photograph and the missing ‘O’ from the Vogue masthead,” critiqued vogue28.
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