Islandistas in June Vogue & July Elle!

It's all islandista, all the time in fashion's biggest magazines this summer! The fashion folk can't get enough of island girls from all spheres, be they designers, models or singers.

In the June edition of Vogue is Jamaican designer Carly Cushnie of Cushnie et Ochs - along with her design partner, they are highlighted in a feature on New York fashion's New Guard. To paraphrase Daddy Screws, big t'ings a gwan fi yu Carly!Also in the same June edition is Puerto Rican/Virgin Islander (St. Thomas to be exact) Joan Smalls, who truly ripped the runway in the FW10/11 fashion season just gone- walking 40 catwalks.

Haitian designer Hassan Pierre in Vogue!

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We love to see island folk doing big things so we were very happy to read about Haitian-American designer Hassan Pierre...  in the May issue of US Vogue, no less! 

 While folks may not always associate Haiti with haute couture, Pierre, who is a 22 year old grad of Parson's School of Design, has fashion in his blood, as he told Boca News back in 07:

"My mother used to take me to the Paris shows from Haiti. She is what I like to call, a fashion junkie."

And it's worked for him -another of his lines, VIP Couture, was beloved by it girls such as Nicole Richie and the Olsen Twins and now his organic line, Way It Should Be* is getting shine.

 WISB* was featured in Vogue's Syle Ethics section, with actress Kerry Washington modelling a cool, crisp black and white WISB* dress with a tiered skirt. 

The name of the line aptly sums up its fashion ethos - that clothing should be from sustainable and organic sources. Hence why they use organic materials, non-synthetic dyes, recycled zippers and seeded paper for the hang tags (you can actually plant them and they will bloom). 

Also, the line itself is produced in Port-au-Prince and Pierre has promised it will continue to be, as the city recovers from the catastrophic January 12 earthquake. He told Vogue:

"It really has to be the entire process, beyond it just being organic. And that's more important now than ever."

 

Rihanna in blackface & Islandistas on I-D cover

Islandistas are all over the place for the September round of fashion magazines.

Islandistas Jourdan Dunn and Arlenis are featured on the cover of the September issue of I-D magazine, along with fellow models of colour Chanel Iman and Sessilee Lopez in a historic all-black cover.

Jourdan, who is five months pregnant (reportedly with a boy), spoke about her baby's father, the pressures on minority models and how she has finally become comfortable with not having the type of body prized in the Afro-Caribbean community.

About her boyfriend:

My boyfriend didn't even know I was a model when I started going out with him and we've been together for three years now. It's hard, you never really know whether people want to be around Jourdan or Jourdan Dunn, and he's been there from when I was just Jourdan.

About her body:

“I’m starting to feel more secure in who I am now. Being from an Afro-Caribbean family, being black, skinny, isn’t really acceptable in that community; it’s all about having curves and stuff.... That’s why I’ve never been comfortable with my body until now, when I realize I can say this is who I am, I’m healthy, I’ve always liked to eat, and I’m now happy enough in my own skin to not give a fuck what anyone says about me any more.

About the pressures on black models:

There are loads of black models working and the idea that there's only a few of us, or four of us, to let in as top models at any one time is just bullsh*t. It creates an unnecessary competition when we should be standing together.

True talk Jourdan. Pity Naomi didn't recognise this back in the day and was so mean to Tyra.

In other islandista fashion magazine news, we have more pics from Rihanna's shoot for the couture supplement of Vogue Italia.

And... we're on the fence about it.

Rihanna in Vogue Italia

Well, sorta kinda.

She's actually featured on the cover of Vogue Italia's September couture supplement.

But hey, it's still Vogue and she does look fierce.

The cover was shot by Steven Klein and she's wearing a very futuristic, metallic Valentino dress with a crazy dramatic robot-esque sleeve and matching (?) metallic leg bands.

Check it.

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Jourdan Dunn is pregnant!

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...Or so says Vogue magazine, which casually dropped this bombshell on the fashion public with a piece on Style.com titled 'Expecting in Style : What the pregnant Jourdan should wear this fall'.

New York Magazine's nymag.com followed it up by stating that apparently Dunn is four months pregnant and is due in December.

Whoa.

We're feeling a bit conflicted about this news here at islandista.

On the one hand, Jourdan is an adult - 19 years old. And British women do tend to have children earlier.

But on the other hand ... 19 is still pretty young. And Jourdan's career has just been hitting some amazing highs in the last year. To take a break off from the scene at this point in time could hurt her momentum.

I feel a bit as if a little sister or cousin has done something that you just know could change her life in a big way and you are a bit scared that she's going to have to grow up so much more quickly.

But of course, having been a model since she was discovered at 15, Jourdan has probably grown up quite quickly in recent years and is no doubt more mature than other 19 years old.

Sigh....


Lord knows we love us some Jourdan here at islandista so all we can do is wish our favourite islandista supermodel all the best.

Back to back black Vogue covers and Rihanna's belated bday party

Well slap me with a fish and call me Wally!



Sorry, I just needed to create an expression as crazy as that to express my shock at the fact that Beyonce is covering the April edition of US Vogue magazine - which means ... BACK TO BACK covers with black women for the 'fashion Bible'!

See? Slap you with a fish too cos I know I was not the only one (pleasantly) surprised at this. We all know that black women don't make it onto the cover of Vogue much (see a listing of all Vogue's covers with black women here) - certainly their representation on the cover of US Vogue does not match up to their proportion of the US population or - let's be honest, the disproportionate influnce of blacks on US culture.

Could this be change we can believe in Anna?

In other news, Rihanna has been seen out and about in earnest for the first time since she was beaten by Chris Brown before the Grammys last month.

She had a belated 21st birthday party at the Spotted Pig in New York City (her birthday was actually in February but she was in no state to go out or be seen after the incident) with a few fellow celebs, including mentor Jay-Z and wife Beyonce, Brandy and BFF Melissa.



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