Fashion and nudity are hardly strangers to one another. If you take the well-known quote, fashion is all about eventually becoming naked, then you might even say that nudity is the ying to fashion’s yang.
But the question is often less about if a model should take the nudity leap, and more about when – and above all how. For a model like Karlie Kloss – a model who has dominated the runways and magazine pages from a very young age – it’s a studied question. We follow such models. We see them grow up. We need to be ready to take the leap just as they do.
Mario Testino’s recent foray into shooting Kloss was sexualised and underwhelming, and we wondered what would come next. Thankfully, this is it.
In contrast to Testino’s glamour shots of Karlie there’s nothing lad’s mag about these images for Vogue Italia. They’re the body beautiful. They’re infused with a vintage elegance. They show Kloss as lean, lithe, incredibly fit and naturally, awe-inspiringly beautiful. I might use the words unimaginably perfect were I not too busy trying to stay afloat in my own green pool of envy. That’s the power of these images.
In Steven Meisel’s sporty, elegant shoot there’s nothing to detract from Kloss’ wholesome image – except to say that she’s rather more grown up. And she’s not afraid to show it.
Click on the thumbnails above to view the full shoot of Karlie Kloss from the December 2011 issue of Vogue Italia.
Kloss' body: weekend watch (3 Dec 2011)
