The metallic gold and sports fashion trends meet for the catchline of Vogue UK’s June 2012 edition.

You don’t often see the names Steve Carell and Keira Knightly in the same sentence, and yet it’s a few words by the former that, in astonishingly simple terms, do a perfect job of describing the latter: “I think what sets Keira apart is her ability to convey great strength and great vulnerability at the same time.” The two star together in Seeking a Friend…

Karmen Pedaru, the sexiest I think I’ve ever seen her look, in a vibrant red wig and nothing but a pair of Prada’s hot rod heels. Mariacarla Boscono Bettie Page-like with black fringed hair and a leopard-print belted bodysuit. Just when we felt like we might nod off, Mert & Marcus brought us this bedtime reading that’s worthy of the cover of some vintage pulp…

It’s the kind of shoot where you don’t notice much fashion. There’s plenty of blurring, obscuring, plenty of techniques from Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott that gear towards mood creation. The male models are, for the most part, clothing-less props. The shoot’s main drawcard – one time supermodel Linda Evangelista – is veiled, blurred, smudged with lipstick and left looking a little lost; but what…

Update: more images of the campaign are now available – view the full gallery after the break. It’s not charged with intense eroticism, nor does it brood with sultry seriousness. Tom Ford got behind the camera on his own latest campaign, and it’s fun all the way. Though no stranger to photography, Ford has recently used Mert & Marcus for campaign work. Spring 2012 sees…

Update: you can now view a full gallery of campaign images after the break. And yes – the Art Deco elements are definitely in full force. Mert & Marcus are still the photographers of choice for Gucci, this time shooting the fashion house’s campaign for spring 2012. While the solid gold backdrop could be something from the opulent side of the ’40s, there’s little about…

The name Versace carries certain expectations. Svelte figures and ultra-high heels, the kind you might not like to teeter on the edge of a swimming pool in; strategic displays of skin be it a thigh high slit or a plunging neckline, potentially even a high voltage combination of both; prints and textures that demand attention just as the hemlines do. In a haze of blue…

It wasn’t until I was reclining back on a long-haul flight to Stockholm, e-book reader in hand, that I decided to give Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy a shot. To make my way around Södermalm’s landmarks without having Larsson’s seedy backstories in mind suddenly just didn’t seem an option. I was glad I indulged; it was a far better alternative to whatever films the in-flight entertainment…

Is a reinvention is on the cards for Sasha Pivovarova? It was about six years ago now that Sasha stepped onto the scene and into the shadow left by Gemma Ward. Or maybe it’s better put that at the time wide-eyed, unconventional beauty was trending a path paved largely by Gemma, and there, all of a sudden, was Sasha. Let’s not forget that models have…

The notion of ‘just change it’ when picking a new hair colour remains just as relevant as we approach the final quarter of 2011 as it did when the year kicked off. Seemingly channeling Madonna, Russian model Sasha Pivovarova joins the white blonde set in her outing on Vogue Paris’ October 2011 cover.