“In fashion, it’s always better to be an interesting person than a beautiful one. Character is much more fascinating than pure good looks. This idea is what inspired me to dedicate an issue to jolie laide, a term made famous in Serge Gainsbourg song of the same name, which translates to “pretty ugly.” From casting to makeup to clothing, this is what drives fashion at its core: The vague line between temptation and repulsion. The shock of the new and the neverending quest for beauty, whatever and whoever that may be. The way something ugly can become beautiful and vice versa. The way a model, like my favorite, Lara Stone, can be considered “challenging” at the start of her career, then go on to become a contemporary ideal. A girl like Lara redefines our tastes and perceptions, and a new wave of models, fresh for spring/summer 2015, follows in her footsteps with boldly atypical looks. I call them nouvelle vague. To succeed as jolie laide, one has to be confident. I love an arresting image, but I hate when something is too easy, or ugly for the sake of ugly. I prefer beauty with an edge. Beauty with a point of view—not intellectual, but clever. This is what you’ll discover in this issue, from the casting to the fashion to even our custom series of “advertising,” in which we bring a very CR perspective to the season’s collections. Elsewhere in the issue, Anjelica Huston, the greatest icon of jolie laide, speaks to us about individual looks and an incredible face. Kanye West curates artworks that redefine the parameters of beauty and monstrosity. And Karl Lagerfeld captures my favorite new faces—seven girls who represent the next class of jolie laide. May their beauty confuse, captivate, and inspire.”—Carine.
