Vogue is an American fashion and lifestyle magazine covering a wide range of topics including beauty, culture, life and runway. It was first launched in 1892 as a weekly newspaper in the United States before becoming a monthly publication some years later. There are twenty three international editions of Vogue, with the British edition being the first to be launched in 1916, and the Italian edition being cited as the top fashion magazine in the world.[1] Madonna first covered the magazine for the February 1989 edition of British Vogue.
British Vogue[]
February 1989[]
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Photography by Herb Ritts.
"Come on Herb, stop that! I want you to do me as the real me," squawks Madonna as Herb Ritts tries to pull open her blouse to reveal more of a black bra. "The real me" is Madonna stripped of her blonde crop and red lips. Instead before us is a Madonna who has stepped out of a Renaissance painting, a Mona Lisa, with long brown hair centre-parted, dark damson lips and porcelain white skin. She dances for us, yelling throatily over the words of a Prince tape that is blasting out of the speakers so loudly that we can hardly hear ourselves think.
This is the emergence of a new woman, an image that suggests culture clashes, and juxtapositions of old and new ideas. "People have certain notions about me, and it is time for a change," she affirms. At thirty, she’s revealing a deeper side of her personality through a new single from her album Like a Prayer, released worldwide this month. "Like a Prayer," she explains, "is about the influence of Catholicism on my life, and the passion it provokes in me. In other songs I’ve been dealing with more specific issues that mean a lot to me. They’re about an assimilation of experiences I had in my life and in relationships. They’re about my mother, my father, and bonds with my family, about the pain of dying, of growing up and letting go. I’ve been exploring different kinds of music and discovering things inside me that I suppose have always been there, but I’ve never had the confidence and experience to show them until now. It’s taken a lot of guts to do this, and I’ve taken more risks with this album than I ever have before and I think that growth shows."
Acting too has played a major part in Madonna’s growing up, having finished a six-month stint in a David Mamet play on Broadway. "I suppose that acting has made me question things. It’s been food for me as it humbles and challenges me to work with other people; when I make records I have total control, and express myself as I want, but in acting you have to give up a lot of independence, because there are other people involved." There is an urgency about Madonna as she thrashes through life, that affects everyone about her. She has an unnerving will to express herself, to explore, challenge and discover, as is inherent in any talented artist.
"I suppose when I ever get to the point of not having the desire to know and the hunger to learn more, then I won’t continue to act or write songs."</nowiki>[2]
June 2019[]
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Photography by Mert and Marcus.