Sneak peek to the upcoming cover of V MAGAZINE (issue #69), featuring one of the most fascinating personalities of 2011 – Nicki Minaj. Nicki lives up to the hype in “The Discovery Issue,” with Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin photographing the birth of a star in her dual-cover (fold-out) issue. V hits newsstands TOMORROW Thursday, January 13th, 2011.

V MAGAZINE issue #69

NICKI MINAJ (wearing Mark Fast; Versace)

The Rise and Rise of NICKI MINAJ – The tough-talking, one-upping, bodacious, curvaceous Nicki Minaj is taking music to places cooler and more colorful than ever. And in the boys’ club of the 21st-century hip hop, she’s stolen every scene to become the genre’s Barbie-pink princess. Secretly, though, she’s gunning for queen.

Photography by: Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin

Styling by: George Cortina; Text by: Knox Robinson

“Everything I do has been approved by me personally. My team is mostly made up of guys, but none of them would ever think about telling me what to wear or what to do with my hair. They know that ultimately I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do.” –Nicki Minaj

During a radio interview last summer in support of Kanye West’s new single, “Monster” – a psych-rap posse track featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and indie-folk singer Bon Iver – West declared Minaj to be “the scariest artist in the game right now – she has the most potential to be the number two rapper of all time.” (Number one, in Kanye’s mind, being Eminem.) It was the kind of outré pronouncement we’ve come to expect from West, but nevertheless the sound bite set off serious reverberations in the rap community. Nicki Minaj…the funny face with the Day-Glo wigs, bounteous curves, and multiple personalities? Number two rapper of all time? In-old school hip hop circles the idea could be considered profane.

Now, just in the wake of her debut album, Minaj is deadly serious about not taking it all too seriously. “I’m an entertainer – I like to make people laugh,” she says. “Some will hate it and some will love it, but all will remember it. And that’s what I want: to be remembered. Even if I’m saying something hard-core or controversial, there’s always a touch of humor, and if you don’t like it, it means I’m stirring things up inside of you.” At the same time, there’s a lot going on inside the artist’s own head. “I just always want to do ‘me,’ but ‘me’ changes every day. I would crumble up and die if I had to wake up and be the same person every day. I don’t silence those voices anymore. I just let them speak.” -V

Elizabeth Olsen New Hollywood. Marta Walsh has a sneak peek to V MAGAZINE spreads featuring emerging actress Elizabeth Olsen, 21-year-old younger sister to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and a montage of the new faces in Hollywood (such as Glee’s Chord Overstreet) in the upcoming issue of V MAGAZINE (issue #69): “The Discovery Issue”. V does not hit newsstands until January 13th, 2011.

Elizabeth Olsen New Hollywood in V Magazine

V Magazine: “New Ingenue: Elizabeth Olsen, Nominated by Chace Crawford”. Unlike her famous child-actor sisters, this is her first real kick at the can. Instead of using their near-infinite connections, Olsen has taken the long road – studying acting, educating herself, working as an understudy.

Young Hollywood V Magazine: Max Irons, Ella Purnell, Tessa Thompson, Jeremy Irvine, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Chord Overstreet, Kaya Scodelario, Alexandra Daddario, Andrea Riseborough, Marielle Jaffe, Rhys Wakefield, Noomi Rapace.

Photographer: Mark Abrahams

Styling: Catherine Newell-Hanson

Text: John Ortved

V Magazine: “New Hollywood: Nominated by Greg Krelenstein”

Max Irons, Ella Purnell, Tessa Thompson, Jeremy Irvine, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Chord Overstreet, Kaya Scodelario, Alexandra Daddario, Andrea Riseborough, Marielle Jaffe, Rhys Wakefield, Noomi Rapace.

Sneak peek to the next issue of V MAGAZINE (#69) featuring the next generation of emerging fashion designers in a bold fashion spread shot by photographer Peter Funch in NYC. V69 does not hit newsstands until January 13, 2011.

V MAGAZINE issue #69. ”NEW DIRECTION”. When we think of the future of fashion, we think slick and cold. In fact, the next generation of designer is bent on making clothes more ornate, experimental, and intricately decorated to traffic-stopping results.

Photography by Peter Funch

Styling by Catherine Newell-Hanson

Featured fashion by Louise Gray, Marco De Vincenzo, Michael Van Der Ham, Meadham Kirchhoff, J.W. Anderson

V MAGAZINE issue #69: “New Fashion Moment”. Tom Ford’s triumphant return to fashion communicates a simple message: iconic women in iconic clothes. Julia Restoin Roitfeld slips into ford’s high-glam Spring collection for a series of self-portraits and a conversation with the designer himself. Photography by Julia Restoin Roitfeld.

A lot has happened in the five years since Tom Ford exited 
women’s fashion. The economy went belly-up, leaving designers scrambling to reconcile luxury with covetability. Globalization exploded and forced houses to rethink their business models with emerging markets in mind.

And in an increasingly plugged-in universe, fashion-world blips and sound-bites made headline news. In spite of it all, however, Ford just wants to have fun—and he made that crystal clear with his Spring/Summer 2011 collection, shown in New York last September to a select few editors and with a runway cast that included superstars like Beyoncé and Marisa Berenson, iconic faces like Stella Tennant and Carolyn Murphy, and muses like Julia Restoin Roitfeld. The show, featuring 
idealized visions of the kind of louche ’70s glamour Ford first defined at Gucci a decade ago, delighted editors with its forthright desire to make women look and feel beautiful—which, as the designer explains, was precisely his goal. Here, he speaks with Roitfeld about the inspiration and the women.

The interview:

JULIA RESTOIN ROITFELD What made you decide that this was the season to return to fashion?

TOM FORD I told myself that I would not come back to 
women’s fashion until I felt I had something new to say. I feel that fashion has become too serious and that the actual customer’s needs have not really been addressed. Fashion needs to make one happy. It is a luxury and should enhance one’s quality of life.

JRR What inspired your collection?

TF Real clothes for real women. I want to concentrate on my real customer. That’s why I showed idealized versions of her—different women of different ages. It was about individuality, different body types, women who have their own style.

JRR What do you think fashion needs more of right now?

TF Spontaneity. Fashion needs to be more fun.

JRR What personality traits does the Tom Ford woman possess?

TF My customer has her own sense of style and knows herself well. My goal is to help women become the best version of themselves.

JRR What is your favorite piece from the collection?

TF I love every piece. That is like asking someone which one of their children is their favorite.

JRR Outside fashion, what are you looking forward to this spring?

TF I have to say more fashion. I love what I am doing right now and can’t wait to start the next collection.

JRR What was the last thing that made you laugh?

TF I laugh a good bit so that is a hard question. I suppose a phone call I just had with Richard [Buckley] five minutes ago made me laugh pretty hard. He has a wicked sense of humor

JRR What’s your New Year’s resolution?

TF I don’t have one. I believe in living life the way that you want to live it every day, and if you do that you don’t really need to have New Year’s resolutions.

Another exciting V Magazine sneak peek to the “Can’t Stop the Muses” spread on newsstands now. Inspiration is the spark. Five designers, such as: Isaac Mizrahi, Karl Lagerfeld, Francisco Costa, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Stella McCartney, nominate the women (and one man) who push their creative process forward.

Iman – Nominated by Isaac Mizrahi; Photography: Solve Sundsbo

Ines de la Fressange – Nominated by Karl Lagerfeld; Photography: Karl Lagerfeld

Camilla Nickerson – Nominated by Francisco Costa; Photography: Mario Sorrenti

Yoko Ono – Nominated by Diane Von Furstenberg; Photography: Diane von Furstenberg

Lucian Freud – Nominated by Stella McCartney; Photography: David Dawson

Sneak peek to V MAGAZINE’s issue #68 upcoming age defying issue – “The Who Cares About Age Issue” – starring legendary female actresses –Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Sigourney on newsstands now. All Photography by: Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin.

Jane Fonda in Dolce & Gabbana

Susan Sarandon in Fred Leighton

Sigourney Weaver in Alexander McQueen

Jane Fonda says that at age 72, her life has never been richer, more active, or more fulfilling. And Susan Sarandon, at 64, would say the same about her own. As would 61-year-old Sigourney Weaver, 64-year-old Charlotte Rampling, and 60-year-old Amanda Lear. In this, our Who Cares About Age Issue, they’ve all told us, in varying words, that society’s stigma of age has no bearing on their daily lives, only that they feel more confident in who they are and more gorgeous inside and out with each passing day.

Sneak peek preview of Lady Gaga gracing the cover of V Magazine (issue #67): “The New York Issue,” which features fashion and art in the most exciting city on Earth! Music legend Lady Gaga poses as the Statue of Liberty alongside designer Marc Jacobs for this cover, in which artist Dan Colen interpreted the iconic “V” using bubble gum as his medium. In total, V Magazine collaborated with 4 New York based artists for their creative take, and Colen’s is the first to be released for this exclusive preview. V67 hits newsstands TODAY, September 2nd, 2010.

V MAGAZINE “New York!”

Sure, Rents Are Insane, There’s Nowhere to Party, Everyone Hates Everyone, The Subway’s A Nightmare, It’s Way Too Hot, It’s Way too Cold, The Knicks Suck, and Smokes Cost $13 a Pack. But the Big Apple is Still the Best Damn City in the Universe, And the Only Place Where You Can Be Anything You Want to Be When You Want to Be It. These 26 People Are Making The City Their Own Way.”

Photographer: Mario Testino

Artist: Dan Colen

Styling: Nicola Formichetti

A 2nd cover version stars Marina Abramovic (performance artist) and Tyson Ballou (model). Other notable NYers inside include supermodel Liya Kebede, hotelier Andre Balazs, Jake Shears from Scissor Sisters, Debbie Harry, Lady Bunny, Mark Ronson, Chloe Sevigny and MORE!

Quote from editor STEPHEN GAN:

“Just as the Statue of Liberty was France’s gift to America, Gaga is, to us, New York’s greatest gift to pop culture and fashion. She embodies everything V is about, and is also a beacon of the city’s creativity and hope. Exactly one year after her first V cover (the first fashion magazine cover she was on), we decided to do the NEW YORK issue, and she was the first person who came to mind to represent our great city. In the year that’s passed, she has become a bonafide genius and we can safely declare her our muse. Above all, a New York issue should celebrate people who’ve done great things. We at V are grateful Gaga came along to put the New back in New York!”

Sneak peek to the upcoming V story, “A YEAR IN THE LIFE,” by Lady Gaga’s own Fashion Director and best friend Nicola Formichetti, from the upcoming issue of V MAGAZINE, V67, hitting newsstands on September 2nd, 2010.

Nicola picks his 15 personal favorite GaGa moments, from July 2009 to June 2010, documenting the singer’s rise to fashion and music royalty, as well as providing insights into the unique style that both Lady GaGa and Nicola Formichetti are famed for.

V MAGAZINE “A YEAR IN THE LIFE”

In 12 Months, Lady Gaga Has Accomplished More As An Artist Than Pretty Much Anyone Else We Can Think Of. Here, Her Fashion Director And Best Friend Nicola Formichetti Recounts His 15 Gaga Moments.

Photography Credits: Patrick McMullan (Marc Jacobs Party photo), Getty Images (MTV, Vezzoli, Queen, Grammys, amFAR, Brit Awards photos), Max Abadian (T-Shirt Photo), Nick Knight (Monsters Ball image)

Sneak peek photos from V MAGAZINE of top models Lara Stone, Javier de Miguel, Baptiste Giabiconi acting as the New York icon trio of the 70’s: illustrator Antonio Lopez, art director Juan Ramos, and supermodel Jerry Hall shot by Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld for the upcoming V67. Styling by Clare Richardson. V67, also known as “The New York Issue,” does not hit newsstands until September 2nd, 2010.

V MAGAZINE “Juan, Antonio & Jerry”

They Were New Yorkers Who Ignited Paris While Defining Fashion’s New Look. Illustrator Antonio Lopez, Art Director Juan Ramos, and Supermodel Jerry Hall Proved That Two Is Company, But Three Can Be Fabulous

Sneak peek photos from V MAGAZINE and its “New York Issue” of notable NYC social women Barbara Bush, Minnie Mortimer, Maggie Betts, Allison Sarofim, Rachel Roy, Shoshanna Gruss, Dr. Lisa Airan, and Byrdie Bell for the upcoming V67. V67 does not hit newsstands until September 2nd, 2010. Photographer: Terry Richardson. Styling: Jay Massacret.

V MAGAZINE “High Society”. The City in the 70’s had Lauren, Bianca, and Marisa, Who Knew Everyone, Went Everywhere, and Looked Fabulous Doing So. These Days Manhattan is Still a Girl’s Club but Its Members Aren’t Just Sitting Pretty – They’re Producing Films, Launching Fashion Lines, and Making New York a More Beautiful Place One Face at a Time.