Introducing The Cover Stars of February Issues
H.E.R. Graces Cover of Vogue Philippines’ February Issue
With an Oscar and five Grammys under her belt (as of press time at least—she’s up for four more at the 2023 Grammy Awards), the 25-year-old H.E.R. is just two letters away from a full EGOT, an acronym for the elite group of people who have won all four top awards in entertainment: the Emmy, the Grammy, the Oscar, and the Tony.
Writer: Raymond Ang
Photographer: Shaira Luna
Deion Sanders Graces Cover of GQ Sports Style Hall of Fame Issue
His rebrand, these past three years, as Coach Prime has been equally eye-popping. At Jackson State, he revived what had become a lackluster program, landed one of the country’s most sought-after recruits, and even quarreled publicly with Nick Saban—the Alabama coach and reigning king of college football—about attracting talent to Jackson. Along the way, he introduced a new audience to the historically Black colleges and universities that make up the SWAC.
Click here to read more.
Writer: Donovan X. Ramsey
Donovan X. Ramsey is a journalist, author, and an indispensable voice on issues of identity, justice, and patterns of power in America. Ramsey’s reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, GQ, WSJ Magazine, Ebony, and Essence. He has been a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Times, NewsOne, and theGrio. He served as an editor at The Marshall Project and Complex. Ramsey holds degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Morehouse College. He lives in Los Angeles.
Photographer: Adrienne Raquel
Adrienne Raquel is an image-maker and art director working between New York & Los Angeles. Inspired by femininity, soulfulness, and color, Adrienne's work is rooted in nostalgia and fantasy while remaining fresh and contemporary. Exhibitions include Aperture's New Black Vanguard, Jeffrey Deitch: Shattered Glass Miami, and Mickalene Thomas' Better Nights at Miami's Bass Museum.
Naomi Ackie Graces Cover of ELLE's Winter Digital issue
‘I’ve been preparing myself to get to a space where I can celebrate it. I worked hard, I learned a lot. I got to the other side.’ But she admits it’s hard to let go. ‘If I had my way, nothing would ever be finished, I would just whittle that thing down to the bone. I get so obsessed about projects I dream them, wake up thinking about them and dream them again… I’m a perfectionist; I get that from my dad.’
Click here to read more.
Writer: Lena de Casparis
An expert in building editorial brands, talent curation and cultural direction. A highly skilled editor and content strategist. Always delivers optimistic and dynamic storytelling. Excellent at ideas. Committed to nurturing new talent.
Photographer: Ekua King
Ekua King is a London based photographer who comes from Jamaican heritage. King graduated from the London College of Fashion where her final project was entitled ‘The Black Male image’. King’s work blends portraiture and fashion, inspired by her culture. Early on King spent her summers in North Carolina and would annoy her cousins for pictures: this anecdotal record of young Jamaican youth became her style. Leaving university her ‘Trainer Collectors’ series was published by i-D magazine which led to several commissions.
Naturi Naughton-Lewis Graces Cover of HelloBeautiful's The Power Issue
The power of Tasha’s character transcends off-screen and into the hearts of many. Naughton-Lewis even recalled a few times when fans approached her about living through Tasha’s storyline on the show — a ride-or-die mother fiercely navigating life post-romance with Ghost. Through it all, Ms. St. Patrick always made her presence known and is never afraid to show some teeth for the people she loves.
Click here to read more.
Writer: D'Shonda Brown
D'Shonda Brown is a Brooklyn, NY-based Spelman College graduate with a BA in English. Formerly the Associate Editor at ESSENCE's Girls United, a Gen-Z platform for ESSENCE Magazine, while actively contributing to ESSENCE.com, D’Shonda amassed interviews, on-camera work, editing, and writing experience. Throughout each publication she has contributed to over the years, she has always had a clear vision of giving a voice to the voiceless and humanizing her interview subjects by speaking with them about wellness, mental health, and their story behind the fame.
Photographer: JD Barnes
JD Barnes is a photographer who, although having lost complete vision in his right eye due to uveitis, takes pride in his ability to see beyond the typical and in doing so create something special every time he picks up his camera.
GloRilla Graces Cover of The Cut's Spring Fashion Issue
Before she was GloRilla, she was Gloria Hallelujah Woods from Memphis, Tennessee, the eighth of ten children, and was homeschooled until the fifth grade. “A normal kid would’ve liked it,” she says, but for her, it was too restrictive, especially considering she lived on the same street as an elementary and middle school. “So when the kids used to get out of school, I used to just look out the window and look at all the kids walking down the street, going home after school, and they just looked so happy.”
Writer: Tirhakah Love
Experienced Writer with a history of working in digital media. Skilled in Culture Criticism, Essay Writing, Reporting, Public Speaking, and Leadership. With dual degrees in Political Science & American Studies focused in Leadership Studies and Africana Studies from Williams College.
Photographer: Eric Johnson
Mary J. Blige Graces Cover of People Magazine
Mary J. Blige has released 15 studio albums (and sold more than 100 million of them). She's returning to the third season of the Starz series Power Book II: Ghost next month. Now 52 and into her fourth decade in the music business, she arrives on the PEOPLE photo shoot set amid a flurry of activity. She's ready. "I've been doing this for a minute," she says. "I'm no rookie."
Writer: Jason Sheeler
Jason Sheeler is the West Coast Editor for Departures magazine—the publication distributed to 2 million American Express platinum card members—and contributes to Travel + Leisure, The Hollywood Reporter, Air Mail, Condé Nast Traveler, Vogue, C Magazine, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Formerly the Style Director for Departures, he has also held senior editorial positions at Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, and Texas Monthly. An Arkansas native and graduate of Parsons School of Design, Sheeler is currently based in San Francisco.
Photographer: AB + DM
AB+DM is the American fashion photography duo made up of by Ahmad Barber and Donté Maurice. Since forming their creative bond, the fashion photography duo has created renowned images for leading fashion and lifestyle publications including Interview, CR Fashion Book, i-D, Essence and American and British editions of GQ. Together, their work gives an endearing approach to fashion and portraiture.
Taylor Russell Graces Cover of Harper's BAZAAR's February Issue
During the early days of pandemic lockdown, while some of us were hoarding plants or feeding sourdough starters, 28-year-old Canadian actor Taylor Russell took up the harp. “I wanted to play it for a very long time,” she explains. “I was like, ‘What’s the one instrument that none of my neighbors are going to hate hearing?’” Russell was living in New York at the time, and everyone was stuck indoors. “It’s the harp. It could never be annoying. It’s such a beautiful, calming thing,” she says. Russell signed up for virtual lessons and rented a harp.
Writer: Muna Mire
Muna Mire is a television writer and culture critic based in Brooklyn, NY. Most recently, you can find their work in the New York Times magazine.
Photographer: Amy Troost
In all of Amy Troost’s fashion photographs, there is an overriding sense of the character of her subjects. Canadian-born Troost graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) and continues to draw upon her pluralistic knowledge of painting, ceramics and design in her approach to photography. She applies her unique vision to editorial assignments for magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, i-D, Industrie, The Last Magazine, Muse, Twin, V, VMAN, W, WSJ. Magazine, Vogue China, Vogue Germany, and Vogue Russia.
Anika Noni Rose and Jason Dirden Graces Cover of BRIDES The Music Issue
In December of 2021, Jason planned to take that friendship-turned romance to the next level. Anika joined his family’s annual Secret Santa Zoom expecting nothing more than holiday cheer, but it became abundantly clear that something more was happening when she noticed that her parents, brother, nephews, and close friends had all joined the call. “Jason played a beautiful video he created of our time together, underscored by Norah Jones’ ‘Come Away With Me,”’ and a phone conversation between Jason and his dad about love, partnership, and Jason’s desire to propose,” she remembers. “When the video ended, with all our friends and family watching, he went to one knee and asked me to marry him.”
Writer: Gabriella Rello Duffy
Before joining Brides as the editorial director in 2022, Gabby was the associate editorial director for MarthaStewart.com; she formerly served as the senior digital editor for Martha Stewart Weddings and the deputy digital editor for MarthaStewart.com and Martha Stewart Weddings. Gabby first began her career in publishing right here at Brides in 2013, where she worked as a digital assistant and was later promoted to real weddings editor.
Photographer: Adonye Jaja
Adonye Jaja is a fine art wedding photographer servicing Denver and the World. He is passionate about creating beautiful and thoughtful photographs for wonderful people.
Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful Graces Cover of Paper Magazine
Once in London, Enninful was scouted as a model in the early '90s before going behind the camera, becoming a stylist and photography assistant. Then he made history as the youngest fashion director at an international fashion magazine when he was appointed to the post at i-D. Even then, he was pushing his way through, beating out his own path, namely through putting Black girls on the covers, issue after issue, at a time when they were often treated only as one-offs.
Story by: Mikelle Street
Mikelle Street is a Manhattan-based editor and storyteller. His work generally deals with queerness, Blackness, fashion, and subcultures, as well as the intersections therein. He is the former Digital Editorial Director of PrideMedia, working across brands like Out Magazine, The Advocate, and Plus Magazine. He previously served as Out's Digital Director as well as creator and host for HBO Max’s The Let Out: A Legendary Podcast.
Sheila Atim Graces Cover of Harper's Bazaar UK's February Issue
Raised by her mother, a senior health-service commissioner, who emigrated from Uganda when Atim was five months old before eventually settling in Rainham, Essex, she was encouraged beyond the realms of education at school and at home. "My mum loves joy," she says. "Don’t get me wrong, she had a keen eye on my academic studies and valued hard work. But I really admire that she always made a place for my creative mind and curiosity. She never sacrificed joy."
Writer: Helena Lee
Helena Lee is the acting deputy editor of Harper's Bazaar. She is responsible for the publication's art and culture content, often collaborating and commissioning award-winning writers and artists. She co-edits the annual magazine Bazaar Art, celebrating women in the art world, and launched Bazaar Art Week in 2018, which was shortlisted for the BSME Best Innovation Award.
Photographer: Pamela Hanson
With over thirty years of experience in the fashion industry, Pamela Hanson is a world-renowned photographer whose work has been regularly featured in: Vogue (American, French, British, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese), Elle (American, French), Glamour (American, British, Italian), Porter, Harper’s Bazaar (American, British, Australian), Vanity Fair (American, Italian, German), GQ (American, Australian), CR Fashion Book, InStyle, Town and Country, Telegraph Luxury, Stylist, Lula, Violet, and Lady.
Shalom Brune-Franklin Graces Cover of Harper's Bazaar UK's February Issue
Brune-Franklin found her métier during her teenage years. Her family moved from Hertfordshire to Australia when she was 14, and it was while at school in Perth that she had the opportunity to enter a regional competition to perform a monologue at one of the city’s landmark theatres – which she won. "There was just that feeling," she says. "I was making people laugh, I was getting a response, and I ran offstage, locked myself in the toilet for a second and had a little cry, thinking, 'Oh, that was the best.'"
Writer: Brooke Theis
Brooke Theis is Features Writer at Harper’s Bazaar. Additional words in ELLE, The Guardian, Red and BA High Life.
Photographer: Pamela Hanson
With over thirty years of experience in the fashion industry, Pamela Hanson is a world-renowned photographer whose work has been regularly featured in: Vogue (American, French, British, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese), Elle (American, French), Glamour (American, British, Italian), Porter, Harper’s Bazaar (American, British, Australian), Vanity Fair (American, Italian, German), GQ (American, Australian), CR Fashion Book, InStyle, Town and Country, Telegraph Luxury, Stylist, Lula, Violet, and Lady.
Danielle Deadwyler Garces Cover of Town & Country's February Issue
When Danielle Deadwyler first auditioned to play Mamie Till-Mobley, the heroine of the film Till, she already understood the role profoundly. Putting herself on video for the casting process, Deadwyler enlisted her own young son to play opposite her in a scene that depicts Mamie telling her son Emmett to “be small” when he visits his Mississippi relatives, knowing that any misunderstood move could be dangerous.
Writer: Caryn James
Photographer: Erik Carter
Taylor Russell Graces Cover of W Magazine's Best Performances Issue
It’s been a good year for Taylor Russell. The 28-year-old actress first captivated audiences in the emotional 2019 film Waves, but it’s her role in Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All that has garnered her a whole new fan base. In the film, Russell plays Maren Yearly, a teenage cannibal trying to find love and survival in 1980s America. In real life, Russell is navigating Hollywood and finding space for gratitude among all her newfound success. Here, the rising star discusses intention setting and why she just might be a vampire.
Writer: Lynn Hirschberg
Lynn Hirschberg is an American journalist who has written for Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Since 2008, she has been the interviewer of the online video series Lynn Hirschberg's Screen Tests where she interviews celebrities for W magazine.
Photographer: Jamie Hawkesworth
Jonathan Majors Graces Cover of W Magazine's Best Performances Issue
Since breaking out in 2019 with a starring role in A24’s poetic The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jonathan Majors has seen his career skyrocket. The actor has garnered critical acclaim for roles in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, HBO’s Lovecraft Country, and Disney+’s Loki, and he’ll play Kang the Conqueror in the forthcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. But he goes back to his roots with Devotion, in which Majors, who grew up on military bases with his father, who was in the Air Force, portrays Jesse L. Brown, the first Black naval aviator in American history.
Writer: Lynn Hirschberg
Lynn Hirschberg is an American journalist who has written for Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Since 2008, she has been the interviewer of the online video series Lynn Hirschberg's Screen Tests where she interviews celebrities for W magazine.
Photographer: Jamie Hawkesworth
Doja Cat Graces Cover of Variety's 2023 Grammys Issue
In her music, Doja Cat is less chameleonic than in her sometimes provocative photo shoots and appearances at Fashion Week. But only a little less. There’s even been a touch of controversy in certain music communities over whether she should be considered primarily a pop artist or a hip-hop queen-in-waiting — as in, a successor to her oft-acknowledged idol, Nicki Minaj. Add to all that the fact that, in her few live appearances over the past 18 months — especially a second-billed 2022 Coachella set that had everyone saying she should have been the headliner — she hasn’t just showed rock-star energy: In those moments where the dancers have dropped out and she’s alone onstage with her band, she is a rock star.
Writer: Chris Willman
Chris Willman is Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic at Variety. He joined the publication in 2018 and is based in Los Angeles. Willman began his career at the Los Angeles Times, going on to spend 13 years at Entertainment Weekly as a senior writer and critic. He has been a regular contributor to Billboard, the Hollywood Reporter and TV Guide; his work has additionally appeared in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, Spin, Parade and other publications.
Photographer: Greg Swales
Greg Swales is a fashion photographer based in New York. His artistic work began from an early age through drawing, painting and directing short films with his brother and friends. After graduating with BFA in Photography, he moved Havana Cuba to take art workshops and began working on several photo essays which were exhibited in Cuba and North America.
Visit The Stylists Suite Page For Magazine Updates
Introducing The Cover Stars of January Issues
Introducing The Cover Stars of December Issues
Introducing The Cover Stars of November Issue
Pre-Order 2023 Edition
The Big Fat Media Guide
Introducing Stylists Suite News YouTube Channel
Leave a comment