SECRETS

“In the Closet” is a song by Michael Jackson from his 1991 Dangerous album. The song became that album’s second number one R&B single and its third top ten pop single, hitting number six on the Billboard Hot 100. “In the Closet” was originally conceived as a duet between Jackson and Madonna. According to a 1992 interview with British journalist Jonathan Ross, Madonna said she worked on some lyrical ideas for the song but when she presented them to Michael, he decided they were too provocative and they decided not to continue with the project. In the sepia colored music video, directed by Herb Ritts, Jackson is seen dancing with supermodel Naomi Campbell. The video was filmed in late March 1992 in Salton Sea, California and premiered on April 23, 1992. This video was Jackson’s most sexually provocative piece ever. This video was banned in South Africa due to its imagery. The video is featured on Dangerous – The Short Films and Michael Jackson’s Vision.

PORCELAIN

Carolyn Murphy
Magazine: Vogue Italy, September 2012
Photographer: Steven Meisel

ROMANCE

Gucci Women Fall/Winter 2012 Fashion Show
Dark, opulent and romantic. Siren gowns with a dark glamour theme. Soft lines and rich fabrics, for a contemporary woman who embraces her sensual side.

STRONGER

FAITH

FREEDOM

Kate Moss and George Michael
Magazine: Vogue Paris, October 2012
Photographer: Mario Testino

HATTORI HANZO

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 – The Showdown at House of Blue Leaves is the chapter in which O-Ren Ishii visits a Japanese club together with various Crazy 88 members, her lawyer and friend Sofie Fatale, and personal teenage bodyguard, Gogo Yubari. While sitting in a room apart from the other guests, O-Ren hears a sound outside the room and throws a knife in that direction. She orders Gogo to take a look; however, Gogo finds nothing. Later, Sofie Fatale is captured by The Bride and taken to the main hall of the restaurant, where The Bride calls O-Ren, who appears with her bodyguards. The Bride reveals herself to O-Ren, cutting off Sofie’s arm, horrifying the other guests to flee the restaurant. The Bride defeats countless Crazy 88s and Gogo, finally meeting O-Ren in a garden scene atop the club. During the battle, O-Ren mocks The Bride as a “silly Caucasian girl who likes to play with samurai swords.” After resuming their fight, O-Ren receives a wound and apologizes for her earlier remark. The Bride accepts and eventually kills O-Ren by lopping off the top of her head. “That really was a Hattori Hanzo sword,” O-Ren utters with her dying breath, having been close enough to both see the symbol of Hattori Hanzo and feel the blade.

SLOW

Todd Sanfield
Photographer: Rick Day

ON AND ON

“Give It 2 Me” is a song by Madonna, featured on her 11th studio album Hard Candy. It was released on June 4, 2008 by Warner Bros. Records as the second single from the album. The song was written by Madonna as an anthemic, self-manifesto song which, although it appears to be about dance and sex, is a reference to Madonna’s career spanning three decades in the music industry. Musically, “Give It 2 Me” is an upbeat dance song, featuring instrumentation from West African percussion and cowbells. Backing vocals are provided by Pharrell Williams.

“Give It 2 Me” received positive reviews from contemporary critics. The song became Madonna’s 39th number-one single on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week, and reached a peak of 57 only, due to limited radio play. The song topped the music charts in Hungary, the Netherlands and Spain, while it attained top-ten positions on the charts of many other nations.

The music video featured Madonna recreating her look from the Elle magazine May covergirl photo shoot, and was directed by photographer Tom Munro. Williams had a guest appearance in the video. It received positive response for her retro-inspired look. Madonna performed “Give It 2 Me” on both the promotional tour for Hard Candy, and the 2008–09 Sticky & Sweet Tour, where she performed it as the final song of the concert. “Give It 2 Me” received a Grammy nomination in 2009 in the Best Dance Recording category.

BOUNCE

Sean O’Pry
Photographer: David Sims

MAHOGANY

SMILE

ICONIC RED

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Aqua Rouge ($24.00, makeupforever.com)

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FICTION

SILVER LINING

Kate Moss
Magazine: W Magazine, November 2005
Photographer: Mario Sorrenti

RUBY CRUSH

Gucci Pre-Fall 2012
Photographer: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott

DANGER

Yves Saint Laurent
Tribtoo Platform Knee Boot ($1545.00, yvessaintlaurent.com)
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CHERISH

Madonna recorded a cover version of “I Want You” with British trip-hop group Massive Attack for her ballads compilation album Something to Remember and the Marvin Gaye tribute album Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye in 1995. It was released as a promotional single in 1995.

After the release of her successful single “Take a Bow”, Madonna was approached by Earle Sebastian about a cover of this song for a tribute album. She originally turned down the offer because of her vocal training for Evita but later decided to release a compilation album to hold fans over while she was working on Evita. When Warner Bros. asked for three new tracks, Madonna accepted the proposal of Massive Attack.

Originally, “I Want You” was slated to become the first single from the compilation album, Something to Remember. The song was released as a promotional single in September 1995 and a music video was shot and released to many media outlets. Many problems arose internally, which resulted in “You’ll See” being quickly released as a single instead. The video received heavy airplay on both MTV and VH1. Along with medium radio airplay, many fans speculated as to why the song was never released as an official single. Neither Massive Attack nor Madonna have commented on this matter.

The song appears on the album in two versions: the original album version and an orchestral version. Dance remixes by Junior Vasquez and Warren Rigg have also surfaced and are available on the internet, as well as various mixes of the orchestral and original versions.

“I Want You” was shot on August 5 and 6, 1995 at Empire Stages in Long Island City, New York and directed by Earle Sebastian. Directed by Earle Sebastian, produced by Joel Hinman, edited by Bruce Ashley, the video was inspired by and pays hommage to A Telephone Call, a short story written by American writer, Dorothy Parker. The video was promoted to VH1 and MTV. MTV Europe did and still does air the video, especially in the late-night show “Chill Out Zone”. “I Want You” received a nomination for “MTV Amour” at the MTV Europe Music Awards 1996, but lost to The Fugees’s “Killing Me Softly”. Julian Hirsh did several mixes of the track, while rare promos featuring nearly a dozen slightly altered versions of the original song exist. The video was also the only case in Madonna’s career where a non-released single was given the full video treatment. The video was commercially released in 2009 on Celebration: The Video Collection.

IRIS

DIVA