Interview, September 2008
This Interview cover, featuring model Kate Moss, plays on and updates the visual heritage of the magazine in its 1970s heyday, when it was the voice of Andy Warhol and the New York celebrity and pop art scene. Over the years, as happens to all magazines, entropy set in and the magazine's look drifted away from distinction. But the current incarnation, which bears the mark of co-creative director Fabien Baron, who formerly created signature looks for Harper's Bazaar and for Calvin Klein, restores some of the magazine's past visual glory, especially with its consistently strong use of photography. And although it is hardly daring to put a celebrity on a cover, this one effectively uses Moss as a prop by putting a Cat Woman-esque mask on her face and turning the photo into a piece of art. The red over-tint creates emotional power and uses the classic red, black and white combination so successful in polemical graphics. (Unfortunately, the Nazis knew this as well.) And the cover line playfully announces the magazine's redesign: "It's New, Pussycat!" Somewhere Andy is smiling.