To celebrate International Women’s Day, in no particular order i-D presents six supremely talented and accomplished women who’ve inspired us personally and professionally, and helped enforce our i-Dentity along the way.
Natalia Vodianova
Jessie J
Jeanette Winterson
Pat McGrath
Melanie Ward
Diane Pernet
Text: Sarah Raphael
Natalia Vodianova not only looks like an angel from Planet Beautiful, but possesses the same altruistic nature as one too. Born in Russia in 1982, Natalia moved to Paris to pursue modeling in the simple hope of earning money to lift her family from the hardship they suffered. Paying back every success she has received, Natalia started her charity The Naked Heart Foundation, set on building a happier environment for children in Russia, erecting its first playground in 2006, with 38 more following in the last five years. Testament to her actual super powers, earlier this week Natalia ran the Paris half marathon at 11am to raise money for the foundation and walked in the Givenchy show later that same day.
Photography Paolo Roversi, The Home is Where the Heart is Issue, Spring 2010
The newest blood among our list, 22-year-old J-J-J Jessie J is the homegrown Essex-accented Queen of a cool kind of ‘pop’. Currently storming the charts and picking up bowl-over collaborations left, right and centre, Jessie is a modern day heroine and a real role model for girls and young women, with her lyrics ‘do it like a dude’ speaking feminist sentiments in a language we can understand. Recognised by her signature black ‘Mystic Meg’ haircut, outlandish style and loud (often bejewelled) mouth, Jessie J is the name on everybody’s lips, and she’s earnt it the hard way, grafting her way to the top through difficult teenage years. i-D Online were on set at her first music video recording in November last year; she was interviewed by Music Editor Hattie Collins for The Back to the Future Issue, 2010 and will be cropping up online again very soon.
Photography Thomas Lohr, The Back to the Future Issue, Winter 2010.
Jeanette Winterson is a very, very intelligent lady. Growing up in Lancashire with Pentecostal adoptive parents, and realising her sexuality at a young age, Jeanette went on to study English at Oxford. In 1985, at just 24, she publishedOranges Are Not the Only Fruit, one of the most honest and accessible books of our time. Awarded the Whitbread Prize for the novel, she went on to receive an OBE in 2006. Occupying a strong political stance, Jeanette was met with raucous applause for her candid remarks on Question Time around the 2010 election, backing the Liberal Democrats. i-D’s Susan Corrigan interviewed the novelist last year for The Define Yourself Issue. i-D were also in attendance at a lecture last year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Oranges, where she received several highly pretentious questions, to which she simply responded, “Can you just say what you mean?”
Armed with an entourage of suitcases filled with rarified textures and shades of make-up, Pat McGrath is as unassuming and down to earth as can be, despite being one of the most in demand make-up artists in the world. Now i-D’s Beauty Director, Pat began work in the music business, before a chance meeting with i-D’s Fashion Director Edward Enninful in the early 90s introduced her to the world of fashion. Wanted not just for her talent, but her un-canned personality and creative vision, there are several models, photographers and stylists who point blank refuse to work unless Pat is by their side.
Photography Nick Knight, The 30th Birthday Issue, Pre-Fall 2010.
The London fashion scene as it now exists owes much to Melanie Ward, one of the first ‘stylists’ of our generation, rising to prominence in the late 80s and early 90s. Beginning her career with friends Corinne Day, David Sims and Craig McDean, Melanie’s unpretentious, imperfect aesthetic captured the teen spirit and realism of London at the time, with her images landing the pages of i-D and The Face. Her seminal shoot ‘Teenage Precinct Shoppers’ with Nigel Shafran appeared in i-D in 1991. Melanie hugely influenced the designer Helmut Lang and went on to work with Karl Lagerfeld and Calvin Klein. Twenty years on, triumphing in her debut collection as stylist for Balmain the name Melanie Ward evokes peals of excitement from the most passionately fashion conscious members of the i-D office.
Image taken from Learn and Pass It On, SOUL i-D.
One of the original fashion bloggers, Paris-based journalist Diane Pernet is demure, reserved and respectful, but a force to be reckoned with no less. Known primarily for her blog A Shaded View on Fashion, Diane championed the multimedia aspects of the industry, creating the fashion film festival A Shaded View on Fashion Film, now entering its fourth year and in discussions to tour Barcelona, Milan, Tokyo and Mexico City. Diane has always been years ahead of our technological sensibilities, boldly picking up on new mediums and adapting herself to promote them. Wearing a veil over her face, dark glasses, all-black clothes, red lipstick and a chic beehive, Diane is the formidable bride of fashion.
Photography Miguel Villalobos