PHOTOS: The 15 Best Magazine Covers Of 2010
by Justin Fenner | 4:35 pm, December 21st, 2010
We know that Styleite isn’t even a year old yet, but we’ve still been around long enough to witness some of the 2010’s great moments in style. From all of our favorite stars (on the red carpet and off) to all the trends that rocked the boat and our worlds, we’re proud to present the very best of 2010, a year whose style will never been forgotten.
In a year when the best advice anyone could give about anything was “Do the best you can with less,” fashion magazines — the smart ones, anyway — seemed to respond in kind. White space, nudity, and faces (and bodies) rather than full-on fashion dominated the best magazine covers of 2010, and we’ve assembled a group of 15 books we think did it best.
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1. Candy's Style Icons Issue
Actor James Franco put on gobs of makeup and women's clothing to help Terry Richardson pay tribute to people like Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington . Also, we're pretty sure somewhere on the inside of this issue, Hamish Bowles is dressed up like a lady, too.
2. Elle UK's Blurry Issue
You can barely see Kylie Minogue in this photo, but the ingenious way she beckons you inside with the single cover line "Come into my world" is too good an invitation to refuse.
3. Harper's Bazaar's Holiday Issue
So chic, so elegant so ... crystallized? For the super special limited edition of Harper's Bazaar's holiday issue, Katy Perry's lips were covered in 150 Swarovski crystals. You know how we love our shiny.
4. Industrie's Premiere Issue
We've always thought Anna Wintour could stand to be on a few more magazine covers, so who better to cover the first issue of Industrie , which proclaims itself to be the first magazine about the culture of fashion. This one gets extra points for using a straight on paparazzi photo.
5. Interview's Naomi Campbell Issue
We loved when Naomi Campbell went full on Eastern Promises for the shoot that went with this magazine, but the cover was soft and hard, warm and cold, unexpected and yet still very beautiful. It's one of the most glamorous photos we've seen all year.
6. LOVE's Gorgeous Issue
We rail against Photoshop all the time, so it's hard not to praise Love for featuring actress Lauren Hutton without digitally touching a single aspect of her beautiful face or figure .
7. Rolling Stone's Bloody Issue
No, it's not a fashion magazine, but most stylish glossies could learn a thing or two from the kitschy gruesomeness of this cover featuring the stars of True Blood. For all its flesh and gore, it's still a rather simple image -- and that's what keeps us from laughing at it.
8. V's Size Issue
Beloved actress Dakota Fanning ? Check. Sixties-inspired hair? Check. Other annoying accoutrement? Definitely not. Clean, effective simplicity is what got this cover on the list.
9. Vanity Fair Spain's Nude Issue
Andres Velencoso and the cover lines on this issue send a pretty clear message: Flip this issue open and you'll see a lot of good-looking people naked . And in an era where artful obfuscation is prized and abused, we can't help but admire how direct this cover is.
10. Vogue Hommes Japan's Meat Bikini Concept Cover
In the wake of the meat dress, a lot of people might have forgotten about its predecessor, the meat bikini . This is one of the eeriest and most beautiful images we've seen in Lady Gaga's continuing crusade to push the limit of fashion.
11. Vogue India's Dark Skin Issue
Franca Sozzani and Carine Roitfeld have both taken their share of flak for devoting single issues to dark-skinned beauties, but Priya Tanna of Vogue India was faced with the problem not featuring enough of it. Her "Dawn of Dusk" issue poignantly defended the beauty of dark-skinned women and fought back against the notion that skin-lightening is a normal practice in Southeast Asia.
12. Vogue Italy's Falling Models Issue
Is there anything more full of schadenfreude than a model falling on the runway? It's so horrible, and yet so funny -- and now it's been immortalized as a Vogue Italy cover. We love how glaringly untraditional this cover is, and the way it pokes fun at itself and the industry is refreshing.
13. Vogue Paris' 90th Anniversary Issue
Lara Stone got very naked for this cover, one of the most important in the magazine's history. “Vogue Paris has always played the card of audacity,” the magazine's editor Carine Roitfeld told WWD. “We couldn’t do a lukewarm issue.”
14. W's Art Issue
Postmodernism is kinda one of our favorite things, but we were almost overwhelmed by it when Kim Kardashian starred in a Barbara Kruger-inspired cover of W Magazine in November -- and we weren't the only ones. The story we wrote about this cover has been one of the most-read stories on Styleite.
15. The New Yorker's Homage To Alexander McQueen
The death of designer Alexander McQueen was mourned all over the world, both inside and outside of the fashion community.
candy magazine elle uk Harper's Bazaar industrie magazine Love Magazine magazine covers Magazines Rolling Stone The New Yorker V Magazine Vanity Fair Spain vogue hommes japan vogue india Vogue Italy vogue paris W magazine
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