Photo: Courtesy of Miu Miu.
To land a Vogue cover, it seems you have to hit all three points of a certain trifecta: You have to have a compelling (but noncontroversial) story to tell, a face that'll sell issues, and the ability to make Anna smile while you're lounging in a marsh in Provence in a $10,000 ball gown. Additionally, if history is any indication, a personal-trainer-toned body and a private-nutritionist-led juice diet don't hurt either — in recent memory, Adele was the only non-willowy cover star for Vogue in 2012, and then Jennifer Hudson way back in 2007.
According to Radar Online, Anna Wintour's next target doesn't quite fit the Vogue mold, in more ways than one. Lena Dunham deliberately challenges social norms with her show Girls, the clever ways she utilizes press, and the things she says about gender roles, millennials, and body image — topics that fall somewhat left of Vogue's M.O. However, a cover with the new guard is a smart move that Wintour should be pushing for as the magazine strives to woo a younger, lifelong audience. According to Radar, the editor-in-chief is hosting a "top secret, private dinner […] according to a well-placed magazine source." Says the source, "[Anna] is willing to violate a lot of Vogue traditions to do it, including putting her on the cover even though she doesn't really conform to the body type that Vogue has featured for most of its history. This dinner is a first step for Anna to see if Lena will play ball."
This isn't the first time Dunham and Vogue have worked together, the most memorable collaboration being the Met Ball, where Hamish Bowles dressed the actress in a Wintour-appropriate Wes Gordon gown that, while beautiful, felt a bit like a costume Dunham might wear for the magazine's lenses. This time around, we're interested to see if it's Dunham that disrupts the Vogue scene, and not the other way around. (Radar)