It’s that time of year again! Vogue’s September issue is here—Chloe’s first as the title’s head of editorial content. Fifteen years ago, before she interviewed at Vogue, Chloe watched R.J. Cutler’s 2009 documentary The September Issue to prepare herself for what was to come. Now, she’s the one helming the issue celebrating “the January of fashion.” Co-host Nicole Phelps and Vogue’s Virginia Smith joined Chloe to talk about their favorite stories from the issue and the mania behind the scenes of the most elaborate photo shoots.
They began by discussing the cover story, photographed by the inimitable Steven Meisel and starring Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere, two of the leads in Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis. It all calls back to Vogue’s November 1992 cover shoot with Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere—Kaia’s mother and Homer’s dad, then a married couple—shot by Herb Ritts. As for the fashion message in the 2026 story, Virginia explained: “We kept talking about this idea of designers looking back at the past to reinvent their future, and that tied in with the whole nepo-baby thing, and certainly made sense for our cover stars.”
Nicole then spoke about Nathan Heller’s deep dive with Demna. “[Demna] accomplished so much at Balenciaga and I think that has given him an assurance that he can take on this new challenge of Gucci,” she remarked. “And he’s really leading with fun.” Heller’s story includes a portrait of the designer, shot mere days after his flashy resort show in Times Square. (Anna politely insisted that he not show up in all black, and he obeyed—arriving for the session in a white T-shirt.)
The hosts also noted a few other standout stories from the issue, including Gaby Wood’s profile of Marta Ortega, who has been responsible for pushing Zara into the future over the past few years; a maximalist shoot in a train car designed by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, featuring London’s favorite West End actors; Mattie Kahn’s profile of conductor Gustavo Dudamel; and Adrienne Miller’s conversation with Julia Louis-Dreyfus about her upcoming Broadway debut.
Also on today’s episode, Chloe and Chioma caught up after Chloe’s vacation in France and the two discussed Chioma’s September cover star: the one and only Nicole Kidman, shot by Venetia Scott and profiled by British Vogue’s very own Giles Hattersley. “She’s just got such presence,” Chioma noted, recalling meeting her at the Met Gala (and being totally starstruck).
