English Version | Backstage: "The Velvet Issue"

Here's your all access pass to the behind the scenes of "The Velvet Touch issue.

What happens backstage…

…doesn't stay backstage because it's too good to keep secret. A picture is worth a thousand words and those from the fashion spread in Sintra certainly say a lot, but they don't tell you everything. For example, they don’t show that the team had an extra member stealing the spotlight: Nora Jane, the 4-month-old daughter of Maggie Maurer, accompanied her mother on this trip from Paris to Lisbon, and witnessed the backstage of Curiouser and curiouser in an attentive manner. They also don't reveal the storm that chose to bless the place just when the team stopped for lunch (thanks, Saint Peter, perfect timing), and they certainly don't reflect how labyrinthine it was to find the right places from the recce carried out a couple of days before. Navigating from spot to spot with a caravan of four vehicles (including large vans) and a team of 16 people involved some time-consuming and painful detours for a shooting that was rushing for daylight. The image of Maurer in Monserrate was the last to be done, already in a gloomy twilight, in a decision that implied moving the entire entourage from one park to the other, at the risk of not happening because of dusk. Looking back, it was a wise decision, confirms Sprouse – and a calculated one: “We had the right equipment for low-light photography. But I'm glad we only got lost 16 times instead of 17, otherwise we might not have made it.” Even if that had happened, no one would have taken away the experience of this Vogue cover, nevertheless: “every member of the team were artists I was looking forward to collaborating with and it is always nice to explore an incredible location or a new destination together.”

Winter Wonderland

What was predestined in this shoot? Parque da Pena as a location for the editorial Curiouser and Curiouser. Starring Maggie Maurer and photographed by Cole Sprouse, when the production team sent the wishlist of images for the scenario imagined by Sprouse, more than half of the references were to that park and Monserrate, the two places that appear as the background of the Fashion spread that begins on pg. 202. Also, before being perfect for the moodboard that the actor and photographer had envisioned, they were already perfect for the type of escapism photography that Cole subscribes to: a national refuge that not everyone knows about or that perhaps they have never explored in depth, is open to the public for an escape experience like few others. These and other spaces owned by Parques de Sintra invite everyone to visit them with time, to really disconnect from the world and connect with that dreamlike environment that only seems to exist in our imagination. And in Sintra. If you are looking for a Wonderland, there are several at parquedesintra.pt.

My Precious

A second camera captured our cover girl Precious Lee dancing with the dancers who completed the group of protagonists in Dancing Queen. The movement is palpable in the 2D images by photographer Branislav Simoncik, on page 272, and the good atmosphere too, in these making-of pics signed by Miguel Canhoto. Dancing is optional, but the complete gallery is mandatory and can be found in full on vogue.pt.

GQ MOTY Awards 2022

While we were thinking about red velvet, we were also thinking about the black carpet: this issue of Vogue Portugal coincided with the course of preparations as well as the GQ Portugal Awards show gala. The combination of a double issue and the preparation of a ceremony at the same time is as crazy as it is fun. At the time, it feels more crazy; now, it feels more fun. With due distances from the volume of work that this required, and with a feeling of satisfaction on the part of the entire LightHouse Publishing team, it is worth reviewing the gala and the photocall, which featured household names such as Jessica Athayde, Joana Schenker, Fernanda Serrano, Catarina Furtado... and international artists such as David Gandy, Ai Weiwei, Cole Sprouse and Precious Lee - to check not only on vogue.pt but also on gqportugal.pt.

Translated from the original on "The Velvet Touch" issue of Vogue Portugal, published december 2022.Full stories and credits on the print issue.