Supermodel and actress Cara Delevingne takes the cover story of American Vogue Magazine‘s April 2023 edition lensed by fashion and celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. In charge of styling was fashion editor Jorden Bickham, who for the session selected pieces from Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Levi’s, Church’s, Tiffany & Co, Maison Margiela, Converse, Loro Piana, Alberta Ferretti, Stella McCartney x Radiant Matte, Bottega Veneta, and Dior. Beauty is work of hair stylist Tamara McNaughton, and makeup artist Romy Soleimani.
In the beginning, I was living with people in this COVID bubble in LA. We thought it was going to be a weeklong thing, and so it was fun. And then I was alone, really alone… It was a low point. I just had a complete existential crisis. All my sense of belonging, all my validation – my identity, everything – was so wrapped up in work. And when that was gone, I felt like I had no purpose. I just wasn’t worth anything without work, and that was scary. Instead of taking the time to really learn something new or do something new, I got very wrapped up in misery, wallowing, and partying. It was a really sad time.
Before I was always into the quick fix of healing, going to a weeklong retreat or to a course for trauma, say, and that helped for a minute, but it didn’t ever really get to the nitty-gritty, the deeper stuff. This time I realized that 12-step treatment was the best thing, and it was about not being ashamed of that. The community made a huge difference. The opposite of addiction is connection, and I really found that in 12-step.
This process obviously has its ups and downs, but I’ve started realizing so much. People want my story to be this after-school special where I just say, ‘Oh look, I was an addict, and now I’m sober and that’s it.’ And it’s not as simple as that. It doesn’t happen overnight… Of course I want things to be instant – I think this generation especially, we want things to happen quickly – but I’ve had to dig deeper. – Cara Delevingne
Photography © Annie Leibovitz for Vogue Magazine, read more at vogue.com
