It feels like it’s been forever since Angelina Jolie did a really big magazine cover, with an editorial and interview and everything. Well, here we are: Jolie covers the July issue of Vogue Japan, and she went to Japan to highlight the work of Japanese artisans, designers and the Japanese sustainability movement. This was mostly about her Atelier Jolie store/fashion line, which is technically open although it probably needs someone with some business sense to step in and take care of the financial stuff. Jolie also went to Japan as part of her Guerlain ambassadorship, where she’s “godmother” to Women For Bees and she highlights the work of female beekeepers. The magazine took Jolie to Tokyo, Osaka and several other places to show her their artisans and craftspeople. The editorial is fire too. You can see the whole piece at Vogue Japan. Some highlights from her interview:
Meeting Japanese craftsmen: “I don’t want to pretend to know or understand Japanese culture, but I will say I’ve always felt that there’s a grace and an intention that seems to come from things that are made in Japan.”
The Japanese term mottainai, which roughly translates to don’t waste: “I think that says just about everything. And it just naturally developed within Japanese society. It’s not a movement, it’s a part of this country that things are valued.” Though the language barrier could have proven difficult, Jolie found her time with the artisans in Japan to be enlightening in a way that transcended words. “It’s true when they say ‘you learn more in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.’”
Jolie’s punk aesthetic: “Punk is the antithesis of jumping onto popular trends, following influencers, or being told by big companies what’s in style. It’s about questioning why we’re pushed into overconsumption, or why we feel incomplete without certain things.” To step away from that manipulation that keeps us “trapped in the consumption cycle that companies desire, I believe we all need to step back from these thoughts and media and reflect on who we were before all that.”
On Atelier Jolie: “I’m not trying to be a fashion house or a fashion designer. I really wanted to make a place where anybody could come and discover their own creativity and give them the tools to work with,” she says. She refers to Atelier Jolie not just as a store, but as a home. “The hope is that many great artists who’ve been around a long time will come in and be a part of the home, and then new young artists will discover the home and they will influence each other. I’m hoping that the Atelier, and work like this, traveling and meeting other artists, can restore my relationship with creativity in a way that makes me happier and live as an artist and enjoy it.”
Strengths & weaknesses: “It’s probably my weakness too, but my strength is that I’m emotional. I am deeply human, and flawed. I feel that I want to connect to other people. And that can bring forward chaos, but it can also bring forward very authentic connections.”
Restless: “I don’t sleep well, I’m not one of those people. I never settle. But, you know, I think some of us are kind of born that way. I’ve been trying to calm down since I was like five years old, and it’s just not happening. Some people are just born a little bit on fire.”
Away from the Hollywood spotlight: “I kind of keep it separate. And I haven’t really found a way to have a relationship with fame—other than when I direct. I think I’ve been avoiding it, because I’ve been avoiding Hollywood since I was young.”
Decades of work with refugees: “The more you become aware of in the world, the more it sits on your soul in a very, very heavy way. Because you discover the pain, the inhumanity, the cruelty. And it’s very real, and there’s a lot of injustice. As you get older, you see how many times, especially nowadays, a lot that has been fought for is sliding back…There is no easy fix. And so you just try to find ways to contribute something positive, or not even positive, you find ways to be in community with other good people.”
On fast fashion: “It’s important to acknowledge where we are pushing certain ideas onto young people, and tell them things they have to need in order to be good enough. Someone might be thrilled with a $3 T-shirt, and I’m happy for them that they can have that option, but it’s important to question how it was made for that, and who got hurt in order for that to happen.”
There’s a lot of talk about the “relentless consumerism” of the modern fashion world, which is a huge problem, of course. But I find that conversation intrinsically linked to the fact that clothing and accessories are really poorly made these days. “Relentless consumerism” is baked into HOW things are made these days – they’re not made to last, because things are only supposed to be worn for a month or two. As for Atelier Jolie… I still think it’s a fascinating and interesting project for Angelina, but I wish she partnered with some financial experts so that this didn’t have the feel of a money-losing vanity project. Like, I think Atelier Jolie could be a global brand and people would love to buy these items, but there has to be a better way than “making an appointment at the store in New York.”
Cover & Instagram courtesy of Vogue Japan.
She looks so youthful in all these photos!
Good skincare, facelift and botox.
@Erika, I agree with the skincare, but doubt she had a facelift. You must be thinking about Pitt because he actually had one. Jolie has said that she is against that and wants to age gracefully.
I didn’t start out as an Angelina fan but over the years she’s impressed and now blows me away. What she’s saying about overconsumption is so important and true. Lately I’ve started thinking about my own choices over the years and how I need to change.
She reminds me of Gigi Hadid and Shania Shark in this pic
I agree that fast fashion and relentless consumerism are terrible, but part of what drives fast fashion is the desire to duplicate high fashion trends at low cost. Atelier Jolie pieces cost thousands of dollars — that’s for a very, very small market. Really making a push against fast fashion would mean creating sustainable practices and pieces that are available to many more people.
Agreed! It’s easy to preach about fast fashion but most people can’t afford anything else
I think that is why she does the artist classes which from what I’ve seen range between $25 – and $45 you bring your old clothes ( they supply everything else), and you work one on one with the featured artist to turn those old garments into something new. I’ve also seen knitting classes were they teach you how to make your own clothes.
The clothing for sale at the store from what I understand are collections that the artist are selling like Mitsugu Sasaki.
This 100%.
Sustainable goods are great but the problem is that normal people can’t afford them. It’s exhausting to be lectured on sustainability by the wealthy when anything sustainable is out of reach.
That said- I love Angelina and Atlier Jolie is an interesting idea and I hope there is focus placed on accessibility eventually.
Yes but, you know,
it’s not like fashion is a need or a human right. It’s disposable, it really is. Nobody NEEDS access to the latest styles. And if you want something to endure, then it’s about using quality materials…not style. Sustainable fashion is kind of the opposite of fast fashion.
Also how much do you want to bet Angie has ADHD?? I just got diagnosed…us people with that urge to move all the time, there tends to be a reason why we’re on fire!
She’s been my idol, role model and aspirational woman since I read about her adopting Maddox and getting her pilots licence to transport food to people in Cambodia 20yrs ago. This was well before single motherhood and adoption was in the mainstream. I thought she was so bad ass. Her relationship with Billy Bob Thornton had fallen apart and there she was was clutching Maddox with his spikey Mohawk and flying twin engine planes and going at it alone. She just had the courage to march to her own drum.
20yrs later, she’s still doing it.
I love this new editorial and the interview. She looks more like herself than she has in years.
Thanks for covering this.
I’m in the fortunate position that I don’t have to buy £3 t-shirts and I’ve been making a conscious effort in recent years to buy less and buy better within my budget (Baukjen have a QR code in each item of clothing that allows you to see the environmental scores/impact of it being made). I’ve also found an excellent local tailor who can alter things for me and in the UK there’s an amazing business called The Seam who repair pretty much anything. A lot of what goes on their IG is designer stuff but they did an invisible mend on a hole in a Jigsaw cashmere jumper for me for about £25.
I’ve also just been to a visible darning workshop where you make a feature of the mending. I’m a long way from having a go on something I really like but with practice I can hopefully get there.
I completely agree with the mission for sustainability but would like someone more in-the-know to tell me whether they think *creating* yet another brand (ethical or not) is the answer. Isn’t it just making more stuff? Do we need yet another brand?
She truly seems like a good, decent person, but I find her fashion so dreary and shapeless. Is that Pax sitting next to her in the last photo?
I agree that the way things are made is an issue – but that ties directly into consumers and how we view value. You can’t buy a $10 shirt from H&M and expect it to be high quality. So I think when we as consumers start buying LESS – and therefore having more to spend on fewer nicer items that will be the turning point. The average person shops for new clothes 2-3 times a MONTH. That’s a LOT. And I am including myself in this. So we as consumers definitely need to reframe our relationship to shopping and spending. If you’re shopping on Shein and Temu (which makes lots of low quality, cheap items) and other fast fashion stores then the cycle just continues.