Magazine Photography © Lachlan Bailey for WSJ. “You come up against yourself-we challenge each other that way.” Photography © Lachlan Bailey for WSJ. It’s complex, but it’s nurturing,” says Valletta. “It’s given me a place to look deeper and see how I want to cultivate a friendship and have to own things that maybe I didn’t want to look at. Nonetheless, she and Valletta value their sisterly bond. “It got to a point where it was like, wait, we are individuals, too,” says Harlow.
Valletta calls Harlow the “yin to my yang.” They shot together so many times that eventually they got fed up with it, like a band that has had to perform the same hit too many times. Sometimes it’s just filling a box with a blonde or a brunette or whatever.” And really it comes down to things you can’t control-it’s not like one of us can rehearse better or hone our skills. “The essence of who we are is commodified-you know, there will be one job, and maybe the three of us are up for the same job. Valletta says, “We competed with each other for sure.” That competition is “a complex thing to navigate in any relationship,” says Harlow, the designated “deep thinker” of the group, as they call her. “I remember when I had my first fancy hotel room, the first time I flew first class, the first time I went to the party.”
“I have photos of every hotel room,” she says. “I remember that cover, like, What am I doing here?” says Murphy, who was dubbed “Mamma Murphy” for her sensible side.
Murphy on the excitement and glamour of finally making it: “Steven’s responsible for a lot of that lineage being carried through to us,” says Harlow. And study they did, at shows, cheering like hooligans at the backstage monitors, says Harlow, and at group sessions with legendary photographer Steven Meisel. No, they wanted to study Linda, Christy and Cindy and all the other “supers” who were then on magazine covers monthly. “I never wanted to see out of work for us to take over,” says Valletta, 47. Valletta on being the new trio, dislodging Naomi, Linda and Christy: These are the ladies whose careers you hope to have one day.’” “I said on set to the other models, ‘We are on the set with, let’s pay homage and respect…. “They are one amazing iconic triplet-they are the late-’90s alt-queen supermodels,” says designer Jeremy Scott, who shaped his recent fall 2021 Moschino show around a vision of Harlow as Rosalind Russell in the 1939 lm The Women, and cast all three for his cinematic presentation. Jeremy Scott on the trio’s impact on fashion: “I’m sitting there like this little kid just out of Virginia and Florida, going, Oh, my God, what the f- am I doing here?” recalls Murphy, 47. “We just had a good stereo system and a bong,” says Harlow, 47. On coming together in Paris as teenagers: Beauty is work of hair stylist Shay Ashual, and makeup artist Mark Carrasquillo. In charge of styling was Clare Richardson, with set design from Heath Mattioli, and casting direction by Piergiorgio Del Moro. Magazine‘s May 2021 edition lensed by photographer Lachlan Bailey. Magazineįashion icons Amber Valletta, Carolyn Murphy, and Shalom Harlow star in the cover story of WSJ.