COVER STORY
HER HOLLYWOOD COMEBACK MASTER PLAN
10 hot stories, including Jennifer Aniston’s plan to kill off ‘poor Jen’, ‘We are the victims, we are change’, is Cheryl house hunting alone? And who is J-law’s mystery boyfriend?
IT WAS THE Hollywood marriage that promised to rewrite the ‘poor Jen’ narrative and give Jennifer Aniston the fairy-tale ending the world felt she richly deserved. But after being plagued by rumours of marital conflict ( including a report in Grazia earlier this month), Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux confirmed on 16 February that, after less than three years of marriage, they had indeed gone their separate ways. ‘ This decision was mutual and lovingly made at the end of last year,’ their joint statement read, issued by Jennifer’s long-time publicist Stephen Huvane. ‘ We are two best friends who have decided to part ways as a couple, but look forward to continuing our cherished friendship.’
Yet, despite their cordial announcement, insiders tell Grazia that the timing was far from ideal. Justin, 46, is said to have flown from New York to their home in Los Angeles to discuss the situation with Jennifer on Valentine’s Day, just days after her 49th birthday. ‘Although they had finally decided to end things in December, Jen had been hoping to put off going public for a few more months,’ one source revealed. ‘Justin, however, was eager to move on with his life, so she agreed to let them get it over with. Naturally, it was a miserable time for them both.’
So, what really went wrong? Much has been made of their bi-coastal lifestyles, with Jennifer rooted in LA and Justin in New York, driving a wedge in their happily ever after. Multiple US reports were quick to claim that it was Justin who initiated the split after they failed to compromise over their living arrangements. ‘One simple fact is that Jen has always preferred the creature comforts of her Bel Air home, while Justin enjoys the thrill of the urban jungle in New York and they could never get past that from the get-go,’ the insider confirms.
The tell-tale signs were undeniably there. The couple, who dated for more than four years before marrying in a secret ceremony in 2015, had increasingly been spending time apart on opposite coasts. Shortly before announcing their split, Jennifer had celebrated her 49th birthday with friends including Courteney Cox in Malibu, while Justin was attending parties for New York Fashion Week.
But it wasn’t just their location preferences creating a divide. The insider added that, ‘Justin is very free-spirited and loves to be spontaneous, whereas Jen requires a lot more structure and pre-planning in her life. She has her set group of loyal female friends in LA, whereas Justin enjoys
meeting new people. It was clear by the end that they were very different people wanting very different things.’
However, sources tell Grazia that far from letting any heartbreak envelop her, Jennifer has instead been immersing herself in her work. Understandably frustrated by the media focus on her relationship status, she has been planning a career comeback over the last six months.
‘Jen resents being portrayed as being sad and miserable in her private life,’ the insider said, alluding to the public storyline that has haunted the star ever since she divorced first husband Brad Pitt in 2005, before he moved on with, and eventually married, Angelina Jolie. ‘Late last year she recruited some new members to her creative team to seek out some of the hottest scripts in Hollywood, as well as carefully plan a triumphant return to television.’
Shortly before they decided to split last year, Jennifer announced she had been working on a small screen idea with Reese Witherspoon, which The New York Times called ‘one of the most sought-after new projects in television’. The as-yet-untitled comedy/drama – set in the world of US morning television – was snapped up by Apple for an unprecedented $240 million for 20 episodes over two seasons.
‘ The buzz behind Jen and Reese’s show is huge. Jen is excited about getting everyone talking about her work again – and it’s no coincidence that it’s all happening now, when she’s single again. She’s even been in touch with her former Friends co-stars to further discuss the possibility of a reunion,’ the insider adds.
Jennifer, who received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as a woman suffering from chronic pain in 2014’s Cake, also has an exciting new film role on the horizon, playing a beauty pageant mother in the buzzed-about comedy Dumplin’ that is slated for release later this year.
The insider concluded, ‘Jen can’t wait to show audiences a different side to her in her next movie; she’s thrilled to have been cast totally against type. She is feeling more determined than ever to put herself back on top of the entertainment world with her new projects. She’s keeping a low profile and letting the dust settle now that she and Justin have gone public with their separation, but she’s not wallowing in self-pity, she’s eager to get to work. She wants the attention focused on her career, not her private life – and she wants to kill off the “poor, sad, lonely Jen” cliché for good.’
SHE WANTS TO BE BACK ON TOP OF THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD
IN AN IMPASSIONED speech at the opening of London Fashion Week, model Adwoa Aboah – the British Fashion Council’s newly appointed Positive Fashion Ambassador – set the tone (and threw down the gauntlet) for the week. ‘As a model and a woman, I want to challenge each and every one of you to think about what your role is within this industry and what you are going to do to help change the system that has allowed such rampant abuse of power and fear to take advantage of so many who have not had a voice.’ Talking in the wake of #Metoo and the storm of allegations of sexual abuse made against male fashion photographers, she also spoke about the fight for more diversity on the runways of ‘race, all body types, religion, sexuality and gender identification’ and how the BFC’S Models First initiative has been put in place to establish best practice for the industry. By the close of the week, that other burning subject, sustainability – how the industry must produce more consciously – had also been tackled with the launch of an educational initiative set up by Kering, the luxury goods group, in conjunction with the London College of Fashion and the BFC.
All this against a backdrop of vocal anti-fur protestors, who banged drums all week long and chanted ‘Shame on London Fashion Week.’* Week.’
So how did the designers showing their collections last week respond? Answering the call for diversity – which was more prominent everywhere, thankfully – Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida, the Portuguese London-based couple behind the label Marques’almeida, showed their street-cool collection in an underground tunnel on a gang of real women – big-bottomed, ample-breasted, short, tall, wide and narrow, black, brown and white. Calling it their ‘joyful responsibility to make fashion inclusive, diverse and relevant for girls and women’, it made you wish other designers would take a more
believable approach to casting. We have Roland Mouret to thank for older model representation – never have his wiggle dresses looked so appealing or his new trouser suits in pale pink so relatable as here, with more mature models representing the women who buy his elegant clothes. Shout outs for diversity also for Osman, Ashish and Molly Goddard, who presented her stay-out-allnight party dresses on revellers (real body types mixed in with the likes of Edie Campbell) who had found themselves at the end of the night in a hotel’s industrial kitchen. Cue a skinhead model dressed in a huge pink frock knocking back champagne as a redhead in body-con green stirred a soup on the hob, while a street-cast model glided by in shocking orange tulle.
So, what was the trend message from London’s autumn/winter collections? In the wake of Time’s Up, many designers talked up female empowerment. This took myriad forms – power silhouettes (see Gareth Pugh’s gigantic shoulders), sensational glamour (Halpern’s sequin jumpsuits), rule-breaking creativity (Matty Bovan’s spliced knits and balloon headgear) and black – the colour of the week (a week that saw another blackout on the BAFTA red carpet). There were literal interpretations of female solidarity, like at Preen, where Thea Bregazzi and Justin Thornton had been inspired by the Haenyeo, a matriarchal society of Korean deep-sea divers, who customise their scuba gear with layers of lace, shells and fishnet. (‘ We looked at these incredibly strong women who hunt all day while their men look after their children,’ they said, adding, ‘we don’t think men are doing a good job of looking after the world.’) And there was SEX! Provocateur Christopher Kane tackled it head on, using the weirdly beautiful pencil illustrations from the 1972 manual The Joy Of Sex to heat his powerful appreciation of black leather tailoring, red lace and clinking diamanté dresses. We can forgive his ‘ugly shoe fetish’ – his words – because his coolyouth customer will love those manrepelling, bejewelled, heeled Crocs.
What about wardrobe solutions? JW Anderson had been looking for new ways to change the system, so he showed his excellent men’s and women’s collections – full of modern city combat gear – together on the runway ‘ because women buy men’s and vice versa’, he said. ‘I really wanted to clear out and find what’s next; what’s next is what’s modern,’ he added
of launching a democratic photography competition – open to all – in which the winner gets to shoot his next campaign. Equally great wardrobing came from women designers who juggle the hairraising running of global fashion businesses with family life. Simone Rocha turned up the volume on oh-so-delicate texture with opulent dresses that have never looked more lovely alongside her new trouser suits – ‘with a tomboy Victoriana feel’ and trousers that came with bows at the knee, which looked subversively cool and kinky. Roksanda Ilincic also refined her signature silhouette with powerful drenches of colour – camel, ochre, blue, claret, yellow, pink – wow! ‘I’m a designer who cares about women, I want to protect and shelter her,’ she said of the luxuriant blankets thrown around the models’ shoulders. And Erdem – widely tipped to be designing Meghan’s wedding dress – was keeping schtum backstage after his epic show at the National Portrait Gallery, the ideal backdrop for his regal collection based on Fred Astaire’s ‘more talented’ sister who came to live in England. Think neat tweed jackets (Balmoral), falling-offthe-shoulder sweaters (Princess Margaret) and breathtaking shimmer dresses – perfect for La Markle’s reception look.
Overall, the driving message was one of positivity – from the hottest green shoot of avant-garde design at Central Saint Martins’ graduation show (note the name: Liam Johnson) to the establishment: Christopher Bailey, the man who has steered Burberry for the last 17 years, delivered his grand finale for the house. Celebrating company heritage checks and logos with his latest street-cool vibe – baseball caps, slogan sweats, the chunkiest of fleeces, tracksuits and mega-quilted rainbow parkas – a nod to his support of gay pride and LGBTQ+ rights. Now, if only the BAFTA Best Actress Frances Mcdormand would wear this to the Oscars, it really would show her ‘problem with compliance’ on the red carpet blackout. And finally, to top it all off, we saw the Queen – yes, really! Her Majesty handed London’s rising boy wonder Richard Quinn the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design at his incredible show where every model wore head-to-toe blooms – wild, crazy, ingenious flower prints. It was the moment of the week: victorious, happy and glorious, just like British fashion. Thanks to Mercedes-benz UK for getting us around Fashion Week in their G-class