Jessica Alba Does Elle US The Fashion Issue, March 2009

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The fresh mom Jessica Alba is going strong on the market again. To raise our awareness on her subject, what better than a magazine cover?

She didn’t score Vogue (luckily!) but she’s on the cover of Elle US, the March 2009 issue. The Spring Fashion Issue! (don’t miss the rest of the pictures right after the jump!)

Jessica Alba is not photographed by herself but in supportive association with five of the most promising designers New York City has to offer at the moment. She the girl of the moment, so why shouldn’t she be suited for the job?

In a scratch my back ideology, highlighting young talented designers shall cast a promising light on Jessica’s now-paused career (due to the blessings of motherhood). Joseph Altuzarra, Rad Hourani, Julian Louie, Frank Tell and Jason Wu (like he needed any more introductions after the Inauguration Ball!), they all had the chance to pose alongside gorgeous Jessica Alba.

The pictures, taken by Carter Smith (and styled by Joe Zee) have a story-telling air, something torn out of a Leibovitz student moment. Brutal, scenographic more than fashionable, all but Jason Wu’s pictures involve a camera. Coincidentally, maybe, that’s exactly the picture I like the most (Jason Wu’s).

The big disappointment was the editorial itself. Because it’s demonstrative at bloggers address, almost revengeful. With a screaming accent on her motherhood and the baby-effects on her life/body/profession, the article looks more like a marketing contract than a sincere journalist’s doing.

“Wu gasps, then pauses. “Wait. Didn’t she just have a baby?”
Take that, blogosphere! At the very moment Wu is speaking, the gossip hounds who made Alba Yahoo!’s fourth most searched person of 2008 (below Britney and Barack, above Lindsay and Angelina) are squawking about a retro-glam calendar she shot for the Italian liquor label Campari. Airbrushed! Photoshopped! No one looks like that in real life!
The haters—and, strangely, Alba does seem to provoke a particularly virulent strain of jealous venom—should see the woman posing on Wu’s shoulder.”

Need I remind the most esteemed Elle editor who signed this piece that the Campari controversy was backed up with strong arguments (images) and Jessica’s world wasn’t really rocked by a tiny photoshop job? She’s a beautiful young woman who still has a lot to show to the world (blogosphere included, so why cast the stone?)

Was that really necessary in a Fashion Issue? (you can read the interview here, more on the Campari controversy here) (photos via tfs)