And with few words I think that I can describe you how my last week was. Hard full of stress and nerves and with a little taste of sadness. Inspired by Lykke Li, my favourite singer (it's strange that I never mentioned her before) and her song Sadness is a blessing I am trying to keep in balance my world, which is ,again, separated between school and magazines. This time not Ozon but my Magazine, Obsession in Vogue. The last days I am working really hard for it and must say that it's going pretty well. As a result: excitement. Feelings are so strange my friend Bonnie Strange would might say. Yes maybe they are. Suddenly as I am watching the video clip of Sadness is a Blessing a wild pretty clever and inspirational comment appears:
The guy is sadness. She is trying to convince him to stop holding on to her by showing him what he does to her. She is trying to dance away the problems, run, drink, smile about all what makes her usually cry... but in the end, we all end up in the arms of sadness because it defines who we are. It is a part of us. I am not sure if the video is all about that, but I really like that version, so keep it. The video was directed by Tarik Saleh, starting Lykke Li and Stellan Skarsgård. I found it really inspirational and that's why I wanted to share it with you and also my feelings and my love for Lykke Li, who is the only singer that moves my feelings. A really spectacular thing for an artiste I guess.
In the other hand, I am thinking about Success and happiness and came across to Franca Sozzani, who always has the answers for me: Success in no guarantee of happiness. While I am attending the fashion shows and I appreciate the success of all the designers, what I am asking myself incessantly, following the news of Whitney Houston’sdeath, is why one works so hard to achieve success and then the end looks similar to that of many other people who die alone, unhappy and unknown. Experiencing fame every single day, constantly applauded and followed around by the paparazzi is, for today’s society, a sign of success. But when success wanes, or when to endure such success one ends up getting some help from drugs, which look promising in the beginning but then let you down, leaving you sinking into an unending precipice, how does one react? “Success listens only to applause. To all else it is deaf." wrote Elias Canetti. And perhaps it’s true. We remain attached to a memory and anything that denies our greatness, beauty or talent is like a death sentence. I remember Whitney Houston well. We were at the Metropolitan Museum attending the Gianni Versace memorial. It was September 1997. Madonna, Anna Wintour, myself and Donatella Versace had spoken and Elton John had sung. I was sitting next to Whitney and her husband. She was wearing a close-fitting dress and had a stunning figure. She went onstage. She wanted to dedicate a song to Gianni. They didn’t know each other yet loved one another very much and had a mutual admiration.
All of a sudden, Whitney’s voice would raise so high and powerfully within that big hall at the Metropolitan that, I recall, it shook our souls, touching many people in the audience more than words or speeches. She looked stunning, and had an amazing stage presence. A star of unrivaled talent. She was down to earth in her gestures and very sweet with the people she talked to. She seemed happy alongside her husband. She was at the height of success. With The Bodyguard, the film featuring Kevin Costner, a few years back she had earned fame also as an actress. Oprah Winfrey called her "The Voice" during one of her shows, so for everyone she became "The Voice". She sold over 170 million copies of albums, singles and videos. 55 million of records alone. She earned six Grammy Awards and she is the artist with most wins at the American Music Awards, 22 in total. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her 34th out of 100 in their Greatest Singers of all Times list. Nothing backs away like success does. In the last two years everything had crumbled: success, love. Drugs and antidepressants got the upper hand. And she left us on 11 February, alone, in a hotel in Beverly Hills, one of those exclusive places where the world’s stars habitually gather.
It’s hard to tell and judge what can cause such despair. The only thing we can say is that we will never forget her, and that her voice will stay with us forever.