Vogue Italia's Gulf oil spill-inspired shoot by Stephen Meisel in the August 2010 issue shores up their position as the most adventurous of all the international Vogue editions.
While the US and UK Vogues are busy making safe recommendations for seasonal purchases, Vogue Italia has stuck its stylish neck out to make an artistic comment on the BP disaster.
Kristen McMenamy lies draped in black couture across oil and water covered shore styled by Karl Templer. She literally chokes in one shoot, echoing the slow death of flora, fauna and economies surrounding the polluted area.
Called a "
magnificent horror" by the San Francisco Chronicle, the spill has fascinated and repelled as its slick of black swirled and coated everything in sight.
The gushing well of carbon has finally been stopped, but it will always be remembered, and this is the most brilliant artistic interpretation of the tragedy to date.