ANOK YAI CONTINUES TO TAKE US TO ANOTHER WORLD, AND WE ARE STRAPPED IN
Anok Yai stuns as the celestial cover star for Teen Vogue's November issue, and we can't get enough.
Today Teen Vogue released its November issue, and we are in awe. Starring Anok Yai, and with photography by Elizaveta Porodina, she is shown fully bloomed into a galactic goddess in a prismatic spectrum.
Photographed ten years ago by Steven Hall at a University homecoming, Yai has been on a consistent upward trajectory, sending her into the orbiting supermodel world.
In conversation with Danya Issawi for this issue of Teen Vogue, you learn that Yai excelled in STEM subjects and saw a future as a doctor, only daydreaming about a pop-culture life, never expecting two photos to change her life.
What takes this shoot to another planet is the imaging and editing by Elizaveta Porodina. An image-maker who has worked on editorials for Dazed, GQ and Vogue, as well as the feature videos for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2026, which Anok Yai has walked for three times.
In Porodina's comment section for her post, she reveals her own editing secret, and it takes a close-knit village: "It is a combination of massive preproduction, incredible theatrical light by Josef Beyer, really careful combination of set design and clothing by Nicholas Des Jardins and Becky Akinyode, and I am quite good at grading." Her answer is telling.
Yai's ethereal presence is built from a chain of craftsmanship, from production to lighting, from set to styling, and finally the eye of the camera; you can see the hard work put into each image, and it is flawless every time.
Yai, styled by Becky Akinyode, is seen in the editorial draped in otherworldly couture designs from the likes of Iris Van Herpen, Roberto Cavalli, and Dior, as well as independent brands such as Collina Strada, and finally adorned with generously placed Swarovski gems. We also would've loved to have seen some of Robert Wun's designs from his "Time" or "Becoming" collection in this shoot, which seem to be made for the editorial aesthetic.
The only anticlimactic factor to this feature is that it's not available to purchase in print, as Teen Vogue went digital in 2017, aiming to follow its teenage readership down a digital rabbit hole. It's a calculated decision; however, with the rise of AI-driven digital media manipulation, it has never been more apparent how important print media is for preserving not only magazine culture but pop culture itself. Your algorithm doesn't easily recognise art's vulnerability and instead works hard to regurgitate reels, pushing down human talent like this. We really hope this is remembered.
