Vanity Fair Covers 2006

If you go to leonardodicaprio.com, you will find that it is split down the middle. The left half is labeled "Leonardo," and will bring you up-to-date on his filmmaking career (doing rather nicely, with a recent Oscar nomination for his performance in Blood Diamond and, to some tastes, an even stronger performance in best-picture winner The Departed). The right half is labeled "Eco-Site"; it offers guides to various environmental concerns, tips on differences anyone can make, and links to dozens of green organizations and information. Not many stars share their fan face time with gorillas and...

Krista Smith and Sam Jones spotlight Elle Fanning, the 12-year-old star of Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere.

By Krista Smith•Photograph by Sam Jones
December 2010

Elle Fanning, the 12-year-old sister of that other seasoned actress Dakota Fanning (who is 16), takes a giant step forward this month in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The movie is set in the Chateau Marmont, on Sunset Boulevard, where everyone from Howard Hughes to Hunter S. Thompson has stayed. The hotel is now a mecca for young actors and hipsters. Stephen Dorff plays Johnny Marco, a...

Gossip Girl, CW’s prime-time drama of love, jealousy, and social one-upmanship among New York City’s private-school teens, is a style-setting hit. As Serena van der Woodsen, Blake Lively has some killer outfits—but the Paris couture shows opened up a whole new armoire for the 20-year-old star.

by Nancy Jo Sales
June 2008

On Gossip Girl, Blake Lively plays Serena van der Woodsen, a rich girl-next-door who navigates the treacherous terrain of Manhattan private-school life while wearing a lot of amazing-looking clothes. (Just witness the killer gold leather jacket she was rocking when frenemy...

Laura Jacobs and Michael Roberts spotlight the male stars of Fox’s Glee, in a designer-clad homage to Gene Kelly.

By Laura Jacobs•Photograph by Michael Roberts
May 2010

Those who remember the glee club of yore know that it was an all-male singing ensemble. As defined by the Harvard Dictionary of Music, the “glee” belongs to a genre that dates to the 18th century and has three or more parts for men’s voices, unaccompanied. In its American heyday on college campuses, the glee club began to take seriously its Anglo-Saxon root, gleo, which means “entertainment, fun.” It wasn’t just...

Annie Leibovitz photographs the nine dolls on V.F.’s cover, as Evgenia Peretz explains why Anna Kendrick, Kristen Stewart, Carey Mulligan, et al. are nobody’s playthings. Plus: Go behind the scenes of Leibovitz’s photo shoot.

By Evgenia Peretz•Photographs by Annie Leibovitz•Styled by Michael Roberts
March 2010

The Cupid’s-bow lips, the downy-soft cheeks, the button nose: 27-year-old Abbie Cornish has those Ivory-soap-girl features we’re so familiar with, and yet hers is a face it’s hard to stop staring at—testament to the intelligence, vulnerability, and sensuality she brings...

Evgenia Peretz and Patrick Demarchelier spotlight Emma Watson as the star of the Harry Potter series masters a tricky real-life role: Ivy League freshman.

By Evgenia Peretz•Photograph by Patrick Demarchelier•Styed by Jessica Diehl
June 2010

“If I'm honest, I was her,” says Emma Watson (here wearing a dress and necklace by Chanel and rings by Nina Ricci), about the similarities between herself and Hermione Granger.
Once upon a time there were two little girls living in England. Both were kind, full of energy, and eager to please, and had a charming habit of telling people what to do. One...