LaChapelle Shoots Charli XCX for NY Magazine

Above: Charli XCX for New York Magazine ©David LaChapelle Studio

David LaChapelle shoots Charli XCX for the AUg. 26 - Sep. 08 2024 issue of New York Magazine.

Above: New York Magazine on NYC newsstand, Charli XCX by LaChapelle cover ©Kumi Tanimura

Above: Charli XCX by David LaChapelle for New York Magazine ©David LaChapelle

From VULTURE:

"I’ve always loved the rawness of B-movies and tabloids and Hollywood Babylon. Charli’s had such a strong career, but this is a new level for her, and I wanted to do something that was kind of tabloid but also add some surreal elements dealing with the nature of how she’s exploded. The shoot is playing with those ideas in a humorous way."

Above: Charli XCX by David LaChapelle for New York Magazine ©David LaChapelle

"The underwater shot — that’s the water birth of Charli into the bratosphere. On the cover, she’s escaping the paparazzi and running from the downside of fame, the tabloid side of it. And she’s broken free, but she’s still got handcuffs on. It could be a B-movie poster, right? I didn’t put any context behind what she was being arrested for. She was just breaking the rules. Being brat and breaking the rules."

Above: Charli XCX by David LaChapelle for New York Magazine ©David LaChapelle

"She’s sort of trapped by fame and all the tabloid photographers are chasing her. An animal trapped in the woods would bite off its own limb — she bites off her hand. As she lies on the stretcher, you see people still taking photos of her, the paparazzi and the fans. People will watch the rise as much as they’ll watch the fall. Then she’s brought to the hospital and probably given some sort of painkiller. She’s hallucinating. She’s stuck in a dreamscape, but in the end, she frees herself."

Above: Charli XCX by David LaChapelle for New York Magazine ©David LaChapelle

"The hallucination kind of encapsulates the whole shoot. Instead of a real Hollywood tragedy, it’s more of a fantasized one. And it’s not to be read into too much, but, yeah, maybe she’s hallucinating about this whole thing — this sudden meteoric rise with Brat, then Kamala Harris. That’s a lot to take in for anyone."

Above: Charli XCX by David LaChapelle for New York Magazine ©David LaChapelle

"I’ve seen a lot of pop stars in my career, and when they get to the next level, it really wears them out and shakes ’em up. But I think she has enough experience under her belt that she’s going to handle all of it really well. It wasn’t a sudden thing, and it wasn’t something she didn’t want. She has been doing this for a long time. She’s ready for it." - David LaChapelle

PROCESS VIDEO:

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/3e273b_296b16ae7625436787177ad65147dfca/720p/mp4/file.mp4