The cover of Vogue Italia giugno 2011 is unforgettable. Steven Meisel shot it, Edward Enninful styled it, and Pat McGrath provided the makeup expertise. Oh, and the celebrated Italian magazine’s cover earnestly featured Ford+‘s Tara Lynn and Candice Huffine without any disclaimer, caveat, or concession that have tended to accompany editorials featuring plus-size models in publications renown or notorious [delete where appropriate] for their fidelity to industry “sample size.” Such was the impact of that cover that it has resonated many weeks later into print’s most important month, September. Candice once again has been joined by the aforementioned Meisel, Enninful, McGrath, and others, but this time for a W September 2011 editorial titled “Transformers.” If you’re expecting a gaggle of Michael Bay-designed gigantic, self-changing automotive robots from another planet, then you might be momentarily disappointed until you realize this story presents a heady cast of models starting with Linda Evangelista (DNA) “as they are and can be.” Candice joins the “before and after” party sporting a wet-down look wearing a Michael Kors black cashmere cardigan, wool skirt, and enough gold and diamonds to rank alongside the GDP output of a Central American country. The “after” portrait sees Candice wearing a red gabardine coat by Prada and a scarf by Burberry. There is beauty in both portraits, especially the “before” shots that in particular even manage to short-circuit Meisel’s predilection toward thematic shock. As go fashion themes, seeing models without makeup might well rank up there with the 2010 BP oil spill, but on the evidence of this story Candice Huffine ensures there is nothing shocking about seeing a gorgeous model before and after hair & makeup.

Credits include: Publication, W September 2011; Title, “Transformers”; Photography, Steven Meisel; Styling, Edward Enninful; Hair, Jimmy Paul for Bumble and bumble; Makeup, Pat McGrath for Cover Girl; Manicure, Jin Soon Choi for Jin Soon Natural Hand & Foot Spa; Model, Candice Huffine at Ford; Production, PRODn at Art + Commerce; Digital operation, DTouch NY; Photography assistance, Stas Komarovski, Dima Hohlovs, Victor Gutierrez; Fashion assistance, Felicia Garcia-Rivera, Laura Jones.