Loving Lieke

A few months ago, I had a Badoit water with Lieke van Lexmond in the garden of the Hilton hotel in Amsterdam. At that time, I was still the editor-in-chief of Marie Claire and asked Lieke if she would like to present the Prix de la Mode of Marie Claire. Because when you talk about a stylish, strong, and amazing woman, you are talking about Lieke. If icing on the cake we thought that Lieke should of course also be on the cover of the January issue. And covers are tricky. Moreover, the cover of Marie Claire always has to go past the noses of the French editorial team, and they don't know our celebrities, so you can be called Lieke, Carice, Halina, or Daphne a hundred times, if they don't like the photo, they will reject it. Rücksichtslos.

When Lieke was finally photographed, I had already started with Amayzine.com, but I was of course really looking forward to the result. With Philip Riches as the photographer, Jetteke van Lexmond as the stylist, and Lieke as the model, it can't go wrong. Still, the cover was even more beautiful than I had expected. Lieke in Azzedine Alaïa and, as far as I'm concerned, already the most beautiful cover of 2014. “Beautiful, right, those looks?” says Lieke when I send her a message. “To fall in love with.” And that's true. Lovingly beautiful. Well done.