Janelle Monae Looks Great on the Cover of InStyle
Jul 15, 2019 by Jessica at 10:00 AM
Hello. These covers are great. (This one below is the subscriber cover.) Janelle IS a bad ass, and she looks like one — but I also love how the styling doesn't fall into a stereotypically "tough" aesthetic. You can be a badass AND wear a dramatic hat and a cat-eye liner:
Also great? The headline of the story is "Janelle Monáe's Ready to Burn Sh*t Down." (That "badass" shirt is a Karla Welch/InStyle collab, and they're selling them, BTW.)
With a knack for storytelling, Monáe broke into the scene as a fully formed artist. In the beginning she always was outfitted in a black-and-white tuxedo, a nod to the uniforms worn by her working-class parents. It was also her way of rebuking gender politics.
"I've always wanted to redefine what a cool young black woman looks like in the music industry," says Monáe with a sigh. "I was never interested in fitting into a system that wasn't built for me or with me in mind. I'm interested in burning that shit down and building something new."
The whole interview is a very good read (and the editorial spread is really fun). Janelle is so smart and funny and has such a creative brain; I could have read like a forty-five page interview with her. This really made me laugh:
[S]he's keen to explore new modes of communication beyond her own brand of intergalactic slanguage. "I speak android, which is helpful for the future, since we will be merging." Pause. "But I really want to be fluent in French."
Viva Janelle Monae, seriously. I hope she'll introduce me to some of the androids.
[Covers: Pamela Hanson/InStyle Magazine]
Tags: InStyle, Janelle Monae
It's Monday: Here's Idris Elba
Lucy Hale Has Been Wearing All Kinds of Interesting Trousers Around Town Lately
Olivia Wilde Goes Retro on InStyle
InStyle Kicks Off 2020 With Three Cover Models and Four Covers
Renee Zellweger Closes Out 2019 for InStyle
Elle Fanning's Big Fashion Year Landed Her on InStyle
One of Jennifer Aniston's InStyle Covers Is Causing a Stir
Julianne Moore Is InStyle's Birthday Cover Girl