Tom Ford's earth angel: Candice Swanepoel

Victoria's Secret Angels are not the kind of Angels that are plucked from heaven. Occasionally they're plucked from the desolate lands of obscurity, but most often they're plucked off the international runway scene, handed a coveted contract to sign, and enlisted into a legion that will clutch to them for a career-long life of beach shoots and glittering runway spectacles. Most of these Angels will make some cross-overs back to high fashion from time to time, as if on temporary assignments back to earth, but rarely do they try and permanently leave the career heaven Victoria's Secret has created for them (unless of course they move onto even bigger things, like acting careers).
Candice Swanepoel is an exception. She hit the big time first as a Victoria's Secret model but has ever since seemed intent on making that backwards transition from Angel heaven back to high fashion earth. She cast her way onto many a Paris runway last season from Dior to Givenchy. And now, in a move that truly cements her transition, she's fronting the latest Tom Ford ad campaign.

Photographed by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott, Candice's campaign is something of a thematic flow-on from Lara Stone's Tom Ford beauty campaign, awash with the same bold tones and high contrast photography (Lara was also shot by Mert & Marcus) - not really surprising given Ford's ability to apply cohesion across all areas of his brand. And it's a campaign that boldly embodies the absolute glamour of Tom Ford's fall 2011 women's collection, though we'll be interested to see how future editorials interpret the collection in softer light.
Tom Ford staple Jon Kortajarena rounds out the men's part of the campaign, which you can see more of by clicking on the thumbnails and browsing the full gallery.


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