Technically, this is not Cara Delevingne’s first Vogue cover. She’s fronted the glossy in its many international versions, as well as on last year’s U.S. September issue alongside eight other models. But to have Anna Wintour’s blessing to appear solo on the cover of Vogue, as Delevingne does for the July issue, is a huge milestone. So, naturally, in honor of this major moment in this young woman’s life, the fashion publication celebrated with a video montage from all her close friends — Taylor Swift, Pharrell Williams, and Patrick Demarchelier included.
In the video above, Delevingne is congratulated on the wind-blown, Prada-clad, Demarchelier-lensed cover: “Things are really gonna start happening for your modeling career now,” Derek Zoolander tells her. But, for anyone who knows the British model's résumé, her moment is coming just as her career in fashion is winding to an end. Or, at least, an end to what we know it to be now.
With a starring role in the film version of the young-adult novel Paper Towns, due out next month, as well as a bevy of other film projects under her belt, the 22-year-old is entering her next phase. Furthermore, as Delevingne tells Vogue in an intimate interview, her modeling career was far from perfect, despite her presence on the runways of Chanel and Burberry, and likes from 14-plus million Instagram fans. She admits to having extreme fatigue, psoriasis, and depression — she also opens up about coming close to attempting to take her own life.
Happier now — her acting career is on the rise and her relationship with Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, is going strong — Cara’s cover proves to be not only major recognition from one of the most prestigious fashion publications in the world, but also a kind of celebration of a whole-new her. Click over to Vogue to check out the entire interview and accompanying editorial.