The 9 most-read FACE articles of 2023
From blockbuster celebrity profiles to an essay on, um, Fred Again, these are the stories you loved most this year.
Who the hell are 2girls1bottl3?
Munchie wears T-shirt GUESS ORIGINALS, scrunchies CLAIRE BARROW and necklace PANDAMONIUMPRINTS AT ETSY.COM. Mixie wears swimsuit VIKTOR & ROLF, necklace PANDAMONIUMPRINTS AT ETSY.COM, hair accessory YU AT HACO HAIR and earrings BUNNEY
Online enigmas Mixie and Munchie have been beguiling TikTok fans with surreal, silent cocktail videos for the past year. No one had a clue who they were – until our profile in the autumn issue, that is. Here writer Nicolaia Rips gets philosophical with 2023’s most mysterious influencers, and even makes her way into a TikTok video in the process.
Read more here.
Ewan Mitchell, master of reality
Ewan wears coat LOEWE, jacket STONE ISLAND and trousers DIESEL
The actor behind Aemond Targaryen, the power-hungry prince in House of the Dragon, Ewan Mitchell is another mysterious public figure who did his first ever print shoot and interview with THE FACE this year. As Consultant Editor Craig McLean found out, he’s a man who’s seriously dedicated to his craft. Now also on screens in Saltburn, there’s no better time to revisit this brilliant (slightly bonkers) profile.
Read more here.
Madeline Argy doesn’t get why she’s famous
(Left to right): Madeline wears top and skirt MIU MIU and underwear stylist’s own. Madeline wears dress 1000 MORCEAUX, earrings VERSACE, bag MOSCHINO and shoes MARC JACOBS. Madeline wears top CELINE HOMME and necklace CHRISTIAN DIOR
Queen of confessional TikTok videos, Madeline Argy eschews your typically aspirational influencer fodder to deliver storytimes about pissing herself and growing her first pubes. Sure, that makes her sound disgusting, but she looks pretty good when all dressed up for a photoshoot for our autumn issue. As THE FACE’s Assistant Editor Jade Wickes puts it, “When she’s dressed up, you could easily mistake her for a model. To paraphrase Walt Whitman, she contains multitudes – therein lies her appeal.”
Read more here.
We need to talk about Fred… Again
Writer Clive Martin takes on the most debated man in dance music in this essay. Yes, he’s super posh, had a hell of a leg up in the industry and seems a little annoying. But his tunes are huge, he has a mega fanbase and this year he was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Is he really the enemy of dance music? Or is it finally time for his critics to let the posh-boy thing go?
Read more here.
Are the Obama sisters the new Olsen twins?
@viewsbyjesal and @stealthelook on Instagram
A very urgent investigation into Mary-Kate and Ashley’s potential successors. Over the past few years, Malia and Sasha Obama have become accidental internet style icons in spite of their efforts to stay (sort of) under the radar and live (sort of) normal lives. Here, THE FACE’s Deputy Editor Olive Pometsey wonders if they could end up having Olsen-level influence in fashion.
Read more here.
Richard Kern on nude women, nostalgia and unseen Polaroids
In May, transgressive photographer Richard Kern released Polaroids, a book packed with behind-the-scenes shots from his most famous shoots, published for the very first time. In this interview, he tells writer Grace Sowerby why he was inspired to finally release these test shots and what it takes to capture a signature Kern shot.
Read more here.
What it’s like to trip on DMT: “My friend turned into computer code”
It’s the strongest psychedelic known to man. So, naturally, taking it can result in some pretty wild hallucinations. Here, THE FACE’s resident drugs columnist Simon Doherty speaks to people who’ve fallen down the rabbit hole to find out if the experience is as wild as you’d expect (spoiler: it is).
Read more here.
The erotic photobook reproducing vintage porn
Also landing on our bookshelves this year was TOY by photographer Jurgen Maelfeyt; a saucy reframing of ’70s and ’80s porn, reproducing images from magazines of the era. “The images in this new book may look more explicit but in the original they’re actually not. Sometimes you wouldn’t even recognise the original images because the new image has been changed so much,” Maelfeyt told writer Grace Sowerby. (We couldn’t possibly comment on whether the headline had something to do with this piece’s popularity.)
Read more here.
Halle Bailey is ready to stand
Halle wears jeans DIESEL, T-shirt stylist’s own, hair accessory MAYA GOLYSHKINA and shoes ASLAN WORLD
At the start of the year, we flew out to LA to shoot and interview Halle Bailey for our spring issue. At that point, she was still gearing up for The Little Mermaid, the blockbuster live-action remake that made her a proper household name. “I got to see [the film] two weeks ago,” she told THE FACE’s Deputy Editor Olive Pometsey months before it was released. “I kind of dissociated, watching this girl, like,‘She’s doing really great!’ I forgot that it’s me.”
Read more here.
