Essential’s cover is the result of choosing one out of many photos, something not always that simple.
It is our honour to have the Cape Verdean model Vanny Reis as the face of our magazine. A reference in Africa and in Brazil, where she studied, she holds the title of Miss West Africa 2011. She came to Madeira to participate in the ECL Encounter, dedicated to Lusophone creative economy and took on Essential’s challenge of becoming the cover face for an edition which truly portrays the universality of our magazine.
And this serves as the perfect excuse to share with our readers some curiosities about Essential’s cover. We do not look for photos directly related to the magazine’s content. We search for an idea, a concept, and, above all, sophistication, embodied by a woman.
The cover’s relation to Madeira is meant to be realized through a choice of sceneries or concepts such as the sea, the sky or Nature. It is also reflective of the year’s season and always a fashionable and stylish approach.
The actual process starts quite early, more than two months prior. The spot and the model are chosen. The process involves all of the team as well as cover photographer Roberto Ribeiro and his team. Then, it is time to choose clothing and jewellery, in other words, the styling, and to start the photoshoot, which involves hairdressing, makeup, many changes of clothes and the places to be photographed.
The final choice of the cover photo is made by the editorial team, choosing one out of several options. Many photos that could have been covers themselves are left out but, this time, we chose to share some of those pictures with you.
