As the world awaits the premiere of Janet Jackson’s Lifetime documentary later this month, they can get a glimpse of her on the cover of Allure Magazine. The five-time Grammy winner graces the cover of the beauty publication’s February issue.
The cover reads, ‘Janet: Love May She Reign.’ The singer/songwriter was photographed by Tom Munro wearing an oversized beige Rick Owens hooded puffer coat as the centerpiece of an ensemble styled by Patti Wilson.
For her cover story, Janet Jackson is Still in Control, Jackson talks to Robin Givhan in London to talk about her forthcoming documentary, JANET JACKSON., and give insight into her style history. Over three decades in the spotlight, the “All For You” singer gained her reputation for being one of the sexiest celebrities in the world.
However, she says she wasn’t always that way.
“I was never a girly girl. I was always a tomboy,” Jackson said. “So it was always about pants, suits, even as an early teenager. I remember when my brothers got their star on the Walk of Fame and other awards they got, and I look back on pictures and I always had on a suit with a tie, a bow tie, or suspenders.”
While that kind of fashion sensibility paid dividends for her during the Rhythm Nation era in the late 80s, it was after her 1993 album Janet. that she became the peerless sex symbol she is remembered for today.
Jackson stayed covered up until her 1989 video for “Love Would Never Do Without You” when she showed more skin in jeans and a tight crop top.
Jackson revealed more after that, including her 1993 topless cover of Rolling Stone with her then-husband René Elizondo cupping her breasts, to numerous other photoshoots and music videos to follow. But she said it wasn’t easy to make the transition.
“It took a lot of work, a lot of work,” Jackson said. “It was something very tough, very difficult. But I’m glad I walked through it. I’m really glad I got in. It was a way of accepting and loving, accepting yourself and your body.”
Jackson said she admires artists like Lizzo for embracing themselves for who they are despite societal norms.
Jackson says she notices more women being “comfortable in their skin, in their size, in being full-figured and I love that, as opposed to back in the day.”
She continued, “You had to always be thin and always look a certain way. And now it’s all accepted and it is all beautiful and I absolutely love that.”
Read Allure‘s full Janet Jackson cover story here.
Story & Photo Credit: Matthew Allen/thegrio
