FACES IN FOCUS: ANIMAL AS MUSE

At just 18, Grace Coddington won a modeling competition for Vogue. A decade later, she was employed as Photo Editor at British Vogue. Two decades later, she joined Anna Wintour at American Vogue as the magazine’s Creative Director. One motif appears across her mass of creative work: cats. They were the subject of the 2006 book The Catwalk Cats she illustrated, the form for the cap of her Comme des Garçons perfume, and the inspiration behind a pet-inspired capsule collection she worked on for Louis Vuitton.

Chloe Fineman joined the cast of SNL in time for its 45th season—before that, she cut her teeth in a comedy troupe in Los Angeles, eventually landing roles in shows like Search Party and Jane the Virgin. She’s best-known for perfecting the celebrity impression, taking on everyone from Meryl Streep to Timothée Chalamet with unsettling accuracy. Chloe also finds humor in her very stubborn dog: “Peach reminds me of a fuckboy in the sense that he’s really good to look at, and he kind of wants nothing to do with me.”

Vice President at Art Partner—fashion’s premier creative agency—is no easy role. Candice Marks takes it on with grace, connecting the industry’s most sought-after photographers, stylists, and creative directors with the brands and publications that’ll uplift their work. Apart from her high-powered career, she raises her daughters, one of whom begged for years for a bearded dragon. They grabbed Pickle from a pet shop and haven’t looked back since.

Helena Christensen has been working since she was nine years old, setting off as a child model. Such an early start has afforded her many lives: Danish pageant queen, cover girl, Victoria’s Secret Angel, photographer, creative director at Nylon. Caring for her sprightly Australian Shepherd Kuma adds structure and levity to her demanding schedule.

Sarah Pidgeon is finding her footing. The actor has a few big roles under her belt, on The Wilds and Tiny Beautiful Things. This year, she debuted on Broadway in David Adijmi’s Stereophonic. Having just tapped into what looks sure to be a long and fruitful career, she finds herself identifying with springtime creatures: “I’d be a young horse, a foal. I take up a lot of space, but I don’t think I’m as majestic as a full-grown horse.”

Sydney Shen’s work contains an “enticing yet horrifying” duality. Her sculptures and installations meld organic material like wood and metal with stranger stuff—Chinese and Western medical gear, bells that no longer ring, pipe organ parts, gastrolith stones. She likes the company of snakes—and the feeling seems to be mutual. “I think she really enjoys being in my hair,” Sydney says of her reptilian friend. “I assume it’s really comfy, like a little nest in there.”

Havana Rose Liu was cast as a love interest in Emma Seligman’s queer teen comedy Bottoms—but by then, she was already beloved, having graced the cover of Italian Vogue and stealing scenes in Mayday and The Chair. Her knack for embodying a character’s spirit is matched by her ability to feel out an aura: “Birds remind me of loved ones who have passed. Every time I spend time with a bird, I wonder if it’s a loved one.”

In 2014, Joan Smalls graced the cover of Elle’s “Return of the Supermodel” issue. The Puerto Rican personality made waves in the2010s as the first Latina model to represent Estée Lauder, soon after ranking as Models.com’s number-one in the world and entering Forbes’s “World’s Highest-Paid Models” list. “If I were an animal, I would be an orca,” she says, “because they’re at the top of the food chain in the water. You’d have speed, ferocity, intelligence...”