Contents

/Issue No. 731

PAGE 110

"Many movie buffs consider 1999 to be one of the greatest single years of cinema ever."

Vanities

53

53 / Opening Act

Ella Emhoff takes off.

56 / Trending

What to wear when you're back on the town.

58 / Books & Flats

Brilliant reads and on-point footwear.

60, 62 / The Gallery

The baguette is back; a new Chloe classic from Gabriela Hearst.

64 / Test Drive

stars offer timeless beauty tips.

70 / Beauty

Sam Visser's fresh take on aughts excess.

76 / Dining

Clubby dinner spots are back.

Columns

80 NavelGazing

BY SONIA SARAIYA From Britney Spears to Love Actually, the aughts' most potent fashion symbol may have been designed by nature: the belly button.

82 Gawker Stalker

BY MICHAEL CALDERONE

On the eve of a Gawker relaunch, we map the most influential alums of the former enfant terrible of media.

TRASH TALK

4,700,000+

Number of readers of tawdry Florida-based Trump favorite the National Enquirer at its peak. [P. 98]

FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS.

Contents /Issue No. 731

PAGE 132

"Fight Club is something more than great. It's prophetic."

Columns

84 Dear Jon

BY EMILY GOULD ILLUSTRATIONS BY RYAN McAMIS

Franzen. Lethem. Safran Foer. Once upon a time, achieving literary stardom meant you were likely one of the Jonathans.

86 Critical Moment

BY RITA OMOKHA

Checking in with Columbia and UCLA law professor Kimberle Crenshaw, cofounder of critical race theory, who's landed in the middle of the culture wars.

Features

90 With Love, Sean Combs

BY TRESSIE McMILLAN COTTOM PHOTOGRAPHS BY CARLOS "KAITO" ARAUJO

Sean Combs—a.k.a. Puff Daddy, a.k.a. Diddy—is a perfect cipher for our journey of the past two decades, and he's ready to spread the love.

98 Postcards From the Edge

BY JOE HAGAN

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRUCE GILDEN

A visit to the place that most embodies our dysfunctional 21st-century politics: Florida.

"The networks had this unerring sense to go for just what made the thing good and tell you to take it out. -DAVID CHASE IP. m.

44 Editor's Letter

48 Contributors

50 Behind the Issue

158 Proust Questionnaire

98

Features

106 Wise Guy

BY MATTHEW LYNCH

David Chase ignited a prestige-TV arms race with the launch of The Sopranos in 1999. Now he's getting the gang back together.

110 Future Nostalgia

A PHOTO PORTFOLIO BY EMMA SUMMERTON

Recasting turn-of-thecentury movie classics with next-gen stars in our favorite roles.

Spotlights

136 Viva Versace

BY KIA D. GOOSBY PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID LACHAPELLE

A conversation with the grande dame of millennium style, Donatella Versace.

"The lines between where the heritage of Gianni ends and where I step in have blurred. We are now one. -DONATELLA VERSACE [P. 136]

Features

126 Rudy Country

BY AATISH TASEER ILLUSTRATION BY NIGEL BUCHANAN

As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the ignominious story of Rudy Giuliani comes full circle.

132 Rule of Men

BY LILI ANOLIK PHOTOGRAPHS BY MERRICK MORTON

Panned by critics, Fight Club became a cult classic that proved eerily prescient about modern male rage.

138 The Good Wife

BY JULIA IOFFE

How Yulia Navalnaya became the power behind Russia's opposition movement.

146 The Way We Wore

BY LEAH FAYE COOPER ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN P. DESSEREAU

The looks that defined the Y2K era—and helped launch the red-carpet fashion industrial complex.