Celebrities from Elizabeth Taylor in the 1950s to BTS in 2020 brought high fashion to the airport. The pandemic paused that peacocking, but it shows signs of returning.
: a pert navy Thom Browne peacoat; some Celine superprep; and at least one louche Rick Owens look. Their fashion choices suggested the same optimistic sense of freedom as a trip to New York did back then. And the looks—distinctive, intentional, luxurious—were characteristic of a generation of stars who treat the airport as a runway, including the musicians Lisa from Blackpink and Justin Bieber, and the models Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber, and Gigi and Bella Hadid.That is, until they couldn’t.
But the timing gives the book the luster of escapism. Ms. Peckman pored over decades of photos of celebrities in transit, from a 1960s Muhammad Ali in a white suit and briefcase to Lady Gaga in a stewardess-cosplay minidress in 2015. Each picture captures the glamour of travel and celebrity, but without the trappings of photoshoots that normally put stars on a pedestal.
Thus, the rampant appetite for such photos on paparazzi and gossip websites like TMZ; newspapers like the Daily Mail; in magazines like Us Weekly and People; and even within more blue-chip publications such as Vogue, which made airport style a key part of its online coverage with the rise of models like the Hadid sisters and Kendall Jenner.