No red scarf? No problem.
Taylor Swift is Time’s Person of the Year for 2023, but she’s not the only one fronting the magazine’s latest issue: The superstar’s beloved cat Benjamin Button makes a cameo on one of Swift’s three covers.
Photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the “Cruel Summer” songstress strikes a confident stance in a black Bardot bodysuit and Wolford tights along with her go-to red lipstick, the fluffy feline draped over her shoulders.
Van Lamsweerde told Time the captivating snap was inspired by photographer Bill Hayward’s ’70s-era book “Cat People,” which features artful shots of entertainers, writers and other professionals with their pets.
“The pictures are brilliant. It shows very well the relationship that people have with their cats. But at the same time, [shows] the way cats are kind of on their own — they’re a special breed of animal,” the famed fashion photog told the mag.
“So I got a vintage copy of it for Taylor because I know she’s a major cat lover, and her cats travel with her. And I said, ‘You know, I’ve always wanted to do a picture like the one that’s on the cover of that book where the cat’s on the shoulder of the girl.’ It speaks to a sense of carrying everything on your shoulders but being defiant while doing so. And she agreed and that’s how that picture happened.”
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship: Here's the inside scoop
- Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce tried to give pop star Taylor Swift a friendship bracelet with his number on it at a July 2023 Eras tour concert but was blocked from doing so.
- Swift confirmed that she and Kelce “started hanging out right after that.”
- Swift confirmed the two were a couple by the time she attended her first Chiefs game in September, when she watched her beau score a touchdown against the Chicago Bears alongside Kelce’s family.
- Travis’ dad, Ed Kelce, called the two a “wonderful couple,” and his mom, Donna, posted a video of her hugging Swift in October.
- Travis Kelce was spotted dancing next to Swift’s father at an Eras tour concert in Argentina.
Van Lamsweerde noted that the image “really has everything: Her glamor [sic], her power, her sense of empathy of carrying the whole world on her shoulders,” adding, “I felt that there is something there in her body position that’s very powerful and strong. Her expression and the way she looks has this old Hollywood glamor [sic] but underneath, there’s so much power in her stance. The way she has Benjamin on her shoulders is kind of like, ‘Yeah, I’m carrying you all.’”
Suffice to say, Swifties were delighted to see their favorite ragdoll land his first high-fashion cover.
“Thrilled Benjamin Button finally landed Purrson of the Year,” one tweeted; “when taylor swift said ‘wear you like a necklace’ she was talking about her cats apparently,” another joked.
Cracked a third of Swift’s other two famous felines, “Meredith and Olivia Swift are silent amidst the reveal of Benjamin Button Swift’s feature on Taylor Swift’s cover shoot for TIME’s ‘Person Of The Year.'”
Meredith, Olivia: There’s always next year.
