The latest issue of V magazine sees Iris Strubegger, better known as the face of Valentino, working the androdgynous look to perfection in this dark editorial.

Photographed by Willy Vanderperre, the Austrian model ignored the summer temperatures to preview Fall fashions including a fur coat and thigh-high rain boots topped off, bizarrely, by a pair of white fishnet tights over the top. The shoot, entitled A Touch of Class, is a high-fashion take on an aristocratic uniform mixing the masculine ‘hunter’ style of the rainboots and high-waisted pants with the glamour of the oversized shoulder pads and dress coats.

Strubeggar’s angular frame and penchant for awkward, yet statuesque, poses deserves recognition as a vision of modern art in itself, as does the distinctive juxtaposition of her porcelain, almost deathly, skin and barely-there brows with the blood red lips and smudged black make-up that make her eyes look almost animal-like. Is it just me, or does there seem to be a True Blood reference here?

Whatever his inspiration, there’s no doubt Vanderperre has succeeded in his efforts to provide a dark twist on a classic style. It’s just a shame we’re going to have to wait til Fall to try the look out ourselves.