Sky Ferreira Channels Madonna In A Shoot By Mario Testino For V Magazine

Sky Ferreira for V Magazine.
Photo: Courtesy of V Magazine

There's a new, young and wildly talented firecracker-of-a-popstar channeling Madonna these days and her name is Sky Ferreira. We could make a list of why we heart the 19-year-oldthe Bloodshy & Avant-produced pop gems, her towering Calvin Klein billboards in SoHo, her penchant for jeggingsbut now there's a new, DROP DEAD GORGE reason in this V Magazine Music Issue spread shot by the legendary Mario Testino. Holy bangles!

MTV style caught up with Sky this past weekend and dished heavy about Madonna, music, Fashion Week plans, OH, and we also gabbed about her Twitter BFF (Azealia Banks) and her IRL BFF (Garbage front-woman Shirley Manson).

MTV STYLE: GURL. Tell us everything about your relationship with Mario Testino.
SKY FERREIRA: I sang at a V magazine party that was thrown for him and Carine Roitfeld. Three days later, I get this call asking if I wanna sing at his 30th anniversary party and I was like, "Of course!"

I've grown a really close relationship with V in general. Stephen Gan [V's editor] has really helped mehe's ! the one who introduced me to Riccardo Tisci and Mario and all of these people in fashion. He's been a real big help.

Sky Ferreira for V Magazine.
Photo: Courtesy of V Magazine

Whose idea was it to channel Madonna?
We both love Madonna, and I sent him this YouTube video of her singing at the Oscars. That's kind of how it happened. He's obviously worked with Madonna so it was even more intimidating. Andrew Richardson, who worked on her Sex book was the fashion editor, [so] I was working with everyone who had worked with her before. I even wore the Blonde Ambition tour jacket! It was insane. I was really nervous. Most of my shoots are girly or grunge-y. This showed me in a different light.

What was your favorite look?
The "Like A Virgin" one--the "Boy Toy" look. When I looked in the mirror, I was like "Whoa. I look exactly like her." It was really weird.

Sky Ferreira for V Magazine.
Photo: Courtesy of V Magazine

Have you ever met Madonna?
No, no But I'm a big fan of Lourdes! I hope Madonna's flattered by it and isn't like "Oh God"

Sky Ferreira for V Magazine.
Photo: Courtesy of V Magazine

So tell me about your relationship with Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson?
She's been a bit of a mentor through my ! ups and downs. She really helped me out. She heard about me through [producer and songwriter] Greg Kurstin maybe five or four years ago, before I was even signed to EMI. At the time, what I was doing was a bit Runaways-ish. I was 15. Anyways, then people were like, "You should do the dance thing," and I went along with it. It just didn't seem right. I'm not ashamed of it. I think "One" is a good song and a lot of my favorite songs I've ever written were on the As If! EP.

I just don't wanna be stuck in that, though. I always wanted to do a bit of everything. I'm tired of people saying that I don't sing, that I don't have talent, or that I'm all auto-tune. That's the part that sucks the most. People can say I'm ugly or that I'm like dirty or look like a bum, the list goes on. That doesn't really bother me half as much as people saying I'm not talented.

What else have you learned from your mentor?
My record got put back like 10,000 times and when it got shelved, I was so irritated. I don't know what to do with myself when I'm not working. Then, people were saying, "Oh, she's trying to be a model." That wasn't the case; I was kind of just doing what I had to do to get by and get myself out there.

I was kind of really depressed. Somehow, Shirley was working with my friend and he mentioned my name and she's like, "Oh my God, I love Sky Ferreira." He gave her my e-mail and we were just talking. She was just like, "What happened to you happens to a lot of people." She helped me get in touch with the right producers for this and we started writing together. It's kind of like a big sister relationship.

Sky Ferreira for V Magazine.
Photo: Courtesy of V Magazine

Who else are you working with that you can tell us about right now?
I'm worki! ng with Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Kanye West). I'm gonna start working with him in February. I'm going to L.A. to work with Greg Kurstin again and Shirley. I'm gonna go in the studio with Dave Sitek [from TV On The Radio] (Santigold, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Ariel Rechtshaid (Blood Orange).

So, can we expect more of a singer-songwriter vibe?
Yeah, I think it is more singer-songwriter. There will still be electronic elements to some of it. I feel like Blondie is a lazy comparison, but I guess it's kind of Blondie-ish. Some of the songs sound really Garbage-y because I'm working with Shirley. The single I'm coming out with... I don't know, I guess it's a bit Blur kind of. It's a bit like "Song 2"-ish. I already got some backlash from it but whatever. Whoever gets it will get it. All I'm really interested is putting out good songs at this point. Because if I listened to what everyone said I'd be dead right now... I would've gone crazy.

Moving on Any exciting Fashion Week plans?!
I usually go to all of the same shows to be honest. Of course, I'll be at Calvin. I'll be at Charlotte Ronson because I go every New York Fashion Week. I'm going to Berlin Fashion Week next week with ! Hugo Boss, which will be my first time in Berlin. In Paris, if Kanye does a show I'll probably go to that. And of course, I'll be at Givenchy.

Who are some of your favorite designers?
I wear a lot of vintage clothing but I do like my labels. Not gonna lie. I like Givenchy. I spend way too much money on Miu Miu. I like a lot of Margiela also. I like the androgyny and it's not in a goth-y way.

Sky Ferreira for V Magazine.
Photo: Courtesy of V Magazine

If you could raid any of your style icons' closets, who would it be?
I have a ton of style icons from Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland to Carine Roitfeld. I like a bit of everything. I already get to raid my boyfriend's (Nick Zarin-Ackerman from The Virgins) closet, too!

We see you and Azealia Banks tweeting back and forth 24/7. Is that you girl?
We're Twitter friends. We've been trying to hang out but something keeps coming up everyday. I think Azealia's my favorite new artist at the moment. I think she's the funniest. She has a big personality and that makes a big difference to me. And she really doesn't care. You can tell she's doing it, and not someone else. She's running the show.

Who else are you jamming to lately?
GIRLS and S! mith Wes terns. I can cry to a GIRLS' record. The thing about GIRLS -- it really speaks to girls, at least to me. Even though they're guys. Their songs are SO beautiful.

So, back to YOU. We are DYING in anticipation for the first single and video. Can you give us any hints about the style and the aesthetic of the music video just yet?
I plan on it being very Gregg Araki-inspired. Like Doom Generation. I haven't spoken to any directors yet, but my dream would be for Gregg Araki to do it, but that's a real reach.

You never know
You never know, exactly. I'll try!

Photography Mario Testino
Styling Andrew Richardson
Makeup Charlotte Tilbury
Hair Oribe
Manicure Deborah Lippmann

To view the full feature and for complete fashion credits, go to V Magazine.

Like us on Facebook so we can be friends and follow us on Twitter @MTVstyle to talk.

Related Content Anna Wintour And Olsen Twins Front Row At Kanye West's Fashion Show, Sky Ferreira Goes From Blonde To Streaky Purple, Video: Sky Ferreira On Hipster Fashion And Mom Jeans

Tags Aze alia Banks, , , , , , , ,