Sabrina is on the cover of Vogue Italia October 2025 issue. Photos from the photoshoot, behind the scenes video screen captures and scans have been added to the gallery. The full article can be read below.

Photoshoot

Behind the Scenes (Screen Captures)

Cover

Interview with Sabrina Carpenter for the October 2025 cover of Vogue Italia: “You learn more about life in 20 minutes with an Italian than in 20 years in the United States.”

For the American artist, who learned the art of not taking herself too seriously at home, the secret is irony. That’s why she uses it every day to reinvent herself, unafraid of contradictions, to be authentic. And to show her vulnerable side, beyond the many masks of femininity.

*this article has been translated from Italian to English using an internet translating software

“I’m always busy packing and unpacking,” says Sabrina Carpenter from her home in Los Angeles, smiling as she prepares for yet another flight, yet another show, yet another stage. “It’s pretty much all I do,” she adds, amused by the pace of her ascending orbit, which has taken her to some of the world’s most important stages. Known for her high-energy concerts, which she closes with playful, improvised riffs on the song “Nonsense ,” Sabrina has, among other things, opened for Taylor Swift during the Eras Tour and performed at the 2023 Lollapalooza Festival : “I left feeling elated. You’re right in the middle of Chicago, you can see all the buildings, and it’s so cinematic.” As we speak, in August, she’s about to perform again, but this time as a headliner. “It means I get to perform with the lights off, which is much more fun, because I like playing in the dark.”

Despite appearing on the most important stages, Carpenter has done so without losing the lightness and vivacity that have made her famous. For her, performing has always been about more than just music: it means creating an image that embraces glamour and irony cover . The Vogue Italia with Steven Meisel captures this balance. “Before the shoot, they told me they wanted a very natural look,” she recalls, smiling. “But when I arrived on set, I had smoky eyes and big hair. I thought: You know what? This is exactly the person I want to be at this moment in my life.”

The photographic story, inspired by the “German girls of the ’60s,” is nostalgic and vintage, a little Brigitte Bardot and a little Berlin nightclub. Carpenter appreciated the opportunity to try her hand at interpreting fashion from another era. “There’s this black-and-white glamour, elegant and melancholic. And with that touch of Brigitte Bardot, everything is even sexier. I’m thrilled,” she says. Working with Meisel for the second time (the first was in March 2025, for American Vogue ) was electrifying. “He moves incredibly fast. It’s like capturing lightning. And I think that’s why I trust him. I don’t really look at the photos. I just let him shoot and then I walk away.” The physicality of the shoot also remained etched in her memory. “I felt like I was bent like a pretzel all day, but it was really fun and special, and I don’t think I felt any pain at all in that moment.” The make-up and hair style, curated by Pat McGrath and Guido Palau allowed her to show off a look that truly represented her. “I was so happy to be able to dress in a way that reflected my personal style. I really like the ’60s and ’70s, and the cuts in some of the looks make me feel confident . Even though most of the shots are in black and white, they convey my personality well.”

She laughs again, recalling her performance in front of Meisel’s lens. “I love those occasions where I can really play a character and convey something… This time it’s something a little more sophisticated than usual, but still very lighthearted.” This same sensibility characterized the launch of her new album, Man’s Best Friend . The reveal (which later went viral) of the album’s tracklist was born of a mix of irony and tenderness. Instead of a traditional announcement, Carpenter hired a real golden retriever to trot along to deliver the song list to a few fans she personally selected, a nod to the project’s title. “At first, I wanted to send dogs directly to their homes so they could keep them,” she says with a laugh, “but then I realized that maybe it wasn’t exactly legal. So I found a loophole: a real golden retriever reached each fan to deliver the track list directly. It was a symbolic, sweet, and unexpected moment.”

For Sabrina, it’s never about the show, but about connection. “The most important thing in the last 10 years of my life has been the people who have brought me to where I am now, the fans who have stuck by me through every moment , the good ones and the bad ones, with the songs they loved and didn’t love.” She pauses. “We’re really growing together.” The loyalty of her fans, she explains, is what has pushed her to keep going. “They’re ready and available every day, and I love them deeply for that.” She still thinks about the intimacy she felt when she started writing to them directly. “A few years ago, when my album Emails I Can’t Send came out , I started emailing them, and it was a gift. Since I started doing that, I’ve been able to really detach my communication from social media.”

Man’s Best Friend was released on August 29th and quickly became one of the biggest pop events of 2025. Co-written by Jack Antonoff , Amy Allen , and John Ryan , the album combines captivating pop music with a sharp, human, and thoroughly contemporary narrative. The lead single, “Manchild”, debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Tears” is a lesson in respect and tenderness with a disco twist. The video, directed by Bardia Zeinali and featuring Colman Domingo , flits between sensuality and absurdity, with a theatrical nod to The Rocky Horror Picture Show .

The album is imbued with a playful curiosity about men, their flaws, their charms, their contradictions. “When one of my friends announces she’s having a son, I rejoice for that child,” she says. “Because I know he’ll be raised right.” Then she laughs. “Correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve only been on Earth 26 years, but I feel like we should have been raising them forever . Unfortunately, it’s a story as old as time itself.” For Carpenter, men are never one thing. “I think they’re a really fun species to watch,” she continues. “In both a good and bad way. I feel really adored, inspired, and loved by some of them… and really confused, attacked, and ridiculed by others.”

If there’s a common thread in our conversation, it’s her taste for irony. “In life, you have to know how to make light of moments that make you uncomfortable, or at least that’s true for me.” And she admits that a sense of humor has helped her get through difficult years. “All my life, I’ve thought that humor was just that. Besides saving me, this kind of wit has been a filter that has ensured my future .”

Irony is a genetic trait for her. “Sarcasm has been passed down through generations,” she says, laughing. “My parents are both extremely sarcastic… and so is my sister. We all have a bit of caustic humor in our blood.” It’s not just her family that keeps her grounded, though. “A lot of the credit goes to my friends and my team. They’re the ones who manage my crazy mind. It’s the only way I can stay honest in a world where it’s so easy not to be.” For her, authenticity doesn’t mean stripping down, but knowing when to take off the mask . “My shows may give the impression that I’m playing a character, but when I talk to the audience, I speak as myself,” she explains. “I talk about what I did that day and how I feel… those are the moments I keep to myself, the real ones.”

Carpenter shuns easy solutions because she’s constantly evolving. “I think the hard part is finding a concrete answer when I feel like I’m constantly changing as a person … what I feel today will be very different in a month,” she reflects. This evolution doesn’t paralyze her, but liberates her. “What I create in this moment is made for this moment.”
And right now, Carpenter says she’s in a state of reflection. “I feel like I’m doing a lot of introspective reflection. I really want to do things with intention, things that make me come alive and bring life to myself and those around me,” she says. Writing has become her compass. “I’m journaling a lot these days,” she says matter-of-factly, “which you probably wouldn’t expect after two albums in two years.” She prefers to create at home, “in her bedroom, or outside, even though I get bitten by a lot of bugs… Once I’ve had enough, I go for a walk and feel refreshed.” It’s a little absurd, she admits, but also reassuring.

Los Angeles, however, doesn’t always offer her the solitude she craves. “I don’t know many places where I feel free to go without being recognized or attacked,” she admits. “I used to go to Topanga Canyon often, a place very dear to my heart.” But after the recent devastating fires, much of the park was destroyed, and traveling, especially in Europe, has become her way of sharpening her perspective. “You learn more about life in a 20-minute conversation with an Italian than in 20 years in the United States .”

While home is her favorite refuge, fashion remains her playground. From dresses reminiscent of her childhood to the glittering corsets she wears on stage, Carpenter sees clothes as extensions of her identity. “I love baby dolls , or in general, anything that makes me feel comfortable,” she says. Whether sequins or simplicity, her choices reflect her state of mind. A philosophy that shines through in every look and every text: for Carpenter, femininity is not a mask, but an experiment, a changing character that she writes and rewrites . She enjoys contradictions: one day she chooses smoky eyeliner and ’60s glamour, the next she curls up in something comfortable. She doesn’t see performance and reality as opposites, but as parts of a whole . Every expression is a way to show who she is in that moment.

Carpenter knows audiences love her in part because she refuses to choose between irony and sincerity, glamour and awkwardness. She can star at a festival in glittering dresses and then laugh at herself for spending the night scratching at insect bites. It’s this balance between the cinematic and the frivolous, the elegant and the ironic, that defines her world. Femininity, for her, is neither a costume nor a cage. It’s a space of invention, irony, tenderness, a language she can use in whatever way feels authentic to her without having to theorize too much . In a way, she’s the opposite of someone who thinks too much. She’s someone who feels too much. “I think that’s what makes being a woman so joyful for me,” she says.

This attitude prevents her performances from being too polished, too perfect, and allows her to wink at the audience even while showing her vulnerability. In a pop landscape that often shines with a bright but fleeting light, Carpenter has built a rapport that seems closer to a dialogue than a performance. And it’s the intimacy she creates that has made her rise seem less like a star and more like a group of friends coming of age together.

Looking to the future, Carpenter is determined to create her songs with their potential longevity in mind. “We have to go back to basics, be authentic, if we want to be proud of what we create, even twenty years from now,” she reflects. It’s not just about showmanship, but about sparking joy, nurturing a community. And about leaving behind a body of work that can still, in the future, make someone laugh or cry.

Source: Vogue Italia