A Tribute to Jello and Fashion

Big thanks to Miami-based brand Chofa for letting us encase their acrylic rings in jello. Photographed by David Brandon Geeting.

On a sweltering August afternoon in New York—so hot even the spotted lanternflies couldn’t be bothered to move—four people huddled around a dome of orange jello in a photo studio. Inside the gelatin, suspended in perfect arrangement, were Chofa’s acrylic rings, painstakingly layered over hours to achieve the right effect. Surrounding the mold were smaller cubes of jello in neon shades: highlighter yellow, radioactive green, and Gatorade blue.

Photographer David Brandon Geeting studied the scene through his lens, then glanced at the monitor, frowning. “Too desaturated,” he declared. The team nodded, adjusting the setup—removing cubes, adding cubes, shifting them around. (“Bring the pink and yellow forward a bit,” he instructed.) After minutes of fine-tuning, they stepped back. Someone gave the jello a firm poke—wiggle, jiggle—and click! The shot appeared on screen, looking like an MRI of Candy Land’s Jolly.

Geeting smiled. They’d nailed it. “Jello has no bad angles,” the stylist remarked.

You might wonder: What does Vogue have to do with jello? I’m glad you asked. It started in 1910, when this magazine—just 18 years old at the time—published a recipe for a “Spring Luncheon” dessert: orange-lemon jello whipped with egg whites “till it becomes like snow.” (Photography was scarce back then; we worked with what we had.)

Fast-forward to WWII, when a Vogue editor’s husband, stationed in New Guinea, wrote about his dinner: “meat, thin soup, a vegetable, and Jello with ‘reduced cream.’” (Again, wartime limited our fashion stories.) Then came 2011, when Tim Walker shot models in Christopher Kane’s kaleidoscopic tops wearing jello hats. (By then, we had endless creative freedom—and chose jelly.)

But wait, there’s more. Did you know edible gelatin was invented in 1845 by Peter Cooper? His fortune—built on gelatin, real estate, and glue—funded Cooper Union, the tuition-free art school that produced Vogue contributors like David Attie. And let’s not forget the time an editor brought a spiked jello cake to the office holiday party, leading to a legendary team hangover. So yes, jello and Vogue? Inseparable.

But this might be the end of an era. With the FDA phasing out artificial dyes by 2026, jello’s vibrant jiggle will fade. So, after all it’s done for us, we gave it the photoshoot it deserved—alongside other dyed delights: blue raspberry ribbons, rock candy, and a random frosted cake from Key Foods.

Jello, we’ll miss you.Here’s a more natural and fluent version of your text while keeping the original meaning:

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We asked some of our favorite jewelry designers to send us candy-inspired accessories—think Swarovski cocktail rings, Fry Powers resin pendants, and Susan Alexandra jelly table lighters. Consider it the ultimate grown-up jello shot.

We even snagged a LaCroix can from another shoot’s craft services table and poured it over polka-dot rings from Keane.

These Pandora hoop earrings, Swarovski cocktail rings, and cuff bracelets will never go out of style—but we did give them a sour candy twist.

Rock candy and Fry Powers resin pendant necklaces add a touch of retro charm.

BaubleBar necklaces and Edie Parker jelly tabletop lights. We wanted to put the faux-jello in real jello for a fun meta moment—but let’s just say we tried.

Simone I. Smith crystal lollipops decorate a vanilla cake that prop stylist Sue Li picked up at Key Foods.

Credits:
Food Styling: Sue Li
Prop Styling: Jordan Mixon

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This version keeps the playful tone while making the text smoother and more conversational. Let me know if you’d like any tweaks!