KATY PERRY: HARD CANDY

Read what September Cover Girl Katy Perry has to say on love and life. Then get a behind-the-scenes look at Katy from the cover shoot.

On her career: ”I love what I do, and when I don’t love what I do, I’ll make a change…I can’t be the candy queen forever.”

On being a role model: ”I have no regrets…I’m not going to be everything to everyone. I can’t tell a person when it’s time for them to have sex. Or if they should have a cigarette…But I try to live my life with a lot of integrity, and, hopefully, that sends a message.”

On relationships and marriage: ”I obviously have a lot to say right now…I’m a woman who likes to be courted–strongly. Never say never, I guess you’d say. I’ll let love take the lead on that.”

BEHIND THE COVER: KATY PERRY

An intimate look at Katy from our September 2012 cover shoot.

Katy Perry, the candy-coated queen of pop, has embarked on a new chapter in her life, and for our September cover shoot, ELLE Creative Director Joe Zee reimagined her accordingly, mixing this fall’s array of textures and graphic prints for a sleek modern interpretation of Perry’s vamped-up signature style. Between takes, our cover girl rocked out to Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and snacked on jelly beans, yet the minute the cameras started snapping, she turned on a sophisticated fierceness in statement necklaces and printed dresses from Etro, Bottega Veneta, and YSL. For high-shine hair, stylist Renato Campora used Frédéric Fekkai Coiff mousse on Perry’s deep-purple hair (yet another new hue for the color chameleon), while makeup artist Jake Bailey chose smoky black eyeliner to craft a dramatically dark cat eye. Perry worked her own girly glamour into the shoot, enthusiastically switching up her nail art for different looks and weighing in on clothing choices. By the looks of it, the time she spent in the front row of Chanel, Miu Miu, Viktor & Rolf, and YSL at Paris Fashion Week last spring paid off in spades.