The Aviator star Cate Blanchett adorns the cover of this month’s U.S. Vogue, wearing Ralph Lauren.

Last year, Karl Lagerfeld talked the actress into posing in character as fashion legend Coco Chanel for the Australian Vogue issue he guest-edited. Blanchett agreed but stipulated that her rival Nicole Kidman could not appear in the issue despite the fact that the couturier was about to sign Kidman to be the face of a multi-million-dollar Chanel perfume ad campaign.

In the end, the Chanel designer made a very unexpected move, putting model Eva Herzigova on the issue’s cover and having her styled to look similar to Ms. Kidman.

“I’d rather have a fake Nicole than a real Cate,” were Lagerfeld’s words, as reported N.Y. Daily News.

But that was last year. Today Cate is in the spotlight, arriving last week to London Premiere of The Aviator lovely in a black polka-dot number and enjoying the best supporting actress nomination for her appearance as Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese’s new film and all the honors that follow, including the reigning role in the U.S. edition of Vogue.