With thick black eye make-up accentuating her pale complexion, the look is perhaps more severe than sexy.

But no one could accuse Kylie Minogue of not being in vogue.

The 38-year-old star adopted these poses for the December issue of Vogue Australia, of which she was the guest editor.

She cuts a dramatic figure in a series of outfits by designers such as Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana.

The hair which she lost to chemotherapy has now grown back and has been styled harshly - perhaps more reminiscent of a Bondi Beach surfer's sun-bleached crop or Jason Donovan (Neighbours era) than any pop princess.

Kylie's foray on to the journalistic stage marks another stage in her recovery from the breast cancer diagnosed 18 months ago.

Next month at a concert in Sydney she will resume the Showgirls world tour which she had to postpone after becoming ill.

In her editor's letter, she offers her gratitude to those who have stood by her.

"Since my cancer diagnosis, my whole world changed," she writes. "I have learned and experienced so much about myself and others."