Youth Quake: Georgia Fowler is the Star of Our October 2017 Issue

The allure of youth — and all that it encompasses — has never been more relevant than now. From social media’s photo-editing filters (I am addicted to the app SNOW and its cute facial recognition function) to every potion, lotion and energy-boosting powder (MCT oil is the new coconut — read what Dana Koh has to say about it), the search for eternal youth and looking like you are barely past 16 is real.

In this issue, we search for the meaning of youth: Be it in fashion beauty, travel or even the lingo. What does it take to be youthful, fresh or simply #legit? In Annabelle Fernandez’s piece on youth culture, she talks about the power of social media, and how teenage stars like 15-year-old Rowan Blanchard are engaging millions of followers with posts about human rights, including women of colour and members of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s amazing how someone so young can be so sophisticated in her stance for any colour, creed, race and sexuality.

This only makes me seem frivolous in my love for SNOW, but it’s all well and good because at the end of the day, I know it’s just an app. What worries me are kids who have grown up with these apps from day one — where your skin glows, your eyes are like saucers, and your lips are rosebud-pink and pouty. Can they live a life where the world isn’t seen through rose-tinted glasses?

Gerald Tan reminisces about the halcyon days when youth culture first started, and how it has morphed from the sexual liberation of the Swinging Sixties to the tribes of street culture today. Read his era-by-era breakdown. Nothing gets me more excited than the fashion that engages Gen Z. Windy Aulia’s brilliant rendition of how Insta-royalty dress (read: Paris Jackson, Kaia Gerber, Hailey Baldwin et al) can be seen in “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

On the flip side, the arresting awakening of womanhood in “The Birth of Venus” shows the intimate, sensual and poetic side of fashion, which will make you want to be 25 all over again. As someone who is well past that age, nothing could make me want to return to puberty or my early 20s. For now, I am happy to don a hoodie, pop on a trucker cap and switch SNOW on — moving from Gen X to Gen Z in an instant.

Thank you, technology. And I didn’t even have to say Botox.

—Kenneth Goh, Editor-in-Chief 

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Photographer: Yu Tsai. Stylist: Deborah Afshani. Georgia Fowler/IMG wears knit jumpers, Burberry. Makeup: Burberry Beauty Makeup artist Melanie Inglessis/Forward Artists. On the face: Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base in Nude Radiance No. 1, Fresh Glow Foundation SPF 15 PA+++ in Ochre No. 20, Face Contour in Medium No. 01, Fresh Glow Highlighting Luminous Pen in Nude Radiance No. 01, Light Glow Blush in Misty Blush No. 08. On the eyes: Eye Colour Contour in Almond No. 104, Effortless Eyebrow Definer in Sepia No. 02, Effortless Liquid Eyeliner in Jet Black No. 01, Cat Lashes in Jet Black No. 01. On the lips: Full Kisses in Rosewood No. 533. Hair stylist: John Ruggiero/Starworks Artists. Manicurist: Christina Aviles/Opus Beauty. Producer: Trever Swearingen/88 Phases. Digital technician: Massimo Campana. Photography assistants: Robiee Ziegler, Frankie Carino. Styling assistant: Kirsten Alvarez