The Stature Of Liberty: Celebrate New Beginnings With BAZAAR This January
Kick off 2023 with main character energy
Photo: Georges Antoni
It’s going to be a bit of an eating, drinking, visiting and indulgent month ahead—right after we completed a full-on Christmas and New Year. Yes, the Lunar New Year is happening in January but are we ready to start releasing the floodgates of ‘huat, huat, huat’ again? Is this a case of too-much-of-a-good-thing?
There’s a part of me that longs for the quiet and intimacy of smaller gatherings. It felt more meaningful and purposeful—you only meet with people you really want to spend quality time with. If you read my travel story on Tasmania on page 90, you will see how much I loved the expanse of nature in a land that’s truly blessed by the gods. The food and the scenery was sublime, and I loved the solitude—when a crowd was a mere three people and personal space was a given.
This sense of freedom, of the great outdoors, of being at one with Mother Nature, is reflected in this January issue; from the fashion spread shot in Australia for our special cover shoot celebrating the best of Chanel cruise on page 108, to the magnificent tones of red and pink in “Red Letter Day” where you can take Lunar New Year inspo from outfits shot in the poppy fields of England. I wanted to extend this feeling of liberation, dear reader. Nothing starts the year better than a certain weightlessness—a feeling that nothing can hold you back. You can do anything, even cartwheels, and feel like a child again. Life truly has infinite possibilities.
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The six young NewGen designers certainly have a whole world of possibilities open to them after their rigorous training programme with us. On page 28, they talk about getting a head start in fashion after competing in our annual young designer contest. For the winner, Serina Lee, her upcoming collection at Design Orchard is a great opportunity for her to get to know her customers intimately.
And if the new year is about fresh new starts, then the four young designers tapped to rejuvenate the houses of Bally, Ferragamo, Missoni and Etro will certainly be worth watching. Sexed-up fashion for a young, cool audience may just be the best thing that’s happened for these houses. We are looking forward to what Rhuigi Villaseñor will do for Bally, what Maximilian Davis will create for Ferragamo, what Marco de Vincenzo will formulate for Etro and what Filippo Grazioli will knit for Missoni. Associate Fashion Director, Jeffrey Yan, is excited to see what they will put on the runways in Milan next season. Read his feature on page 26.
And before I sign off, I really would like to ask you to take a moment to pause and reflect. Yes, 2022 has been an incredible leap year of sorts, when we cautiously learnt how to adjust to a new normal. But the solitude and quiet of the previous years should not be forgotten in 2023—looking back to a time when we couldn’t do anything but listen to our own beat, our own voices and our own thoughts. That freedom is a skill that no one should ever let go.
—Kenneth Goh, Editor-in-Chief
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Photographed by Georges Antoni
Creative direction by Windy Aulia
Styled by Caterina Scardino
Fashion: Chanel
Models: Connie Ou / IMG and Nova / Priscillas
Makeup: Stoj Bulic
Hair: Rory Rice
Production: The Artist
Group producers: Kathy Ward
Production assistant: Alice Buckley
Digital operator: Marcus Solomon
Photographer's assistants: Nathan Lang, Tom Spence
Stylist's assistant: Sophia Murdoch