These Are Bazaar’s Icons For 2023

14 people who are helping to shift narratives, open doors, and reshape the culture.

By Styling by Beat Bolliger and Edward Bowleg III - published 16 Aug 2023

It has been said that we live in an attention economy, where power and influence are determined by what grabs us most fully, whether it’s a 30-second TikTok video, a stirring performance, a transporting piece of writing, or a call for justice. That’s why where we choose to invest our attention is so vitally important.

Harper's Bazaar’s 2023 Icons portfolio spotlights a group of talents across a range of creative fields who command our attention—who captivate us, connect us, entertain us, move us, and inspire us with the urgency they bring to their work.

They not only speak to this moment, they are also helping to define it and give it meaning. They’ve each made their marks—and some of them might be making history. But most importantly, they all understand what can happen when our eyes, hearts, minds, and energies are all pointed in the same direction.

Read on for Harper’s Bazaar’s 14 Icons for 2023.

Diotima dress. Cartier earrings. Doja Cat’s own stud earrings. Panthère de Cartier rings. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
Doja Cat BAZAAR Icons

“I put myself out there on social media and TV. I shoot my image out onto these screens. But I don’t really put myself out there in real life.”

DOJA CAT, RAPPER AND SINGER

Fear of God blazer. Proenza Schouler trousers. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
Nia Dacosta BAZAAR Icons

“As I came into myself as a young Black woman, I realised there’s a whole type of person and human experience that is just not onscreen. That really pushed me toward what I do now, which is tell stories about people you don’t often see stories about.”

NIA DACOSTA, WRITER AND DIRECTOR

Bottega Veneta sweater and skirt.
Greta Lee BAZAAR Icons

“I’ve been living in service of certain ideas—the status quo—trying to explain myself constantly and create a palatable narrative of what I am. And I don’t want to do that.”

GRETA LEE, ACTRESS

Miu Miu jacket, top, skirt, and shoes. Panthère de Cartier rings. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
Zaya Wade BAZAAR Icons

“I look back at when I first came out, and it was so scary and personal. Then when I told the world, it all became this symbol. I was just 12! But as I got older, I realised that I’ve become a part of my community in a way that not a lot of people can say they have.”

ZAYA WADE, MODEL AND ACTIVIST

On Jones (left): Chuks Collins suit. Winnie New York shirt. On Pearson: D’iyanu shirt. Chuks Collins pants. Brooks Brothers belt. His own jewelry. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
Justin Jones, Justin Pearson

“I don’t look like the other elected officials in the building. In fact, I was told that I should cut my hair and assimilate. But I know that we have to represent a new model of what legislators can look like.”

JUSTIN JONES, TENNESSEE STATE REPRESENTATIVE

“I serve in a people-powered, people-first way, because that’s the only way I know how to serve. I never thought of myself as separate from being an activist. I’m an activist dash legislator. I take care of my community as passionately as I did before I ever had a title.”

JUSTIN J. PEARSON, TENNESSEE STATE REPRESENTATIVE

Marc Jacobs parka, bodysuit, and skirt. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
Kendall Jenner BAZAAR Icons

“I love really hard, and I love without apology.”

KENDALL JENNER, MODEL AND ENTREPRENEUR

Parris Goebel Bazaar Icons — Gucci trench coat and swimsuit. Cartier earrings. Panthère de Cartier rings. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
Parris Goebel BAZAAR Icons

“I work really hard on rewriting the narrative of what it means to be feminine in my choreography. Femininity is strength and owning your sexuality.”

PARRIS GOEBEL, CHOREOGRAPHER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR

2(x)ist briefs. Rick Owens boots. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
James Whiteside Bazaar Icons

“As a male principal dancer, I play fairy-tale princes. I’m desperate to see queer stories being told in the language of classical ballet.
If no one’s going to make that ballet for me to dance, then I will make it for others to dance.”

JAMES WHITESIDE, DANCER, DRAG PERFORMER, MUSICIAN, AND CHOREOGRAPHER

Gucci tank top, pants, and booties. Cartier Juste Un Clou earring and necklace. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
Paul Mescal BAZAAR Icons

“I feel like the game that I’m playing now is a young person’s game. And I’m young, but I want to be able to do this all the time.”

PAUL MESCAL, ACTOR

“My work is propelled by the idea of silences and what it looks like to lean into discomfort and into the spaces that we are afraid to talk about. We only grow and evolve when we’re uncomfortable.”

LEILA MOTTLEY, WRITER

“Today, existing as an artist is my resistance. It’s my whole life. ... When you are born against the current, you have a lot of muscles to swim against it.”

GOLSHIFTEH FARAHANI, ACTRESS

Rick Owens top. Cartier Juste Un Clou hoop earrings. Panthère de Cartier ring. Photo: Mario Sorrenti
Teyana Taylor BAZAAR Icons

“I don’t regret anything in life. I’ve learned to take your L’s not as a loss but as a lesson. It’s not punishment, it’s preparation.”

TEYANA TAYLOR, SINGER AND ACTRESS

“I’ve always been confident. I am unapologetic. I stay firm on what I believe in, and, being a Black woman, I can do whatever I put my mind to.”

ANGEL REESE, BASKETBALL PLAYER

This article originally appeared in the September 2023 issue of Harper's BAZAAR, available on newsstands 29 August.

This article originally appeared in Harper's BAZAAR US.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIO SORRENTI; STYLING BY BEAT BOLLIGER

For Paul Mescal: Grooming: Josh Knight for Horace; production: Holmes Production; set design: Emma Roach. Special thanks to Hoxton Docks.

For Kendall Jenner: Hair: Tomo Jidai; Makeup: Frank B; Manicure: Lisa Jachno; Production: Calum Walsh for North Six; Set design: Philipp Haemmerle.

For Doja Cat: Hair: J Stay Ready; makeup: Frank B for LoveSeen; manicure: Saccia Trinice; Production: One Thirty-Eight Productions; set design: Philipp Haemmerle. Special thanks to Buttercup Venues.

For Nia DaCosta and Golshifteh Farahani: Hair: Luke Hersheson for Hershesons; braiding (for DaCosta): Muriel Cole; makeup: Lisa Butler for Chanel Beauty; manicures: Sylvie Macmillan for Chanel Le Vernis; production: Holmes Production; set design: Emma Roach. Special thanks to Hoxton Docks.

For Parris Goebel, Justin Jones, Justin J. Pearson, and Zaya Wade: Hair: Tomo Jidai for Oribe; makeup: Frank B for LoveSeen; manicures: Lisa Jachno for Chanel Le Vernis; production: One Thirty-Eight Productions; set design: Philipp Haemmerle. Special thanks to Buttercup Venues.

For Greta Lee and Leila Mottley: Hair: Tomo Jidai for Oribe; makeup: Frank B for LoveSeen; manicures: Lisa Jachno for Dior Vernis; production: Calum Walsh for North Six; set design: Philipp Haemmerle.

For Angel Reese, Teyana Taylor, and James Whiteside: Hair: Tomo Jidai for Oribe; makeup: Frank B for LoveSeen; manicures: Honey for UN/DN Laqr; production: Katie Fash and Layla Néméjanski; set design: Philipp Haemmerle.

Video: Director: Mario Sorrenti; Music: Moses Sumney; Song: “Also Also Also And And And”; Filmed by: Heather Sommerfield, Drew Jarret, and Alexi Pissourios; Editor: Heather Sommerfield; Grading: Heather Sommerfield; Music Supervisor: Heather Sommerfield; Produced by #HestInc

These Are Bazaar’s Icons For 2023

By Styling by Beat Bolliger and Edward Bowleg III - published 16 Aug 2023

Tags

Share this article