There has never been a better time to be a superwoman than now. Women across all ages, cultures and backgrounds are being given a platform to air their views and thoughts―and be taken seriously. There’s a collective female voice that demands change and equal footing to their male counterparts. Having worked in women’s fashion for most of my professional life, I have never been more honoured to be part of this discourse.
It’s becoming evident that for power women, dressing to impress isn’t about, or for, men. It is for themselves and for their sisters-in-arms. This season, the idea of dressing the real woman is crystallising into reality. I talk about this on page 92 after attending the Net-a-Porter (NAP) presentation in Sydney late last year. It was so refreshing to see, meet and chat with young, contemporary designers that NAP has taken under its wing, and we feature four of them on page 226 in The Vanguards. Even the choice of outfit for our cover star, Gemma Chan, is not by a big-name designer, but by Nabil Nayal, a young British-born Syrian designer. Nabil’s obsession with Elizabethan craftsmanship has deeply informed his work —as is seen on the cover with the use of pleats, dramatic construction and a powerful silhouette.
It’s an apt outfit for Gemma Chan―resplendent in white tulle and gleaming with Chaumet jewels. She’s become the new silver screen star that many Asian women can identify with. Beautiful, elegant, talented and able to showcase so many facets in her career so far, Chan is pushing forth a new concept about what it takes to be a leading actress today (page 218). “Identity is plural—I’m English, I’m British, I’m European, I’m Chinese, I’m Asian. I’m all of those things.”
The search for belonging, for communities and for a collective voice is never stronger than on a virtual plane. Our adoration of designers, some taken to the zenith, is explored in Hero Worship on page 140. Because fashion, if anything, is a religion, and many designers hold court with legions of devout designer-clad followers. See the plethora of incredible fashion in our extensive spring/summer 2019 collection report on page 94, and then turn to page 193 to see them on some of the world’s biggest and hottest models, as styled by fashion maven, Carine Roitfeld. The sky’s the limit, sister―take flight and soar!
—Kenneth Goh, Editor-in-Chief
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Editor-in-chief: Kenneth Goh, Photographer: Claire Rothstein, Stylist: Windy Aulia, Cover Star: Gemma Chan, Makeup: Kirstin Piggott, Hair: Dayaruci using Moroccanoil, Manicure: Michelle Humphrey using The GelBottle Inc, Digital Technician: Will Richards, Automobile: Classic Car Club London, Styling Assistant: Emma Gold, Outfit: Nabil Nayal and Chaumet.
