Blackpink's Lisa Is Our March 2023 Cover Star

Welcome to an issue that celebrates the best of fashion. In a world that’s newly opened up to possibilities sans mask, there’s a glamorous breath of fresh, scented air wafting through the ateliers, and hopefully into our closets, this season. Think form-fitting column dresses at Saint Laurent and supersized detailing at Louis Vuitton. Having covered the Paris fashion shows for close to two decades (par the absence during COVID-19), the excitement that greets me before each show is still palpable. The moment the runways turn dark before the music and lights blaze on and the first model walks out is always electrifying. Dior has traditionally opened Paris Fashion Week for years, and this season, in a subdued homage to Catherine de’ Medici, a 16th century French queen, Maria Grazia Chiuri brought a sense of French opulence via corsets and platforms, and dramatic black mourning lace. This was such a welcome start to Paris, and with beautiful dancers wriggling down the runway beside the models, it felt more like a Shakespearean play than a fashion show. Read our extensive 28-page collection report on page 60, where Jeffrey Yan dissects the best from the runways.

One trend that has gotten a lot of us hot under the collar is the steady increase of skin on show. Think bra tops as outerwear and a profusion of toned six-pack tummies beneath cropped t-shirts. And that’s just the girls. Guys have slowly been drawn into the trend, borrowing cut-off tops, cropped boleros and low-slung jeans from their female besties. A mesh top or two merrily festooned with sequins and diamante have also been spotted at clubs and dinner venues after dark. This profusion of Y2K fashion has allowed many Gen-Zers the chance to experiment with colour, texture and a lot of strategic cutouts. Male celebrities are walking red carpets in suits sans shirts or tops so sheer you can practically count their goosebumps. Style icons Harry Styles and Timothée Chalamet have been boldly flexing their bare torsos at events, with the latter even wearing a backless Haider Ackermann shirt at the Venice Film Festival. Read what Jeffrey Yan has to say about all this indecent exposure on page 114, as underwear makes the great migration outward. This peep show is minus the smut and all about the smarts as men strategically peel off layers, all ready for a little male objectification and a tonne of Instagram likes.

Related article: LISA Is Chivas Regal’s New Brand Ambassador In Asia

Still on the male front, this K-pop idol is back with a vengeance if new Netflix shows and an album are anything to go by. South Korean singer and actor Choi Minho was down in Singapore recently, and with a new-found maturity and charm, this 30-something star is really coming into his own. See his glorious face and killer fashion on page 107. But back to you, dear reader, on what to fill up your wardrobe with? Take inspiration from our style pages as we celebrate the very best of the Noughties yet again—seek out ultra-wide cargoes, candy shades, denim bustiers and ultra-short minis. Are you ready for a redux? Let me get my sheer singlet ready, and hit me baby, one more time.

—Kenneth Goh, Editor-in-Chief

Download the digital edition from the App Store, Google Play or Magzter. To commemorate this five-cover special—the first time our publication has done so for one celebrity subject— Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore has also created an exclusive box set containing all five collectible covers. A very limited number of these sets are now available for purchase at Books Kinokuniya Bugis Junction and Books Kinokuniya’s main store at Takashimaya Shopping Centre.

Editor-in-Chief: Kenneth Goh
Fashion Director and Writer: Jeffrey Yan
Visual Director: Youjin Choi
Photographer: Dukhwa Jang
Videographer: Joonkoo Cho
Stylist: Minhee Park
Fashion: CELINE
Makeup: Myungsun Lee
Hair: Seonyeong Lee
Manicure: Eunkyung Park
Set Design: Nakyoung Lee
Producer: Mikang Kim