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AND ROSE CÉLESTE COLLECTIONS

Yellow gold, pink gold, diamonds, mother-of-pearl and onyx.
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IN WHITE AND BEIGE GOLD WITH DIAMONDS.

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 Cosima
CONTENTS
Bellamacina
wears coat,
£1,595, Stella
McCartney

Regulars
33 Editor’s letter
38 Vogue.co.uk
Coming up on Vogue Video
44 Notices
Meet the faces behind the issue
120 Checklist
Dark magic for winter nights
190 Forces for Change
To mark the 20th anniversary of
her ethical fashion brand, trailblazer
Stella McCartney talks to Dana
Thomas. Photographs by Campbell
Addy. Styling by Poppy Kain
228 Stockists
Vogue trends
50 ON THE COVER
Go grey
Steel your wardrobe for winter
“Juergen Teller
52 Take the long route
Cosy, maximum-length coats captures the
55 High & mighty Bellamacina sisters
dressed in
Walk tall in knee-high boots
56 Block party
Unmissable colour combinations this season’s best
58 Easy rider
cottagecore”
JUERGEN TELLER

Biker chic goes up a gear

A month in the country, page 174
61 Linked in
Stay au courant with a/w 2020’s
curb-chain necklace

63 Sweet spot 81 Rouge agent

Leopard and cheetah are the animal The debut memoir of fashion’s
prints of the season flame-haired model Karen Elson
64 Suits you offers a frank insider portrait of the
The rules of tailoring have been industry, finds Giles Hattersley
COVER LOOK relaxed, discovers Osman Ahmed Living
66 Vogue darling 83 Life & style
Meet stunt actor Shaina West Curated by Julia Sarr-Jamois
Jewellery & watches
Serena Williams
wears custom-made
dress, Nike & Off-White.
Vogue food & drink
Watch, price on request, 70 In fine form
Audemars Piguet.
Get the look: make-up Black, UK-based designers 87 Your guide to wining and dining
by Chanel. Eyes:
are remoulding the world of high this winter. Edited by Olivia Marks
Le Volume Stretch De
Chanel Volume and
Length Mascara in Noir.
jewellery, says Rachel Garrahan Viewpoint
Lips: Rouge Coco Baume
Hydrating Conditioning 77 Ore struck 105 ON THE COVER
Lip Balm. Skin: Les
Beiges Healthy Glow
Be amazed by Rachel Garrahan’s Spiritual awakening
Foundation, and Les selection of steel-and-gold watches Vogue’s Jessica Diner charts her
Beiges Healthy Glow
Luminous Colour. Arts & culture journey into Judaism
Hair by V
Pure-Fro Hold And
Shine Serum. Hair: 78 Do look now Mr Vogue
V
Make-up: Fara Homidi.
From exciting exhibitions to 114 On the money
Nails: Betina R Goldstein. thrilling reads, Vogue reveals the You can bank on Industry actor
Set design: Spencer
Vrooman. Styling: Julia new cultural treats that you Nabhaan Rizwan becoming a star,
Sarr-Jamois. Photograph:
Zoë Ghertner
won’t want to miss says Amel Mukhtar > 28

21
CONTENTS

Right: Nabhaan
Rizwan – this
month’s Mr Vogue
(page 114) – wears
suit, from a
selection, Emporio
Armani. Shirt,
from £2,190,
Rochas. Belt, £830,
Hermès. Watch,
£15,200, Cartier

Vogue skincare special

137 ON THE COVER
“Amber Valletta, Everything you need to know
about skincare right now.
Vogue’s Edited by Lauren Murdoch-Smith
contributing Fashion & features
sustainability 164 ON THE COVER
editor, shows Power & glory
us the best of On and off court, Serena Williams
is a true champion, discovers Olivia
autumn/winter Singer. Photographs by Zoë
2020’s ethical Ghertner. Styling by Julia Sarr-Jamois

fashion” 174 A month in the country

Natural woman, page 216
London’s Bellamacina sisters
showcase cottagecore in Cornwall.
Photographs by Juergen Teller.
Styling by Venetia Scott
Right: get
glowing with Archive 198 Pitch perfect
the Vogue Black is the colour of now, writes
Skincare 119 Swimming in the deep end
Special, from Robin Muir re-examines a 1970s Harriet Quick. Photographs by David
page 137 Helmut Newton pool party Sims. Styling by Joe McKenna
212 Playing for keeps
Beauty & wellness

ZOE GHERTNER; FELICITY INGRAM; ADAMA JALLOH; PIXELATE.BIZ

126 Painterly perfection
Master the art of watercolour make-up
128 Home improvement
No gym? No problem.
Lauren Murdoch-Smith on the
best of at-home workouts
131 Director’s cut
Jessica Diner introduces a new
breed of foundations
132 Beauty musings
The month’s best beauty launches,
chosen by Lauren Murdoch-Smith
135 Gold standard
Must-haves with the Midas touch
Kate Finnigan takes a tour of
a colourful Copenhagen home.
Photographs by Enok Holsegård
216 Natural woman
Sustainable chic for autumn days.
Photographs by Zoë Ghertner.
Styling by Julia Sarr-Jamois
224 The stories of us
Behind the scenes of Steve McQueen’s
Windrush project, Small Axe. By Amel
Mukhtar. Photographs by Christina
Ebenezer. Styling by Donna Wallace
Vogue asks
260 What would Stephen Jones do?
The milliner takes our quiz

28
Subscribe to Turn to page 130 for our fantastic subscription offer, plus free gift

Over the past
few weeks…
it has struck me how many of the
conversations we’ve been having
here at Vogue have boiled down to the
same simple and alluring concept:
clarity. Well, I say simple, too often
this year clarity has felt elusive,
as we’ve grappled with a siege of
minute-by-minute information and
disinformation while pushing on
through a pandemic, a civil rights crisis
and a fraught American presidential
election. Who do we trust? What
opinions matter? What are the facts?
Like appealing consumables low
on availability, a little clarity feels
MERT ALAS & MARCUS PIGGOTT; ZOE GHERTNER; ENOK HOLSEGARD
profoundly desirable. So perhaps it
was inevitable that this yearning for a
more fundamental reality and a less
embellished take on life made its way
on to the pages of our November issue
– from the pared-back precision and
emphasis on wearability in the Trends
section (page 50 onwards) to an ever-
more conscious eye on sustainability
in our fashion choices.
Then there is this month’s cover
star, the irrepressible Serena Williams.
At 39, the sports icon has a career that,
for longevity and impact, is almost
without parallel. Hard-won victories on
the tennis court, one match after another
over a quarter-century career, have left
EDITOR’S LETTER
Above: Serena
Serena standing triumphant: she is the Williams, this
most successful female tennis player of month’s cover
star, wears
the Open Era. She is also a mother and dress, £1,935,
a businesswoman, and – as is evident Marc Jacobs.
in her interview with Olivia Singer, on Loafers, £395,
Tricker’s.
page 164 – a vocal advocate for justice Left: Ganni’s
of many years standing. Talk about Ditte Reffstrup
clarity of vision. at home in
Copenhagen,
In the accompanying shoot, you will on page 212
note that Serena is channelling the
fashion mood of the moment: clean
lines, crisp silhouettes and a classic
palette that feels almost seasonless, yet
gives a fresh take on minimalism that
not only looks wonderful on the body
but also feels right for the soul.
It really is all about the fundamentals
right now. On page 198, photographer
David Sims and stylist Joe McKenna
showcase that most enduring of fashion
hues, and a defining trend of > 36
33
EDITOR’S LETTER The enduring appeal
of black, on page 198.
Merlijne Schorren
wears sweater, £1,450.
Shorts, £3,150. Both
Balenciaga. Tights, £27,
Wolford, at Selfridges.
Shoes, £185, Aeyde

Meet the stars

of upcoming BBC
drama Small
Axe, on page 224:
right, Malachi
Kirby wears shirt,
£1,076, Jil Sander
by Lucie & Luke
Meier. Polo neck,
£195, APC.
Trousers, £810,
Hermès. Below:
Amarah-Jae
St Aubyn wears
dress, £210, Max
Mara Leisure

the season: black. The story also

features an essay on the shade
written by Harriet Quick.
Autumn/winter 2020 offers
clothes that make sense for now:
wearable, real. Clothes that bring
confidence and ease. Of course,
confidence in our fashion choices
now goes beyond how flattering
the cut is. On page 216, Amber
Valletta, Vogue’s contributing
sustainability editor, brings her
Right: Greta Bellamacina – who models
expert eye to bear highlighting the alongside her sisters in A Month in the
best brands to know and shop now. Country, on page 174 – wears cape, £630.
Shirt, £550. Skirt, £800. All Paco Rabanne
While, on page 190, we salute Stella
McCartney, a woman who was beating
the drum for ethical fashion long an inside report on Small Axe, director
before the industry took animal welfare Steve McQueen’s upcoming BBC
and climate change more seriously. drama, that unpacks the legacy of the
I still vividly remember Stella’s Windrush generation, to the low-down
graduate show at Central Saint Martins on smart, Scandinavian living with a
in 1995. How could one forget? Seeing visit to the home of the husband and
Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell wife duo behind Danish label Ganni.
coming down the catwalk at a student Lastly, on page 105, you will find
show was quite something, and a personal Viewpoint from Jessica
certainly the whole industry paid Diner, our beauty and lifestyle director,
CHRISTINA EBENEZER; DAVID SIMS; JUERGEN TELLER

immediate attention. But beyond the about her experience of converting to

pizzazz, she revealed a staunch set of Modern Orthodox Judaism. As Jessica
ethics that have guided her career reflects, it was a journey of light and
and influenced so many around the shade that has brought her many new
world ever since. Next year, she perspectives, and one I hope you enjoy
celebrates 20 years of her eponymous reading about as much as I did.
label, which is profiled in Leader of
the Pack to mark the occasion. For
too long, Stella was a voice in the
wilderness. How gratifying it is to see
the industry catch up with her.
So yes, clarity – or the search for it,
at least – runs through this issue, from

36
 Alhambra, celebrating luck since 1968

Haute Joaillerie, place Vendôme since 1906

9 NEW BOND STREET - HARRODS - SELFRIDGES

www.vancleefarpels.com - +44 20 7108 6210
VOGUE.CO.UK

Left: episode one of our

Speaking Up round-table
series is hosted by Adwoa
Aboah. Below: Serena
Williams’s In The Bag

NON-STOP MOTION Through lockdown and beyond, Vogue Video continues

to capture the very best in style, culture and conversation

Above: My Last… with

Emma Corrin. Right:
A Day In The Life Of
3 Key Workers

MINNIE J CARVER; TOM GILFILLAN; FLORIAN JOAHN; JESS KOHL; EMILY McDONALD.
SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THESE FILM SHOOTS

From top: scenes from On Being

Trans In A Brazilian Favela; Vogue’s
filmic exploration of hope; Drag
Syndrome star in the #Pride series

38
NOTICES

In Pitch Perfect,
on page 198,
stylist Joe McKenna
joins forces with
photographer David
Sims to redefine
the rules on how to
wear black.

This month’s
cover star, Serena
Williams, was
photographed by
Zoë Ghertner in Los
Angeles earlier this
year. “We wanted
to see another side
of Serena’s strength
in these pictures,”
she explains. “Not
an obvious strength
but something softer,
an inner strength.”

MEET & GREET

When she went to photograph the cast
of new BBC anthology series Small
As part of November’s food Axe (on page 224), who was Christina
and drink special, Nigerian Ebenezer most excited to meet? “Malachi
essayist Yemisí Aríbisálà Kirby – I loved his performance in
recalls, on page 90, the
part that food played in a
Introducing the faces Black Mirror,” is her answer.

doomed love affair. behind this month’s issue

IKE MUOTOH; THURSTAN REDDING; INEZ VAN LAMSWEERDE & VINOODH MATADIN
COMPILED BY TIMOTHY HARRISON. JOANNE BANKS; POPPY KAIN; HELENA KRIGE;
For this month’s interiors story,
on page 212, writer Kate Finnigan
found the Copenhagen home of
Ganni’s Ditte and Nicolaj Reffstrup
just as colourful as their much-loved
brand. Her personal takeaway?
On page 174, “I now want to spray all my
contributing fashion furniture with shiny car paint!”
director Venetia Scott
styles the Bellamacina
sisters in a story
featuring the season’s
cosiest knits, colourful
day dresses – and a
pair of llamas. “We
asked for one, and Ahead of her eponymous label’s
when the lady showed 20th anniversary, Stella McCartney is
up she had a wagon photographed – along with pieces from the
load,” Scott recalls. “It brand’s archive and spring 2021 collection
turns out llamas can – by Campbell Addy on page 190. So how did
only work in packs.” he hope the designer would feel in front of
the camera? “Sophisticated and beautiful –
two things Stella and her work stand for.”

44
 EDWARD ENNINFUL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CREATIVE DIRECTORS LEE SWILLINGHAM & STUART SPALDING FOR SUBURBIA

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FASHION MARKET DIRECTOR LAURA INGHAM
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4-5 OLD BOND STREET, MAYFAIR
+44 207 1234 155
www.richardmille.com
 FERRAGAMO
JACQUEMUS

SALVATORE
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HERMES

CHANEL
GABRIELE COLANGELO

ISABEL MARANT
THE ROW

COPERNI
PRADA

“From oyster to anthracite, choose a tone that best suits your

complexion and add a touch of yellow gold for warmth”

SARAH HARRIS, DEPUTY EDITOR & FASHION FEATURES DIRECTOR

50
 TRENDS
Edited by Julia Brenard
Styled by Jack Borkett

GO
GREY
In slippery silk, cashmere
and softest leather, grey
tailoring feels anything but
corporate. Photographs by
Valentin Giacobetti
HAIR: JOSEPH PUJALTE. MAKE-UP: KARIN WESTERLUND. NAILS: ANATOLE RAINEY. SET DESIGN: GIOVANNA MARTIAL.
SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT. GORUNWAY; PIXELATE.BIZ
PRODUCTION: KITTEN PRODUCTION. MODELS: ALVA CLAIRE, ANA JORGE, MICHELLE LAFF, KENNAH LAU.

Shirt, £665. Belts

and trousers, from
a selection. All Marc
Jacobs. Polo-neck
body, £1,150, Hermès.
Hair clip, to order,
Tétier Bijoux
TRENDS Coat, £2,505,
Lanvin. Trousers,
£905, Chloé.
Scarf, £178, Boss

Coats: from top,

£895, Raey, at
Matchesfashion.
com. £2,030,
Lemaire. £1,567,
Petar Petrov.
£1,000, Bouguessa

Take
the long
ROUTE
Mid-calf or ankle
skimming, this season’s
longline coat oozes style

VALENTIN GIACOBETTI; GORUNWAY; PIXELATE.BIZ

MAX MARA

THE ROW
BURBERRY
MIU MIU
LOEWE

52
 TRENDS

Left: quilted
jacket, £1,363,
Atlein. Corset,
£4,450, Giorgio
Armani. Belt,
£345, Isabel
Marant. Skirt,
from £530, Zadig
& Voltaire. Boots,
£1,500, Celine
by Hedi Slimane

GABRIELE COLANGELO
High &
MIGHTY
In rich shades of conker, tan, olive
and black, the knee-high boot is the

OSCAR DE LA RENTA
chicest way to walk into winter
VALENTIN GIACOBETTI; JASON LLOYD-EVANS;
MITCHELL SAMS; GORUNWAY; PIXELATE.BIZ

£1,175, Jimmy Choo £725, Joseph £800, Jil Sander £995, Gabriela Hearst £1,695, Sweethearts of the Rodeo
by Lucie & Luke Meier
55
 Coat, £2,345. Polo
neck, £395. Both
Alberta Ferretti.
Culottes, £750. Belt,
£450. Both Victoria
Beckham. Bag,
£3,320, Bottega
Veneta. Earrings and
ring, to order. Both
Tétier Bijoux

Clockwise from top:

sweater, £1,150,
Hermès. Bag,
£3,385, Chanel.
Trousers, from £870,
Givenchy. Mules,
£225, Osoi,
at Browns

Block
Clockwise from PARTY
OSCAR DE LA RENTA

above: sandals,
from £375,
Brother Vellies.
Skirt, £910,
Fenty. Clutch, Full-on colour in considered
£2,260, Prada.
Shirt, from combinations and refined silhouettes
£320, Bevza
will deliver sophisticated optimism
 TRENDS

Clockwise from right: Below, from top:

coat, £710, Coperni. blouse, £60, H&M. Skirt,
Culottes, £695, £790, Gucci. Clutch,
Coach. Bag, £1,800, £1,520, Bottega Veneta.
Byredo. Shirt, Sunglasses, £350, Versace
£1,100, Giorgio
Armani

MAISON MARGIELA

“Inject fresh energy into your wardrobe

with unexpected pairings: teal and
lilac; beige and lemon; pastel pink and
tomato red… The bolder, the better”

OLIVIA SINGER, FASHION NEWS DIRECTOR

VALENTIN GIACOBETTI; GORUNWAY; PIXELATE.BIZ

PRADA

Clockwise
from left:
trousers, £350,
Pleats Please
Issey Miyake.
ALBERTA FERRETTI

Bag, £850,
Acne Studios.
Ribbed-knit
shirt, £2,185,
Bottega Veneta.
Sandals, from
£540, Nodaleto

57
TRENDS

Top, from
a selection.
Trousers,
£1,810. Both
Louis Vuitton

Clockwise from right:

boots, £930, Prada.
Trousers, £1,275.
Jacket, £2,045. Both
Symonds Pearmain, at
Matchesfashion.com.
Jacket, £2,035, Kenzo.
Boots, £1,210, Louis
Vuitton. Belt, £1,400,
Chrome Hearts,
at Selfridges

EASY rider
VALENTIN GIACOBETTI; GORUNWAY; PIXELATE.BIZ

Biker-meets-punk was one

of the fiercest ideas from the
ALEXANDER McQUEEN

autumn/winter collections.
In real life? Go for glamour
RAF SIMONS

via blouson biker jackets and

MUGLER

KHAITE
FENDI

lipstick-red leathers
58
 TRENDS

Gold-plated chain,
from £1,030,
Ambush. Silver
chain, from £1,615,
Le Gramme

Bottom left: bicolour

gold chain, £6,540,
Lauren Rubinski, at
Matchesfashion.com.
Oversized gold
and silver chain,
£730, Sacai

BOTTEGA VENETA
Belted coat with
chain detail, from
£1,740, Rokh, at
Modaoperandi.com.
Dress, £629, Alyx.
Bag, £760. Gloves,
from a selection.
Both D’heygere, at
Ssense.com. Large
silver link necklace,
£4,500, Hermès.
White necklace,
from £490, ALBERTA FERRETTI
Off-White. Small
silver link necklace,
£1,500, Charlotte
Chesnais & Byredo
VALENTIN GIACOBETTI; GORUNWAY; PIXELATE.BIZ

Linked IN
The most direct
way to connect with the
season’s toughest look?
A heavyweight
curb-link necklace
61
 TRENDS

SWEET
SPOT
Racy, big-cat prints
are never out of style – go
head-to-toe for the win

Dress, £2,450,
Celine by Hedi
Slimane. Sandals,
£765, Miu Miu.
Earrings, £280,
D’heygere, at
Dover Street
Market
EDITED BY DONNA WALLACE. VALENTIN GIACOBETTI; GORUNWAY; PIXELATE.BIZ

BURBERRY

MIU MIU
ALYX

Clockwise from above:

coat, £3,865, Marc
Jacobs. Trousers, £1,489, Clockwise
Tom Ford. Shoes, £495, from above:
Pierre Hardy sunglasses, £320,
Celine by Hedi
Slimane. Bag,
£1,755, Saint
Laurent by Anthony
Vaccarello. Skirt,
£2,490, Valentino

63
 Jacket, £599.
Trousers, £349.
Both Boss. Shirt,
from £310. Tie,
from a selection.
Both Rokh. Ring,
£315, Alan Crocetti,
at Mytheresa.com
MARGARET HOWELL

TOGA

ROKH

Suits
YOU
Slouchy trouser suits, skinny
neckties and oversized blazers are
a smart choice, says Osman Ahmed

I
n fashion, everything comes full circle – even,
it seems, your school uniform. What was once
our canvas for detention-worthy customisation
and rebellious acts of self-expression has now
been translated into a thoroughly contemporary
composite of smart shirts, sharp tailoring,
traditional waistcoats and ties, too.
Back in February, designers set an autumn
curriculum of super-luxe uniforms and masculine
silhouettes – but thankfully there wasn’t a Teflon
coating in sight. Miuccia Prada opened her
show with broad-shouldered blazers, weighty
herringbone overcoats and slinky cashmere
sweaters; almost every look layered over neat shirts
with whippet-thin, Windsor-knotted neckties.
From left: jacket, £2,150. At Dior, we saw nipped-in Bar jackets, white
Waistcoat, £740. Trousers,
£690. All Celine by shirts and black tulle ties – a vision that Maria
Hedi Slimane. Jacket, Grazia Chiuri reiterated, pairing her looks with
from £2,140. Trousers, long blazers, double-breasted waistcoats and
from £930. Both Peter
Do, at Joseph schoolyard satchels slung crossbody. The new

64

LOUIS VUITTON
CHLOE
ALYX
guard also played their part: in London, Greek
designer Eftychia Karamolegkou (whose debut
collection was snapped up by Phoebe Philo)
recreated an airport lounge and filled it with
a tableau of alpha females in greige trouser
suits and FT-reader knits. Her message? The
boardroom is your playground.
Perhaps it’s an antidote to the anxiety of
choice – a throwback to simpler times, and
their far more efficient morning routines.
If you needed any more convincing, I can
tell you that, on the penultimate night of the
Paris menswear shows (and before social
distancing had entered the global lexicon),
I shimmied into the early hours on a podium
in the basement of Sauvages next to Bella
Hadid dressed as a dancefloor Annie Hall,
EDITED BY DONNA WALLACE. VALENTIN GIACOBETTI; GORUNWAY; PIXELATE.BIZ
in a crisp white shirt, burgundy satin tie,
pinstripe waistcoat and matching mile-long
trousers (all by London-based designer
Dilara Findikoglu). Just a few days prior,
she had closed the Alyx show in – you guessed
it – a crisp white shirt, black leather tie and
black cigarette pants.
The hallmarks of a masculine wardrobe have
walked back into the frame with wide legs
and comfortable strides. But gone are the days
when women had to dress like this to be taken
seriously in positions of power; there is a self-
determined liberation and a knowing irony in
the new approach. In 2020, you can choose
to wear a frothy dress one minute, but relish
the rigour of a three-piece suit the next. It
helps that nothing is as comfortable as a
perfectly tailored suit, or as sharp as a shirt,
or – come to think of it – as intellectually sexy
BOTTEGA VENETA
Gone are the days when
women had to dress like this
to be taken seriously
as a tie. Think Marlene Dietrich in Morocco,
the inspiration for Yves Saint Laurent’s Le
Smoking, and you only have to look at Helmut
Newton’s iconic photographs to see just how
sexy that was.
While menswear designers have spent years
rejecting antiquated dress codes and Savile
Row stuffiness, a wave of female designers
are reinterpreting it for women – from The
Row’s Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (who
named their label after the London street) to
Martine Rose. “For me, as a designer and a
woman, I enjoy the subversion of wearing
menswear,” says Rose, whose perpendicular-
shouldered tailoring is technically for men,
but attracts just as many dapper female
devotees (“almost 50-50”), including Rihanna
and Hailey Bieber. “Nowadays, if men are
wearing suits, they’re not wearing them in
conventional ways,” she adds. “There’s an
interesting twist when women do.”
Besides, is there really anything worse
than the contrived femininity of a “boyfriend
fit ”? Sometimes a woman just wants a
straightforward, straight-cut suit. At Celine,
where the tie-fastened tailoring is arguably
Hedi Slimane’s speciality, everything is
gender-fluid, which means those cigarillo-
thin, ever-so-slightly sequinned pinstripes
in the menswear shows are waiting in-store
TRENDS
Clockwise from left: boots, £845,
Bottega Veneta. Shirt, £420, Ralph
Lauren Purple Label. Tie, £160, Gucci.
Earring, £598, Hirotaka. Bag, £1,250,
Burberry. Watch, £23,000, Cartier
Pair with
in your size. That transposition of gender
codes is echoed elsewhere. London-based
designer Rok Hwang first trained in menswear
and now applies his tried-and-tested knowledge
to making suits for women: extra-long double-
layered blazers offer myriad ways to drape and
fasten a jacket, while generously cut sleeves
and soft, wide shoulders create a silhouette
that is straight-on. “It’s really a man’s fit,” he
explains, “but it’s not necessarily masculine.”
This season, he earns top marks for pairing
them with pale-blue banker shirts and jaunty
school-stripe ties.
“Men have been wearing the same thing
for centuries, and it still works,” points out
Alex Eagle, who was a long-time devotee
of Savile Row before establishing her own
bespoke service. An entirely personalised
experience that takes two to six weeks,
from the initial consultation to the selection
of Loro Piana fabrics to the final fitting,
it brings the notoriously macho world of
bespoke menswear to a fashion-savvy female
customer. “Your £4,000 won’t take you far on
Bond Street, but investing it in a bespoke
made-in-London suit is an investment
that lasts a lifetime,” she explains.
Eagle is also quick to point out her favourite
benefit of a two-piece uniform – namely that
it sees you from avo toast at breakfast to an
end-of-evening nightcap, leaving more time
for, let’s just say, extracurricular activities.
As she puts it: “It makes it so much less
stressful to get dressed, and to be honest, I’d
rather be shagging my husband than faffing
about accessorising in the morning.” n
65
VOGUE DARLING
“A hundred
squats every
morning will
change your
whole body.
I always wear
Nike when
I’m training.”
Leggings, £60.
Top, £32. Both “My friends and I go
Nike, at Net-a- “I use African black to Satay Bar in Brixton,
porter.com soap to wash my face. And I love and I’ll dance till I can’t
natural sea moss face masks.” dance any more.”
PuretŽ Nature Alata Samina soap, £8

Shaina
wears leather
dress, £6,490.
Earring, £650.
Both Alexander
McQueen.
Photograph:
Laura Bailey.
Styling: Julia
Brenard

“Eat of Eden in Brixton Village

is great for healthy food. It’s like
soul food, but vegan.”

“The three twinkling stars is

my most-used emoji. I’m all
about manifesting your desires.”

“Nike Air Force 1s are

my favourite footwear.”
Trainers, £95, Nike

HAIR: CHARLOTTE MENSAH. MAKE-UP: BERNICIA BOATENG. NAILS: ROBBIE TOMKINS. DIGITAL ARTWORK: JOHN HEYES. SOCIAL
DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT. ALLSTAR/GOLDEN WAY FILMS; TCD/VP/LMKMEDIA
Shaina West
“In good time, I will be a superhero.” That’s
what Brixton-born Shaina West promised her
“I idolise bedridden 20-year-old self after she totalled
Jackie Chan – he
revolutionised her motorbike, was dumped by a boyfriend
action and and lost her job – all in the space of a month.
martial arts.
I love Drunken Fast forward six years, and West – now a self-
Master and Rush taught martial artist and stunt person – is set
Hour. I’m inspired to make her big-screen debut in Marvel’s
by the female
characters in Black Widow, alongside Scarlett Johansson
Kill Bill, too.” and Florence Pugh. “Martial arts were like
this golden elixir,” she says of teaching herself
daring sword-twirling antics and eye-popping
“No expense knife tricks. She would post videos to
spared? The
motorbike of Instagram, where she quickly amassed in excess
my dreams of 300,000 followers, among them an agent
is the BMW S
1000 RR [from
who helped her land the role as one of a team
£15,585].” of black widows – villainous Russian assassins.
“There I was, this fresh-faced girl who just
had this big dream, trying all these crazy
“The Avengers soundtrack
is great workout music. things,” she says of being on set. Like any true
There’s nothing better than superhero, she’s pure determination: “Mark
running on a treadmill,
feeling like you’re in a movie
my words – I will have amazing things for you
fighting for the world.” to see in the near future.” Timothy Harrison

66
JEWELLERY

IN FINE FORM
Meet five black, British-based designers working
to reshape the world of haute jewellery.
By Rachel Garrahan.
Photographs by Ronan Mckenzie.
Styling by Poppy Kain

T
he fine jewellery industry can seem an intimidating one to those looking
up at its exquisitely gem-set ivory tower from beyond its walls.
Entry is a particular challenge for anyone who lacks the finances or
industry connections to break through its high-security doors. And if
you are a black student or jeweller, there is a chance you will also encounter racial
discrimination along the way. A mixture of systemic racism, unconscious bias and
overt prejudice means that many people of colour lack the opportunities to enter,
let alone thrive, in the trade. Few schoolchildren are aware it is even an option.
Jeweller Melanie Eddy says that no black jewellery student has graduated from
the MA jewellery design programme at Central Saint Martins (of which she
herself is an alumna) in the six years that she has been teaching on the course.
“It breaks my heart that they aren’t coming through,” she says.
There are positive signs, however, that long overdue and lasting change is on
its way. As Black Lives Matter protests surged with reinforced urgency this year,
following George Floyd’s death in May, so too have demands from within the
global jewellery industry to create a more inclusive, nurturing future for anyone
with the necessary passion and talent. In Britain in June, activist and jeweller
Kassandra Lauren Gordon established a fund – in collaboration with the
Goldsmiths’ Company’s charity team – to provide immediate financial relief
to 21 black jewellers struggling in the aftermath of Covid-19.
Californian jeweller Lauren Harwell Godfrey is among the independent jewellers
to have turned to fundraising through sales of their jewellery – so far, her black
onyx, diamond and gold heart pendants have raised more than £74,000 for the
American civil-rights organisation NAACP. Hers is also among the jewellery
brands that established the Art Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund (named after Gold, golden-rutile and
the New York mid-century modernist black jeweller), to support black jewellery smoky-quartz necklace,
students at Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Jacqueline Rabun &
Carpenters Workshop
And if young jewellery enthusiasts would like further inspiration, they need look Gallery. Gold hoop earrings,
no further than Vogue’s pick of the black jewellers in Britain who have beaten the smoky-quartz ring, wide
odds, to establish themselves with their sheer talent and design eye. One such gold band and gold pinky
ring, Jacqueline Rabun.
designer is Jacqueline Rabun, the American-born, London-based jeweller whose Gold bracelets and gold
eponymous brand this year celebrates 30 years of effortlessly sensual, contemporary stacking rings, Jacqueline
design. When she was growing up in California, Rabun’s parents would polish her Rabun for Georg Jensen.
Dress, £1,190, Jil Sander, at
and her siblings’ shoes with Vaseline. “People could judge you on the colour of your Matchesfashion.com
skin but if you always looked shiny and impeccable, that was the one thing they
couldn’t judge you on,” she says. She acknowledges that racism in the industry is Hair: Charlotte Mensah.
an issue, just as it is in so many walks of life, but she puts her heart and soul into Make-up: Ammy Drammeh.
Nails: Pebbles Aikens.
her work so that it can speak for itself. “My work is my weapon and my activism,” Set design: Kim Harding.
she says. “Colour is not the issue. It’s your talent that shines.” Amen to that. > Digital artwork: Post Apollo

70
 JACQUELINE RABUN
Jacqueline Rabun established her
jewellery brand in 1990, after
moving to London from Los Angeles,
and her powerful aesthetic
champions elegance and simplicity.
Rabun’s This year she celebrates 21 years of

powerful aesthetic
collaboration with design house
Georg Jensen, and this month she

champions elegance
unveils her latest solo project,
Metanoia, at Mayfair’s Carpenters

and simplicity Workshop Gallery. Rabun, 58, says

it took an entire year to perfect the
seemingly effortless curves of an
oversized gold pendant encasing a
cabochon of smoky rutilated quartz.
Its quiet strength is like looking,
she says, “into the window of your
soul, your light and beauty”.

71
JEWELLERY EMEFA COLE
The daughter of an Ewe chief
in Ghana, Emefa Cole moved to
London when she was 12. The
strength of her African heritage
lives large, however, in her bold
and sculptural jewels. In recent
years, since her father and
grandfather passed away, the
40-year-old has a renewed
passion for her home country,
and recently studied lost wax-
carving techniques with
Ghanaian goldsmiths.
Recognition in the UK has also
come, with one of her rings
entering the permanent jewellery
collection of the V&A. “It’s my
favourite collection in the world,”
says Cole, “and to be a part of
that is an amazing feeling.”

Gold-vermeil earrings, £250.

Lapis and gold-vermeil
necklace, £600. Gold-vermeil
cuff, £4,000. Gold-vermeil
rings, from £290 each. All
Emefa Cole. Dress, £625, Tove

72
 MELANIE EDDY
“Multifaceted” neatly describes
both Melanie Eddy’s career
and her jewellery aesthetic.
Rarely have you seen a CV so
packed – from handcrafting
her architecture-inspired jewels
to teaching at Central Saint
Martins and supporting
Afghan goldsmiths for the
Turquoise Mountain foundation.
The 41-year-old came to
London from Bermuda in 2004,
and has been here ever since.
“Thanks to the people who
believed in me, I was able
to enter the industry through
an unconventional route,” she
says. She hopes to do the same
for others: “It’s not just about
providing opportunities, it’s
about inspiring confidence.” >

Gold earrings, £2,600.

Gold and gemstone cocktail
rings, from £1,950 each.
Faceted yellow- and
white-gold rings, from £950
each. All Melanie Eddy.
Dress, £2,080, ChloŽ

73
 SIMONE BREWSTER
During this summer’s enforced
pandemic pause, it occurred to
Simone Brewster, 37, that she
should describe herself as an
artist. The child of Caribbean
parents, she’s a graduate of the
master’s programme in product
design at the Royal College of
Art. A polymath who designs
furniture and objects, as well
as jewellery, during lockdown
she added painting to the list.
It was also then that she saw
that exploring womanhood, in
all its forms, is what drives her.
“I work in so many disciplines,
I realised it’s the ideas behind
them that carry them through,”
she says. And she wants her
jewels to empower their wearer:
“Femininity isn’t just about
softness but about strength.”

Gold-vermeil earrings,
£300. Gold-vermeil pendant
necklace. Gold-vermeil
rings, from £320 each. All
Simone Brewster Jewellery.
Dress, to order, Dior

SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT

Exploring
womanhood,
in all its forms,
is what drives
Brewster

74
JEWELLERY

JEFF AWAH
The refined work of Jeff Awah
– who is known to all by his last
name – belies the fact that he
is a relative newcomer to the
jewellery scene. He acquired
his creative chops as a product
designer and illustrator before
branching out into stained
glass, and it was that transition
that made him realise jewellery
was his true destiny. “Just as
with glass, I love the play of
light on facets of metal,” says
the self-taught jeweller, 35.
Awah established his brand,
Laud, two years ago, and his
unisex collection – which
embodies the rawness and
texture of the furniture and
sculpture of his childhood home
in Kumasi, Ghana – is already
stocked at Browns, Mr Porter
and Dover Street Market. n

Gold, multicoloured-
sapphire and ruby ring,
£17,000. Gold ring set with
multicoloured-sapphires
and rubies, £8,500.
Gold bracelet, £6,000. All
Laud, at Browns. Shirt,
£385, Bianca Saunders, at
Matchesfashion.com.
Prices on request unless
otherwise stated.
For stockists, all pages,
see Vogue Information

75
 WATCHES

Above: steel and rose gold,

£20,900, Audemars Piguet.
Below: steel and yellow
gold, £7,700, Cartier

ORE
From top: steel and yellow gold,
£2,920, Tudor. Steel and
gold-plated, £2,000, Tag Heuer
STRUCK
Why settle for steel or gold when you can
have both? These super-chic two-tone watches
channel the ’80s in the best way possible,
says Rachel Garrahan
GREGORY HARRIS/TRUNK ARCHIVE

Above: steel and yellow

gold, £8,110, Omega. Left: steel and rose gold, £6,750,
Right: steel and rose gold, Breitling. Above: steel and rose
£1,660, Longines gold, £49,480, Patek Philippe

77

DISCOVER
F
or Phoebe Saatchi Yates and her husband
Arthur Yates – founders of the soon-to-
open Saatchi Yates gallery on Mayfair’s
historic Cork Street – the search for new
artists is all about “looking in the wrong places”.
“With Instagram and TikTok, you can find
strange corners where artists are making fantastic
work,” says Arthur. After all, their USP is to “break
brand new stars into the market”, by giving unseen
and emerging artists a chance to exhibit in a huge
space (the gallery is 10,000sq ft) before they’ve
shown anywhere else. “What’s important for the
artists we’re showing is that they’re doing something
completely original and new,” says Arthur. “All the
art we show needs to be radically different.”
Take Swiss-born, London-based Pascal Sender,
who will be the first artist to be exhibited at
Saatchi Yates when it opens this month. “Pascal
78
had built up an online following and community
by live-streaming his painting process,” explains
Phoebe. “We luckily stumbled across his world
in the depths of the internet and fell in love.”
Speaking of, what is working as a married couple
like? “If you were a psychiatrist, you’d probably
think there was something very wrong with us,”
laughs Arthur of their “co-dependent” relationship.
“But it’s fun, it works.” Indeed, it’s a family affair
– Phoebe’s father, Charles Saatchi, is working
alongside the couple as adviser. “We’re very
traditional, very close,” smiles Phoebe.
Even though they are opening their doors
during a wildly uncertain time, the pair are fearless
about the future. “We’re really positive and I think
people will be looking for something like this,”
Phoebe says. “We want to be a shining light
in the doom.”
DO
LOOK
NOW
From a new gallery
opening to the latest must-
reads, autumn’s cultural
checklist is full of delights,
finds Olivia Marks
READ
Massachusetts provides the
setting for two exhilarating thrillers:
one fictitious, one not, both
concerned with women trying to make
a life in a world in which they are
made to feel they don’t belong. In her
debut novel, White Ivy (out on 5
November), Susie Yang’s protagonist,
Ivy Lin, is desperate to assimilate
with her wealthy American classmates
after moving to Boston from China.
As an adult years later, Ivy chances
upon her high-school crush, the
waspish Gideon Speyer, and works
her way to the centre of his world.
But is this life the one she truly
wants? Meanwhile, in We Keep the
Dead Close (out on 12 November),
Becky Cooper masterfully uncovers
the story of Harvard undergrad Jane
Britton, who was found bludgeoned
to death at the university in 1969.
Above left: Phoebe
Saatchi Yates and
her husband and
gallery co-founder
Arthur Yates
 ARTS & CULTURE

Mackenzie
Davis and
Kristen
Stewart star
WATCH in Happiest
Season

I
n Happiest Season, Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis
star as Abby and Harper: a newly engaged couple who
are spending Christmas with Harper’s family. Abby is
keen to announce their impending nuptials, but there’s
a hitch: Harper has not come out to her conservative parents.
“I’ve always been a fan of holiday movies, but I had never
seen my own experience represented,” says Clea DuVall,
the movie’s director and co-writer, of the inspiration behind
the film. “If there is an LGBTQ+ character they are usually
in small supporting roles. Happiest Season felt like an
opportunity to tell a universal story from a new perspective,
one that will resonate with anyone who has been in love,
who has struggled with themselves and/or their family,
and who has braved the holidays.” While prepping, DuVall
looked to romantic comedy classics. “I am very accepting
when it comes to holiday movies,” she says. “There’s
something about immersing myself in the spirit of the
holidays that disables the critical part of my brain. I love
that during them everyday life feels a little bit different.”
In cinemas on 27 November

VISIT
EXHIBITIONS COMPILED BY TIMOTHY HARRISON. RORY DCS; FLORIAN KLEINEFENN; NICK KNIGHT; MING SMITH; THE ESTATE OF ANTONIO LOPEZ

FIVE MORE TO SEEÉ

& JUAN RAMOS; THE ESTATE OF CHRISTINA RAMBERG/COURTESY OF SAMMLUNG/COLLECTION OF KARIN TAPPENDORF; GETTY IMAGES

2 Scottish choreographer Michael

Clark – captured here in 1987 by Nick
Knight for Vogue – is the undisputed
king of contemporary dance. And
1 In The Making now he is the focus of a landmark
of Husbands, exhibition at the Barbican, which looks
at Gateshead’s at his pioneering mix of ballet technique
Baltic Centre for and punk culture through works by
Contemporary Art, artists such as Sarah Lucas, Wolfgang
works by over a Tillmans and a score of others.
dozen artists form Until 3 January 2021
a counterpoint to
the late Christina 4 Experiment with
Ramberg’s designer Matty Bovan’s
explorations of wearable sculptures
gender (above (left) in Boomerang at
and left). Until Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
5 January 2021 From 28 October to
1 November
3 At Nottingham Contemporary, pieces by more than 35 artists – from Azzedine Alaïa and Jean-Michel
Basquiat to Ming Smith (below left), Antonio Lopez (below right) and Andy Warhol – are brought together
for an extravaganza that explores the career of singer and model Grace Jones. Until 3 January 2021

5 In Strange Attractors at
Tate St Ives, Haegue Yang
will present sculpture on
a show-stopping scale
(right) in the celebrated
South Korean artist’s
largest UK exhibition.
From 24 October
to 3 May 2021

79
Welcome to Wedgwood

wedgwood.com
 ARTS & CULTURE

Rouge
agent
There are two sides to every
story, as Karen Elson’s first
book – a blend of fashion
photography and memoir
– proves to powerful effect.
By Giles Hattersley

I
n her debut book, an intoxicating
weave of memoir with megawatt
photography, Karen Elson – the
fin de siècle model from Bolton –
describes herself as “a dutiful student”
of the masters who have chronicled her.
Certainly they are all here: Avedon,
Penn, Meisel, Lindbergh… And yet,
transformed every which way over a
STEVEN MEISEL; TIM WALKER; HARLEY WEIR

25-year-long career, it is Elson’s series

of intimate essays that achieve her stated
goal – “to humanise myself ”. From being
hospitalised for an eating disorder aged
seven to the uncomfortable reality of
shooting nudes as a teen and industry
survival, be prepared for rare honesty in
a profession better known for its omertà.
“The red flame in my heart has never
let me down,” she says. n a 1997 portrait taken by Steven
The Red Flame (Rizzoli, £50) is out now
Clockwise from top:
Karen Elson stars in a Roald
Dahl-inspired shoot by Tim
Walker, Vogue, December 2008;
captured by Harley Weir in
2019; Elson in Bhutan by Tim
Walker, Vogue, May 2015;
Meisel for Italian Vogue

81
 LIVING
“Because I’m a
big fan of pearls,
it’s key to me
that any I buy
are sourced
sustainably
– like the ones
used in these
earrings.”
Earrings,
£65, Mejuri

“Loewe’s new line of

down-to-earth home
scents hits a soft spot.
My favourite is the “You can
beetroot candle.” never have too
Candle, £70, Loewe many pyjamas.
My latest are
from Eberjey –
an uplifting way
to start and
finish the day.”
Pyjamas,
£123, Eberjey,
at Harrods

“Maison Commune

LIFE &
sources amazing, eco-
conscious homewares,
such as this soap dish,
which is made from
recycled gold marble.”

STYLE
Soap dish, £95,
Maison Commune

“‘Everything we do,
Home and fashion hits,
we do with the planet
in mind,’ says Riley
selected by Julia Sarr-Jamois
Studio of its brand
ethos, which only
makes me love this
recycled-cashmere “With its smart
sweater even more.” temperature display,
Sweater, £280, this sleek flask
Riley Studio from Loumann is a
seriously clever way
to stay hydrated.”
Water bottle, from
£45, Loumann
OLIVER HADLEE PEARCH; NADINE IJEWERE

“I’m really into AirPods,

mainly because they’re
an excellent excuse for
new accessories. Case “Rather than covering up my radiators,
in point: Chanel’s coral I like to incorporate them into my decor.
tweed pouch.” AirPods The bright, industrial design of Bisque’s
box, £825, Chanel Flow Form radiators are great.”
Radiator, from £480, Bisque

83
 ON SALE 6 NOVEMBER
From pregnancy to parenthood and beyond, Mini Vogue returns to
British Vogue’s pages with the most inspiring guide to motherhood.
Be it newborn essentials or words of wisdom, expect the best
1
VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

3
2
Minidress, £775,
The Vampire’s Wife Aesop Rõzu
eau de
parfum,
£130

Shirt, £215, Ganni

NOW, MORE THAN ever

LUXURY
shopping is a question of doing your
research and making a well-
considered purchase that will truly

INVESTMENTS
last – and while a visit to Bond Street
is always a joy, there’s no denying the
timesaving efficiency of hitting “add
to basket”. The only catch, of course?
Not being able to road-test your
purchase before buying. Party season calls for statement dresses, bold
Enter Klarna, the financially make-up and plenty of gifts – and Klarna might
empowering one-stop app that is
revolutionising virtual shopping –
just be the ultimate shopping companion
including allowing you to delay

5
payment for a full 30 days on all of
your favourite brands. That means you Charlotte
can model that superb Ganni button- Tilbury
Pillow Talk
down for friends or see how a Scandi lipstick,
desk from Swoon suits your workspace £25

4 7
– without a penny leaving your bank Desk, £329, Swoon Editions
account if you choose to return the
item within the month. Order hard-
to-fit jeans in different sizes; get a shirt
in every colourway; or try on a range
of different shoes, just as you would
in a real shop, but without the hassle
of changing-room lighting or travel.
Bag, £450, Shrimps
And for true fashion investments,
Klarna allows you to spread payments
out in instalments – so you can bring
home that envy-inducing Shrimps
bag or elegant The Vampire’s Wife

6
dress rather than having to settle for Diptyque
items with less longevity (and, by candle, £47,
at Space NK
extension, poorer sustainability
credentials). The best way to find the
greatest value? The Klarna Wishlist
functionality, which allows you to
bookmark products and alerts you to
price drops, so you can make great
financial decisions. Our advice for the
season ahead: don’t make a purchase
without it. n
For more information, visit Klarna.com
 FOOD & DRINK
Edited by Olivia Marks
IRVING PENN, STILL LIFE WITH WATERMELON, NEW YORK, 1947

CHIC EATS,
HOT TABLES,
GLORIOUS COCKTAILS
 TRUE SIMPLICITY
Our eggs are patiently laid by traditional breed birds originating from rare breed ancestors.
It’s our heritage that gives them their unique flavour. Demand the best - look for the crown.

clarencecourt.co.uk
 FOOD & DRINK

I SMOOTH MOVE
s there really such a thing as a roast chicken with a cult
following? If you’ve been to NoMad – the New York
hotel named after the Manhattan neighbourhood where
it was founded, nearly a decade ago – you’ll know that,
yes, there very much is.
New York’s NoMad Hotel is getting ready to put down
Roasted with foie gras, black truffle and brioche, that roots in Covent Garden, says Timothy Harrison

4
chicken is now winging its way to Covent Garden, as NoMad’s
long-anticipated London offshoot finally opens its doors in
December. It’s housed in the Grade II-listed former Bow
Street Magistrates’ Court, opposite the Royal Opera House,
and the interior design follows an elegant formula of
layered dark reds and greens with plenty of bohemian curtains
and cushions. A collection of European and American
contemporary art dots the walls, paying special attention to MORE TO KNOW
Martin Parr’s photography, and upstairs there are 92 rooms.
In the restaurant – a light-filled atrium that could pass for Morning-till-night bakery and restaurant
an Edwardian greenhouse – other favourites from the original Big Jo (right), on Hornsey Road, is the latest
sustainably minded opening from Westerns
menu will get a British-inspired refresh. “We want to put Laundry founders David Gingell and Jeremie
good food on the plate, but we don’t want it to be something Cometto-Lingenheim. Its in-house flour mills
that you have to think about,” executive chef Ian Coogan, and pastry ovens are used to delicious effect.
whose CV lists a tenure at three-Michelin-starred Eleven
Madison Park, tells Vogue ahead of the opening. The team behind This month, the
star Italians Gloria duo behind Native
Meanwhile, a bar located off the main dining room, aptly
PATRICIA NIVEN; SIMON UPTON

and Circolo Popolare in Borough Market

called Side Hustle (above), will serve up Mexican small plates have launched are relocating
inspired by the head chef ’s roots in Oaxaca. Downstairs, Napoli Gang, their their farm-to-table
there’s Common Decency, a lounge where you can sample first delivery-only restaurant to Osea, He won a Michelin star for Portland
seasonal cocktails, such as The Start Me Up (a vegetal take restaurant, from a 400-acre private restaurant in Marylebone in just nine months,
three central London island off Essex. Dine and now chef Merlin Labron-Johnson has
on the whisky sour that’s a mainstay on the New York menu) locations – with on local oysters in a decamped to Bruton, Somerset, to open
or The Hot Lips (a crowd-pleasing twist on a margarita), expansion plans converted First World Osip. Multi-course set menus are shaped
and listen to DJs until the early hours. Thenomadhotel.com on the horizon. War torpedo store. by what’s fresh on the farms nearby.

89
 FORBIDDEN FRUIT
For the young Yemisí Aríbisálà, now an author, desire was transmuted into creamy
Boursin and sugary-sweet Eccles cakes, but her appetite for true love was not to be sated

T
he language of our hearts was caboose-patois, because so much fool.” I always wanted to get that off my chest. But by then, it was too
of our brief affair was spent in the kitchen. This was either late to talk about the things we were really talking about.
coincidence or a desperate attempt to reconcile Pentecostalism Food was how we articulated the things that were too volatile to pass
and brimming sensuality. We met, you see, at a Christian through lips. In caboose-patois, cooking was love, while hot pepper was
prayer group hosted by a Caribbean couple on the Cardiff University sometimes desire, sometimes strong disagreement, and all too often a
campus. It started in spring but had been in the air for longer – since pool of fire that a British man refused to cross. Pudding was heavy,
winter, maybe. I stole the first kiss in my room. I was forward like that, warm sweetness and a contemplative wrestling of spoon, tongue and
then. Fearless, not a very good born-again Christian. Kiss-stealing was soft material… consolation for everything from terrible news headlines
a no-no. As were premarital sneak previews and hors d’oeuvres such as to silent dismay over the expanding bulge around my mid-region.
feeling for knots in shoulders and backs. Everything was forbidden. And We were not fluent in the language we had invented. If he had said,
because it was forbidden, we nervously craved and fantasised and salivated “It’s the heat of those brutal stews! How can I eat that every day, for
over it. After that first kiss, we decided we needed the presence of other the rest of my life? And African chicken and glue soup! And you’re no
people. The kitchen had the soothing mood of a thoroughfare. So we better, you hate fudge and Eccles cakes, all the sweet things I hoped
stayed in the kitchen because we were safe there. Sweaty palmed and I would have in common with the person I’m with… That time I took
without privacy, but safe. Eating was a much-needed detour from desire. you home to meet my parents – you didn’t have to go and eat almost
We weren’t ever going to be sated but there was thickly spread garlic the whole quiche in one sitting. It wasn’t helpful.” This quiche was the
Boursin on fresh French bread and on sunny days we downed cold Belgian one his mother had left in the fridge as a welcome meal. In my opinion,
beer in the shade until we were wheezing with mysterious fevers. There it was a small quiche considering the length of our train journey there.
was an underlying chill to the summer days after the sun set late at night I could easily have eaten two quiches rather than three-quarters of one.
that never failed to catch me by surprise. I’m from Nigeria, a country In hindsight, the problem was not eating an inappropriate portion of
where the sun sets at around 7pm throughout the year. I was fascinated a small quiche but my unwelcome presence in his family’s home.
by this realm where evening and night were negotiable premises. Our last notable days together were spent in Hull, rather than the
We shopped for food at the local Sainsbury’s with the same seriousness kitchen where we had made custard for cake (to his astonishment,
as we attended our church and prayer groups. We cooked and we ate I left the sugar out. To me, the cake already had enough) or split a pie
together. We spoke often about getting married. It felt like a done deal, we had bought (my half sprinkled aggressively with pepper). It was in
so much so that we naively voiced the desire for children. The kissing Hull I discovered that I didn’t like Eccles cakes. I loved the way they
was potent yet familiar, like the sliding melting mannerisms of Yoruba looked, but they were too crowded-sweetness for my Nigerian palate.
stews, fragrant and hot as the hellfire we were At the end of one evening, maybe the last that counted,
playing with. But our small world’s universal we lay in the tall grass looking up at a star-peppered
understanding forbade direct dialect about many FOOD FOR THOUGHT sky. As I lay there, I held on to the view and the night,
fundamental things. It was as if we placed a pot to our secret recipes and the forgiveness of human
with half its bottom on the hob fire; his colour, Nigella Lawson’s weakness and British pudding, and to those things
Cook, Eat, Repeat
my colour, our backgrounds, all were topics we is a new collection that can’t be marred by prejudice, such as the universal
anxiously circumvented. In the end he was the of recipes based language of a well-cooked meal or a grace said in any
one who brutally reneged, bringing up Andalusian on her favourite language of any people in the world. It was there in
ingredients,
paella and African chickens, saying that if I had interwoven with the grass that he refused the nickname I offered him.
been from the right side of the Strait of Gibraltar personal essays. He had asked me for a name that was just between
Out on 29 October
his parents would love and accept me. He ended (Vintage, £25) the two of us. I offered him “Moin-moin” and he
the relationship by saying very plainly, very declined it. He didn’t want to be some soft, steamed,
dejectedly, that there were uncharted gorges For her memoir, savoury bean cake that I loved.
Hungry, restaurant
between Lagos and Bournemouth. If I had been, critic Grace Dent Moin-moin was important, I wanted to say, because
for example, Spanish, he said, then our cultures reviews her life in it was food you asked a love interest to cook for you.
would be similar, the plane journey shorter, food, from mince If it turned out well, if it held together, then there
in 1980s Carlisle
Euro-channel accessible, waters meeting in the to Michelin-starred was hope. And I had hoped what was between us
Mediterranean, skin tones complementing in meals. Out on 29 was like a brilliant moin-moin hack in a cold, foreign
October (Harper
temperate sun. It was so heart-rendingly dreadful, Collins, £17)
country, where desperate cravings call for desperate
I wanted to riposte in eardrum-bursting Nigerian measures, where half of the crucial ingredients
intonation, “What about Melilla fish stew… In Restore, are missing, and there is no pot for steaming the
drowned migrant souls fleeing for their lives, chef Gizzi Erskine wrapped blend of beans, onions, pepper and oil,
offers more than
whose bodies and yearnings have closed up any a hundred new
no thaumatococcus-daniellii ewe-eran leaves, but you
gaps between our continents. There is no such recipes that are make it anyway, just for two, and it is good. n
thing as an African chicken. Nor West African, as good for the In the Kitchen (Daunt Books, £10), an anthology of essays
planet as they are
West Coastal African, Sub-Saharan chicken, you to eat. Out on 29 about food and life, is out now
October (Harper
Collins, £25)
 FOOD & DRINK

The kissing was potent yet

familiar, like the sliding melting
mannerisms of Yoruba stews,
fragrant and hot as the hellfire
we were playing with
JACK DAVISON/THE GOURMAND

91
VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

Celebrate
IN STYLE
Leave the sparkling wine to the traditionalists:
the best way to celebrate in 2020 is with a glass
of beautifully presented Glenfiddich Grand Cru
– a luxurious single malt whisky for the most stylish
of nonconformists. Photographs by Amy Currell.
Styling by Kelly-Ann Hughes

FESTIVE SPIRIT
It’s no secret that any truly festive occasion
requires a well-chosen party dress and
lashings of elegant jewellery. This year,
however, the most coveted accessory
of the season might just be served on the
rocks. After all, Glenfiddich – the creator
of the world’s most-decorated Scotch
– has been renowned for its maverick-like
whisky innovation for more than 130
years. With notes of apple blossom and
sandalwood, candied lemon and pear,
its 23-year-old single malt Glenfiddich
Grand Cru is the essence of celebration:
wonderfully decadent and impossible to
forget. Go bold and savour its distinctive
flavour neat – or raise a coupe of whisky
and soda in honour of the holidays.

Clockwise from left:

pearl choker, £250.
Pendant necklace,
£280. Rings, from
£600 each. All
Alighieri. Rose-gold,
prasiolite and
diamond bangle,
£1,400, Bucherer.
Gold and diamond
ring, £1,520,
Patcharavipa.
Bangle, £1,310,
Pomellato
 VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

On right hand:
from left, diamond
ring, £1,520,
Patcharavipa. Gold
and diamond ring,
£27,200, Cartier.
Rose-gold, topaz and
diamond ring,
£9,000, Pomellato.
On left hand: from
left, vintage ring,
£45, Gillian Horsup.
Gold and citrin ring,
£6,900, Boucheron.
On left wrist:
bracelet, £350,
Alighieri. On table:
from left, ring, £210,
Alighieri. Bangle,
£1,310, Pomellato
SET DESIGN: PENNY MILLS. OPPOSITE; GLASSES, MIXOLOGIST’S OWN. THIS PAGE; FLUTED DOUBLE OLD FASHIONED TUMBLER,
£75, RICHARD BRENDON, AT THE CONRAN SHOP. MERCER COPPER WEIGHTED BAR SPOON, £14, DIVERTIMENTI

THE GRAND OCCASION

Looking to embrace the Roaring ’20s
spirit? Glenfiddich Grand Cru is ideal
in a cocktail, as well. Here’s how…
Ingredients
50ml 23YO Glenfiddich Grand Cru
20ml sweet vermouth
20ml Spirit of Hven Organic Winter Spirit
7.5ml simple syrup 1:1
5 dashes of chocolate bitters
2 dashes orange bitters
Method
Add all ingredients to mixing glass,
add ice, stir and strain over block ice
in coupe glass. Garnish with expressed
orange oils and edible gold leaf.
FOOD & DRINK
Albert Seltz is a
wonderful wine producer
in Alsace, and one of
his aromatic whites is
delicious teamed with
a fun, home-made
banderilla. Skewer
green pickles, peppers,
olives – even a quail’s
egg – on a cocktail stick to
transport you to Spain.
THE
The ideal
accompaniment
MATCH
for a vermouth
over ice with a slab
MAKER
of citrus? Salty,
oily, meaty Ortiz
anchovies. Aged
in saltwater for a
minimum of six
months, these are Restaurant consultant
the tastiest around. Coco Bayley shares – and
illustrates – her favoured
pairings for the palate
An ice-cold, dry sherry
pairs perfectly with chopped
octopus tentacles and oil.
Brindisa in Borough Market
is my go-to for seafood.
94
3 CHEFS ON THE FOOD THAT
GOT THEM THROUGH 2020
A medium-bodied,
juicy red and a few
slices of spicy, fatty
salami to chew on
– is there a better
autumnal aperitivo?
London is full of
delis, but Soho’s Asma Khan “In early lockdown, when shelves
I Camisa & Son is were empty, I ordered 90 eggs at a time from
The Good Egg Fellas (above) to send out to my
my favourite for team members. Our staff WhatsApp group was
Italian cured meats. spammed with omelette photos for a week.”
Margot Henderson “I ordered from Bao’s
delivery service, Call Suzy, in London. It’s the
best Chinese takeaway ever. We have had endless
boxes of the yummiest delights – it’s a treat you
want to have every night of the week.”
Jackson Boxer
“Happy Endings ice-
cream sandwiches
(left) became my
treat at the end of
a long day. I’ve had
to wean myself off
them, but I put a
stash in deep-freeze
at home to keep
the affair alive.”
@KATIEWILSONFOTO; @THEGOODEGGFELLAS
Try an eau de vie with a handful
of fresh English blackberries
after lunch. Fresh produce supplier
Natoora has the best links with
seasonal fruit and veg farmers.

Food for thought
Naturally abundant wild seafood helps to sustain
local communities, tastes incredible and boosts health
THE SALMON AND pollock that swim
wild in the glacial waters off the coast
of Alaska – some of the cleanest in the
world – are extra delicious, bursting with
nutritional benefits, and they tick the
sustainability box, too.
In 2020, we’re all looking to make the
right choices – including what we put
on our plates. Fortunately, the reasons
to feel good about preparing a meal that
includes wild Alaska Seafood are almost
as plentiful as the salmon the state’s icy
waters are teeming with.
These days, sustainability is always
at the top of the news agenda – and at
the forefront of our minds – but it has
been baked into the fishing industry in
Alaska for more than half a century,
when limits were set to ensure its
naturally abundant waters were not
overfished. The industry also helps to
sustain communities, including Alaska
Natives, whose families have fished
together for generations.
VOGUE PARTNERSHIP
Glacial waters
off the coast of
Alaska are some
of the cleanest in
the world
Then there’s this year’s most important
topic: health. The benefits of introducing
Alaska Seafood into your diet are
myriad. It’s all wild caught: salmon or
pollock that has been swimming free in
Alaska’s crystalline waters is naturally
low in fat, high in protein, and packed Above: Alaska Seafood fisherman McKenzie Degal
with Omega-3, which helps to maintain Below: Alaska black cod is naturally low in fat and high in protein
heart and brain health, and crucially, a
robust immune system.
But the best reason to seek out Alaska
Seafood the next time you’re making fish
tacos, or attempting to recreate Nobu’s
black cod? The taste. Its natural diet and
freedom to swim wild means fish from
Alaska are firmer, fitter and more vibrant
than its counterparts, which becomes
evident when it reaches your plate.
At a time when so much feels beyond
our control, the simple act of choosing
a meal that feels as good as it tastes is a
decision we can get on board with. n
To discover more about Alaska Seafood and
for recipe ideas visit Wildalaskaseafood.co.uk
FOOD & DRINK

A TASTE OF THE PUFF

SCHOOL OF PASTRY

APPLE GALETTE
Ingredients for dough
175g unsalted butter
225g strong white bread flour
12g caster sugar
5g fine salt
70ml ice-cold water

Ingredients for filling

450g Bramley apples
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 zested fruit of your choice
80g caster sugar mixed with 2 tsp cornflour
10g melted butter
Egg wash
Demerara
Apricot jam

Method
Cube butter into 1cm pieces (irregular is fine) and chill well
– either 20 minutes in the freezer or overnight in the fridge.
Mix the flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Add in the
butter – slowly mix until it resembles breadcrumbs but leave
Ravneet Gill (left) and Nicola Lamb a few big pea-sized pieces of butter. Add in the ice water,
(above) went from feeding mouths
at their cult bakery, Puff, to teaching
mix quickly to form a dough. Handle it as little as possible,
the world to cook and feed others bring it together on the bench. Add in a fold to make it
extra flaky: form into a rectangle and roll out to double its
length and then fold dough into three, like a letter. Shape
into a disc, wrap tightly and rest in the fridge for a minimum
of two hours, or overnight. Cut your apples into thin slices,

Baking new
toss with lemon juice to stop from going brown. Toss with
melted butter, zest, sugar and any spices you’d like.
Meanwhile, roll out your flaky galette dough to approximately

ground
23cm long and 0.5cm thick. Arrange the apple slices in a
pattern on the dough, leaving a 4cm border around the
edge. Fold the edges of the galette dough in on top of the
apples, overlapping slightly to close. Brush crust with
egg wash and sprinkle your galette with demerara sugar.
Bake at 180C fan for 30 to 40 minutes until golden,
Meet Nicola Lamb and Ravneet Gill, puffed and beautiful. Brush with a little apricot jam or
the bakers mixing things up with something shiny and clear when it comes out.

their virtual pastry school ORANGE OLIVE OIL CAKE

I
Ingredients for cake
f lockdown has taught us anything, it’s that we truly are a nation 2 large eggs (Vogue recommends
who loves to bake. We have found solace in sustaining our Clarence Court’s Burford Browns)
2 blood orange zests
sourdough starters and buried our heads in loaf after loaf of banana 115ml olive oil
bread, endlessly documenting our culinary successes (although 80g yoghurt
not so many failures) on social media. But some intrepid home cooks 50ml blood-orange juice
are hungry for more. Cue chefs Nicola Lamb and Ravneet Gill, who 15ml lemon juice
opened the doors to their virtual pastry school back in April, and now 140g caster sugar
95g plain flour
have more than 2,000 committed pupils learning how to make such 4g baking powder
delectable delights as choux buns filled with hazelnut crème mousseline, 1g bicarbonate of soda
buttery palmiers, dark chocolate and mascarpone millefeuille, and
gorgeous fruit galettes. A banana bread tutorial, this is not. Ingredients for syrup
75ml blood-orange juice
Pre-pandemic, Lamb and Gill were the stars of cult bakery pop-up 75g caster sugar
Puff, but when that became unfeasible they quickly realised “if we
ISSY CROKER; SOPHIE DAVIDSON

couldn’t feed people in real life, we wanted to give them the skills so
they could feed their neighbours and loved ones,” Lamb tells Vogue.
The pair are serious about it, too – they devised two curriculums
(split into volumes), record a weekly theory podcast and hold a live
Q&A once a week to answer any students’ pastry-shaped problems.
“It’s so amazing to see the evolution of the students,” enthuses Gill.
“Some of them are better than me.” Think you’ve got what it takes?
Head to Puffthebakery.co.uk to enrol. Olivia Marks
Method
For the cake, mix all of the wet ingredients together.
Separately mix all of the dry ingredients together. Mix
everything together to form a batter. Bake in a round tin or
loaf tin for 45 minutes to an hour (170C or 160C fan) until a
skewer comes out clean when inserted. Make a syrup by heating
the two ingredients together then brush over the cake. Allow to
cool before serving with more yoghurt or mascarpone.
n

96
 VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

Bars, clockwise from

left: Beaufort Bar at
The Savoy; Oriole
Bar; Swift in Soho.

A MODERN WAY
Cocktails, from top:
the bourbon-based
Breathless Charm
at American Bar,

TO CELEBRATE
The Savoy; gin and
grapefruit liquor
make for a sweet
combination in
the Cabo Verde
at Oriole Bar
As the official partner of the World’s 50
Best Bars, Perrier knows the finest places in
London to sample superior cocktails
GONE ARE THE days when the verdict on cocktails was the stronger, the
better. Now, the ideal beverage is refreshing rather than overpowering, allowing
the nuanced flavours of ingredients to shine through (and preventing overindulgence).
Enter Perrier, whose premium sparkling water has been a key ingredient in
some of the best-loved cocktails of the last 100 years – and is the secret to staying
fresh and hydrated throughout party season. With its high carbonation and low
minerality making it the perfect dilution for world-class tipples, it’s no wonder it
has a place on virtually every leading cocktail menu in London.
Among the elegant places to sample a Perrier-based cocktail? The legendary
American Bar at The Savoy, home to some of the world’s finest mixologists who
have been serving up cocktails for over 130 years, including the Breathless Charm
– a delicate combination of bourbon, orange blossom water and Perrier. The hotel’s
Beaufort Bar, on the other hand, combines tequila, celery bitters and Perrier in
its newly developed The Founder. While a mile away in Soho, the team at stylish
watering hole Swift are mixing up the invigorating Mountain Spring with vodka,
saké, Perrier and jasmine tea syrup. For a more avant-garde vibe, head to the tiny
Three Sheets bar in Dalston for a restorative Fizzy Peach, in which Perrier is used
to dilute Chivas Mizunara whisky; or linger over an invigorating gin and Perrier-
based Cabo Verde at the darkly romantic Oriole Bar near Smithfield Market. n
Visit Perrier.com for more information
VOGUE PARTNERSHIP
From bellota ham to
baked Camembert,
THE FESTIVE SEASON is nearly upon us – and while
sugared plums to a glass of fizz is always welcome, Rémy Martin XO might
chocolate truffles, just be the ultimate celebratory tipple. Rich and velvety, the
Rémy Martin XO is
the ideal pairing world-renowned cognac features as many as 400 of the
for the season’s finest eaux-de-vie from the Grande and Petite Champagne
finest treats. regions – expertly selected by the historic French brand’s
Rémy Martin XO,
£170, at Selfridges cellar master. Among the tastes found in the resulting blend?
Sweet plums and figs, as well as candied oranges and
hazelnuts – with a hint of cinnamon making it even more
Christmas-appropriate.
Of course, sipping a glass of Rémy Martin XO in its
purest form while a log fire blazes nearby is practically a
requirement as the nights close in – allowing you to savour
the delicate aromas of late summer fruits and jasmine flowers
RAISE A
GLASS
In this season of celebration,
Rémy Martin XO is the perfect
luxurious accompaniment
to any occasion or feast
without distraction. Yet, the blend is also the ideal pairing
for all manner of decadent meals and treats. Serve it
alongside a cheese plate filled with distinctive aged Parmesan,
mature Camembert, and nutty Manchego; use it to cut
through the richness of an indulgent spread of pâtés, terrines,
and charcuterie; or have it as a postprandial treat with rich
chocolate truffles or mousse.
The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without the joy
of gifting, and what better way to share the festive spirit
than with a bottle of Rémy Martin XO. Our advice?
Purchase more than one – it’s the ultimate party favour. n
For exclusive masterclasses and curated experiences
join La Maison Rémy Martin concierge ser vice at
Lamaison.remymartin.com/membership
 FOOD & DRINK

The Dandy Bar

Measure up
New to the scene, The Dandy Bar
is the perfect excuse to revisit
classic cocktails. By Olivia Marks

O
nly the unimaginative can fail to find a
reason for drinking champagne,” said
Oscar Wilde, playwright and notable lush,
whose penchant for the sparkly stuff was
renowned. In fact, his alleged favourite – AR Lenoble
Brut Champagne – will be readily available at The
Dandy Bar, which opens next month in The Mayfair
Townhouse (the latest hotel from the people behind “Cocktails are usually
Cliveden House). Situated on Half Moon Street – the served before meals,
but have one whenever
setting for Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest the impulse hits you,”
– its interior (silk-pleated lampshades, ample marble wrote food and drink
and brass) and drinks menu both pay homage to the connoisseur Henry
golden age of cocktails and the dandies who drank McNulty in his 1982
volume, Vogue Cocktails
them. “You need a modern twist, but you want a good (Conran Octopus, £10).
cocktail and you want it quickly,” Andrew Stembridge, “The objective in
executive director, tells Vogue of the bar’s ethos and serving them to friend
its “clubby, home-from-home” feel. The classic but or foe is relaxation
lesser seen Dandy cocktail – whisky, triple sec, and enjoyment – not
to knock them out.”
Dubonnet – will be a stalwart, with a nuanced update Here are three
for now. This is a bar unconcerned with the “over- forgotten, punchy
embellished” – it’s a place for a perfectly made drink classics to mix at home
and elegant people-watching in the heart of town. n – just remember to
heed McNulty’s advice…

Below, from left: coupe, Below, from left: coupe, £90, Below, from left: Rémy Martin XO, £137. Moët & Chandon
from £158, Yali. Whitley Richard Brendon. Glenfiddich Brut Impérial Champagne, £38, at Clos19.com.
Neill Original Dry Gin, £24 Grand Cru, £220 Wine glass, £65, Lobmeyr, at Matchesfashion.com

GLOOM RAISER DRY ROB ROY CHICAGO

2 tbsp gin 50ml Scotch whisky 50ml cognac
2 tbsp dry vermouth 3 tbsp dry vermouth 1 dash curaçao
PALFREY-ROGERS; GETTY IMAGES

1 dash grenadine 1 dash Angostura 1 dash bitters

1 dash Pernod bitters Champagne
RAYMOND MEIER; GRAHAM

Twist of lemon peel

Method Method
Stir gin, vermouth Method Stir in the first three
and grenadine with Stir the first three ingredients with ice
ice. Serve with ingredients with ice. in a glass jug. Strain
Pernod floating Serve with a twist of into a glass and fill
on top. lemon peel. with champagne.

101
 Plate, £45,
Themis Z at
Matchesfashion.com
Linen napkins,
£65 for a set of four,
Matilda Goad

Dinner
Laurent-
Perrier Cuvée
Rosé Brut
champagne,
£62, at
Waitrose

Coupe glasses,
£210,
DRESSING
Ensure your table looks as delicious as
Campbell-Rey
your dessert. Edited by Holly Tomalin Napoleon III
Macarons,
£21.50, Ladurée

Vogue, February 2020

Cutlery, £9 for a set

of three, H&M

Veuve
Clicquot
La Grande
Dame x Yayoi
Kusama
limited-edition
champagne, Shaker set,
£150, at The £125, Aerin
Selfridges
Corner Shop

Lobster cutter, £390,

Brunello Cucinelli

102
 FOOD & DRINK
CHECKLIST
Plate set, £98,
La DoubleJ

Vogue, August 2020

Linen napkin, £25,
Summerill & Bishop

Champagne
flute, £15,
Villeroy & Boch,
at Harvey Nichols

Plate, £85 for two,

Hermès

Garden
VARIETY
Jug, £65, The
Glass, £150, Dior Conran Shop

Bring the outdoors in with these

botanical beauties to brighten up
dinner time. Edited by Holly Tomalin
GIANLUCA LONGO; VENETIA SCOTT

Candle,
£279, Baobab Bowl, £305,
Collection Gucci
 Jessica wears
VIEWPOINT
dress, £895, The
Vampire’s Wife, at
Matchesfashion.com.
Hair: Lotte O’Shea.
Make-up: Zoë Taylor

Spiritual
awakening
SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT

A date with her destiny resulted in a life-changing

journey of love and religion for Vogue’s Jessica Diner.
Portraits by Misan Harriman. Styling by Eniola Dare

D
o you accept Judaism to the exclusion of all other
religious faiths?” “I do.” “Do you accept Judaism
and all its laws?” “I do.” “Do you commit to
establishing a Jewish home and raising a Jewish
family?” “I do.” I was dressed in a robe in a side room of a
small synagogue in the depths of north-west London for
a moment a long time in the making: three years of study
preceded by two years of careful reflection, and before all
that, a lifetime of subconscious preparation for something
I didn’t know was coming, but now made perfect sense. It
all brought me to this: an uncharacteristically sunny Wednesday
morning in November 2013, and the final ceremony in my
conversion to Judaism; a wedding ceremony of sorts. About
to take a plunge in a mikveh (a Jewish ritual bath), I was aware
that these were the last moments of a past existence, following
which I would be reborn into a new faith and a new life.
To be honest, waiting for an appointment in a robe was
not something I was a stranger to. As beauty and lifestyle
director at Vogue (then beauty editor), trialling spa treatments
is part of the job, but this was an altogether new arrangement.
My fast-paced life, endless travelling and packed diary were
all hallmarks of a dizzying passage of time known to many
women in their twenties and thirties, yet they gave no
indication of what lay around the corner. Though always
spiritual, I had never previously considered myself religious.
Deeply introspective, I’d always felt there was a higher
“something”, I just didn’t know what that something was
and hadn’t felt compelled to search hard enough to find it.>

105
 My conversion process became almost like a coming of age, as my
developing maturity opened up new ideas and possibilities.
I was born in New York, and when I was four my family relocated
to London for my father’s work. Newly arrived in Hampstead Garden
Suburb – a stone’s throw from Golders Green and Hendon, the heartland
of north-west London’s Jewish community – I was immersed in a new
way of life without even knowing it. With almost exclusively Jewish
neighbours, and no friends or extended family to speak of, we were
immediately taken in. For as long as I can remember, I’ve attended Shabbat
dinners, Jewish New Year celebrations and Passover meals. Because of
where we lived, the school I went to and the company we kept, my
friends were predominantly Jewish. I was always considered “honorary”.
U
nsurprisingly then, I found myself with a Jewish boyfriend,
Edward. On the same social circuit, we first met at 15
(he remembers it, I don’t, we argue about it to this day),
and oscillated in and out of each other’s lives until, at 24,
a group trip led to a holiday romance that continued long
after we returned home. From early on in our relationship, the Jewish
factor was always a… factor. Modern Orthodox, Ed and his family
followed Jewish traditions such as keeping kosher, Shabbat meals and
observance of religious festivals. As the relationship became more serious,
so did the conversations around faith. It was always a given that he’d
marry someone Jewish. So where did that leave us? Six months in, I
found myself wondering if I should call things off, because surely it had
no future. But as time passed, it became clear that neither of us wanted
it to end, so something had to change. And it would be my faith.
Ed never asked me if I would convert, though, which I always feel
compelled to clarify. I wanted to do it, and have my desired “Jewishness”
be accepted by rabbinical authorities and our children be considered
Jewish in the Orthodox Jewish community (the Jewish heritage line
is matriarchal). And so I chose to do an Orthodox conversion – a
process that you have to want to embark on from the depths of your
soul. It requires dedication and desire beyond any relationship. The
love of a person can definitely be part of the equation, but not its sum.
In Judaism, you talk about things being beshert, or destiny. As dramatic
as it sounds, this was my destiny.
I was brought up Catholic, in a traditional family. My parents taught
me to be open, loving and accepting, and when I told them that
I wanted to convert, they were full of support for whatever made me
happy. The conversion began three years after Ed and I first started
dating. What followed was three more years of intense study,
immeasurable patience and immense love. A conversion to Judaism
sees you learn and live all aspects of Jewish life. There is no masking
the fact that it is a huge transition. I was still maintaining my job at
Vogue, and the continuity of work that I adore grounded my experience
– a typical week could see me going from backstage at London Fashion
Week in the day to three hours with my Jewish studies teacher that
night. I studied two evenings a week, with Sunday mornings dedicated
to learning to read Hebrew (which, I hasten to add, was no easy matter,
and I count as one of my biggest achievements).
After two years, the London Beth Din (the rabbinical body that
oversees conversions), satisfied with my level of Jewish knowledge,
considered me ready to put what I had learnt into practice and move on
I packed all my jeans into a
suitcase and put them in the
attic, fashion and spirituality
meeting in a rite of passage
that I can still vividly recall
106
to the next phase – living with an Orthodox Jewish family. A wonderful
“mother” and “father” and their seven children – strangers to me, and
I to them – would take me in and treat me as one of their own.
I lived with them full-time for the better part of a year. In bed on
the first night, I remember it feeling surreal, maybe even slightly scary,
but also exciting. I am a glass-half-full person – I will always see the
positives in any given situation – so I just went with it. Commuting
every day from my new home in Hendon to Vogue House in Hanover
Square had fresh meaning. I was still working in my dream job, but
aligning my priorities in my personal life, too.
I cannot overstate the kindness they showed me. Absorbed into their
family and their customs, I understood the necessity of this part of the
process – the part that had always been the most daunting to me. This
was where I would walk the walk. It surprised me how quickly it felt
normal to live with them – a testament to how welcoming they were.
As a 30-year-old woman, at the time living with my best friend in
central London, had you told me I needed to move back home,
I couldn’t have done it. But because this had a wider purpose, it felt
doable. In fact, this was when things really started to fall into place
and cement my love for the faith.
I still carved out time to see close friends and family after work or at
weekends, but I made an effort to go home to my newly acquired family
as much as possible, to observe, bond and absorb. I learnt the nuts and
bolts of what it takes to run a Jewish household, but the relationships
formed in that time are just as deeply ingrained as the customs.
The warmth of the wider community was touching as well, with a
constant stream of invites for meals, offers of help and advice. It was
history repeating itself from when my family had moved to London
some 25 years before. There were my Jewish studies teachers, a
relationship with one in particular so profound that she remains one
of my closest friends. There was my own family, who, in spite of their
support, must have found the whole experience strange, but never
made me aware of it. And then there was Ed, the anchor to it all,
unwaveringly supportive, constantly by my side, unknowingly affirming
for me every day that I had made the right decision.
The conversion process itself had many practical applications that
soon came into effect: eating according to kosher food rules, observing
the Sabbath and dressing more modestly. Having previously always
been that girl in the T-shirt and skinny jeans, taking on modest dressing
wasn’t necessarily easy. But I packed all my jeans into a suitcase and
put them in the attic at my parents’ house, fashion and spirituality
meeting in a rite of passage that I can still vividly recall. But here’s the
thing: it stuck. I had studied philosophies behind modest dressing – to
be attractive, but not attracting – and quite naturally reached a tipping
point of change. I packed away the “old” me and bought a whole new
wardrobe. Almost seven years later, I wouldn’t wear anything else. It
has become such a part of who I am.
Friends now call me Dress Diner and what started as an everyday
affirmation of faith in how you get dressed very quickly became my
signature style. Online shopping involves a click of the “midi/maxi”
filter, and anything floral immediately grabs my attention. I feel infinitely
more feminine and put-together, not to mention the practicality of only
needing to consider one item of clothing in the morning and not having
the pinching waistband of jeans dictating my sense of wellbeing.
Observing the Sabbath in the early days of the conversion seemed
like such an insurmountable notion, too. Downing tools and going
offline for 25 hours each week? An impossible task for someone with
a busy work and social life. But as with every part of the process, it
slowly infused into my everyday. The Sabbath is a time for self-reflection
and to connect exclusively with friends and family. No matter how
hectic life has been, Ed and I will get the headspace to download the
week uninterrupted. Family and friends come to visit and there are
no distractions from phones, iPads or television. When people find out

The wedding was a blur,
but what was tangible was
the collective joy from all
who had been so invested
in our journey
I have converted, they are always intrigued about what they perceive
to be restrictions, not realising the positive reinforcement that these
traditions bring. I genuinely can’t envisage life any other way.
Looking back on my conversion, it’s hard to register how something
that took up every thought of every day, is now so seamlessly intertwined
into my life that I barely need to acknowledge it. We have two children,
Noah and Jacob, and are raising them as Orthodox Jews. Of course,
when children come into the equation you become more acutely aware
of the world you are raising them in, which hasn’t been without its
tribulations for modern-day Jews. My son’s Jewish primary school
has security guards and surveillance at the gate; I am fearful for my
husband and oldest son walking to synagogue on Saturday mornings
wearing their kippahs; and the community has security walk-throughs
in advance of significant Jewish holidays in case of an attack – all
poignant reminders that the world we live in now, for all its wokeness,
MISAN HARRIMAN; DAVID PULLUM PHOTOGRAPHY
still poses a simmering threat to the Jewish community.
I now have an understanding of why Orthodox families are protective
over their children, wanting them to marry within the faith. Years,
decades, generations of persecution will draw a community closer
together. Even in my conversion ceremony, the final oath in my series
of I dos was: “Do you agree to take on the Jewish faith despite
persecution and discrimination?” At the time it seemed like such
a jarring question to ask at such a joyous moment. But now I know.
It is because anti-Semitism is always looming.
As a Jew by choice, it was more than unsettling to see the anti-
Semitism reported in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, and, among the
many other daily affronts, to see a proliferation of anti-Semitic tropes
VIEWPOINT
Above: visiting the holy
Western Wall in Jerusalem
Top left: the couple on their wedding day,
March 2014. Left: celebrating Hanukkah
with their children. Above: modest dressing
has become Jessica’s signature style. Dress,
£410, Batsheva, at Matchesfashion.com.
Shoes, £425, Jimmy Choo. For stockists
all pages, see Vogue Information
continue to be spread on social media – including by British rapper
Wiley earlier this year. It brings a mixture of shock, sadness and
confusion. This is new to me, but something experienced and never
forgotten by generations before. The kindness and gratitude that was
– and still is – shown to me by the Jewish community is a debt that I
feel I can never repay, and so I feel strongly that part of the trade is to
speak out against injustices in the hope that we can break the mould.
Because in the end, love conquers all. I am testament to that.
Getting to the point when I said my I dos in the plunge pool seemed
like it took forever, yet it came around so quickly. I will never forget the
moment I found out I had completed my conversion. I’d just landed
from a press trip to Venice when Mama G (as I came to call my adoptive
Jewish mother) phoned me. We had received a letter from the Beth Din.
I was being given a date to go to the mikveh to finalise my journey. I
remember people on the plane staring at me as we disembarked
and I burst into tears. Delighted, proud, relieved, in awe.
The following week, standing on my surrogate Jewish family’s doorstep
before heading to the conversion ceremony, I vividly recall Papa G
saying to me, “The sun is shining especially for you today.” Three dips
in the mikveh (as is customary) and I was a Jew. What followed thereafter
was a series of meals and celebrations – as Jews do – and, four months
later, Ed and I were married. The wedding was a blur, but what was
tangible was the collective joy from all who had been so invested in our
journey. Standing under the chuppah (the Jewish wedding canopy) the
first words from our rabbi were, “We made it!” And we had. Ed’s speech
opened with Nelson Mandela’s words, “It always seems impossible until
it’s done.” And it was done. n
107
The art of the
MODERN ICON
 VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

With the launch of its 4 Series Coupé,, BMWblyhas soft,

pts the body’s
introduced a bold new design
contourslanguage – joining
for that all-important a
support
long history of visionary Vogue-approved
factor. From leggings andbrands pants to
changing the world through
bodysuits and shorts,fearless
there’s an style.
array of

Photographs by Mitch Payne. Styling

Nike bytheJessica
is is one of Dance
official partners for
B
MW has always been
renowned for its world-
leading automotive
technology – but its
fearless aesthetics are just
as worthy of praise. There’s
no doubt that the brand is fully aware
that the history of design is defined by
truly groundbreaking creations – pieces
that marry tradition and revolution,
luxury and functionality, in a single
object. As BMW’s head of design
Domagoj Dukec says, “There are a lot
of different takes on what ‘progressive’
design means, but it always, without fail,
provokes a strong emotion. The only true
criteria is to make something unique and
daring that raises the bar.” In other words,
if you’re going to change the course of
The Shell chair by Hans J Wegner

history, playing it safe is not an option.

Take the evolution of 20th-century
fashion. In February 1955, Gabrielle
“Coco” Chanel ruffled sartorial feathers
when she launched her cult 2.55 bag –
adding the first chain strap to a women’s
purse. As she declared with her signature
unaffectedness, she “got tired of holding,
losing and searching for” her clutches.
The old guard decried the style as
“improper” and “uncouth”. Her liberated
female clientele, on the other hand,
adored its practicality – relishing the
ability to use their hands freely. Decades
later, and it remains one of the house’s
most enduring designs.
In a similar vein, Christian Louboutin
translated the red soles of Louis VIX’s
Versailles for a modern audience when
he developed his vertiginous stilettos in
the ’90s. While certain tastemakers
questioned whether anyone would wear
the gravity-defying heels (and queried
the practicality of red-bottomed shoes),
the French designer promptly found his
first high-profile client in the form of
Princess Caroline of Monaco. Just shy
of 25 years later, and the now world-
famous brand launched its bestselling So
Kate pumps – with its record-breaking
heel measuring 120mm.
Just like fashion, the world of interiors
has been shaped by directional designs
So Kate pumps by Christian Louboutin

through the years. The originally

controversial PH5 Pendant and
Anglepoise 1227 have effectively
revolutionised the way people light their
homes – but not without initial resistance
from traditionalists. Inspired by the
movement of the human arm, automotive
engineer George Carwardine produced
the first “posable” lamp between the wars
– refining his first industrial models to
create the sophisticated Anglepoise 1227
 VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

in 1935. The lamps are now so ubiquitous,

it’s hard to believe they were once
considered too novel for the domestic
market. Three decades later, Danish
maverick Poul Henningsen devised the
radical PH-5 to transform the glare from
incandescent bulbs into delicately
suffused light, creating a then-contentious
icon of mid-century design in the process.
It ’s remained a bestseller for its
manufacturer, Louis Poulsen, ever since.
Meanwhile, it took 35 years for Hans
J Wegner’s Shell chair to be recognised
for what it is – a masterpiece – in spite
of the fact that he was already known as
the genius behind a number of era-
defining chairs, including the so-called
Wishbone. When the Scandinavian
master first revealed the CH07 Shell in
1963, only the most progressive critics
praised its ergonomic style and graceful

The BMW 4 Series Coupé

proportions – with extremely few of the
original CH07 going into production as
a result. Jump to 1997, and Wegner’s
long-term manufacturing partner Carl
Hansen & Søn reintroduced the design,
becoming one of their most in-demand
chairs thanks to its organic simplicity.
As for French architect Philippe Starck,
he made one of the most powerful
aesthetic statements of the 20th century
when he sketched a lemon squeezer on
the back of a napkin while eating a plate
of calamari on the Amalfi coast in 1990.
“It’s not meant to squeeze lemons, it is
meant to start conversations,” Starck
allegedly said of the object, which the
Italian house of Alessi promptly
developed. Today, the original napkin
sketch, complete with tomato sauce
stains, has a place in the Alessi Museum
– while one of Starck’s lemon squeezers
rests in the permanent collection of the
Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The message, then, is clear: to create
(or be) a style icon, go bold. It’s precisely
that visionary aesthetic sentiment that
Dukec tapped into when creating the
all-new BMW 4 Series Coupé –
combining true innovation with a deep
The Anglepoise 1227 by George Carwardine

sense of the brand’s prestigious heritage

to make a car like no other. “BMW has
always been pioneering when it comes
to technology,” he reflects. “We’re ahead
of the curve in terms of the powertrain.
So it’s only natural that we would match
that technical skill with corresponding
prowess in the design DNA of the brand
as well.”
“Luxury is really a certain type of
feeling,” Dukec says of his thought
process while reimagining one of the
brand’s most popular models. “People >
VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

The BMW 4 Series

Coupé “is not
like any BMW
you’ve seen before,”
says head of design
Domagoj Dukec
today are looking for distinctive, expressive cars. You need to
be much more forward-thinking to catch people’s attention.
So, my team and I asked ourselves: what’s the best way to tie
together our strong heritage with progressive design in a way
that moves BMW into the future? And, just as importantly,
how will the resulting models both stand out on the road and

The PH5 pendant by Poul Henningsen

maintain a certain elegance? That’s the key balancing act in
the new BMW 4 Series as a whole – creating something that’s
avant-garde and timelessly beautiful at the same time.”
The resulting Coupé neatly encapsulates BMW’s brave design
future – taking the brand’s impeccable sports car tradition to
even greater heights. Athletic yet refined, this is not a car for
wallflowers. In contrast with previous generations, all
superfluous design elements have been pared away – allowing
the ones that remain to stand out even more impressively. As
Dukec points out, the BMW owner of today is looking for
more than just world-leading automotive technology. They’re
looking for a car that pushes boundaries and makes a statement
while letting them experience the true joy of driving.
Of course, in the 4 Series Coupé, no feature is more powerful
than BMW’s classic twin kidney grille – featured on nearly
every BMW front since 1933 and made more visually impactful
here than ever before. Dukec was particularly inspired by the
BMW 328 Coupé, a record-breaking motoring car with slender,
vertical grilles manufactured between 1936 and 1940, as well
as the ’70s favourite, the BMW 3.0 CS, whose more compact

The Alessi lemon squeezer by Philippe Starck

grille was angled slightly forward. “The kidney is our strongest
brand icon,” says Dukec. “It’s something that’s differentiated
our brand from the time of its founding. It’s such an impactful
graphic statement – and its development through the years
has been remarkable. There’s never been a generation of car
that kept the same kidney grille shape as its predecessors.”
Notably, both of the aforementioned models inspired the
4 Series Coupé grilles in a different way. The prominence of
the almost art-deco style grille on the 328 Coupé appealed to
Dukec. (“In the ’30s, the kidneys were elongated and sleek,”
he highlights.) At the same time, the forward-leaning grille
on the 3.0 CS felt suitably progressive for the next generation
of BMW drivers. “My greatest inspiration is always our
customers,” Dukec explains. “Understanding how human beings
and society as a whole are being affected by the zeitgeist at any
given moment – and how that is shaping their reaction to
different aesthetics. Once you understand that, you can deliver
the best product – while always remembering that what any
driver loves is so personal.”
No fashionable driver, however, could fail to be impressed
by the sleek profile and clean lines of the two-door, four-seater
4 Series Coupé. And while the external traits guarantee the
car will make an impression on passersby, its sumptuous interiors
create the ultimate luxury driving experience once you’re inside.
Get into the leather driver’s seat, adjust the settings in the
The Chanel 2.55 bag by Gabrielle Chanel

revamped digital cockpit, and prepare for an adrenaline rush.

And while the launch of the 4 Series Coupé is exciting
enough, this is just a taster of the next iteration of BMW’s
design language – with the equally remarkable 4 Series Gran
Coupé, 4 Series Convertible, and the all-electric i4 all due out
in 2021. “This series, and especially the Coupé, is really what
BMW is all about,” Dukec underscores. “It honours our legacy,
but it’s not like any BMW you’ve ever seen before – and it’s
certainly not like any other car on the road. It’s strong.
It’s bold. It’s the future.” And, for a stylish driver, what could
be more appealing than that? n
Discover the BMW 4 Series and the all-electric i4 at Bmw.co.uk
MR VOGUE

On the
money
Actor Nabhaan Rizwan’s latest
expert turn is an exploration of
excess, finds Amel Mukhtar.
Photograph by Adama Jalloh.
Styling by Dena Giannini

G
iven his growing list of screen credits, you’d
be forgiven for thinking Nabhaan Rizwan,
23, always wanted to be an actor. But it
wasn’t a straight path. As a child in Ilford,
his mother often encouraged him to perform, which
he found, he says, “kind of annoying”. His comedian
older brother would drag the whole family into his
popular YouTube videos. “I was really embarrassed
about that.” Rizwan’s mother, on the other hand,
got scouted as a result, landing parts in Bollywood.
Cricket was Rizwan’s rebellion. But at 18, not
quite pro-level and with university an unappealing
option, he found himself open to trying the “creative
thing”. As he explains, “It runs in my family pretty
deep, so I figured I’d try as much as possible.” When
he and some friends put on an acting showcase, he
was spotted by an agent, and that led to his first
audition and a starring role in the 2018 Bafta-
nominated BBC drama Informer.
After a memorable turn in Sam Mendes’ film
1917, Rizwan is back on the BBC this autumn in
Industry – a dive into the high-stress, high-stakes
(and high on coke) world of finance, part-directed
by Lena Dunham. The actor plays Hari, a Jordan
Belfort (Wolf of Wall Street) obsessed banker, who

DIGITAL ARTWORK: KAJA JANGAARD-CANNINGS. SOCIAL DISTANCING

“doesn’t realise the consequences” of his lifestyle.
Rap is Rizwan’s other love. He recently released RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT
the cerebral EP Fantastic Planet, under the alias El
Huxley, which made playing a face-tattooed rapper
in the upcoming Mogul Mowgli especially enjoyable.
(“I might have peaked on how much fun you can
have on a job,” he says.) He’s also set to feature in
the adaptation of Jojo Moyes’ novel The Last Letter
Polo-neck sweater, from Your Lover, alongside Felicity Jones, and had
£610. Leather begun filming Station Eleven, Hiro Murai’s HBO
boots, £790. Both
Saint Laurent by series about a pandemic, before production was
Anthony Vaccarello. paused due to a real one. “I thought everyone in LA
Wool trousers,
£360, Canali.
was being over-the-top… I was proved wrong.”
Pendant necklace, Acting and music aside, there’s a desire to diverge
£244, Tom Wood. and study fashion design at Central Saint Martins,
Grooming: Neil
Moodie and Laura too. You should follow a path, Rizwan says, “as long
Dominique as it shows you where to go”. n

114
 VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

RUNNING
START
As a world-class sprinter, Bianca Williams
knows the importance of dedication and
strength. With the Nike (M) range, she’s
ready for her next challenge – motherhood.
Photograph by Danika Magdelena
PHOTOGRAPH: DANIKA LAWRENCE

Bianca
wears Nike
(M) Pullover,
£69.95. Nike
One (M)
Tight, £54.95

Swimming in the deep end
Robin Muir looks back at Helmut Newton’s sexually charged, impossibly glamorous
and perhaps contentious poolside party shoot, Vogue October 1973
H
elmut Newton would have been a hundred years
old on 31 October. He is readily associated with
Vogue Paris, which in the 1970s gave him the
freedom to explore themes that would preoccupy
him for the rest of his long career. (He died in 2004 at 83,
still working). These were often erotically charged narratives,
encompassing an affection for the excesses of the European
jet-set and its “bourgeois glamour”. Based in Monaco for
many years, he was attuned to his subjects’ migratory shifts,
habits and predilections – what Cecil Beaton, an admirer of
Newton’s work, once referred to as “odd happenings around
a swimming pool at night”.
Perhaps Beaton had this shoot in mind, the pool being
that of the Hotel Byblos in Saint-Tropez. Here a cocktail
party, an exclusive one later titled In the Limelight Now for
British Vogue, is in full swing. Guests included models Karin
Feddersen, Barbara Carrera, Uva Barden (in an Albini velvet
ARCHIVE
evening suit) and fashion editor Grace Coddington. As she
recalled it, “Around Helmut, I’ve always thought it was
important to dress appropriately, which, during this particular
shoot on a sweltering day in the south of France, meant a
black bikini, sunglasses and a pair of my favourite Saint
Laurent heels… Next thing I knew, he had persuaded me to
spend the rest of the night floating in the pool.”
To his detractors, Newton’s images were cold, bloodless
and misogynistic. To his admirers, he subverted the fashion
page like no one else – liberating it from the constrictions
of decorum and conformity, offering up instead the white
heat of sexual audacity. In short, whatever presented itself
as a code of good conduct he would find the means to flout,
subtly or blatantly, giving rise to one of the most sustained
fashion, portrait and beauty oeuvres of the era. n
Helmut Newton: High Gloss is at Hamiltons Gallery, W1, from
16 October to 8 January
119
 THE
MIDNIGHT
HOURMake after-dark dressing
effortlessly opulent. Edited by
Holly Tomalin. Photograph
by Baker & Evans

DARK MAGIC
This calfskin Devotion bag from
Dolce & Gabbana serves decadence
and elegance in one perfect accessory.
Thanks to its sumptuous texture and
glimmering gold hardware, it promises
to stay totally chic, night after night.

Bag, £1,588, Dolce & Gabbana

 CHECKLIST

Diamond
earrings,
price on
Ring, £90, request,
Pandora Vanleles

Blouse, £1,400,
Giorgio Armani

Vogue, October 1992

Belt, £555,
Etro

Shoes, £780,
Ermanno
Scervino Watch, price
Skirt, £3,780, on request,
Michael Kors Chaumet
Bag, £1,630,
Collection Prada
MAX VADUKUL

Chanel Le Rouge Duo Ultra Tenue in Burning Red, £31

Shirt, £199, Holland Cooper
 CHECKLIST

Earrings,
£690,
Dior

50th anniversary capsule

collection sweater, £370,
Paul Smith

Shoes, £139,
Kurt Geiger
London
Vogue, January 2011

Boots, £415,
Russell &
Bromley

Dress,
£50, The
Vampire’s
Kimono, Wife &
£176, H&M
Kleed Earrings,
£650,
Alexander
McQueen,
at Flannels
DANIEL JACKSON

Lancôme
Hypnôse
Mascara in Noir
Hypnotic, £27
 BEAUTY
Edited by Jessica Diner

BLURRING
THE LINES
ZOE GHERTNER/ART PARTNER

Be it the soft edges of “watercolour make-up”,

or the trend for gym workouts at home,
it’s time to explore the parameters of
beauty and wellness, says Jessica Diner
BEAUTY

MAISON MARGIELA
Left: Charlotte Tilbury Cheek to Chic blush
in Ecstasy, £30. Below: Dior Backstage Glow
Face Palette in Rose Gold, £36

GUCCI
Right: Byredo
Colour Stick in
Ultramagnetic,
£26. Below:
Glossier Lidstar
glistening eye
glow in Lily, £15
MISSONI

Right: Chanel
Rouge Coco Flash
lipstick in Freeze, Lancôme Hypnôse Eyeshadow
£31. Below: Palette in Bleu Hypnôtique, £42.50.
Clinique Chubby Below: Mac Cosmetics Powder Kiss
Stick Shadow Tint Soft Matte Eyeshadow in Ripened,
For Eyes in Big £17.50. Powder Kiss Liquid
Blue, £18.50 Lipcolour in Crossfade, £19.50

Below: Trish McEvoy Liquid Lip Gloss in

Bliss, £29. Below left: Dolce & Gabbana Solar
Glow Universal Illuminating Drops, £38

Painterly perfection
Introducing “watercolour make-up”, the artistic, playful and
softly colourful way into a/w 2020. By Jessica Diner JAMES COCHRANE; ANTHEA SIMMS/CAMERA PRESS; PIXELATE.BIZ

L
ooking at the make-up on the models walking the
autumn/winter runways, you could have been
forgiven for thinking that you were seeing a show
from the wrong season. Pops of blue, flashes of
orange and pink, dustings of yellow, green and lilac… the
painterly palettes chosen by make-up artists backstage at
shows such as Dries Van Noten, Gucci, Maison Margiela
and Missoni were decidedly springlike.
And so, too, was their application, which was as important
as the spectrum of colour itself. Sheer watercolour washes
gave the look a very accessible appeal. “Transparency
automatically makes colour more beautifying on the face,”
explains Terry Barber, director of make-up artistry for
Mac Cosmetics. “It takes away the fear of looking garish
or retro, and it’s those fresh, plump washes of colour that
allow you to be more playful.”
Be it a halo around the eye, a new or unusual experimentation
in lip colour, or a gentle tonal clash on both eyes and lips,
using products in this way gives an end result that is much
softer – and this is, according to Barber, the easiest and most
flattering in-road to exploring technicolour choices. “Veils
of colour that bring out the features rather than enclose them
are the unsung heroes of make-up,” he says. So what to make
of this more romantic approach? “It’s a good time to break
the seasonal rules and not resort to the classic earthiness of
autumnal beauty,” says Barber. “Instead celebrate the colours
of optimism and freshness. Can we say spring/summer is the
new autumn/winter?” It’s a resounding yes. n

126
WELLNESS
Home improvement
While lockdown had many pining for the gym, it also gave
a boost to a new generation of fitness tech: streamed, smart
and on a screen near you. By Lauren Murdoch-Smith
W
hen fitness-apparel giant
Lululemon bought Mirror,
a start-up, at-home fitness
tech company, for £380
million earlier this year, and right in the
middle of a pandemic, it confirmed that
exercising at home is not going anywhere.
Lockdown saw a marked rise in demand
for bespoke, hi-tech workouts and
equipment. “The acquisition of Mirror is
an exciting opportunity to build on our
‘sweatlife’ vision and enhance our digital
and interactive capabilities,” explains
Calvin McDonald, Lululemon CEO.
“We’re looking forward to learning from
and working with Mirror to accelerate the
growth of personalised in-home fitness.”
The appeal is obvious: Mirror is a two-
way interactive mirror that allows you to
see yourself training in its reflection while
watching a class instructor on screen,
bringing professional fitness directly to you,
in the least intrusive way. Switch off the
device and you’re left with a wall mirror
that gives no evidence of its digital power.
The monthly subscription model allows
you to sign up to stream live and on-
demand classes. A smart piece of gym kit.
Another recent winner, and also offering
at-home virtual gym classes, is Peloton,
which has seen a surge in its membership
since it extended its free trial period for the
app from 30 to 90 days in March. In just
six weeks, it had 1.1 million sign-ups
globally. Lockdown also saw Vogue launch
its #WorkoutWednesday Instagram series
– 10-minute workout videos from experts
in the field, which now regularly reach more
than 100,000 views per video.
While spring might be remembered for
the Joe Wicks daily workouts, online classes
from fitness brands, gyms and personal
trainers have quickly sprung up as experts
adapted to this new normal of exercise. Lee
Mullins, founder of Workshop Gymnasium,
had already started to think about producing
128
Fraîcheur Ice Globes, £55, give you a
cryotherapy facial at home. Cool down
as blood rushes to the skin, helping to
rejuvenate and tighten.
Up your cleansing tech
with the Foreo Luna 3
Mini, £139. This facial
brush will unclog pores
and prolong the
post-workout glow.
Bumble & Bumble Prêt-
à-powder Post Workout
Dry Shampoo Mist,
£24, is effective on
damp hair when you’ve
worked up a sweat.
more video content for his members, but
lockdown accelerated his programme, with
regular Instagram Live workouts and one-
on-one training via Zoom: “I’ve reconnected
with previous members who’ve moved to
other countries, which has further validated
my thoughts on creating more accessible
Nike Metcon 5 trainers, £115, are made
exercise content to reach more people, more for HIIT and weight training. They’re the
easily.” Mullins goes on to explain, “Gyms perfect all-round gym shoe.
can have a limited captive audience as Power Plate Roller, £100, is a step up
it’s capped due to location and people’s from a foam roller. With four vibrating
lifestyles, but if we create content to sit on settings, it helps to relax tight muscles
our website for educational purposes and and encourage blood flow and flexibility.
then added assets for clients we work with
to support them individually, it’s helping
both the client and the business. It also GET THE GEAR
allows people to train with a brand they
trust if they can’t logistically or financially
access the gym.” Lululemon In Alignment
Tonal, a wall-mounted device similar to Bra, £58, is super-soft
and comfortable, with
Mirror, is a vertical flat-screen synced up all the technical
to various integrated, strength-training specifications you’d
weights that are controlled by electricity expect from the brand.
and magnets, and will automatically adjust
according to the programme you are
streaming. Forme Life looks like an
expensive mirror but is in fact a touchscreen,
voice-activated, wall-mounted studio that
also has attachable equipment. Its content
library has a variety of classes such as yoga,
ballet and strength-training for a full mind By Terry Hyaluronic
and body offering, and the equipment is Pressed Hydra-
cleverly concealable so that it won’t clutter Powder, £38, will
mattify without
up your home. Tempo’s home gym is drying out skin – good
a little less home-decor friendly, but is a for on-screen training.
petite gym housed in a small locker
with an oversized phone-like screen Manta Mirror Brush, £28.50,
that displays the on-demand workouts. has soft silicone bristles that
are gentle on the hair and a
RAYMOND MEIER; PIXELATE.BIZ
Wattbike’s Atom bike, meanwhile, is a
useful mirror on the handle
home exercise bike with an electromagnetic makes it ideal for a gym bag.
resistance system that allows it to react
quickly to training apps such as Zwift for
a more accurate ride.
The smartening up of the home gym
might only just be getting into its rhythm,
but it’s clear that it’s here to stay. n
 DIRECTOR’S CUT

MATT WORK
Looking to enhance radiance but dial down
excess shine? Meet the clever breed of fluid
foundation formulas, says Jessica Diner

Kevyn Aucoin Foundation

Balm, £42 Sitting somewhere
between a balm and a
powder, this unique texture
applies like a cream and
then settles into a mattifying
powder that keeps the
T-zone in check, but allows
luminosity to persevere.
Best applied with a sponge
or stippling brush.

Nars Soft Matte

Complete Foundation, £28
Promising total “mattisfaction”,
Nars’s latest launch features
its antioxidant Hydramatte
Balancing Complex to regulate It Cosmetics Your
shine and prevent coverage from Skin But Better Foundation
shifting or breaking-down & Skincare, £32
throughout the day. This skincare/foundation
hybrid gives instant,
Chanel Ultra Le Teint Foundation, £40 lightweight coverage, making
Chanel’s long-wear mattifying fluid it the ideal companion to
is the newest addition to its portfolio the brand’s cult CC Cream.
of best-in-class foundations. Its Imbued with hyaluronic acid,
Luminous Perfection Complex aloe vera and vitamins E and
delivers a natural finish that works B5, its silky texture leaves
well for myriad skin tones. skin sumptuously balanced.

Il Makiage Woke Up Like Clé de Peau Beauté Radiant

This Foundation, £36 Fluid Foundation Matte, £110
Offering high coverage but Radiance, not shine, is the
in a breathable finish, this is a nuance that those with oilier
brilliant hi-tech foundation from complexions will be drawn to
an innovative brand. Plus, the Il here. A light veil of coverage,
Makiage online shade-matching courtesy of the water-gel
PIXELATE.BIZ

quiz, PowerMatch, guarantees formula, creates a flawless

94 per cent accuracy. finish with staying power.

131
BEAUTY

Hair tech

G
adgets as part of our
facial routine isn’t
new, but tools with
hair health at the
core? We’re listening. Réduit
One’s Haircare Applicator,
£189, uses fine magnetic
misting technology for less
mess and more absorption,
delivering a concentrated PATCHWORK
treatment to hair in just 30 We all suffer from aches
seconds via its Precision and pains but it’s not always
Conditioner, Volume Mist, easy to see a specialist.
Thankfully, Ross J Barr,
Shine Diffusion, Colour acupuncturist and wellbeing
Protect and Vapored Strength expert, has developed herbal
hairpods, from £23. Healing Patches, £15 for five.
Akin to fabric plasters,
they’re infused with menthol,
cinnamon and clove to
soothe and relieve the point
of pain, whether it’s a muscle
ache or menstrual cramps.
Also try Vitabiotics’s Jointace
Patches, £9.15 for eight, with
aromatherapy oils such as

BEAUTY MUSINGS
ginger, eucalyptus and clove,
along with cooling menthol,
for 12 hours of pain relief.

This month’s beauty news,

from Lauren Murdoch-Smith

ON THE NOSE ECO-WASH

THEO WENNER/ART PARTNER; PIXELATE.BIZ

Housed in a chic bottle, Valentino Voce Viva,
£54, is the latest perfume from the fashion
house. A floral woody fragrance, it’s inspired
by Valentino’s codes: colour, cool and
couture. New eco-friendly choices include
Lancôme Idôle L’Intense, from £54, which
features sustainably sourced chypre, vanilla
essence, roses and three types of jasmine; and
Floral Street’s refillable Arizona Bloom, £24,
made from Balinese coconut and salted musk
scents, which comes in recyclable packaging.
As the retailer of the most
shampoo bottles worldwide,
L’Oréal Paris has pledged to be
plastic neutral by 2025. Starting
with Elvive shampoo and
conditioner bottles, £3, which
will be 100 per cent recyclable
and made from recycled
materials. This alone will save
38 million bottles a year or
7,000 tons of plastic globally.

132
 From left: Jimmy Choo Iris Crush
eau de parfum, £175. YSL Beauty
BEAUTY
Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils
Radical, £28. Hourglass Ambient
Lighting Edit Mini Sculpture
Unlocked palette, £57. Tom Ford
Black Orchid eau de parfum, £98.
Marc Jacobs Eye-conic Multi-Finish
Eye Palette in Extravagance, £40

GOLD
STANDARD
DIGITAL ARTWORK: JAN CIHAK

Elevate the everyday with these shining examples

of autumn beauty – as delectable on the outside as
they are within. Photograph by Coppi Barbieri
XXX
135
 NOBLE PANACEA
PRECISION SKINCARE. TRANSFORMATIONAL EFFICACY. AUTHENTIC BEAUTY.

Purely Powerful.

TM
noblepanacea.com | Available at Harrods Think Beautifully
 BEAUTY EDITOR: JESSICA DINER. HAIR: ANNA COFONE. MAKE-UP: NAMI YOSHIDA. NAILS: MICHELLE HUMPHREY. MODEL: GISELLE
NORMAN. DIGITAL ARTWORK: DTOUCH LONDON. SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT

Skincare
Edited by Lauren Murdoch-Smith.
Photograph by Felicity Ingram
SPECIAL
Skincare SPECIAL
THE DOCTOR WILL
SEE YOU NOW
W
With Britain’s hile the collective appetite for
aesthetic treatments has been
non-surgical aesthetic- steadily rising, recent factors
treatment market set including “the Zoom effect” and
to be worth £3 billion restrictions caused by the global pandemic have
ensured that demand is accelerating. “Neither the
by 2024, Georgia Day industry nor customer demand works in isolation,
looks into the latest and new trends are often driven by a close
procedures and what’s interaction between consumer desire and available
technological advances,” says Dr Anjali Mahto,
driving demand consultant dermatologist at Skin55.
Aesthetic procedures are now also considered
by many to be a routine part of anti-ageing regimens.
“We’ve seen a tidal wave of women in their thirties
and early forties who want to get a head start on
their anti-ageing process,” agrees Dr Tracy
138
Mountford, medical director at The
Cosmetic Skin Clinic. “They’re looking
for treatments that invest in their collagen
for the future and work preventatively.”
The launch of the first Hydrogen Bar
at Dr Michael Prager’s clinic is testament
to this. Famed for its ability to reduce
the impact of oxidative stress, hydrogen
is available in drinkable tincture form or
as an inhalation. “It has a particularly
positive impact on the skin, improving
the appearance of pores, skin texture and
reducing the inflammation associated
with sun damage,” says Dr Prager.
Bridging the gap between what can
be achieved non-surgically and surgically,
or what Dr Mountford calls “sprint versus
marathon treatments”, is a growing
trend. “For some, the idea of surgery
for the natural signs of skin ageing is
an absolute no-no, but non-surgical
interventions provide a happy middle
ground,” says Dr Mahto. Currently only
available at 111Skin clinic in London,
BeautiFill is a new, non-invasive fat
transfer laser treatment, which adds
volume to the face by harnessing fat
from the thighs, flanks, hips and
abdomen, without resorting to the
surgeon’s knife. “This can be done in one
procedure and you can see an immediate
difference, with results that can last for
years,” says Dr Yannis Alexandrides,
founder of 111 Harley St and 111Skin.
Given the recent popularity of skin rejuvenation
treatments such as Profhilo, it’s little wonder
that other options are having their moment in
the spotlight. One such device gaining traction
is the Plaxpot Pen, a medical-grade fibroblast
plasma pen, which prompts collagen and elastin
fibres to shrink, resulting in skin tightening. “It
is made for the little lines that are difficult to
treat by injections, such as the upper lip and under
the eye,” says Dr Benjamin Kauffholz, an aesthetic
doctor at the Dr Dray Clinic in London.
Practitioners are also using existing cutting-edge
technology for even better effect. Ultherapy, the
ANTONIO TERRON/TRUNK ARCHIVE
gold standard in non-invasive tightening, that
traditionally uses thermal ultrasound energy to
lift the skin on the face, neck and jawline, is now
being used to achieve bespoke brow-lifting results.
“We can accentuate a high-arch brow, create a
shallow-arch brow or create a low-lying ‘boy
brow’,” says Dr Mountford. “It gives long-lasting
results depending on the age and lifestyle of the
patient.” Welcome to the future of your skin. n
 Stronger,
together.

Discover the power of Dr Sebagh’s potent, award-winning skin care ritual. For an
instant, radiance-restoring treatment, apply Deep Exfoliating Mask, which boosts
cell turnover. Follow with a rehydrating, plumping and firming mix of Serum Repair
and Rose de Vie Serum. For a brightening boost, mix a dose of the patented and
highly concentrated Pure Vitamin C Powder Cream with your mask or serums.

Available in-store and at drsebagh.com

Skincare SPECIAL

Power up

W
hether you have a multistep skincare routine or
take a more stripped-back approach, supercharging
one of your products will give a real boost. By Terry
Baume De Rose Beauty Toner, £36, is packed with
rose petals, rosehip oil and rose extracts, adding moisture as well
as removing make-up and plumping skin. Chanel Le Gel Anti-
Pollution Cleansing Gel, £32, is a gel-to-foam formula that uses
marine extracts to keep skin hydrated and build up resistance to
stress caused by pollution. Dior Capture Totale Super Potent Serum,
£60, re-energises skin using a blend of four flowers (longoza, peony,
jasmine and white lily) that tap into the skin’s cells, helping them
fight dark spots, wrinkles and dull complexions. Finally, bioscience-
led Codex Beauty’s Bia Facial Oil, £86, is a dry oil with rosehip
and rosemary that works with your skin’s natural oils to protect it
from environmental stresses while also reducing pore size.

SKINCARE MUSINGS
Winter sees the launch of hi-tech
formulas and new product trends,
says Lauren Murdoch-Smith
BRIGHT SPARK
Sometimes you come across
a hero product that has an
exceptional, instant effect
on dull skin – Lixirskin’s Peel
Express, £31, is one of those
finds. Using acids, enzymes
and humectants blended
into a waterless jelly, it’ll
leave you with fresh-from-a-
facial skin in just 20 minutes.
We can’t get enough.

ONE FOR ALL REACH FOR

The latest skincare trend to come out
of Korea is all about combining an eye THE RETINOL
cream and moisturiser in one. AHC’s If you’re a retinol user,
Real Eye Cream For Face, £26, is fine consider adding one of these
enough for the delicate under-eye area to your line-up. Shiseido’s
because its microsome technology Vital Perfection Uplifting and
allows the active ingredients to pass Firming Express Eye Mask,
through the skin in particles smaller £67, is designed to cover
than our pores. L’Oréal Paris has also the broader eye area, with
launched one of its global bestsellers potent retinol to reinvigorate.
in Europe: Revitalift Filler [HA] Eye Dermalogica’s Retinol
Cream For Face, £20, delivers micro Clearing Oil, £69, clarifies
PIXELATE.BIZ

and macro hyaluronic acid in a new skin overnight with its mix
fluid-to-balm known as Emulium, of salicylic acid and retinol,
treating the eye area and keeping targeting breakouts while
the rest of the face hydrated. soothing and smoothing, too.

140

MENOPAUSAL SKIN KATHLEEN BAIRD-MURRAY,
CONTRIBUTING BEAUTY EDITOR
Changes in our hormone levels can wreak havoc, but
when it comes to my skin, I’m ready. If I told you that, aged
52 and knocking on the door of menopause, I’m getting
more compliments on my skin, would that surprise you?
I put it down to HRT, and a prescription from Dr Galy at
23MD – with a plan to switch to the NHS as my menopause
progresses (Meg’s Menopause website is excellent for guiding
you through this process). I also supplement my diet with
Ancient & Brave’s Collagyn and MCT oil, which help to keep
my skin firm, and throw magnesium into every smoothie
I make (via flaxseeds) and bath I take. As for skincare, I opt
for mild but effective. I use AHA/BHA products or Radical
Skincare’s Age-Defying Exfoliating Pads two to three times
a week; and balance them with soothing but effective
moisturisers such as those from Therapi, or Perricone MD
Advanced Serum Concentrate with CBD. I haven’t tried
injectables, relying on The Light Salon’s light therapy masks,
but that’s not to say I won’t. I did text a surgeon the other
day after seeing how squinty I was looking on camera –
“A little Botox would fix that… you wouldn’t even know,”
she said. To be able to see without feeling like I have to roll
up my eyelids like Venetian blinds? Watch this space!
THE VOGUE SKIN CLINIC:
Whether you’re battling redness, have acne issues, are seeking skincare to tackle hyperpigmentation
From far left:
La Roche-Posay
Effaclar H
Hydrating
Cleansing Cream,
£12.50. NeoStrata
Restore Redness
Neutralizing
Serum, £47
142
Below, from left: Ren Ready
Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic,
£27. The Light Salon Boost
LED Décolletage Bib, £445
Radical
Skincare Age-
Defying Exfoliating
Pads, £75.
Left: Ancient
& Brave True
MCT Oil, £29
Clockwise from left: Therapi
Orange Blossom Honey
Moisturiser, £32. Perricone
MD Cold Plasma Plus+ CBD
Advanced Cream Concentrate,
£135. Westlab Restoring
Magnesium Flakes, £8
From far left:
SkinCeuticals
Brightening UV
Defense SPF30,
£41, and CE
Ferulic, £140
BEATING ROSACEA ROSIE VOGEL-EADES,
FASHION BOOKINGS DIRECTOR
I’ve always been quick to blush – I was a terrible I follow with SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic as
liar as a child because my cheeks gave me away, my antioxidant, which is effective but not
and an awkward teenager who went puce at the inflammatory. Morning and evening, I also
sight of a crush. But now I’m in my thirties and use Neostrata Restore Redness Neutralizing
still prone to redness, a dermatologist recently Serum – perhaps my key redness battling
diagnosed me with rosacea. Mine, thankfully, tool – then follow that with SkinCeuticals
is mild, but until recently I didn’t realise I could Brightening UV Defense SPF30, which I find
exert any control over it. I do still blush when I’m works for my pores, since they’re prone to
nervous, and look like a beetroot for at least an clogging. As often as I can I visit The Light
hour after exercise, but I’ve found some products Salon – its quick treatments have a really
and treatments that are helping me keep things calming effect on my skin, and my general
under control. I generally don’t like to use a lot mood! I’ve also recently started a course of
of products, and I find keeping it simple is the IPL light therapy at the Cranley Clinic under
best. I use a soothing and gentle cleanser from the advice of Dr Ophelia Veraitch, and have
La Roche-Posay, a brand I absolutely love as a lot high hopes for a further reduction in redness
of its products are fragrance- and paraben-free. and an overall boost to my skin tone.
 Skincare SPECIAL
From far left:
Zelens Daily Defence
Sunscreen SPF30, £55.
MANAGING HYPERPIGMENTATION
CBII Full Spectrum CBD
TWIGGY JALLOH, BEAUTY & LIFESTYLE ASSISTANT Immune Capsules, £34.
Glamglow Flashmud
Since the first spot emerged on my previously blemish-free teenage skin, Brightening Treatment,
I have dealt with hyperpigmentation. These seemingly harmless darker £44. The Glowcery Clean
patches have affected my self-esteem in ways I wouldn’t have expected. Greens Superfood Facial
I remember staying up talking into the night with friends at university. Oil, £33. Below: Odacité
As we settled in, the host would usually pass around face cleansing Rose & Neroli Hydra-
wipes. In those moments, panic would engulf me and I would make a Vitalizing Treatment
swift getaway back to my halls, where I could remove my make-up Mist, £39
without fear of judgement or unsolicited advice from well-meaning
friends. Like many (often black and brown) people who have suffered
from hyperpigmentation, I have frequently reached a point of impatience
with my blemished skin, and I’ve debated using quick-fix bleaching and
lightening creams. I would try to convince myself that their lists of
questionable ingredients, known
to potentially thin and damage
skin, were worth a try. But instead
I’ve taken the safer and
longer-lasting road. I’ve whittled
down my arsenal of products so
I’m left with ingredients that have
been proven to be effective. Since
I’ve nailed my routine, my skin has
thanked me for it. I wear less and
less make-up for my weekend
picnics in the park and morning Left: Medik8
Zoom meetings as the weeks go R-Retinoate
by. As the marks fade and I learn Intense, £210.
to love my bare skin again, it has Right: Bea Skin
kept its life and luminosity. This Care Brightening
skin freedom feels good. Cleanser, £39,
and Serum, £54

HOW TO SAVE FACE

or need a little rejuvenation, four Vogue editors reveal the products that work for them

Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum

Concealer, £30. Left: SkinCeuticals
Blemish & Age Defense, £90

OVERCOMING ACNE
ELLIE PITHERS, DIGITAL DIRECTOR

My first constellation of pimples appeared on my chin

Above: La Roche-Posay Effaclar when I was 11. I remember it clearly because it was
Ultra-Concentrated Serum, £32. sports day, and a girl in my class asked if I had chicken
Below: Benefit Boi-ing pox – even though I won at long jump, I cried in the
Brightening Concealer, £19.50 locker rooms. Thus began a decades-long struggle with
acne, and a lifelong habit of never leaving the house
without Benefit Boi-ing concealer. My skin became my
obsession. Every week, my mum and I would trudge to
Boots for something one of us had seen in a magazine.
We tried everything from tea tree oil to Clearasil pads,
retinoids to lymecycline, the contraceptive pill, a funky
sulphuric mask and a series of steam facials. I cut out
dairy and seafood, sweets and chocolate. I cancelled
parties and swimming lessons. I bought lots of roll-neck
sweaters. Nothing worked. At 18, in desperation, I
embarked on a course of Isotretinoin (also known as
Roaccutane), a powerful drug, akin to napalm for the
sebaceous glands, with many horrible side effects.
Bobbi Brown I wouldn’t recommend it if you can possibly avoid it. It
Lip Balm SPF15, did, however – after turning my skin and lips drier than
£17.50. Left: CeraVe the desert (Bobbi Brown lip balm. It’s magic) – work
Hydrating Cleanser, wonders on my acne. Now, I use seriously hydrating
£9.50. Right: Avène
products for sensitive skin that don’t strip out oils.
Skin Recovery
There are still breakouts, and SkinCeuticals is my friend
PIXELATE.BIZ

Cream, £17.50
here. My advice would be: slow down. Stop throwing
products at your face. Keep hydrated. Ask for samples.
Everyone’s skin is different, and there will be a “miracle”
product out there for you – you just have to find it. n

143
ISTANBU L KIEV KUALA LUMPUR MOSCOW PORTO R I YA D H
 VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

SKIP
CARE
Skip-care is the latest
skincare trend offering
greater results using
fewer products – and
L’Oréal Paris have the
perfect product
for the job...

LÕOrŽal Paris
Revitalift Filler
Eye Cream For
Face, £20

CREATING a skincare regime that is both time efficient and
effective is a must for many of us. As dermatologists attest, healthy
skin doesn’t require a complicated eight-step routine, but rather
hardworking, multi-purpose products that do what they say on the
label. In fact, the Korean-beauty skincare trend “skip-care” has made
a pared-down skincare regime de rigueur. Borne out of this is another
innovation making waves in the Asian beauty landscape: “eye cream
for face”.
Enter L’Oréal Paris’s new Revitalift Filler Eye Cream For Face, the
ultimate multitasking cream, with the concentration of an eye cream but
for the entire face, which will slot seamlessly into your skincare regime.
In fact, the product – which sits in the same range as the brand’s
equally brilliant Revitalift Filler 1.5% Hyaluronic Acid serum – can
be used both around the eyes and on the face. The formula houses
a mix of both micro and macro hyaluronic acid, meaning the
lightweight cream works on the top layer of the skin as well as
penetrating deeper for (clinically proven)
instant plumping and hydration that
really does last all day.
True to its hardworking claims, the
formula is also packed with other active
ingredients to impart the healthy glow
we all dream of. This brightening formulation
with vitamin Cg is expertly blended with
caffeine and kombucha, for skin that feels
energised and soothed. The powerhouse
of actives produce radiance and make it a
perfect one-stop shop for robust, happy skin –
and one that you can rely on to help skin function
(and look) at its best as skin ages. n
Shop now exclusively at Boots.com and in Boots
stores nationwide
 Skincare SPECIAL

Your year
in skincare
How best and when
to deliver your skincare,
a guide by Hannah
Coates. Photograph by
Felicity Ingram
ARTWORK: DTOUCH LONDON. PIXELATE.BIZ. SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT
BEAUTY EDITOR: JESSICA DINER. HAIR: ANNA COFONE. MAKE-UP: NAMI YOSHIDA. MODEL: GISELLE NORMAN. DIGITAL

DAILY SACHETS
Forgo clunky packaging in
favour of travel-friendly skincare
sachets, which give your skin its
daily allowance of just the right
amount of product. Noble Panacea’s
The Absolute Active Replenishing
Moisturizer, £330 for 30, delivers a
dose of retinol, hydrating microalgae
and brightening goji berry – all within FOUR-WEEK RESET MONO DOSING
a recyclable aluminium pod that’s The health of our skin depends on our Hit skin with a pure shot of the
designed to keep the formula fresh. cells’ ability to regenerate and repair good stuff with these one-ingredient
themselves, a process that inevitably wonders. The Ordinary’s 100%
declines as we get older. Formulated Niacinamide Powder, £5, can be
QUARTERLY CAPSULES added to any water-based product to
to reactivate our ailing skin cells, Sisleÿa
Is your skin periodically not playing ball? Get it back on track with a 10-day L’Intégral Anti-Age La Cure, £775, is help minimise pores while bolstering
treatment. Designed to accompany skin on a short – but by no means a four-week system of products (one the skin barrier. Not strictly single
unimportant – journey, these capsules deliver fresh ingredients to skin bottle per week) that infuses cells with ingredient (but near enough)
when it needs it most, making them a no brainer pre-event or wedding. the energy they need to get in top Elizabeth Arden’s new Hyaluronic
Omorovicza The Cure, £205, is broken up into three ampoules per three shape. Cue plump, healthy and luminous Acid Ceramide Capsules, £45 for 30,
days: from phase one, which resurfaces and brightens with glycolic and skin. Darphin’s Intral Rescue Super house a hefty portion of hyaluronic
mandelic acid, to phases two and three that take down inflammation and Concentrate, £95, addresses stressed acid alongside ceramides to hydrate,
nourish with squalane and barrier-restoring oils – nine days is all it takes skin in four weeks, deploying botanicals firm and plump skin daily. And lastly,
to see a difference. While Sarah Chapman’s cleverly considered Skinesis such as chamomile and omegas 9 and Exuviance’s Vitamin C Capsules,
Radiance Skin Recharge System, £145, reboots skin with a combination of 6 to improve the skin barrier, soothe £56, use the power of vitamin C to
a lactic acid micropeel, vitamin C, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. irritation and restore balance. brighten skin and boost collagen.

149
 Skincare SPECIAL

TOOL BOX
At-home facial gadgets are
more sophisticated than ever
Clockwise from top left: before. It’s time, says Lauren
Ziip Beauty Nano
Current Skincare Device, Murdoch-Smith, for some DIY
£425. Foreo Bear Facial
Toning Device, £279, complexion improvements.
at Currentbody.com.
Pause Well-Aging Fascia Photograph by Mitch Payne
Stimulating Tool, £99.
Angela Caglia Vibrating
Rose Quartz Sculpting
Roller, £154. Nurse Jamie
Eyeonix System, £80.
All at Cultbeauty.co.uk
unless otherwise stated

151
 COLOURING
BOOK

by Iain R Webb

ON SALE NOW
£10 ISBN 978-1840917406
 VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

Shiseido Ultimune

J-BEAUTY
Power Infusing
Concentrate, £69

SECRETS
Vogue uncovers the
secrets of Japanese
skincare with Shiseido
and Clé de Peau Beauté

BEAUTY HAS ALWAYS been an

important ritual in Japan. Two of the
nation’s biggest beauty brands, Shiseido
and Clé de Peau Beauté, have long been
at the forefront of hi-tech research and
development, influencing skincare trends
across the globe with their award-
winning formulas and iconic products.
One of the best beauty secrets to come
out of Japan is the concept of layering
different ingredients. Take, for instance,
Shiseido’s recently upgraded Ultimune
Power Infusing Concentrate, its number
one selling serum, which is designed to
boost other layers of skincare or can be
used alone. In just one week Ultimune
delivers 28 per cent stronger skin. It can
be paired with Shiseido’s Ultimune Eye
Power Infusing Eye Concentrate, too,
which has been proven to reduce friction
damage in the eye area by 30 per cent,
while working to prevent loss of resilience,
dryness, puffiness and the appearance of
wrinkles and dark circles.
Equally inspirational is Clé de Peau
Beauté, Japan’s number one
luxury beauty brand. Its
products blend Japanese
heritage with cutting-edge
*T&CS APPLY. ONE PER CUSTOMER. SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. WHILE STOCKS LAST.

science. Le Sérum, for

OFFER VALID UNTIL 20/11/2020. QUOTE “VOGUE J-BEAUTY SECRETS” TO REDEEM

instance, acts like a soft but

Shiseido Ultimune Eye
powerful veil, helping solve Power Infusing Eye
any skin concerns, while at Concentrate, £58
night, its award-winning La
Crème comes into its own.
The product was recently
reformulated and now has
Clé de Peau Beauté
an added Skin-Empowering La Crème, £520
Illuminator to enhance
regeneration – the ideal way
to boost radiance. n
Unlock the power of your
radiance at Clé de Peau Beauté
with a deluxe miniature
sample of La Crème, available
exclusively at Harrods.
Discover results-driven
skincare at Shiseido.co.uk Clé de Peau Beauté
Le Sérum, £215
VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

WINTER SUN
Wearing SPF all year round is a
must for skin. Stay protected with
dermatologist favourite, La Roche-Posay

IF YOU THOUGHT SPF was just

for summer, think again. One skincare
rule that every dermatologist agrees on
is that incorporating a sunscreen into
your skincare regime, which protects
from both UVA and UVB, is essential
for healthy, happy skin that ages well.
The SPF that nine out of 10 UK
dermatologists recommend to their
clients? La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios
Suncare range, which offers a sunscreen
for every skin type. “Sunscreens are
important for skin health and are the
best anti-ageing product you’ll ever use,”
says consultant dermatologist Dr Hiva
Fassihi. “It is important to remember
that UVA, the main cause of skin ageing,
is present all year round, even on dull
days. So make sun protection a part of
your daily skincare regime”
If your skin is normal
to combination, then look to
La Roche-Posay Anthelios
Invisible F luid SPF50+,
which offers high broad-
spectrum sun protection via
a formula that isn’t greasy and
sits invisibly on the skin. If your
skin tends to be oily or you
suffer from acne, the Anthelios
Anti-Shine Gel Cream SPF50+
is for you – it’s non-greasy,
non-comedogenic, and leaves
a matt finish. Or for dry skin,
look no further than the
Anthelios Hydrating Cream
SPF50+, which is super
moisturising and won’t cause
irritation. Whichever you
choose, apply it routinely every
day for long-lasting results. n
Shop La Roche-Posay suncare
at Boots.com
 Skincare SPECIAL

The glow
must go on
Consumers are ushering in a new era
of star-powered beauty: celebrity skincare.
Funmi Fetto investigates

T
his month, Kylie Jenner finally launched her eponymous Left: Fenty
skincare line this side of the Atlantic, and during the summer, Beauty Fat
Water Pore-
Rihanna released Fenty Skin, the highly anticipated follow- Refining Toner
up to her wildly successful make-up line. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Serum, £25.
Below: Kylie
Goop Beauty continues to be favoured by insiders for being clean Skin Face
and high-performance, and Honest Beauty, the organic make-up and Moisturizer,
skincare range from fellow actor Jessica Alba, has a similar raison from £18
d’être. Last year, when Victoria Beckham expanded into skincare, Sarah
Creal, co-founder of Victoria Beckham Beauty, was ready for the
challenge. “We knew that as two seasoned skincare junkies dissatisfied
with clean skincare formulas on the market, the range had to deliver,” eman dnarB
dednetxE ereh
she says. A canny collaboration with revered stem-cell scientist noihsaf
professor Augustinus Bader and a hands-on approach ensured it did. siht ni stiderc
This authenticity, along with gold-standard results and .ecaf epyt
eman dnarB
formulations, is a non-negotiable ingredient for success, explains eno roF
Lisa Payne, senior beauty editor at trend forecasting agency Stylus. ylno nmuloc
“Consumers are now much more aware of celebrities not having
a hand in developing their brand and it lessens the appeal.
These celebrity skincare brands absolutely have more kudos than
the celebrity fragrance trend of old. The brands appear more personal
and are closer to their beauty ideals.”
Like Beckham, Jenner has been instrumental in developing her
namesake brand, but admits to an awareness of naysayers questioning
her legitimacy. “It’s easy to doubt yourself, but I always try to
stick to what feels right, and that’s really translated into my brand.
The ingredients were very important to me; the more I researched,
the more I was able to identify ‘clean’ formulations that offered Above:
great results.” This focus on quality and efficacy, reveals Rihanna, Honest Beauty
was also the driving force behind Fenty Skin. “There were certain Hydrogel
Cream, £25.
must-haves I wanted right from the beginning: clean, high- Right: Goop
performance ingredients.” Beauty 15%
Nowadays, of course, astute brands understand the necessity of Glycolic Acid
Overnight
clean ingredients. However, Kora, the organic skincare brand Glow Peel, £40
launched in 2009 by model Miranda Kerr, was inspired
by Kerr’s childhood and industry experience, not the
changing beauty landscape. “Growing up in a family
that prioritised health and wellness, and modelling for
20 years – where I tried nearly every beauty product out
there – taught me what worked and what didn’t. I wanted
certified organic skincare that delivered powerful results.”
Clearly, this cadre of famous beauty founders are not
shills. Unlike some previous incumbents, they are
GETTY IMAGES; PIXELATE.BIZ

uninterested in building a brand that relies solely on their From far left:
fame. Rather, they are driven to create products with Victoria Beckham
Beauty by
gravitas and, fundamentally, says Kerr, credibility. Augustinus Bader
“I invested all my own money to launch Kora. It’s my Cell Rejuvenating
baby, one that I’ve nurtured and grown, not something Priming Moisturizer
in Golden, £92.
I just put my face to. And that really resonates with Kora Organics Noni
customers because it’s truly authentic.” n Glow Face Oil, £22

155
 Skincare SPECIAL
CHECKLIST

Dr Barbara

Shine ON
Sturm Glow
Drops, £110
Glossier Super
Glow, £24

For a radiant complexion, look no

further than these glow-giving skincare
saviours. Edited by Holly Tomalin

Sunday Riley
CEO Glow
Vitamin C &
Turmeric
Face Oil, £68

Tan-Luxe
Super Glow
Body, £35
Vogue, May 2020

Dr Sebagh Luminous Glow Cream, £72

Beauty Pie
Dr Glycolic,
from £11
RICHARD BURBRIDGE; PIXELATE.BIZ

Rhug Estate Wild Beauty Active Treatment Serum With Hyaluronic Acid, £120
Skincare SPECIAL
CHECKLIST
Augustinus
Bader The
Facial Oil,
from £65

Olay Regenerist Ultra Rich

Hydrating Moisturizer, £35

BareMinerals Skinlongevity Long Life Herb Serum, £80

Vogue, April 2004

La Mer The
Concentrate,
£155

THE
Estée Lauder
Advanced
Night
Repair, £82

CLASSICS Garnier
Micellar Rose

get an update
Water, £7

From hero products to ones to

watch, cult skincare brands have
BEN HASSETT; PIXELATE.BIZ

upgraded their most iconic formulas.

Edited by Holly Tomalin

It’s not just your skin that benefits from
a face mask, it’s your wellbeing, too.
Foreo’s latest offering is the ultimate in
professional-level soothing skincare
Foreo UFO
2 Power
AS MUCH AN act of self-care as it
Mask is skincare, there has never been a better
& Light time to incorporate a face mask into
Therapy
Device,
your routine. As leaders in the skincare
£249 and wellness market, Foreo know a thing
or two about at-home wellness. Its new
Cannabis Seed Oil mask is not only
effective at calming your skin, but your
mind, too. Not forgetting its vegan and
cruelty free credentials, and the fact it
Mask
appeal
leaves skin less red, calmer and more
balanced – cue a refreshed glow for
all skin types.
In fact, if it’s a healthy glow you’re
after, look to the brand’s wider Farm to
Face collection – a range of different
masks that utilise specially sourced
natural ingredients from around
the world. From the rose-water and
jojoba seed oil-infused Bulgarian Rose
VOGUE PARTNERSHIP
Foreo Cannabis
Seed Oil mask,
£18.99. Foreo
Bulgarian Rose
mask, £18.99
mask and the moisturising Green Tea
mask from Japan, to the super hydrating
Manuka Honey mask that hails from
New Zealand, the Indonesia-derived
Coconut Oil mask to brighten, and
Brazilian Acai Berry mask to turn back
the hands of time – all you have to do
is take your pick.
The range pairs with the Foreo
UFO 2 device, a hi-tech skincare tool
that produces professional treatment
results akin to that of a spa facial
treatment, but from the comfort of your
own home. When the Cannabis Seed
Oil mask is secured into the device (and
you’ve connected to the app) all you have
to do is massage the formula across skin
using a circular motion. When paired
with the UFO 2, the mask delivers its
antioxidant-rich formula to skin to
help combat environmental
damage, while the formula
hydrates without clogging
pores, regulates oil production,
and calms and soothes.
Follow the app-guided
treatment for a unique blend
of T-Sonic Pulsations, green,
cyan and blue LED light
therapy as well as cooling cryo-
therapy for a gentle facial massage
treatment to calm irritated skin and
reduce inflammation. Alternatively,
manually choose from a number of LED
lights or thermo-therapy to further allow
the mask essence to fully submerge into
the skin for gloriously glowy results. Two
minutes is all it takes for professional-
level results – and you can reap the
benefits as much as you like, wherever
you are. Happy masking. n
Discover the complete Foreo collection
at Foreo.com
 WHERE TO GO IN 2021
CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER’S 21 FAVOURITE PLACES TO VISIT NEXT YEAR,
FROM CHARLESTON TO COSTA RICA VIA THE SHETLAND ISLANDS AND VIETNAM
SEE THE FULL LIST AT CNTRAVELLER.COM/GALLERY/2021

PHOTOGRAPH: NICO SCHINCO

HANK’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

 VOGUE PARTNERSHIP

Model Anastasiia
Berezhna, the face
of Wild Beauty

Into the
The Protecting Day Cream
With a complete skincare line-up designed With Blue Tansy Oil, £95,
to suit everyone’s needs, it’s hard not to has been developed to

WILD
discover your hero product. The Purifying deeply nourish skin.
Cleansing Lotion With Dandelion, £55, Packed with hyaluronic
is gentle but powerful, breaking down acid, the foraged heather
impurities, leaving skin clean and balanced, and yarrow blended with
and features dandelion flowers picked fresh raspberry and plum seed,
from Rhug Estate. plus blue tansy oil, help

Get back to nature and unearth the to hydrate skin cells.

benefits of organic beauty with Wild

Beauty from Rhug Estate, as Vogue
discovers the new skincare collection
WILD BEAUTY, THE organic and natural skincare
collection from Rhug Estate, is the perfect example of how
beauty and nature can go hand-in-hand. Thanks to its
ingredients, many of which are foraged from the Welsh
organic farm that gives the brand its name, it’s a collection
that has the globally recognised Cosmos Organic Natural
certification from the Soil Association. What’s more, Wild The Replenishing Mask With Rhug
Beauty boasts the Leaping Bunny cruelty-free award, as Honey, £75, is a complementary mask to
Though often well as being halal, free from gluten, parabens and sulphates, assist the other products in the collection.
forgotten, eye cream and many products are suitable for vegans. But it doesn’t With each ingredient carefully selected
shouldn’t be skipped. end there – sustainability is also at the heart of everything to heal and boost collagen, the list also
Wild Beauty’s the brand creates. In line with its passion for being eco- includes white clay to detox skin from
Nourishing Eye Cream conscious, both Wild Beauty’s sustainable ingredients and pollution and deal with any excess oil.
With Elderflower, £85, recyclable packaging have been carefully chosen to reflect
helps hydrate and the ethos of the estate. Clean beauty is now rightly an
smooth fine lines. important skincare requirement and in huge demand. With
Thanks to the wild Wild Beauty – one of the most sustainable, scientific and
elderflower used in its well-certified ranges to be launched in 2020 – leading the
creation, foraged from way, it’s no wonder that this is the future of skincare. n
the estate’s grounds, Visit Rhugwildbeauty.com to discover more about the collection
plus organic cucumber
and Rhug’s own honey,
the cream works
to soothe the delicate
eye area, too.
 London Tote Collection & Hot Air Balloon Scarf in Red Silk

LONDON DUBAI SHANGHAI

ASPINALOFLONDON.COM TEL : + 44 (0) 1428 648180

 Merlijne
Schorren
wears wool
coat, £965,
JW Anderson.
Leggings, £80,
Commando,
at Selfridges

Dressing the part

STYLING: JOE McKENNA. HAIR: DUFFY. MAKE-UP: DIANE KENDAL

DEEPEST, DARKEST, INKIEST BLACK. When it comes to power dressing, little else can rival it. And in times of uncertainty,
taking back control and feeling self-assured is good for the soul. This season, designers offered black in abundance, running
the gamut from classically chic to tantalisingly provocative and avant-garde – it can really take you places. This is what
the power of fashion means: when it can shift your mood, your perspective, your performance even, whether your arena is
a boardroom, a WFH kitchen table or, where our cover star Serena Williams is concerned, a tennis court. Her boundary-
pushing fashion credentials – on and off court – are well documented. In this issue, she segues from eveningwear to
athletic, body-con to flounce, and plays it the only way she knows how – like a total pro. Photograph by David Sims

163
 History-maker, record-breaker,
businesswoman, mother…
Serena Williams is in full
swing. Olivia Singer meets her in LA.
Photographs by Zoë Ghertner.
Styling by Julia Sarr-Jamois

“I love representing the

beautiful dark women
out there,” says Serena
Williams. “For me, it’s
perfect. I wouldn’t want
it any other way”

Belted wool/silk
dress, £5,570, Dior.
Hair: Vernon

Fara Homidi. Nails:

Betina R Goldstein.
Set design: Spencer
Vrooman. Production:
Connect The Dots.
Digital artwork:
Studio RM
POWER
&
GLORY One-shoulder
swimsuit, £170,
Haight, at Matches
fashion.com

165
 “TENNIS IS A SMALL PLAY IN THE WHOLE
SCHEME OF THINGS. IT WAS MY WAY OF GETTING
RECOGNITION TO PUT OUT SUCH A BIG MESSAGE”
I
t’s a balmy March evening in Los Angeles and,
high in the Hollywood Hills, Serena Williams is
curled up on a velvet chair in the basement of her
family home, hair wrapped and pink Hello Kitty
sliders dangling from her feet. She has just put
her three-year-old daughter, Olympia, to bed
(there is a sweetly written Post-it on the front
door imploring any late-night delivery drivers
not to ring the bell and risk waking her), and the remnant
paraphernalia from a busy afternoon is scattered around the
living room: unboxed Amazon packages, half-dressed dolls,
a tumbled game of Connect Four, and two smalls dogs,
Lauralei and Chip, wandering among it all.
In such a setting – and ignoring the fact that Williams’s
loungewear is paired with a staggeringly sparkly diamond
ring, and that imposing security protects the compound – there
is something disarmingly ordinary about sitting down with
one of the world’s sporting superstars during a rare off-duty
moment. She’s tired (she and Olympia flew in from Florida
earlier in the afternoon, and her daughter refused to nap on
the plane), and I am acutely aware that this might not be
how she wants to spend her Friday night while her husband,
Alexis Ohanian, sits upstairs watching television. But she is
charmingly hospitable nonetheless and, once she relaxes into
conversation, my somewhat awestruck anxiety dissipates
and it feels curiously like having a night in with a girlfriend.
“See, I don’t bite,” she laughs later. “I’m really low-key.”
Low-key isn’t the first phrase that springs to mind when
you hear the name Serena Williams. She is commonly
understood to be not only one of history’s foremost athletes
but also a fearless force for change, consistently and vocally
contesting the sexism and racism that she has faced her entire
career. “Tennis is a small play in the whole scheme of things,”
she says. “It was my way of getting recognition to put out
such a big message that wouldn’t have been put out otherwise.”
While our first conversation takes place in what feels like
another universe – before coronavirus was declared a global
pandemic; before the death of George Floyd; before people
of all races woke up more fully to the injustices faced by
African-Americans and black people everywhere – it comes
to resonate with devastating urgency in the year that unfolds.
Williams is one of the last people I see before I end up
sequestered in my London flat, and our catch-up calls
throughout lockdown are coloured by our respective
experiences (for the first time in her life, Serena chooses to
take a break from training; for the first time in mine, I try
to start). But as the months progress, our discussions evolve.
“People are locked down, people have Covid; there is more
anger and more time to reflect. And then you throw in that
this man was killed publicly. Everyone was forced to look
and think,” she says. George Floyd’s death was horrifying
in the way that millions watching the killing of an unarmed
black man should always be. (“For the record,” notes
Williams, “I’ve never watched a single one of those videos,
because I can’t. It’s demoralising and it’s dehumanising. It’s
my life. It’s something that could truly happen to someone
close to me.”) But it was not exceptional: it was one event
in a ceaseless, global stream of police brutality that often
166
goes unreported, and that speaks to the systemic racism
that has plagued Serena’s country since, she points out, the
transatlantic slave trade began centuries ago. “Now, we as
black people have a voice – and technology has been a huge
part of that,” she says. “We see things that have been hidden
for years; the things that we as people have to go through.
This has been happening for years. People just couldn’t
pull out their phones and video it before.” Then, she recalls,
“At the end of May, I had so many people who were white
writing to me saying, ‘I’m sorry for everything you’ve had
to go through.’ I think for a minute they started – not to
understand, because I don’t think you can understand – but
they started to see. I was like: well, you didn’t see any of
this before? I’ve been talking about this my whole career.
It’s been one thing after another.”
W
illiams has faced a shocking barrage of racism
in the decades that she has been playing
professional tennis: from her successes – which
have seen her drug tested with far more regularity than her
peers, while her celebratory dance was condemned as
glamourising gang culture by those who termed it a Crip
Walk – to her defeats, where her impassioned rebuttals have
been derided as those of an “angry black woman”. She has
been paid consistently less than her male, or white female,
counterparts, while being held to a different standard – so
much so that the innumerous bad calls made against her by
umpires contributed to the implementation of video replay
by the United States Tennis Association. “Underpaid,
undervalued,” she says. But, “I’ve never been a person that
has been like, ‘I want to be a different colour’ or ‘I want my
skin tone to be lighter.’ I like who I am, I like how I look,
and I love representing the beautiful dark women out there.
For me, it’s perfect. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
The life that Williams now lives certainly has the veneer
of perfection. Beside her remarkable roster of awards (four
Olympic golds, 23 Grand Slam singles), she operates a fashion
label (an explicitly inclusive line for all body shapes) and a
venture capital firm (dedicated to lifting up unheard voices),
and has earnt an estimated $93 million in career prize money
alone. She married Ohanian, the multimillionaire co-founder
of tech behemoth Reddit, in a ceremony she describes as a
fairy tale – their first dance was to a portion of Beauty and
the Beast, and her engagement ring cost a rumoured $2 million.
Ohanian made headlines after he demonstrated an exceptional
commitment to allyship when, in the wake of Floyd’s death,
he stepped down as a board member of Reddit, imploring
his colleagues to replace him with a black candidate “to make
a better world for Olympia”. He gave his first interview about
the decision via his wife’s Instagram, and pledged any future
stock dividends to “serve the black community, chiefly to
curb racial hate”. (That’s estimated to reach up to $50 million.)
“I was happy because I’d never been a fan of Reddit,” laughs
Williams later, alluding to the intense pockets of racism and
sexism that proliferated on a site built on the principle of
hosting uncensored free speech. “I felt really bad as a wife,
and I never told him because it’s his company – but I was like,
‘Thank goodness, now I can tell you how I really feel.’” >
 Crêpe top, £585,
Emilia Wickstead.
Fluted skirt,
to order, Alaïa
168
 Embellished wool
coat, to order. Crêpe
dress, £1,200. Both
Dolce & Gabbana.
Leather loafers,
£395, Tricker’s

(Since Ohanian’s announcement, Reddit has overhauled its

policies and banned more than 2,000 communities that
harbour hate speech. “They stepped up, and now I love them
again,” says Williams.)
She describes her husband as her biggest supporter – as
if to prove the point, he turned up midway through Serena’s
Vogue cover shoot with a basket of Girl Scout Cookies, and
collected her at the end of the day – as well as the impetus
behind their date nights. “I don’t even like to leave the house,”
she says. “When the baby finally goes to bed at 7.30pm, the
last thing on Earth that I want is to have a dinner reservation
for 8.30pm. But he’s really good at it. I love going to the
movies, but I’m addicted to popcorn, so we can’t go because
of my strange addiction.”
Yet, while Williams would rather binge-watch The Big
Bang Theory than go out to red carpet events or glitzy LA
restaurants (she rolls her eyes and says that, as a black woman,
people give her either “snarky attitude” and wonder how
she can afford it, or recognise her as Serena Williams), she
maintains an illustrious friendship circle that comprises some
of the globe’s most powerful and influential women: Michelle
Obama, Beyoncé, the Duchess of Sussex, Sheryl Sandberg,
Priyanka Chopra Jonas… The woman who kept her going
through lockdown? Kim Kardashian West, whose meme-
heavy text messages raised her spirits. “Everything I read
makes me depressed,” she sighs, when we catch up on the
phone in June, “except for the memes. When I read about
the underserved communities it breaks my heart because,
once upon a time, that was me.”

T
he world that Williams grew up in looks entirely
different to the one that she inhabits today. The
youngest of five sisters, who shared one bedroom and
two beds in Compton – the same area of LA where one of
her sisters, Yetunde, was tragically killed in gang crossfire in
2003 – she learnt to play tennis on glass-strewn local courts
to a backdrop of bullets. Her father, Richard – a security firm
owner who decided to turn his two youngest daughters into
tennis stars after watching a match on TV and hearing one
player made $40,000 a week – largely taught himself the
game, and crafted a 78-page training manual for Serena and
her sister, Venus, from books and tapes, while enlisting local
kids to jeer at the sisters as they played. “He always said, ‘You
have to learn to play through things because you never know
– the crowd might not root for you,’” she recalls. “He was
like, ‘You’ve got to be able to stay focused’, which obviously
played a huge role in my life, in the beginning of my career,
where I was able to block out a lot of things.”
Richard’s plan worked. By the time Serena was nine, the
Williams sisters had raised enough money from sponsorship
deals to move the family to Florida and its more hospitable
environment. But, reflects Serena, the spaces she first learned
to play in were – despite their issues – more than sufficient.
“I think perception is different when you’re growing up and
you’re not told you’re poor. I was covered so much in love
that I didn’t notice my house,” she says. “And the courts?
They were courts that built character, strength and endurance,
that built Serena. That’s what the courts were.” > 173

169
Knitted dress
with metal sphere
detail, £2,290,
Alexander McQueen
 “HOW AMAZING THAT MY BODY HAS BEEN
ABLE TO GIVE ME THE CAREER THAT I’VE HAD.
I ONLY WISH I HAD BEEN THANKFUL SOONER”

Cotton/cashmere
dress with flared
hem, £1,115,
Salvatore Ferragamo

171
Wool coat with
leather shawl collar,
£1,415, JW Anderson.
Loafers, as before.
For stockists, all
pages, see Vogue
Information
 “SOMEONE IN MY POSITION CAN SHOW
WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOUR THAT WE HAVE
A VOICE, BECAUSE LORD KNOWS I USE MINE”
What is so extraordinary about Williams is that, given
the tenacity that has marked both her career and her
dominance on the court, where the power of her serve and
forceful strokes characterise her play (“it’s the grit and the
fight,” she says), she’s incredibly sweet-natured in person.
“No one ever guesses Serena Williams’s favourite thing to
wear is tutus, since forever,” she smiles. “Growing up, I loved
being the princess. I always wanted to be the princess.
And I don’t think a lot has changed.” She describes herself
as the girliest of her sisters and, while she’s regularly
acknowledged as a force to be reckoned with on the court,
some of her hardest hits have been served while dressed
with radical femininity: she has worn hot-pink leopard-print
dresses and denim miniskirts; Swarovski Nike Swooshes
and, most famously, a Virgil Abloh-designed Off-White
& Nike tutu for the 2018 US Open – after her all-black
catsuit was banned at the French Open earlier that year.
(“I think that sometimes we’ve gone too far,” French Tennis
Federation president Bernard Giudicelli said at the time.
“One must respect the game and the place.”)
“I don’t want to go into a room and blend in,” Williams
asserts. “The tutu made me feel amazing. I just never wanted
to take it off. I felt like I was a kid again, and we were in the
yard and I was the princess.” For Abloh, “Designing her look
for the US Open was a career highlight for me.” He continues,
“Serena has an amazing personal sense of style and grace,
and is an icon for the modern black voice that influences
culture on the biggest stage – in sports, and beyond sports.”
Despite her love of fashion, she hates shopping, describing
her reluctance to try on clothes in stores as a hangover from
her younger years when she never found anything to fit.
“I mean, I got boobs and I got legs and I got butt,” she
laughs. “When I was growing up, what was celebrated was
different. Venus looked more like what is really acceptable:
she has incredibly long legs, she’s really, really thin. I didn’t
see people on TV that looked like me, who were thick. There
wasn’t positive body image. It was a different age.”
“As is the case with most women in the spotlight, irrespective
of their field, Williams’s physique has been subject to scrutiny
– and in a torrent of racially charged remarks has heard her
muscles characterised as masculine, accusations of steroid abuse
and the president of the Russian Tennis Federation referring
to her and her sister as the Williams brothers, describing them
as “scary” to look at. But, “How amazing that my body has
been able to give me the career that I’ve had, and I’m really
thankful for it. I only wish I had been thankful sooner,” she
says. “It just all comes full circle when I look at my daughter.”
Observing Olympia grow has been instrumental in
Williams’s own evolution; she beamingly refers to Olympia’s
strong arms, which she loves so much that they made her
reconsider anxieties about her own. “She came out looking
like a little baby that’s been to the gym,” she giggles. “Her
legs are like she just finished 20 quad sets on a machine.”
Since Olympia was born, the two have never spent a day
apart, quite a feat considering the demands of Williams’s
jobs. And despite the difficulties she experienced in labour
(she nearly died after an emergency C-section and an
abdominal haematoma), within six months (and still
breastfeeding) she was back playing tennis. (“What the heck
was I thinking?” she wonders in retrospect.) During the
period after giving birth, she struggled with her mental
health, concerned that she wasn’t good enough to be a mother,
that she couldn’t be “around as much as I would like to be”.
“I don’t think I got postpartum depression, I think I got
postpartum real,” she says. “It’s the most amazing feeling,
but also – especially for someone like me, who gets angry,
who could win a match and still find something wrong – I’ll
always find the one mistake that I made.” The first time we
met, she explained that she’d just rushed through Olympia’s
bedtime: her daughter was overtired, driving her crazy and
she didn’t want to read her a story. “I was like, ‘Please don’t
ask, please don’t ask,’” she sighed. “And she didn’t ask. Then,
I didn’t make it down two flights of stairs before I was
depressed: like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe I was so mad at
her.’ She had a long day, she’s a kid. Like, why was I angry?”
Regardless of the juggling it requires – as she resumes
training again for competitions, her schedule comprises four
workouts a day, mainly undertaken while Olympia sleeps or
during the mornings when she is looked after by her father
– her daughter, she explains, has only galvanised her resolve
to continue her own ascent. “They tell little boys that they’re
a future leader or future whatever on the six-month-old
clothes. But for girls, it’s ‘Daddy’s little princess’ or ‘You’re
so cute’,” she says. (The day we spent on set, Olympia was
dressed in a T-shirt reading “Self-made”; she raced around
the studio only stopping to gasp, “Oh, Mommy, wow,” when
Serena stepped out dressed in an Emilia Wickstead gown.)
As well as being a job she loves, tennis has given Williams
a global platform to speak out about injustice. “In this society,
women are not taught or expected to be that future leader
or future CEO. The narrative has to change. And maybe it
doesn’t get better in time for me, but someone in my position
can show women and people of colour that we have a voice,
because lord knows I use mine. I love sticking up for people
and supporting women. Being the voice that millions of
people don’t have.”
Right now, that voice feels more vital than ever. “You can’t
expect something to change overnight. I think that’s what
a lot of people are expecting, but I don’t know if that’s the
truth,” she says. “So many people have been murdered or
humiliated publicly for centuries. There’s always one who
changes things. Is [George Floyd] the one? I don’t know.
Will it ever happen again? I think so.”
In recent months, Williams has leant into her faith – she
was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, and has used lockdown to
dive back into the Bible, explaining that, “I’m not putting
my faith in any government or anything like that. It’s very
important for me to understand what the Bible says.” But
for those of us on a different path? “You can do your best
to be your best. Some people are doing really great. Other
people can try to change their mentality, try to think about
how they approach things. Be aware. Make their unconscious
biases conscious.” Whatever the future holds, says Serena,
“I’ve never been like anybody else in my life, and I’m not
going to start now.” And not only tennis, but the world, is
a better place for it. n
173
Perfectly patterned,
bold, oversized
layers are a seasonal
staple. Four of the
best, at your service.

From left: Sylvie

wears sweater,
£1,270, Marni.
Camilla wears coat
and dress, to order,
Maison Margiela.
Greta wears cape,
£520, Isabel Marant
Etoile. Cosima
wears coat, £2,090.
Stole and polo
neck, from a
selection. All Tod’s

A month in the
COUNTRY
 Juergen Teller captures the four
Bellamacina sisters exploring Cornwall’s
pastoral pleasures while dressed in this season’s
best cottagecore. Styling by Venetia Scott

175
The prettiest pink
Miu Miu coat finds
insouciant attitude
when partnered
with patchwork
leather booties.

Coat, £2,850.
Cardigan with
brooch, £860.
Knitted jumpsuit,
£995. Boots, £860.
Belt, £225. All
Miu Miu. Socks,
£18, Falke
 JW Anderson’s
ballooning volumes
imbue easy
knitwear with
gorgeous glamour.

From left: Sylvie

wears sleeveless
tunic, from a
selection. Tie-front
blouse, £660.
Trousers, £910. Greta
wears knitted dress,
from a selection.
All JW Anderson.
Trainers, £650, Marni

177
Don’t hide your
Chanel under
a bushel.

Blouson jacket,
£2,995, Chanel
 In the world of
Gucci, eclecticism is
key: peasant styles
worn with ripped
jeans or cardigans
give cottagecore
modern edge.

From left: Greta

wears cardigan,
£1,700. Dress,
£3,100. Both Gucci.
Boots, £395, R Soles.
Sylvie wears
minidress, £4,400.
Jeans, £600. Both
Gucci. Boots, £252,
Ivylee Copenhagen

179
Sweetly nostalgic
floral tiers can be
pretty practical:
add rubber booties
and you’re good
to go anywhere.

From left: Sylvie

wears dress, from
£450. Skirt, from
£360. Both Anna
Sui. Boots, £345,
Ganni. Greta wears
multilayered dress,
to order, Maison
Margiela. Boots,
£235, Camperlab
 Keen to be queen
bee? Look no further
than Louis Vuitton’s
strappy dress.

Dress, to order.
Boots, £1,040.
Both Louis Vuitton.
Socks, £55,
Isabel Marant

181
Bundles of colour
and texture will
enliven the most
ordinary autumn.

From left: Sylvie

wears cape, £2,090,
Gabriela Hearst.
Skirt, £425,
Symonds Pearmain,
at Matchesfashion.
com. Boots and
socks, as before.
Greta wears sweater,
from £2,640.
Snood, from £265.
Scarf, from £665.
Socks, from £530.
All Dolce & Gabbana.
Boots, £235,
Camperlab
 Maryam Nassir
Zadeh’s polka-dot
jeans are pure
horseplay.

Blouse, £650,
Victoria Beckham.
Jeans, from £1,070,
Maryam Nassir
Zadeh. Boots,
£395, R Soles

183
Channel the lo-fi
cool of grunge with
Burberry’s mix-and-
match plaids.

This page:
reconstructed
shirtdress and
cut-out dress, to
order, Burberry

Dungarees are
officially back. Layer
atop an opulently
frilled blouse for a
touch of polish.

Opposite: from left,

Camilla wears
quilted jacket, from
a selection, Kenzo.
Trousers, from
£395, Coach.
Boots, from £640,
Clergerie. Greta
wears blouse,
£710, Paul & Joe.
Dungarees, £1,360,
Longchamp.
Clogs, £440, Isabel
Marant. Cosima
wears coat, from
£1,140, R13. Socks,
£10, The Nordic
Sock Company.
Boots, £235,
Camperlab
185
A step up from
double denim,
Dior makes a strong
case for a three-
piece affair.

Sleeveless jacket,
£1,200. Shirt,
£1,550. Jeans,
£910. Boots, from
£990. All Dior.
Belt, £320, Tod’s
 How to impress
while tending to
your brood?
Moncler’s lemon-
drop outerwear.

Coat, from
a selection.
Sweater, £690.
Both 3 Moncler
Grenoble. Boots
and socks,
as before

187
Roksanda’s eye for
colour combinations
is well documented.
This season’s
masterpiece is
testament to it.

Patchwork gown,
to order, Roksanda
 The ultimate misty-
morning llama-
walking wear in this
part of the county?
A peacock-coloured
cape… worn as a skirt.

Dress, £905.
Cape, £1,630. Both
Dries Van Noten.
For stockists, all
pages, see Vogue
Information.
Creative partner
to Juergen Teller:
Dovile Drizyte.
Production: Johnny
Bamford. Models:
Camilla, Cosima,
Greta and Sylvie
Bellamacina.
Digital artwork:
Quickfix Retouch

189
FORCES for CHANGE

LEADER OF

190
Next year, Stella
Opposite: wool
jacket, £1,575.

McCartney will
Bra top, £895.
Wool trousers, £625.
This page: s/s 2002
celebrate the 20th minidress and shoes.
Clothes and

anniversary of her accessories,

throughout, Stella

trailblazingly McCartney.
Hair: Soichi Inagaki.

ethical brand. Make-up: Thom

Walker. Nails: Lauren
Michelle Pires.
Dana Thomas asks the Set design: Jabez
Bartlett. Production:
designer what it was April Production.
Digital artwork: Lisa
like to be ahead of the Langdon-Banks.
Models: Beabadoobee,
curve, while we mix Caren Jepkemei,
Hélène Selam Kleih.

pieces from the label’s Stella’s hair and

make-up: George

archive and
Northwood and
Kirstin Piggott

spring ’21 collection.

Photographs by
Campbell Addy.
Styling by Poppy Kain

THE PACK
FORCES for CHANGE
“I HAVE THIS MISSION THAT I’M ON. I’VE NEVER
JUST DONE FASHION. WHAT I CREATE HAS ALWAYS
HAD TO HAVE A MEANING AND A VALUE SYSTEM”
W
hen Paul and Linda
McCartney welcomed
their second child into
the world in 1971, they
named her Stella, for Linda’s grand-
mother, and Nina, for one of Linda’s
college chums. “Stella Nina means star
girl,” Sir Paul explains by telephone from
his home in the Hamptons. “And she is.”
Indeed, she is. This month, Stella
Nina McCartney is kicking off the 20th
anniversary celebrations of her brand
– which she launched in 2001, aged
29. In those two decades, Stella, a
lifelong vegetarian, has grown from
being considered the industry kook,
for refusing to use leather and animal
fur, to becoming a driving force for
sustainable and conscious fashion. All
as well as marrying the love of her life,
the creative brand consultant Alasdhair
Willis, in 2003, and with him raising
their four children, who carry on the
McCartney family’s vegetarianism.
“Twenty years – that’s a big number,”
she says, in genuine disbelief, over Zoom.
She looks like a grown-up teenager,
barefoot and make-up free, wearing one
of her signature jumpsuits, in sand-
coloured organic cotton. “I didn’t even
notice the time flying,” she says. “I have
such high hopes and aggressive goals
for change that time passes me by.
But, obviously, time is critical. There’s
lots to be done.” Like getting fashion
to take circularity – the reuse or recycling
of garments and accessories – seriously.
After selling a stake of her company
to LVMH last year, she now serves as
sustainability whisperer to chairman
and CEO Bernard Arnault. “To be
the personal adviser to Mr Arnault
on sustainability? That can make
meaningful change,” she says. “I feel very
privileged to have that opportunity.”
How Stella got to this point of
unmatched power and influence in the
world of fashion is, to steal from her
Beatles father, a long and winding road.
In the early 1970s, Paul and Linda
McCartney whisked their young family
off to the Sussex countryside. As is
clear in Linda’s Polaroids of that time,
it was a simple, rustic life. “We were
very protected, isolated really, in the
middle of forests, vast landscapes,” Stella
recalls. “Or we were on tour, surrounded
by 200,000 people. Extremes.”
“I remember seeing one of the
McCartney kids [Stella’s older half-
sister, Heather] under the piano in
Let It Be, the Michael Lindsay-Hogg
documentary about The Beatles, when
I was a teenager,” Stella’s friend Bono
begins. “And I was, like so many, worried
about how those kids were gonna grow
up under the glare and glaring of so
many. My first memory of Stella is of
that same feeling. Not realising, of course,
that they would grow into some of the
finest people you could meet: a) on the
street; b) at a gig; c) at a club after the
gig; d) in a boardroom the next morning;
and e) at a protest at lunchtime.”
The McCartney kids did survive the
glare – in large part because Paul
and Linda encouraged them to fulfil
their dreams. Stella’s was to be a fashion
designer. It made sense. Both her
parents were fashion icons. Her father
dressed in Tommy Nutter and Edward
Sexton suits. “My mum wore Chloé
in the ’70s, so I had that floating
around the house,” Stella told me
when I met her in 1997 in Paris,
during her first days as creative director
of Chloé. “Stella and her sister Mary
were always dressing up in Linda’s stuff,
like little girls would,” Paul remembers.
“They particularly loved the platform
boots that went up to Linda’s knees,
so up to the kids’ waists.”
When Stella was 12, she and her
mother were on a plane, when her
mother said, “If you really want to be a
designer, you should go and talk to that
guy sitting over there.” Linda pointed
to an ageing aristocratic-looking
man across the aisle. It was Erté, the
renowned art deco artist and designer.
Stella sat with him the entire flight, and
peppered him with questions. Later,
she interned in his London studio. Her
collection for autumn/winter 2020
featured soft suits and flowing tunics in
ethereal prints from the Erté archives.
“I loved the theatricality and drama of
Erté’s work – the absolute glamour,” she
said backstage after her show at Paris’s
Opéra Garnier in March.
At 15, Stella interned in Paris with
the much-lauded couturier Christian
Lacroix. Afterwards, she finished her
A levels, and enrolled in a foundation
course at Ravensbourne College of
Design and Communication. “I thought,
‘When I’m done, I’ll be a fashion
designer!’” she recollects with a laugh.
The British fashion designer Betty
Jackson, who was a friend of Linda’s, sat
Stella down and imparted some wisdom:
“You think you want to be a fashion
designer because everyone thinks they
want to be a fashion designer. But you
might want to be a pattern cutter. Or
do knitwear, or production, or press. My
advice is that you intern in different areas
and see what you like.” And so she landed
at British Vogue, under Liz Tilberis’s
editorship, while Sarajane Hoare was the
fashion director. “It was the early 1990s,
in the thick of the Karl Lagerfeld at
Chanel and Versace-supermodel time,
and we were all in Chanel and red
lipstick,” Hoare tells me. “Stella was
very quiet, quite subdued, looking at
everything and taking it in.”
“All the editors’ assistants were very
well-to-do,” Stella confirms. “And I was
a country girl who had come up on the
train. It was such an eye-opener.”
Realising quickly that media was not
her calling, she enrolled in the fashion
design course at Central Saint Martins.
The school “encouraged the out-of-the-
box, creative-thinking side of my mind,
which I could deliver on,” she says. “But
I was lacking in the technical skills.” To
hone them, she moonlighted at Edward
Sexton on Savile Row. Her degree
collection in 1995 “was a mix of bespoke
tailoring and these fragile, feminine,
bias-cut slip dresses, all from vintage
markets,” she explains. Everything was
vegan – even the shoes. Famously, she
had her supermodel pals walk the show
– to a song her father wrote for the
occasion, “Stella May Day” – and her
parents sat in the front row. “When we
saw it, we thought, ‘Boy, she knows how
to do it. She’s not a stumbling amateur,’”
her father remembers. “It was very
convincing, had a panache to it.”
The collection was bought by cool
London boutique Tokio. “Then Bergdorf
Goodman wanted my stuff, and
Browns wanted my stuff, and Madonna
was wearing my stuff,” Stella says. >
 Stella McCartney,
photographed at her
London offices

193
 McCARTNEY NOW SERVES AS SUSTAINABILITY WHISPERER
TO BERNARD ARNAULT. “I FEEL VERY PRIVILEGED TO HAVE
THAT OPPORTUNITY,” SAYS THE DESIGNER

This page: s/s

2012 asymmetric-
sleeve dress
and a/w 2015 shoes.
Opposite: from left,
a/w 2015 brocade
dress and shoes.
Pleated upcycled-
Lurex dress, £3,250

194

She sewed it all herself in her dad’s
basement, and, later, in an apartment
in Notting Hill. Her assistant was
Saint Martins classmate Phoebe Philo.
“I’ve always wondered who got those
dresses,” Stella notes. “Nobody knew
that I made them.” Chloé president
Mounir Moufarrige called, asking to see
her collection. “At the same time,” she
says, “other houses [such as Givenchy]
started to sniff around.” Her friend
Alexander McQueen landed that gig,
but Moufarrige offered her the job at
Chloé. She was 25. “I thought, ‘I’ll go
to Paris, get some knowledge and some
space.’ And that’s what I did.”
I remember her first Chloé show, in
October 1997, in the same Paris opera
house where she shows today. There
were sharp 1970s-style suits, like her
mother used to wear, and fresh, breezy
dresses. “Little nothings,” is how then
International Herald Tribune fashion
critic Suzy Menkes described them.
Looking back at it now, you can see the
roots of all Stella has created since – in
the line, in the attitude. “The masculine
and the feminine; the hard and the soft;
the city and the countryside – those
extremes have been very present in
everything I do since day one,” she says.
The show was dedicated to Linda,
who was fighting breast cancer; she
succumbed to the disease six months
FORCES for CHANGE
later. Today, Stella has a foundation for
breast cancer awareness, and through
it offers organic lace, double mastectomy
bras of her design to post-op patients
for free. “Everything we do regarding
breast cancer awareness sadly comes
from losing the most precious creature
ever. We want to empower women
who have gone or are going through
it,” she explains. Most important is early
detection. “Get your mammograms!”
(As someone who caught a malignancy
early, thanks to screening, I agree: do
not put it off.)
In the late 1990s, Bernard Arnault
launched a creeping takeover of Gucci.
To fend it off, Gucci’s creative director
Tom Ford and CEO Domenico De Sole
enlisted French tycoon François Pinault
to underwrite the formation of Gucci
Group, now known as Kering, with
Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent Rive
Gauche as its cornerstones. Ford became
creative director for the entire group, as
well as for Saint Laurent, and he talked
to Stella about her potentially assuming
the role at Gucci. When she objected
to using animal skins – a stumbling
block, obviously, since Gucci is a leather
goods brand – Ford kept the Gucci job
for himself, and suggested she create
her own label in the group. “I loved
what she did, I thought that she had a
completely original take on fashion, and
was a real talent,” Ford says. “She also
addressed a different customer than our
other brands did, and I knew that she
could and should have her own label.”
De Sole agrees: “She had an incredibly
good sense – instinct – of what young
people wanted, and that is one of the
things that made her collections so
successful. She knew her customers
and designed with them in mind.”
Though Ford and Stella’s working
relationship came to an end when he
and De Sole left the group in 2004, they
are still so tight that she is godmother
to his son Jack. “Stella is driven, and
I mean that only in the most positive
way,” Ford adds. “She was way ahead of
the game with regards to sustainable
and ethical fashion. She has really led
that movement and, of course, it has
now become mainstream. Stella was a
visionary and still is. She is a completely
modern woman and a wonderful mother.
How she does it all amazes me.”
“Multitasking at its best!” her friend
and client Amal Clooney confirms.
“Stella is a great talent. Her work is a
reflection of herself: daring, instinctive,
purposeful, ethical and fun. She is a
caring friend, a devoted mother and an
activist who cares about the world and
is committed to making it better.” Stella
is able to achieve so much, and do so
seemingly effortlessly, because of her >
 Silk dress, £2,325.
Jewellery, model’s own.
For stockist, all pages,
see Vogue Information

196

“THE MASCULINE AND THE FEMININE, THE CITY AND
THE COUNTRYSIDE – THOSE EXTREMES HAVE BEEN
PRESENT IN EVERYTHING I DO SINCE DAY ONE”
unwavering focus. “Fashion is all my
life, really, outside of my babies, and
family and friends,” she says.
First, her “babies”: who are tweens and
adolescents now, and are unquestionably
her priority. Each season after her Paris
show, which is always scheduled in
the morning, she heads directly to Gare
du Nord and jumps on the Eurostar
for dinner en famille. “And when I come
home from work, the sweet music
of children fills the air,” she says. “My
husband and I, we’re those sort of
parents who, after putting the kids in
bed, look at pictures of them when they
were little and say, ‘Oh my god, where
did the time go? It seems like yesterday.’”
Most weekends, the family head to
their farm in Wiltshire, where they ride
horses, tend the kitchen garden, collect
eggs from the henhouse and look after
their eight sheep – “Itsy, Bitsy, Teeny,
Weeny, Yellow, Polka, Dot, Bikini,”
Stella says, counting on her fingers.
She wants to ensure her children avoid
the glare, and are country kids, too.
Her husband helps her at every turn.
Tall, dashing and elegant, Willis discreetly
orbits her – at parties, backstage at her
shows – and drops in when needed. They
met in 2001, when he pitched to design
her company logo. She laughs, “I was like,
‘Hmm… Interesting.’” She hired him,
then, two years later, married him. Today,
along with sharing parental duties, he sits
on her company board. “He’s incredibly
SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT
loyal, honest and supportive. I believe him
and trust him, and he makes me feel
safe,” she says. “And if he thinks I made
a wrong choice, or should be doing
something in a better way, he’ll tell me.
He’s got the courage to not ‘yes’ me.”
“That relationship is very grounding
for Stella,” says her friend Kate Hudson.
“She cherishes her husband, and the
longevity of that relationship says a lot
about her. That unit is number one.”
Second, family: Stella adores her father,
and he her. But her partner in crime is
her older sister, Mary, an accomplished
photographer, like their mother, and now
the host of Mary McCartney Serves It Up,
a vegetarian cooking programme. We
talked about Mary during another chat,
in July, as Stella sat in her car, parked
in front of Mary’s home in London.
FORCES for CHANGE
She’d driven over to her sister’s because,
she said, “I haven’t seen her during this
whole period of confinement. She’s a
good one, Mary. It’s nice to have a sister
who’s also your best friend. I always say
that to my kids when they’re fighting:
‘You’re going to want to be best friends.
Because it really is good.’”
Third, friends: she doesn’t see them
often, but she’s always in touch. “During
lockdown, she would send me texts
like, ‘What are you learning right now?’”
says Mellody Hobson, president and
co-CEO of Ariel Investments and wife
of filmmaker George Lucas. “She has
educated me on sustainability, helped
me understand how clothes are made,
how to be more thoughtful about things.”
“She has an immediate kindness that
flows from a genuine interest in other
people, and authentic empathy,” adds
Apple’s former chief design officer Jony
Ive, who is also a regular text recipient
– though he’s quick to say, “texting is
very nice, but it’s not enough. I wish I
saw an awful lot more of Stella.”
“She’s the kind of person you want
to hang out with on a Friday night,
but with whom you can also have an
intelligent conversation,” shares Amber
Valletta, who has modelled for Stella
since the Chloé years. “She knows what
she wants but is also very collaborative,
and that’s what’s going to change the
industry: collaboration.” Kate Hudson
counsels, “If you have the chance to have
a girlfriend like Stella McCartney, do it.”
In the spare time Stella has – aside
from practising “very active yoga” and
biking to her Shepherd’s Bush office –
she indulges two of her passions: theatre
and art. A few years ago, when we met
for tea in Notting Hill, she had come
from the David Hockney retrospective
at Tate Britain – Hockney, of course,
being an old family friend. “You must
go!” she said, and organised a visit for
me the next morning. I ask what she
missed most while in lockdown. “I can
do without everything else,” she says,
“but I want to go to the theatre, and
I want to see some art.”
When Covid-19 hit, Stella withdrew
with her family to the farm. At first, she
found it hard to stop working cold turkey.
But then she had what she calls a
moment of clarity. “I was afforded time
to pause and re-evaluate why I do what
I do, and why it’s important,” she begins.
“And the answer was, I have this mission
that I’m on. I’ve never just done fashion.
What I create has always had to have
a meaning and a value system. I wrote a
personal manifesto, and from that I
realised I didn’t want to work in the same
way as I had been. I wanted to reduce
what I produce. This idea of reduction
is more sustainable and feels much more
precious, human and right. I’ve been
wanting to have a new set of codes of
language around sustainability. I wanted
to work on what words are important
to me and then put them into clothes.”
And so she created A to Z, a 26-look
limited-edition collection in which each
letter of the alphabet represents a word
– A for accountable, B for British, C
for conscious, D for desire… – and each
word has a corresponding outfit. The
pieces are made from leftover stock.
“I don’t like how we always have to
change things up so quick,” she explains.
As it happened, “because of lockdown,
we couldn’t get any fabrics anyway.
So my idea of using existing things
became a necessity.” The collection,
she says, is “real and honest”.
Which brings us back to Paul and
Linda. Everyone I spoke to – including
Stella – says the reason she has not only
succeeded as a designer, but become the
standard-bearer for ethical fashion, is
because her parents were able to keep
it real and honest, and imbue their
children with a sense of purpose.
“My mum used to say, ‘Could, not
should.’” If there is one thing Stella
could have done, and didn’t, it’s music.
“She’s a really good singer,” her father
says. “I have inherited a musicality, yes.
It’s the only thing I think: ‘What if
I had done that?’” she admits. “But I’m
really glad I didn’t. I made a decision
early in my life not to do that.”
“Wisely, she pursued fashion,” Paul
concurs. “It’s difficult to follow your
parents’ professions. But she certainly
holds a tune, and we do threaten to pull
her into the studio and get her to record
something.” I ask how he’ll succeed.
“I’ll write a song called ‘Star Girl’ for
her. That’s what I’ll do.” n
197
 High drama or highly sophisticated, black is back.
Photographer David Sims and stylist
Joe McKenna capture autumn/winter 2020’s
dark stars, while Harriet Quick pens an
ode to fashion’s most faultless – and seductive – shade

Made to last – if there’s

a better investment buy
than a black leather jacket,
we don’t know what it is.

Jacket, £5,070.
Leather cap, to order.
Both Louis Vuitton.
Hair: Duffy. Make-up:
Diane Kendal. Nails:
Ama Quashie. Production:
Art House. Digital
artwork: Skn Lab. Models:
Malaika Holmén, Harriet
Longhurst, Elisa Mitrofan,
Merlijne Schorren

198
 Pitch
PERFECT
199
 A trench and an
Alaïa dress make
for an invigorating
combination.

Trench coat,
from £1,390,
Eckhaus Latta.
Wool dress, £2,690,
Alaïa. Tights,
£27, Wolford, at
Selfridges. Leather
shoes, £185, Aeyde

200
 Doesn’t it make you
reconsider latex when it’s
served up oh-so-politely
in a full-skirted ladylike
dress, à la Balenciaga?

Dress with gloves,

£14,420, Balenciaga

201
 All hail Julien Dossena,
whose Joan of Arc-esque
pieces boast modern
heirloom status.

Hooded leather top,

£5,190. Mesh scarf,
£1,330. Printed jersey
top with lace inlay, £580.
Leather skirt, £4,940.
All Paco Rabanne

202
 Looking for
fashion that ruffles
conventional
feathers? Saint
Laurent’s latex dress
has you covered.

Dress, £3,955,
Saint Laurent by
Anthony Vaccarello

203
 Buffalo stance – it says
something about a
style movement when
it looks as good now
as it did back then.

This page: wool

jacket, £840, Art
School, at Dover
Street Market. Pleated
trousers, to order,
Haider Ackermann.
Leather trail shoes,
£270, Eytys. Hat,
from £660, R13.

Strike silver (opposite)

with the standout
Mac Cosmetic’s Extra
Dimension Eye Shadow
in Evening Grey, £17.50

204
205
 With elegant necktie and
all the femininity of silk,
the surprise when it
comes to Fendi’s blouse
is that it’s crafted in
whisper-weight leather.

Wrap blouse,
£3,950, Fendi

206
 Drama will always
follow Loewe’s
animated cape sleeves.
Our advice? Give them
something to look at.

Silk top, £2,520.

Viscose trousers with
peplum waist,
£1,320. Both Loewe

207
 How to shoulder social
distancing? Rick
Owens’s pumped-up
leather jacket might
just be the answer.

Jacket, £3,020.
Asymmetric-shoulder
dress, £945. Both
Rick Owens

SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT

208
 Valentino’s knife-pleat
cape seems a super-
modest approach to night-
time dressing – until it
catches the light.

Silk dress, to order,

Valentino. Tights
and shoes, as before.
For stockists, all pages,
see Vogue Information

209
 nhappy, darling?” asks Gomez Addams. “Oh yes. Yes, completely,”
answers Morticia, glancing at her husband and smoothing the glistening
black of a corseted gown with a vampire’s collar. Black is to the Addams
family what red shorts are to Mickey Mouse – a uniform that signals
an identity, a perspective on the world and a way of occupying it.
Black – serious black, gothic black, seductive black, restrained black,
sculptural black – is back in fashion. At the turn of 2019, when designers
were preparing their autumn/winter 2020 collections, the chic noncolour
appeared an elegant proposal, suited to the growing taste for restraint
and simplicity as we counted the environmental cost of overconsumption
and grew weary of ricocheting trends. Who knew a global pandemic,
societal upheaval and the jagged edges of a worldwide recession lay
lurking in the wings? What a difference a year makes – today, dressing
in black seems both a pragmatic and poetic choice. In these turbulent
and transitional times, black has gained a poignant new edge.
There are as many ways with black as there are designers and brands.
“Although surges in black’s popularity can be attributed to periods of
economic decline or political and social unrest, as a display of austerity
and rebellion,” says Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu curator in charge
at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York
City, “its fashionability also follows artistic and cultural trends. Black
can be an expression of modernism, minimalism or abstraction, and its
“BLACK IS PURE, CLEAR, rise has also been driven by subcultural styles – by beatniks, punk,
CLEAN AND STRONG; IT grunge and streetwear.” This autumn sees the delayed opening of About
DETERMINANTS SHAPES Time: Fashion and Duration. The exhibition juxtaposes black and white
garments from 1870 (the year The Met opened) onwards, highlighting
AND FORMS, AND IS the time-warping similarities across many decades. It opens with a
NOT FRIVOLOUS,” SAYS mourning dress from the period. “The prevalence of fashionable
mourning attire during the 19th century – which was often described
CARLA SOZZANI as alluring or becoming – paved the way for the increased use of black
in fashion,” continues Bolton, who includes Yves Saint Laurent’s Le
Smoking, Chanel’s black tweed, lots of Comme des Garçons, and
Balenciaga’s Infanta dress – which was inspired by the paintings of
Diego Velázquez – in the exhibition. “The strength of black, and its
potential to amplify the dramatic effect of a silhouette, contributed to
its lasting appeal with modern designers.”
This season, the black silhouette is dramatic and tender. Consider
Pierpaolo Piccioli’s line-up for Valentino, which opened with a rope-
tied black cashmere midi-coat over a high-necked sequinned polo neck
and lug-soled boots, with glossy black lambskin poncho capes and tunic
gowns to follow. “The collection stems from the desire to focus on the
humanity of individuals, to depict and exalt their feeling and emotions,
despite age, gender, race and disposition,” says the creative director,
who looked to Marlene Dumas’s soulful black ink portraits, to the codes
of classicism, and the black, blue and grey of tailored uniforms.
Weigh up Celine’s tribute to Jane Birkin and Catherine Deneuve in
the shape of giant, floppy felt hats, sheer polo necks and A-line skirts.
Black can also be devout and valiant: view JW Anderson’s priestesses
in trapeze-line silk-satin dresses with billowing sleeves and clerical
necks, and Paco Rabanne’s medieval princes in lean trouser suits set off
with pure white lace collars and cuffs. “I wanted to either structure a
silhouette – to sculpt it and focus on shape, giving black an austere,
mystic presence – or to work it really lightly, like smoke, to express the
sensation of a darkness around the body,” says the latter’s Julien Dossena.
“When I watch somebody wearing black in the street, it’s like a drawing,
an abstract shape in the space. You can focus more on the movement
and attitude, there is a speed involved that I like a lot.”
Black is quintessential to a handful of designers. Coco Chanel sought
to perfect the little black dress and little black jacket throughout her

210
career. The noncolour and the minimalist shapes of her nouveau pauvre
chic provided go-anywhere clothing that could be livened up with
costume jewels. “Women think of all colours except the absence of
colour. I have said that black has it all. White, too. Their beauty is
absolute,” she proclaimed.
Inky black and polar white characterise Chanel’s packaging, store
interiors and even its collection of artworks, which includes Agnes
Martin and Erik Lindman. This season, Virginie Viard gave black a
leisure spin with soft, popper-sided trackpants, bra tops and blousons.
Cristóbal Balenciaga amplified the drama of black with the
architectural silhouettes of his bubble gown, trapeze dress and numerous
iterations of the lace cocktail dress. Demna Gvasalia, currently at the
helm, seized upon the power of obsidian with spooky pleat-back capes,
spiky fetishistic rubber sweat tops and leather pants that the Addams
family would adore.
Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo made their
mark in Paris in the 1980s with what became known as “scarecrow”
style. Voluminous black gowns and raw-edged tailoring repudiated the
bourgeois allure of the little black tailleur and challenged the very
bedrock of Parisian chic only to become assimilated by it.
Indeed, black in the 1980s became a way of life, a status symbol that
signified discretion and sophistication in a decade that revelled in excess,
bling and the pulsating colours of MTV. The fashion and creative
worlds took to it in droves. Black Yohji jackets and turtlenecks (purchased
from black-clad sales assistants at Manhattan designer store Barneys)
became the default uniform of musicians and film directors, while the
sheer black Alaïa dresses immortalised in Robert Palmer’s “Addicted
to Love” video represented the apex of sexually empowered style. In
offices and homes, glossy obsidian marble, lacquer and jet-black silk-
satin sheets became de rigueur.
Black represented a philosophy. In 1991, Carla Sozzani opened her
Corso Como store in Milan – a temple of elegiac monochrome clothing,
photographic exhibitions by black-and-white masters including Helmut
Newton and Richard Avedon, and graphic Fornasetti ceramics. The
flaxen-haired Sozzani – rarely spotted in anything but black – appeared
like a dark angel in the Italian sun.
“There is black and there is black; there are so many intentions
one creates in black,” says Sozzani. “In the ’70s, I followed Sonia
Rykiel’s philosophy ‘Black is beautiful.’ In the ’80s, I embraced Rei
Kawakubo’s vision of the woman I felt I was. And now, I am in accord
with Azzedine Alaïa’s thoughts on black. ‘I like black because it is
a joyful colour,’ he said. All have had their time. But the black pieces
I would ideally keep forever? One Comme des Garçons, one Alaïa, one
Martin Margiela,” she says. “Black is pure, clear, clean and strong; it
determinants shapes and forms, and is not frivolous. It gives the mind
the opportunity to open up in space and time. And, as it is all colours
mixed together, it will support and highlight everything else we bring
into contact with it.”
In the mid-1990s, Helmut Lang pushed the obsession to its extreme
and produced his staple denim jeans in 12 shades of black that were
displayed in-store like holy vestments. “Black is enduring in fashion
because it holds a wide range of meanings,” explains Bolton. “Prior to
the mid-19th century and the introduction of black chemical dyes,
black dye was very costly. So, a garment made from a deep, rich black
fabric, especially silk, was a symbol of luxury and refinement.
Black became associated with mourning in the West because it could
also be seen as humble and sober.”
There is a vast difference between that happy, inky pitch-black that
Alaïa favoured and the “sad” black of cheap tailoring. The quality of
black dye continues to be prized. “I love a really deep black, so you have
to find the right surface that drinks the colour better. I hate washed
blacks, so you have to be precise in that choice,” says Dossena. Ink- and
jet-black are most revered. Ink-black for writing originally came from
the lamp-black residue of burning candles and lamps. The best jet came
from mines in Whitby. Jewellery made from the mineraloid was
championed by Queen Victoria, who set the trend in mourning style.
Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen skilfully plays the scales of
black. One standout dress is cut from a woven length of degradé silk
that shifts from cobweb sheer at the hemline to pitch-black with a
red heart emblem embroidered on the chest. By contrast, Anthony
Vaccarello revels in the fetish allure of black in glossy latex, sequins
and leather that Yves Saint Laurent first made outré in the late 1960s
with Le Smoking and his sheer blouses. In Tokyo, Comme des Garçons
protégé Kei Ninomiya has made his love of black the focus of the
label he launched in 2012. You will always find a great black leather
jacket and ruffled T-shirt at Noir, alongside extraordinary runway
pieces that are feats of construction. His latest collection is about
black, too. “I was thinking about how black gradates, and how if you
go into the deepest end of the scale you discover red – that’s it – a
kind of colour study,” says Ninomiya.
New shades of black continue to emerge. The deepest, darkest
synthetic example known to man appeared in 2014. Vantablack was
originally created for use in the aerospace industry, and Surrey
NanoSystems, its manufacturer, says that “it is often described as
the closest thing to a black hole we’ll ever see”. But perhaps Kassia
St Clair describes it best, in her book The Secret Lives of Colour: “Seeing
it, words fail: it is akin to looking at a piece of sky from the dark side
of the moon.” And, “It is so black other black things glimmer murkily
by comparison.” This uncommonly dark material triggered a storm
in the art world when Anish Kapoor signed an exclusive deal with its
maker. A slew of blacker-than-black pigments then entered the market,
but Vantablack remains the optimum.
Black also continues to bewitch. “To me, black clothing is the epitome
of chic and sophistication,” says fashion PR Daisy Hoppen. “When I
think of the most iconic fashion images by Norman Parkinson, Edward
Steichen, Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, the models are often wearing
beautifully cut black designs that still resonate with me today.” Her
own choice of outfit is often inspired by film wardrobes, too. “Audrey
Hepburn in Sabrina or Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the gothic romanticism of
The Craft, The Addams Family… I like nothing more than a mid-length
black lace dress, boots and thick socks,” says Hoppen, who wears styles
from The Vampire’s Wife and Simone Rocha.
Over time, new black acolytes have risen and will continue to rise.
Such as Albanian-born Nensi Dojaka, who debuted her first collection
of skinny graphic slip dresses and tailoring at Fashion East. “Many years
back, before I even started studying fashion, I went to the Tate in London
to see a Rothko show. There was one particular piece that was in different
shades of black, and all the nuances of it mixed together to form these
shapes. It felt so powerful to me, almost drawing you in. Black has both
strength and vulnerability that I love. For me, it’s about stripping it
back to the power of the design, the fabric and the woman wearing the
clothes,” says Dojaka, whose attention-grabbing mesh bodysuit and
trousers were worn by Bella Hadid at the VMAs in September.
That’s the magic of black. It can be seductive as well as restrained,
an architectural statement as well as a cloud-like spectre, it can be silent
or, as the Addams family knew well, delightfully black-humoured. The
paradoxes are many. “It is the colour of the sound around the words:
black is poetic and we need poetry in our lives now,” says Sozzani. n
211
 Ditte and Nicolaj
in the hallway of their
Copenhagen home.
Interiors styling: Sofie
Brunner. Fashion
editor: Julia Brenard
NICOLAJ WEARS CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES, HIS OWN
DITTE WEARS CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES, GANNI.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS

The fun-loving spirit of Scandi brand Ganni is embodied in owners Ditte and
Nicolaj Reffstrup’s forever family home – a Copenhagen villa with all the creativity
of an art gallery, says Kate Finnigan. Photographs by Enok Holsegård
212
The Stamuli-designed
desk in the study
overlooks a vintage
daybed covered in a
Josef Frank print

213
 T
he first thing you see in the hallway of Ditte and Nicolaj
Reffstrup’s Copenhagen home is a football table. The
second is a nipple fountain by the artist Laure Prouvost.
The third is the glossy sky-blue banister that snakes
through the centre of the house. Colour, art, fun: the
trinity of design principles that contribute to the aesthetic
of their womenswear label Ganni, and this, their forever family home.
It’s situated in Østerbro, a residential area in the city centre, known
for its many parks and green spots. The small neighbourhood is the
oldest villa quarter in Copenhagen, built in 1865 in what is known as
the historic style. “It’s a schizophrenic time period, but the architects
back then had a great admiration for local crafts,” says Nicolaj. “So
the house has exposed brickwork and you can see all the joints. It’s a
modest house that focuses on craftsmanship.”
Like most Scandinavian buildings, the house has a large number of
big windows and glass doors to bring in as much natural daylight as
possible. “Europeans spend a lot of money on going out and having
good food,” says Nicolaj, “but in the Nordics we spend a lot of money
on our houses, because we spend so much time here during winter.”
The couple, who have three children – Betty Lou, 10, Jens Otto,
eight and Rita Sophie, three – had a clear vision to make “the most
liveable house ever for a family of five,” as Nicolaj puts it. With yellow
brick and dark-green paintwork on the outside, inside, the mood is
playful, with a masterful sense of colour. “Well, that’s very much Ditte’s
universe,” says Nicolaj, with admiration. “She started Ganni to show
that there was a more colourful side to Scandinavian fashion.”
There’s a theme of pink and blue in various tones and depths on the
walls (they favour Farrow & Ball paint), and floor surfaces are in terrazzo
or coloured tiles. These form a backdrop for both contemporary and
classic Danish design, such as the Le Klint lamps Nicolaj remembers
214
reading under as a child, folky woven rugs and mid-century botanical-
print fabrics by Josef Frank. “I think our home reflects how we are as
a family, and also how we work at Ganni,” says Ditte. “It’s about contrast,
mixing and matching, and new paired with old vintage pieces. There
are a lot of things here that I have found in flea markets.”
The couple bought the house in 2018, after selling their majority stake
in Ganni the previous year. Cleverly, they threw a big house-warming
party and then spent 18 months renovating, keeping the main structure
but replacing floors, building the new eye-catching staircase and adding
a light-filled extension. “We tried to respect the story of the house,”
says Ditte. “We didn’t want to tear any walls down to make big rooms.”
They then set to work filling the house with art and design by friends
and collaborators. “Most of the art and furniture we have collected over
the years is driven by the notion of relationships rather than skill or
knowledge,” says Nicolaj. “We collect things from friends in our life
who mean something to us. We’re not professional art collectors.”
Perhaps not, but their shared eye for all things beautiful and witty
makes for a distinctive space, as entertaining as it is welcoming. Fanlights
above the door in the hallway have been replaced with pastel-toned
glass by Nina Nørgaard, an artist with whom they have previously
collaborated for Ganni. In the living room, there is a pair of photographs
by Casper Sejersen, best known for his “orgasm portraits” of the cast
of Lars Von Trier’s film Nymphomaniac, a balloon installation by the
Danish artist Jeppe Hein that seems to tie in all the colours of the house,
and a tapestry-like oil painting that is pure, accidental art – it’s the old
worktop of an artist friend, which Nicolaj spotted in his studio and
asked to buy. “We see a lot of nice interiors in magazines that are super-
clean,” says Ditte. “I think it makes some people feel calm but for me
it just feels cold. I always think you have to do what feels right for you,
instead of decorating the way someone tells you.”
 The artwork
that hangs behind
the living-room
door is the former
worktop of an artist
friend. Left: a new
extension holds
the dining room

Sax wall lamps by

The kitchen – which is “full-on industrial”, with stainless-steel worktops Le Klint hang above
on one side and lacquered mahogany cabinets inspired by French a vintage American
patchwork quilt.
brasseries on the other – is where the family spend most of their time. Above: the exterior of
“It’s our favourite space, we start and end the day here,” says Ditte. “We the house, which was
gather with friends who sit and have a glass of wine while we’re cooking.” built in 1865 as part of
a collection of villas
Above a marble splashback, where the coffee machine sits, is a custom-
built steel and glass cabinet developed with Emanuele Stamuli, the architect
who works on Ganni stores and has also worked with Prada and Acne.
“It has a hint of a rainbow when the light falls on it,” says Nicolaj.
This is a family home and theirs a family business. Although they
SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT

sold the majority sharehold in Ganni, they still run it, and the global
pandemic has affected them. “This time has been a roller coaster – lots
of ups and downs,” says Ditte. “The business part, I have to say, has been
a lot of down, because we had to let some people go, which was terrible.
But in another way, suddenly you feel closer to people. You take time
to ask them how they are now instead of being so busy. I’ve become
closer to my colleagues. I hope we can keep that and take it with us.”
They regularly throw parties in their dining room, around a mid-
century table by the Danish cabinetmaker Børge Mogensen. They bought
it second-hand from the parents of their friend, the jeweller Sophie Bille
Brahe. “The table’s a complete mess in many ways, but that means
you’re never worried about it, which is comforting when there are three
kids sitting here,” laughs Nicolaj. It’s surrounded by mismatched chairs
– some from their friends at the Danish design company Hay, a couple
of Italian steel-mesh designs that Nicolaj bought from a restaurant and
various vintage finds. “This room sums up who we are,” says Ditte. “We
love having guests and we want it to be a welcoming home. It’s all about
not trying to be too perfect; mixing colours and fabrics and textures – the
same approach that I have to fashion. If you sense that people feel relaxed
about their home then as a guest you feel welcomed into it.” n

215
 Stella McCartney’s
traceable-alpaca-wool
sweater provides
comfort for the body,
mind and soul.

Sweater, £775,
Stella McCartney.
Recycled gold
hoop earrings,
worn throughout,
from £660,
Ali Grace Jewelry.
Hair: Teddy Charles.
Make-up: Michal
Cohen. Production:
Connect The Dots.
Digital artwork:
Studio RM

Natural
WOMAN
Amber Valletta, Vogue’s contributing sustainability
editor, shows us the best of autumn/winter 2020’s ethical
fashion – backdropped by the raw beauty of California.
Photographs by Zoë Ghertner. Styling by Julia Sarr-Jamois

216
 Vivienne Westwood
expresses her love for
the environment
in many different
ways – these roomy
trousers are one.

Organic-cotton
T-shirt, £65, Another
Tomorrow, at
Matchesfashion.com.
Wool trousers,
£2,075, Andreas
Kronthaler for
Vivienne Westwood
 Mixing South American
merino wool and French
botanical dyes, Ssone’s
patchwork knit champions
the natural world.

Organic-wool
sweater, £995, Ssone.
Suede sandals, £70,
Birkenstock

218
 Alexander McQueen is
synonymous with
heritage and craft. This
coat was inspired by
an old Welsh quilt, and
will last a lifetime.

Patchwork flannel
quilt coat, to order,
Alexander McQueen
 The idea of supporting
Guatemalan craftspeople
is knitted into Luna
Del Pinal’s brand DNA.
Need proof? Try this
handmade Lake Atitlán
crochet on for size.

Silk and crocheted

dress with beading,
£875, Luna Del Pinal

220
 At Maison Margiela,
old becomes new via
some clever cuts and a
wealth of imagination.
Finish with simple white.

Cotton body, from

£135, Nanushka.
Tweed culottes,
from a selection,
Maison Margiela
 Bode’s bowling
shirts have earned cult
status among fashion
insiders. Partner with
upcycled jeans, hand
sewn in Ghana.

Embroidered organza
shirt, from £318,
Bode. Denim jeans,
from £75, Studio 189

222
 Kenneth Ize’s
impeccable craft and
sustainable credentials
are worth many
moments in the sun.

Woven rayon/
cotton/silk jacket,
£1,998, Kenneth Ize,
at Browns, Machine-A
and Matchesfashion.
com. Swimsuit,
£250, Bondi Born.
For stockists, all
pages, see Vogue
Information
SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT

223
 The Stories
OF US

Hair: Carl Campbell.

Make-up: Min Sandhu.
Nails: Roxanne Campbell.
Set design: Danny Hyland

224
 From left:
Malachi Kirby
wears jacket,
£995. Trousers,

Small Axe, Steve McQueen’s upcoming anthology series, explores

£455. Both Paul
Smith. Shirt, £80,
Basic Rights.
the lives and influence of the post-Windrush generations. Boots, £1,020,

Its creator and cast talk to Amel Mukhtar.

Hermès. Tamara
Lawrance wears
dress, from
Photograph by Christina Ebenezer. Styling by Donna Wallace £2,980, Rochas.
Shoes, £595,
Jimmy Choo.
Earrings, £195,
Rejina Pyo.
Necklace, £129,
Daisy London.
Sheyi Cole wears
jacket, £1,850.
Trousers, from a
selection. Both
Dior. Top, £120,
John Smedley.
Boots, £630,
Giorgio Armani.
Amarah-Jae
St Aubyn wears
sweater, £695.
Skirt, £495. Both
Christopher Kane.
Sandals, £435,
Neous. Earrings,
£320, Burberry.
Ring, £75, Tilly
Sveaas. Tyrone
Huntley wears
jacket, £369.
Trousers, £159.
Both Boss.
Sweater, £1,090,
Tom Ford. Boots,
£295, Grenson
SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES WERE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THIS PHOTOSHOOT

225

I
n north London, polite laughter rings through a photo
studio, where five ascendant stars of Small Axe – the
first television series from Turner- and Oscar-
winning visionary Steve McQueen – are gathered
for a Vogue shoot. Malachi Kirby, 31, and Sheyi Cole,
21, sit at a table, chatting, grazing on granola pots.
Tyrone Huntley, 30, hovers nearby, while side-by-side at
the mirrors, having their hair and make-up done, sit Amarah-
Jae St Aubyn and Tamara Lawrance, both 26.
There’s a formality in the air that feels strange for a group
who have just wrapped a major series. Yet, in actual fact,
none have filmed a single scene together. Each episode of
the show is its own film, focusing on a different story from
the post-Windrush generation in London – the one
McQueen, 51, was born into. Taking its name from an
African proverb popular in the Caribbean – “If you are
the big tree, we are the small axe” – four of the five films
are based on the true stories of notable people (campaigners,
a musician, a policeman), against which issues including
police brutality, resistance and protest are explored.
But it’s a small world, and most of the actors’ paths have
crossed at auditions, awards shows… or after-parties. Take
Malachi Kirby and Sheyi Cole, who struck up a friendship
at Vogue’s Bafta party last February. Afterwards, Cole
messaged Kirby for tips before his Small Axe audition. Kirby’s
advice (“Just present your artistry, your truth and be ready
to take notes”) clearly worked, and the bright-eyed Cole
landed the role of Alex Wheatle, the celebrated novelist
who, as a teen, was imprisoned for his role in the 1981
Brixton riots. “He was the only black child in Shirley Oaks,”
Cole says of Wheatle’s time at the infamous Croydon
children’s home, which was later exposed for its horrific
abuse of thousands of young people. The episode charts
Wheatle’s experience of social care and his adolescence in
turbulent south London. Cole’s childhood home was not
far from Shirley Oaks. Listening to Wheatle’s life story,
Cole could immediately picture it all – he thought, “I know
that place. I know that place. I know that place.”
In the episode Mangrove, Kirby and Letitia Wright (“She’s
like my little sister, man,” he says of his Identity School of
Above: Small Acting classmate) portray civil liberties campaigner Darcus
Axe’s creator and Howe and leader of the British Black Panthers, Altheia
director Steve
McQueen on set Jones-LeCointe. Howe and Jones-LeCointe were two of
with Sheyi Cole the Mangrove Nine – the group of activists tried in 1970
226
“I JUST WANTED TO
GIVE OPPORTUNITY TO
UNDOUBTABLE TALENT,”
McQUEEN TELLS VOGUE
for inciting a riot at a protest against police targeting of the
popular Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill. All were
acquitted, and the trial became the first judicial
acknowledgement of racial prejudice in the Metropolitan
Police. “The stuff they were marching for wasn’t anything
over the top… just to be acknowledged as humans,”
says the thoughtful, calmly expressive Kirby. “The things
they are screaming out are pretty much the same things
being screamed out today.”
Given the uncovering of the Windrush scandal in 2018,
and the police brutality that sparked this year’s global Black
Lives Matter protests, Small Axe feels all too timely. McQueen
has dedicated the films “to George Floyd and all the other
black people that have been murdered because of who they
are”, but the series was not commissioned in response to
2020; McQueen first started conceptualising the show in
2009. “The inspiration was stories I felt needed to be told to
illuminate and rewrite black history in the UK,” he tells me.
That these stories – some half a century old – continue to
resonate decade to decade, only highlights Britain’s lack of
progression when it comes to issues of racial justice.
Nor was John Boyega’s casting as Leroy Logan in the
episode Red, White and Blue a response to the vocal role
the actor played in Britain’s BLM movement. Logan, now
a retired superintendent and MBE, joined the police force
determined to change racist behaviours from within, after
witnessing his father being assaulted by two officers. Tyrone
Huntley plays Logan’s best friend, musician Leee John, a
man who in contrast to Logan is full of self-assurance.
Huntley himself is getting there, growing to fully embrace
his Jamaican and Guyanese heritage. Growing up in Lincoln,
Huntley’s parents took for granted that “some people
wouldn’t appreciate living on the same street as a black
family,” he explains, and as the only black person in his
school, he experienced microaggressions that he only learnt
the vocabulary to express recently.
“It will be an eye-opener for people who shy away from
the notion of injustice and pretend discrimination doesn’t
exist. That there’s always been an equal playing field and you
just need to work harder and blah, blah, blah,” says Tamara
Lawrance of her episode, Education. She plays the sister of
a boy sent to a school for the “educationally subnormal”,
which were often used by the authorities as a dumping ground
for West Indian children. It was a scandal that sparked the
start of Saturday schools – parents taking their children’s
educations into their own hands. “It starts with kids,” she
says. “If you get the youth, that’s how you change the future.”
As the only black student on her Drama Centre London
foundation course, Amarah-Jae St Aubyn had such an
uncomfortable time that she almost abandoned acting.
Fortunately, she persevered. Her episode, Lover’s Rock –
fictional, though rooted in reality, and a shining celebration
of black love – sees her play Martha Trenton opposite actor
Micheal Ward. I struggle to think of another female actor
of her hue or darker playing the romantic lead in British
film or television. “I never would have thought I’d get this,”
 she says. “What’s beautiful is that young girls are going to
see this and be like, ‘Rah, I can be a beautiful young black
woman on screen in a love story.’”
It’s a reminder of the effect Lupita Nyong’o had after
McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave – not only for her multi-award-
winning acting but for her dark skin (she was virtually the
only woman of her shade, at that time, to have her beauty
widely celebrated). “I just wanted to give opportunity to
undoubtable talent,” McQueen tells Vogue, of his casting
process. “Just like Michael Fassbender or Lupita Nyong’o,
it was nothing different.”
It’s an approach that follows in his decision to take Small
Axe to the BBC, “one of few collective spaces that still unites
us,” says Rose Garnett, executive producer and director of
BBC Films. It allows access to the widest possible audience,
which the BBC agrees the show needs. “Small Axe is as
meaningful, as wide-scale, as important as something like
His Dark Materials or Game of Thrones,” she continues.
“These are stories that will catapult into your living room.”
McQueen was given free rein to create his vision. “At the
BBC, you have to earn Steve’s trust. Part of your job
sometimes is just getting out of the way.”
Trust is a word that comes up a lot when the cast talk
about McQueen. He inspires reverence. Tyrone, though
jocular, is the most reserved of the group, and his apprehensive
eyes light up when conversation turns to the director. As
Tamara puts it, “This is Picasso, you know?”
“He was a conductor,” agrees Kirby, “and we were
each instruments; he was waiting for the symphony of each
scene. He would tap each of us like, ‘What happens if
you…’,” he mimics the brushstrokes of focused conducting.
“‘OK, play, play, play.’”
That musicality was at the heart of the process. As
Leee John, Tyrone describes “dancing non-stop”. Cole
demonstrates a motorcycle-revving dance he learned from
Wheatle, who was a sound system DJ in his youth (“I hope
they keep it in!”). St Aubyn says her episode is one “you
can dance to”. She learnt the era’s earthy moves from a
choreographer (a natural dancer, she instinctively moves
when she speaks, expressing each word with her body).
Kirby filled the set with 1970s Island tunes to get into
character, as it “changes your inner rhythm, how you walk,
how you talk, your gestures”. And despite the heavy subject
matter, the young actors had a lot of fun. “We knew how
BBC/McQUEEN LIMITED; WILL ROBSON-SCOTT; PARISA TAGHIZADEH; KIERON McCARRON

we were going to get through it, we were going to laugh

and dance and sing and enjoy ourselves,” says Kirby.
At its core, the show is a paean to those who fought
injustices, to the immense joy of the black British community
and its cultural innovation. It is, for all its weight and
seriousness, a celebration. “Without the foundation the
Mangrove Nine and others made for us, I’m not too sure
what our futures would have looked like. Definitely less
bright,” says McQueen. “Not to say it’s too shiny now.” n
Small Axe is on BBC One and iPlayer from November

“THE STUFF THEY WERE

MARCHING FOR WASN’T
ANYTHING OVER THE TOP…
THE THINGS THEY ARE Above, from top: the episode Mangrove recounts the story of the
SCREAMING OUT ARE THE Mangrove Nine, a group of 1970s activists; Micheal Ward stars opposite

SAME TODAY”
Amarah-Jae St Aubyn in Lover’s Rock; episode four features Sheyi Cole as
Alex Wheatle, the novelist imprisoned for his role in 1981’s Brixton riots

227
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and Midhurst. Built around the turn of the last
century, it has 10 bedrooms, as well as staff flats, a
secondary house and two cottages. £6.5 million.
Knight Frank: 020 7861 1065

W
hen buying a family house,
often it’s the added extras
that make it really special.
Leisure facilities such as a
swimming pool, a tennis court, a spa or a
cinema room can, depending on your own
family’s preferences and habits, become as
much of a well-loved hub as the kitchen or
the living room. Obviously, there’s always
the possibility of installing these features
yourself, but having them already in situ
saves money, time and e . tennis court.
Selham House in West Sussex already has a
head start when it comes to amenity value, as
it’s situated in the middle of the South Downs
National Park. Surrounded by an expanse
of open countryside, it’s perfect for walkers,
horse-riders and cyclists. Set on nearly 20
acres of land, the imposing country house
also has an outdoor swimming pool and a
Ockwells Manor in Cox Green, Berkshire
is another property that would be perfect
for a large family, and is steeped in history.
Pevsner described this 15th-century
dwelling as ‘the most refined and the most
sophisticated timber-framed mansion in
England’, and it has some remarkable period
features, from the Jacobean staircase to the
17th-century panelling.
The great hall, with its high vaulted ceiling
and imposing stone fireplace, is a wonderful
space for entertaining on a grand scale. The
 THE GRANGE, SURREY
A seven-bedroom Regency
country house with 15 acres of
stunning gardens and paddocks,
conveniently located within two
miles of Cobham village and train
station. There’s a walled garden, a
pool, croquet lawn, stables, and a
tennis and basketball court.
£5.5 million.
Sotheby’s International Realty:
01932 860537

HAMSTONE HOUSE, SURREY

Surrounded by eight acres of grounds, this magnificent Grade II-listed manor sits in the
private St George’s Hill estate, bordered by the open spaces of the golf course. There are
gym and spa facilities, as well as an indoor swimming pool. £16 million.
Beauchamp Estates: 020 7499 7722

THE DELL HOUSE, HERTFORDSHIRE

This newly built house is located just outside the popular
village of Radlett, in over three acres of grounds. With six
bedrooms, it’s been designed for family living – the large
contemporary kitchen has a generous island unit, and opens
out on to the garden and swimming pool. £8 million.
Knight Frank: 020 7861 1065

LEA HOUSE,
HAMPSHIRE
With views across the
Solent towards the Isle of
Wight, this Georgian-style
house is half a mile from
Lymington town. It comes
with a state-of-the-art spa
complex, with an indoor
pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and
air-conditioned gym.
£8.5 million.
Savills: 020 7409 8881

UPPER PHILLIMORE GARDENS,
W8
Located on one of London’s most
sought-after streets, this detached
Kensington townhouse is grandly
proportioned at 12,260 square feet, with
10 bedrooms and a host of amenities,
including a cinema room,
pool and garage. £29.95 million.
John D Wood and Co: 020 3369 4322
EARLS TERRACE,
W8
Despite being in the
middle of London,
there’s no shortage of
outside space at this
Kensington townhouse.
There’s a 90-foot rear
garden as well as access
to the communal
gardens of Edwardes
Square. It’s also close to
both Kensington High
Street and Holland Park,
so there’s lots to do
close by. £10.25 million.
Russell Simpson:
020 7225 0277
occupants of the master bedroom can keep
an eye on proceedings, as the dressing room
opens out on to a minstrel’s gallery, although
with seven further bedrooms to choose
from, you may prefer a more restful place to
sleep. Outside, there’s plenty to keep
everybody busy, especially if they’re into
horses – there are paddocks, a circular riding
track and a polo pitch.
If you’ve always wanted to live close to
the sea, Lea House near the market town
of Lymington in Hampshire is a spectacular
example of a coastal estate. With views across
WOODBROOK PLACE, CHESHIRE
Set in the popular village of Alderley
Edge, this six-bedroom house has been
designed with family living in mind. It’s got
a big, beamed kitchen, plenty of light-filled
living areas and large terraces that are
perfect for dining alfresco, with an outdoor
fireplace and pizza oven. £5 million.
Jackson-Stops: 01625 540340
 OCKWELLS MANOR,
BERKSHIRE
This nine-bedroom house near
Maidenhead dates back to
the 15th century, with plenty
of original period details, such
as a set of exquisite stained-
glass windows. It’s set in 42
acres, which include a topiary
garden, a tennis court and a
swimming pool. Offers in
excess of £10 million.
Knight Frank: 020 7861 1065

the Solent towards the Isle of Wight, this

Georgian-style house sits in 36 acres, and BYAM STREET, SW6
This four-bedroom period
possesses every imaginable leisure facility.
townhouse in Fulham has
There’s a state-of-the-art spa complex with an been recently updated
indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room, – there’s a brand-new
an air-conditioned gym and even a tennis cinema room and generously
proportioned living areas
court. Children will adore exploring the
designed for family living.
extensive gardens – especially when they come Available to rent for
across the astro-turfed adventure playground, £2,000 a week.
complete with a tree house and a zip wire. Dexters: 020 7386 7386
The house is lovely too, but with so many
diversions on your doorstep, you might spend
rather less time in it than you’d thought.

ALDERBURY HOUSE,
HAMPSHIRE
Three miles from Salisbury,
this Grade II*-listed Georgian
house is surrounded by
33 acres of landscaped
gardens and parkland.
With a swimming pool
and tennis court, it also has
a separate three-bedroom
cottage on the grounds.
Offers over £5 million.
Savills: 020 7016 3820
CONDENASTJOHANSENS.COM
LAS ISLAS, COLOMBIA
 Computer Generated Images

A COLLECTION OF 54 PRICES FROM

£2.75m to £9.98m
HIGH-END APARTMENTS IN THE Main Agent

HEART OF MARYLEBONE
A range of luxury 1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments and penthouses
superbly located immediately off Marylebone High Street with balconies,
terraces, concierge and underground parking available.

This exciting new development is located within

walking distance of an array of shops, restaurants and cafes,
Selfridges, numerous underground stations and a short
distance from Regent’s Park and Hyde Park.
 NOTEBOOK
A round-up of the latest property news,
at home and abroad

ART IN RESIDENCE
For the ultimate in industrial chic, The Pickle Factory launches this month
at London Square Bermondsey – a range of highly individual apartments
occupying the buildings where Branston Pickle was once made. A short walk
from fashionable Bermondsey Street and London Bridge, this substantial new
development is set in landscaped gardens, which will also include art studios
and galleries for Tannery Arts, a local charity working with emerging artists. An
exhibition celebrating the talent nurtured by the charity is currently being staged
in the sales suite at London Square Bermondsey. Apartments from £670,000.
For more information, visit www.londonsquare.co.uk
REIGNING IN SPAIN
This spectacular modern villa is set in La Zagaleta, a private
nature reserve spread across the foothills of the Ronda
Mountains, just a few kilometres from the coast of Marbella.
Winding mountain roads connect the residents to the estate’s
many amenities, including two golf courses, tennis courts, fishing
lakes, and a heliport. This property is the jewel in the crown – at
over 14,000 square feet, it has nine bedrooms, vast entertaining
and living spaces, elegant gardens and its own infinity pool with
stunning views of the Mediterranean. €23 million.
For more information, visit www.aylesford.com

HIGH STYLE AND HISTORY

Following the redevelopment of Television Centre – the BBC’s
INTERIORS EXPERTISE
former home in White City – some of the country’s finest interior
The process of designing, designers and architects have decorated the premium apartments,
building and decorating a house giving each a unique character. Suzy Hoodless and Waldo Works
is notoriously challenging, which are the latest names to transform these singular spaces. Design
is why the property developers details include this marble-clad master bathroom, and each
Octagon have introduced a apartment has at least two private terraces. From £3 million.
new in-house interior-design For more information, visit www.televisioncentre.com
service for their clients, enabling
a streamlined service from
concept to completion. From
their riverside offices overlooking
the Thames and Hampton
Court Palace, the dedicated
design team can create tailor-
made schemes that reflect
the client’s individual taste and
style, drawing on their 40 years’
experience of building new
homes across London and the
surrounding areas.
For more information,
visit www.octagon.co.uk
 ASPIR ATIONAL HOMES FROM
AN INSPIR ATIONAL COMPAN Y

Recognised as pioneers of luxury housebuilding, Octagon has an unrivalled reputation

for building and restoring homes throughout London and the Home Counties.
Our in-house team of architects have been designing award winning homes
for over 40 years, combining classical exteriors, beautifully landscaped gardens
and contemporary interiors to create truly remarkable properties.
From extensive refurbishment and restoration of Listed homes, to state-of-the-art
new builds and elegant interior design, Octagon offer clients the complete
turnkey service, from concept through to completion.
The current Octagon collection includes spacious family homes in prime
locations, with prices starting from £625,000 – rising to over £20 million.

Contact our team for more information on our award winning homes and service.

020 8481 7500 | OCTAGON.CO.UK

VOGUE ASKS
Do you have a go-to
timepiece? “I always
wear an Apple Watch for
business and a gold Tank
Louis Cartier for sin.”
Watch with leather strap,
£8,800, Cartier

Is there a secret to
escaping a boring
party? “If you
feel great, every
party will be
the best party.”

Where can I
meet new people?
“Claridge’s is more
fun than Tinder.”

Which book
should be on
my coffee table?
“Dior Hats:
From Christian
Dior to Stephen
Jones [Rizzoli,
from £45].”
Who is
the most
glamorous
woman in
the world?
“It’s a toss-up
between the
Queen and

What would
Rihanna.”

Stephen Jones do?

Advice on life, love and style from the British milliner
INTERVIEW BY TIMOTHY HARRISON. PAUL SCALA; CLARIDGE’S;

Where should I start when planning If I only buy one hat, what style should it be?
a fabulous outfit? A beret, definitely.
A hat, hands down. Sorry Manolo! Is there really such a thing as bad taste?
GETTY IMAGES; RIZZOLI NEW YORK; PIXELATE.BIZ

What is the best advice you’ve As Diana Vreeland said, “No taste is what
ever received? I’m against.”
Don’t look before you leap. I’m in Paris, where should I go for a chic dinner?
Tell me how to make a major Prunier’s l’oeuf Christian Dior is reassuringly
entrance at a party. expensive.
Phone the caterers, ask what time How can I break into fashion?
How can I overcome they’re serving the first course. Be a party whore. Your friends will be
first-date jitters? Is there a trick to working with fashion your first clients.
“Wear a veil. It’s
very beautifying, designers when they’re under pressure? Is there any way to prevent hat hair?
and a topic of There’s always vodka and a cigarette. Don’t wear a hat that’s too small for you.
conversation.”
Hat, £510, Stephen
What do you do if someone’s late? What is the highest praise in fashion?
Jones Millinery Call them incessantly. “I’ll buy it!” n