Here it is. The Big Fashion Issue. Summer wanes, autumn approaches and with it comes the thrill of the next, of future delights and shifting moods, of fresh styles and new conversations. On our pages this month, you will find it all, from the key emerging trends to the people and places to know.
Our cover star is no stranger to September editions of Vogue. Perhaps no other face so effortlessly captures the essence of the fin-de-siècle supermodel as Linda Evangelista’s. Through the ’80s and ’90s she ruled catwalks and campaigns; her name a byword for beauty; her attitude ballsy and blunt; the intensity of her stare down a photographer’s lens pure electricity. With such outward confidence, Linda was a glorious affront to the notion that models should be seen and not heard. Whether it was money or men, she had a way of calling people out with a fearlessness that few possess, even today.
Yet for too long she has found herself far from the spotlight she once owned. To say this fact was often on my mind is an understatement. It is one of the most gratifying elements of my time at Vogue to see how a generation of models now in their forties and fifties – Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Kristen McMenamy – are still so loved by our audience and remain a key presence in the magazine’s pages and on covers. There was a point in fashion when it didn’t matter how successful you’d been, you got popped in the dustbin once your sell-by date was up. I don’t stand for that and lots of others don’t either now. So, for many reasons, I have felt Linda’s absence keenly.
The truth is that she was really going through it. One of the most photographed women in the world became one of the least. Due to “rare” complications with a cosmetics procedure (a legal case ensued that was recently settled, the company concerned insisting all patients were informed of the risks), Linda has spent several years hiding from cameras, mirrors and friends, holed up with her son, Augustin, in New York, and – by her own admission – hitting a worrying mental low. Now she talks in depth about those years, where it has left her and what she has learnt. Reading her profile, written by Vogue’s Sarah Harris, I was struck not only by admiration for her candour but also for her smarts. Her thoughts on modelling and artifice are especially fascinating, and her wealth of experience in the industry gives her a rare authority to speak on so many issues that continue to concern us today about body image and beauty expectations. No wonder she remains among the greatest to ever set foot in front of the lens. Meanwhile, photographer Steven Meisel – who else? – and I spent a glorious day with Linda, making a set of fashion images fit for a queen. No one understands the Evangelista magic better than Meisel and to see these old friends back together on set felt like a heart-warming moment of fashion history. I very much hope you enjoy the results, seeing Linda’s return, and are as moved as I was by the story of how she got here.
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Elsewhere in September, newness abounds. The trends section is brimming with the key codes to embrace, from the ubiquitous tank to the allure of maxi-length dressing.
Photographer David Sims takes us on a chicly kinky journey, Rafael Pavarotti captures the debut collection from Matthieu Blazy as Bottega Veneta’s recently arrived creative director, while Kate Moss also heads to new pastures with the launch of her wellness brand.
Change is afoot beyond fashion, of course. The newly appointed associate justice of America’s Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, sits for photographer Annie Leibovitz, providing a much-needed beam of hope in a chilling year in the history of the United States’ highest court. Closer to home, the ever-debated broadcaster Laura Kuenssberg gives an exclusive first interview to Vogue as she prepares to take over the flagship Sunday morning politics show on BBC One. You will also find an extract from my upcoming memoir, A Visible Man – my first book (talk about newness!). I really hope you enjoy it and everything else in Vogue’s Big Fashion Issue.
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