Not long before I started working at US Vogue in 2010, I went to a special screening of The September Issue at the now shuttered Sunshine Cinema in New York’s Lower East Side. At the time I was the style director for a downtown music magazine, largely operating on the periphery of the city’s fashion scene – a fashion obsessive, yes, but hardly a seasoned insider. Watching RJ Cutler’s highly compelling documentary, which chronicles the making of Vogue’s most agenda-setting issue of the year, felt a bit like peering through Narnia’s wardrobe: here was a world unfamiliar to me but also strangely beguiling. Within minutes, I was mesmerised.
Of course, the irony wasn’t lost on me when I started the job later that summer, shortly before the magazine’s September edition hit stands. It took a good few weeks of manoeuvring through the Vogue offices, then in Times Square, to shake the feeling that a film crew might be hovering just around the corner.
Almost 15 years on and I’m reminded of that moment as I read the final proofs of my first September issue of British Vogue. And in the spirit of firsts, I’m thrilled to introduce Kylie Jenner’s debut on our cover. The 27-year-old beauty mogul and mother of two has lived virtually all of her life in front of the camera, the youngest daughter in the world’s most influential reality TV dynasty. Lately, though, the social media supernova has come into her own – and as British Vogue’s executive editor Giles Hattersley witnessed first-hand at Couture Fashion Week in Paris this past June – she truly delights in major fashion high jinks. In the story, shot by Luis Alberto Rodriguez and styled by contributing fashion editor Ib Kamara, Jenner takes on the season’s most arresting looks with a complete sense of ease. For more highlights of autumn/winter 2024, see also runway dynamo of the moment Angelina Kendall modelling the new-look minimalism, photographed by Nigel Shafran and styled by Alex Harrington.
As London Fashion Week approaches, all eyes are on the capital’s newest design talents– rising stars such as Jawara Alleyne, Aaron Esh and Dilara Findikoglu – who are confidently blazing a trail for themselves. As a young designer, navigating the increasingly fraught retail landscape takes grit and guts, which this crew has in spades – plus, bucket-loads of talent. I’m excited for you to get to know them in this issue.
Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director for the past 10 years, needs absolutely no introduction. The famously private and prolific French designer sat down for a rare interview with writer Nathan Heller. As you’ll discover, Ghesquière has found a new sense of peace, both personally and professionally. One quote in particular has stayed with me, words I think will resonate with anyone engaged in creative pursuits: “You always face the blank page as a designer. Except now, behind the blank page, there are 10 years of fundamentals that have been developed with vocabulary: a pocket, a detail, a combination of colours, a specific shape of trouser. And that creates serenity.” The image of him shot by Oscar-winning director Justine Triet, happily splashing around the pool at his home outside Paris, captures his exuberant new mood quite brilliantly.
Over in Westminster, a new vanguard of women MPs is poised to make its mark too. We invited 13 of them – six newly elected, seven returning – to be photographed for this issue just days after the party’s landslide victory. Writer Zing Tsjeng unpacks what the historic moment will mean for the nation’s future. Meanwhile, author Bernardine Evaristo ponders another topic of national importance: the right to gossip. In her delightfully candid personal essay, the Booker Prize winner posits gossip as a deeply human need, one that she insists can be a force for good. Bottom line: it’s time to admit we all do it, and love it!
To satisfy my own desire for behind-the-scenes candour, we recorded snippets from the editorial meetings that took place in the run-up to this September issue for a special edition of our podcast, The Run-Through With Vogue. A mini audio doc, of sorts. Eavesdrop on those conversations at your leisure.