“FASHION WITH ATTITUDE.” That’s the catchy
coverline fronting our September edition, and from
the first page (Prada’s stomping boots) to the last
(Balenciaga’s graffiti prints), it’s clearly the message that
came through on the recent runways. But admittedly
it should probably read “women with attitude” –
because, well, clothes don’t wear themselves. Whether
fearlessly minimal or fantastically OTT, the
trends you choose to tap into for spring are
going to be defined by the way you
interpret them. This month, our intrepid
fashion team have decoded the new
season with a definitive edit of everything
you’ll want to see and try, but they want you
to know, it’s BYO personality. Something
I’m pretty sure you’re not going to have
a problem with, right?
Natasha Liu Bordizzo has it in spades. If
you don’t already know her, you soon will.
This year alone the young Australian actor starred in
the award-winning Hotel Mumbai and Netflix hit The
Society, and has already bagged an upcoming
film opposite Daniel Radcliffe. She’s studied law, has
a black belt in taekwondo, is outspoken about the
environment and, at the time of our interview, was
deciding between taking up hip-hop and R’n’B or
pole dancing. The soon-to-be 25-year-old is navigating
her way through a notoriously discriminatory industry
with maturity and incisiveness. For me, she’s everything
exciting about the future of Hollywood and I love theA_LEEKself-assuredness she radiates on our cover. When I first
chatted to Natasha at Chanel AW19-20 ready-to-wear
in Paris in March, amid the weighty tweed suits and
wispy snowflakes of a manufactured winter wonderland,
I wondered how she would interpret the show looks in
her own way. One glance at the resulting shoot (p124)
will tell you – with cool irreverence.
There is so much else to inspire in the issue. You can
read about the refreshing move further towards older
models on the runway, marking a season of increasingly
inclusive casting (p50), brush up on the fresh female
talents making headway in music (consider your summer
listening already sorted, from p74) or get involved in the
empathy movement, a new kind of activism that has
the potential to change your relationships, your
community, the world. Or turn to our regular contribution
from columnist E Jean (p193), who in June appeared on
the cover of New York magazine to accuse Donald
Trump of attacking her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing
room 23 years ago. Wearing the same Donna Karan
coat-dress she wore all those years ago, she appeared
chin up, arms defiantly crossed and with the same kick-
ass stance we like to imagine she assumes when doling
out her sometimes harsh but always heartfelt truths.
Attitude is, indeed, everything. Especially when it
comes to what you shrug on to face the world. It’s the
way you wear it. The confidence you bring to it. The joy
you derive from it. And according to our biggest-ever
collections story (p102), it’s how high you can kick in it!
This season, the sky’s the limit. Enjoy.ELLE
@GENEVRA“WHAT IS
IMPORTANT
in A DRESS is the
WOMAN WHO
IS WEARING IT”
- YVES SAINT LAURENT
Photography: Sylvè Colless