HAIR: JOSH KNIGHT. MAKE UP: MARIA COMPARETTO. SET DESIGN: GEORGINA PRAGNELLAbove, from left:
Grace Forrest
wears blouse, £275,
Beulah. Trousers,
£155, The Fold.
Jewellery, all her
own. Fatima
Zaman wears
blouse, £219, Boss.
Trousers, £175,
The Fold. Earrings,
£125, Dawn After
Dawn. Necklace and
rings, all her own.
David Jones wears
rollneck, £215.
Trousers, £255.
Both Paul Smiththat “could fundamentally change the lives of thousands of
people”. As a whole, the power of fashion in activism continues
to grow because it “allows us to wear our values” in the most
literal sense, agrees Black Lives Matter activist DeRay
Mckesson, captured here with his iconic Patagonia vest.
Meanwhile, Nimco Ali, the UK’s leading anti-FGM
campaigner, pointed out that its influence goes beyond clothes,
to our bodies themselves. “We all read and consume fashion,
so it’s important for magazines such as Vogue to take
responsibility for how we talk about women’s issues,” she
explains. “Issues like FGM only come to the fore when women
feel free to openly discuss their bodies without shame and
stigma.” Emerging UK models Neelam Gill and Leomie
Anderson strongly agreed – and spoke frankly about what’s
needed to ensure more diverse faces are represented on
the catwalk and throughout the industry. “We won’t be silentwhen we see things that are wrong,” they say. “We will always
call it out.” Of course, social media has been a key medium
for them to do just that – and is something that everyone
present feels strongly about. Fatima Zaman, who works to
counter violent extremism with the Kofi Annan Foundation,
finds that social media is the most important forum on which
to counteract messaging from groups such as ISIS.
“In the end, the key takeaway from writing the book – and
from One Young World as a whole – is that this generation is
more informed than any previous generation,” adds Ella, who
is currently working to increase the number of female candidates
who stand for election. “We need more young people to run
for office – especially young people from diverse backgrounds.”
And that, everyone agrees, is a lasting source of hope. n
One Young World 2019 takes place in London from 22-25 October.
How To Make A Difference, by Kate and Ella Robertson, is out nowYoung leaders from every country
in the world will be present at
the 2019 forum, Britain’s most
international gathering since
the 2012 London OlympicsVOGUE PARTNERSHIP11-19OYW.indd 121 16/09/2019 14:39