EDITOR’S LETTER
Even though she had already won us over on our cinema screens, Emma Watson cemented our respect when she stood up and delivered her powerful HeForShe speech at the United Nations in 2014. How visionary her words seem today.
Our March issue always focuses on the new season’s fashion, but this March feels like the right time to talk about more meaningful change than simply the shape and hemlines of our clothes. When Emma said: “Don’t expect change to happen overnight. Even if it is not always visible, it’s making more impact than you think”, her words resonated with me. Here was an opportunity for Vogue to highlight all the positive work and impact that so many extraordinary trailblazers are already having on our environment – changing our thinking and behaviours in the process. It was also a chance, I thought, to spotlight some of the issues that really do still need acknowledging, areas in which we can all make improvements to help make the world a more equal, accepting, sustainable and kind place. Who better to lead us in that direction than Emma Watson?
Our team was thrilled when she accepted our offer to guest-edit this issue, and we are extremely proud of the truly collaborative result. The voices she has engaged – Malala Yousafzai, Tim Flannery, Stella McCartney, Maye Musk and more – speak loudly throughout this magazine, and Emma’s personal commitment to sustainable fashion and the process of putting together this issue has introduced us to new ways of thinking and tools to help us be better informed. The challenges she has posed have set us in new directions, which will be lasting.
I am very grateful to Emma for making the trip to Australia and visiting us in our offices, and for the intelligent and respectful manner with which she approached this project. She really is our champion of change and we hope she – and this issue – inspires you, too.