Fashion’s fab four revisited
ABLAZE WITH STYLE
Designer Anna Watson has brought a 12-year tailoring background to her looks for Anna James. Her timeless blazers, in an array of colours and checks, are made from premium-quality materials – and made to last. I especially love this eye-catching red one – perfect for the new season.
The other night I woke in a panic after having a very strange dream. I was trying to interview the four Supers – Naomi, Cindy, Christy and Linda – but they told me I couldn’t speak to them because I wasn’t tall enough. I remember feeling very cross, desperately arguing that height had no relevance to what I was trying to do. But, alas, because they were so tall they couldn’t hear what I was saying all the way down at my average 5ft 6in!
This surreal scenario floated into my subconscious mind after watching Apple TV+’s new documentary, The Super Models, about their lives and careers. I’d been hugely interested in seeing it but came away feeling rather flat. Watching so much footage of women who made a fortune from their goddess looks, and the way they wore clothes, left its mark on me in the form of unhealthy self-comparison. There was so much emphasis on physical appearance – and ego – across the four hours that my mind obviously decided that I wasn’t tall enough.
Perhaps, naively, I’d been hoping for more soul, more depth and, above all, more warmth. Still, lucky them to have looked the way they did, and to have enjoyed that small window of time that allowed them to earn so much from such an enviable existence.
But the interesting thing was that happiness doesn’t particularly radiate from the Supers today. The inevitable ageing process – and resultant diminishing career opportunities – have clearly been a struggle for them, like all of us. Poignantly, the documentary opens with Cindy saying to one of her assistants: ‘People always say that I look like Kaia [her model daughter]. I say it’s Kaia who looks like me – I had it first.’
Linda and Naomi had big battles to fight – sexual abuse, racism, ill health – and, yes, they are survivors. But their fame and wealth has built a protective barrier around their personalities that the documentary only managed to pull down a fraction, making it a frustrating watch. This is especially a shame since we are at the beginning of a fashion season that hinges so much on nostalgia for the heyday of the Supers: the mid-1980s and early 1990s. Here’s how…
Power-dressing shoulder-padded jackets are back with a bang, along with one of the 80s’ favourite colour combos: think red knits and blazers over black leather trousers or tailored wide legs.
90s-style slouchy tailoring, slip dresses, leather jackets and cropped knits are enjoying a renaissance.
The most fashionable feet wear simple court shoes and ballet flats.