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a flash, we’ve fast-forwarded from happy holidays to what’s new now, where those neon burgers and plastic du jour fashioned up as oversized Céline bags and kinky clear trenches at Miu Miu—culminating in a ‘Plastic Fantastic’ exhibition at the D Museum in Seoul (cue page 124)—all but leave me in a tizzy. One minute winter pop fur, next cheap-and-chic (btw, what’s up with this anti-luxury fashion?) ... and it doesn’t take the stroke of a clock for the great tastemakers to change their mind again. To kick off this new year with some relevant thinking, start with the insightful ‘The Future of Fashion’ by Alexander Fury (page 48) to realise that it’s much more than just Insta-sexy trends but the universe of a designer’s mind, that elusive Zeitgeist, and, as he lyrics, an “esoteric landscape of references” which we’re subconsciously clueing into. It’s exciting times for fashion, especially if you get these new dynamics.
Nowness is not necessarily about newness. The cultural compendium of the moment pays much homage to the past—from costume-inspired fashion to retro design to food foraging—that there’s comfort in knowing. It’s also a time of great collaborations, not just in the ‘x’ as a marker of creative synergy between two brands, but in those under-the-radar fusions of rich heritage with fresh energy (read Karl Lagerfeld’s take in ‘The Octopus That Ate His Own Leg’ on page 128). There’s also a resurgence of interest in 20th-century art, as the epic exhibitions of 2018 attest, from a Modigliani retrospective to the must-see ‘Picasso 1932 – Love, Fame, Tragedy’. Also, don’t miss the reopening of the Royal Academy of Arts in London with the blockbuster ‘The Great Spectacle: 250 Years of the Summer Exhibition’ that marks its mammoth anniversary. This year is going to be a rich mélange of past x present x future in the most thrilling visuals, the lingua franca of today.
With that, we’ve put together an electrifying issue that literally pops with colour in every shade and idea. The Crayola box of Cruise 2018 fashion begins with Dianna Agron insouciantly posing in the candy-pop Eloise Suite at The Plaza Hotel New York, gussied up in Louis Vuitton’s punchy, seminal collection in collaboration with Kansai Yamamoto. We loved her as the head cheerleader in Glee, after which she swung 180 degrees to play a nun—catch the cover story ‘Lightness of Being’ (page 84) to find out her biggest role yet. This traverses into brightly coloured tracksuits (so now!) in a parkour-inspired spread, and dramatic red looks photographed in the patina-imbued city of Venice. There’s the home of pop-tastic shoe designer Sophia Webster, objet d’art in the spirit of Dutch colourist Piet Mondrian, and the new brand of green architecture vis-à-vis Bjarke Ingels and Ken Yeang (page 130). Rainbow eyes (page 62) and silver hair (page 70) play up the spectrum, because this year we’re going to live all seven shades. Have a good one! www.facebook.com/harpersbazaarmalaysia
J