EDITOR’S LETTER
Ever since I saw Kristen Stewart host Saturday Night Live earlier this year, when she opened the show with a wonderfully wry take on why Donald Trump had attacked her with such bile on Twitter, I’ve been hoping to celebrate her again in Bazaar. So I’m thrilled to feature Kristen on our September cover, and to have had the good fortune to meet her at Chanel’s private apartment in Paris, where we talked about everything from ghosts to feminism (the thread of the conversation being Chanel herself, now that Kristen is the face of Gabrielle, a new scent inspired by the legendary designer). You’ll be able to watch a film of our encounter via Bazaar online, but in the meantime, please do read Elizabeth Day’s perceptive interview with Kristen (page 242), accompanying Tom Craig’s memorably atmospheric images.
Elsewhere in the issue, our bold fashion teams have travelled to the wilds of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall (page 302); the gleaming towers of the City of London (page 282); and the Scottish cliffs of the Mull of Kintyre, where we were blessed to be working with Julia Banas, a model with a head for heights, who more than lives up to Bazaar’s legendary motto, ‘elegance, with a dash of daring’ (page 258).
Bazaar’s longstanding commitment to literature is also to the forefront of this edition, in which we publish Claire Powell’s impressive winning entry in our annual short-story competition (page 324); alongside Kathryn Hughes’ intriguing piece on Thomas Hardy’s serialised fiction in the magazine (page 322); and Tessa Hadley’s sparkling account of the triumphs and tensions that went hand in hand with Henry James’ contributions to the title (page 320).
As always, our love of fashion, travel
and art runs through these pages, and a belief that if we find pleasure in something, our readers are likely to share our enthusiasms. Hence the antique tarot cards that appear in this month’s jewellery story, sourced by our photography director, Rachel Louise Brown (who somehow managed to find time to arrange her fairy-tale wedding at Stonehenge last month, while juggling the demands of this, our biggest issue of the year, in between evening classes in lucky charms and the casting of spells; though come to think of it, perhaps it’s the latter that adds to the enchanting quality of the pictures she commissions).
As for my own passions: anyone who has read my biography on Coco Chanel may have guessed that it was at my request that Kristen Stewart was photographed amid the ethereal mirrors of Chanel’s apartment, and with the couturière’s own crystal balls and tarot cards. Some might call these the signifiers of superstition – but I believe in allowing space for myth and mystery, between the lines and within shadows and reflections, where the veil between the past, present and future becomes translucent… for therein lies the freedom and magic of Bazaar.