September issues are usually about newness.

Unexpected silhouettes. Fresh hues. A must-have that you want to stretch your budget for and makes you tingle when you finally land it.

But this year is different.

What’s new isn’t so obvious or, in some cases, even accessible. Some designers have scaled back collections or, like Greta Constantine, are shifting their fall delivery to later and renaming it “resort.” And with WFH continuing and gatherings limited in size, do we need anything more than a new pair of jeans…if that?

Fashion and beauty lovers like us are always going to have our antennae tuned into what’s new. And we’re going to indulge whether we “need” something or not. Are we environmentally irresponsible? Occasionally, but many of us are striving to do better in that respect. So why can’t we resist the urge to shop? To some degree, we might be using fashion to soothe.

That’s the word Toronto-based creative marketer and art director Katie Merchant uses in “The Frill of It All” (page 80) when she admits that to her, fashion is a form of escape. “I like an element of fantasy in my clothes,” she tells fashion news director Odessa Paloma Parker as she tours her (virtually) through her collection of ruffles. The peplums and Pierrot collars are mood boosters that Merchant also shares on her Instagram account, @ThankYou_OK. And followers are grateful. “I get a lot of messages from people saying it makes them happy,” she says.

Isabel B. Slone has also been mulling her quarantine closet and decided that it’s her life’s work (“Lost and Found,” page 84). But what was once a source of creativity and joy isn’t anymore. Her search for the reasons why led Slone to some interesting theories: One is that we collect possessions to quell anxiety, a coping mechanism learned in infancy.

Mic. Carter, founder of the ungendered brand L’Uomo Strano, believes that fashion is one of the first tools available to help queer and trans people express their true selves (“Get to Know,” page 18). “Before you potentially have access to surgery or hormones to affirm your gender, you have access to thrift shops or stores that make affordable clothing,” says Carter, who has also developed a nonbinary design course for Ryerson University.

What’s clear is that there is so much more to clothing than some people think, which is just one of the reasons why we are celebrating the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards 2020 Womenswear and Menswear Designer of the Year nominees (page 68). The May awards were postponed due to COVID-19, and as of press time, the date is still TBD. Shoots are also challenging right now, so associate art director Danielle Campbell created compelling collages based on each brand’s most recent work and vision.

And, finally, how do you get jet lag without leaving home? Oversee a shoot happening in Paris from Toronto! Our creative and fashion director George Antonopoulos had a 1 a.m. call time with L’Oréal Paris ambassador and supermodel Cindy Bruna, who was creating our cover story with a tiny team at her side (“French Polish,” page 39). Bruna did her own light makeup for shoot day, and four full looks created by Val Garland, the brand’s global makeup director, were later applied to the images digitally. L’Oréal Paris has added those looks to its Virtual Try-On tool, so you, too, can try them—just scan the QR codes on pages 6 and 49.

With Garland based in London, our L’Oréal Paris contacts in Montreal and Bruna skipping back and forth between Paris and the South of France during our pre-prep, it felt like anything was possible. And despite everything that’s going on in the world right now, I still believe it is.