Editor's Note
So. That was quite the hiatus, no? It was just a year ago this month when our country experienced her first cordon sanitaire, the situation we recognise as the Movement Control Order, or MCO. An edict that saw us confined to our homes with little outside movement allowed, all to ensure our safety from the unseen and unpredictable threat of the coronavirus pandemic. Unpredictable to the point that nobody foresaw that this very magazine would soon cease operations just two months after. Forced into hibernation until maybe, just maybe, the right time will present itself for a possible reemergence.
Which brings us to the here and now—we are back! Albeit with new faces (hello, everyone!). Growing up, my love for fashion and understanding of editorials began with magazines such as Harper’s BAZAAR. Absorbing its pages when I should’ve been studying. I love BAZAAR because as much as it takes fashion seriously, it knows how to have fun with it too. Among my most favourite spreads was the gallery-worthy Madonna tribute to the legendary Martha Graham as photographed by the late, great Peter Lindbergh (May 1994), as well as that time when Linda Evangelista escorted the Simpsons around Paris, as illustrated by Julius Preite (Aug 2007). Just imagine my joy when I was given the opportunity to serve as contributing sub-editor for Harper’s BAZAAR Malaysia back in September 2007—under the leadership of the incomparable Editor-in-Chief, Natasha Kraal—that soon opened the door for opportunities to serve as contributing writer/editor and stylist for the magazine over the years since. Now, to be given the responsibility to sit at the head of the table, feels like a homecoming of sorts. It reminds me of the Malay proverb “bagai sirih pulang ke gagang”, to literally mean like the betel leaf returning to its branch. Or as one fellow BAZAAR alumnus offered succinctly, “Once a BAZAAR baby, always a BAZAAR baby.”
How apt then to return to the industry with an issue that celebrates the return of fashion? Though we are not completely out of the woods yet, the world of fashion has already begun easing into the traditional fashion calendar, staging the Spring/Summer '21 shows in virtual and physical formats back in September as originally scheduled. Reassuringly, in spite of the prevalent mood of the world today, there were no signs of doom and gloom on the runways. Instead, designers took their cues from the one thing the world is in dire need of now: hope. From splashes of neon at Balmain and Chanel, puffy sleeves at Loewe and Rodarte, positive affirmations at Chloé, gender neutral dressing at Louis Vuitton and Vivienne Westwood, to a diverse and body-positive casting of models at labels the likes of Versace, Fendi and Alexander McQueen … fashion’s mid-pandemic visions remind us that there is still much to celebrate.
Speaking of celebration, in honour of International Women’s Day this month, we’ve invited talented fine art photographers, Nadirah Zakariya and Prestine Davekhaw to create creative visuals for the magazine, and have also spoken to four inspiring women who’ve taken up the challenges of life in lockdown to eventually find success in their respective pursuits. To quote a mantra I’m wont to repeat throughout the production of this very issue, “We are all in this together.” Have hope.