Editor’s Letter
The arrival of spring heralds the promise of new life—or new beginnings, if you will. Not that it matters to a country like ours, where we are faced with proverbial days of summer all year round, with seasonal rains to cool us off from time to time.
But Tatler Malaysia is always interested in people and their life-changing stories, no matter the seasons. And for our spring issue, we not only celebrate fashion and creativity but also authenticity and the power of owning up to your mortality.
On top of over 50 pages of the must-have looks and trends in our Style section, start off with our cover stars and rising models in the scene—nia Atasha, Shikin Gomez and Natalie Prabha—who, while decked in Chanel, tell us about the nuances of being a modern model and social media influencer today as well as matters of representation and the ideals of beauty. “I get people asking me how I can be so confident in my tanned skin, and I don’t even know how to answer them,” said Shikin Gomez in her interview with Koyyi Chin. But she thinks it’s empowering for people to see that representation, “that it’s okay to love your skin” no matter your skin tone.
Other interviews include up-and-coming designer You Sheng who turned his family’s batik business into a sought-after bridal atelier; Ipoh-based Nigel Chia who upon admitting the truth to himself, has freed him to pursue his dream to be a designer and dollmaker instead of playing it safe; and what it took for Penang boy Han Chong to create one of the biggest international cult fashion labels, Self-portrait.
In our features section, you won’t want to miss Zabrina Lo’s interview with Chloé Zhao, who became the first woman of Asian descent to be awarded best director at the Golden Globes for Nomadland, which stars Frances Mcdormand. It was her third feature film after Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider, but in all her three films, she explores existential quandaries that her characters face with questions such as “Do I leave or do I stay?” “If I lose everything that defines who I am, then who am I?” A consummate storyteller, Zhao takes inspiration from real-life stories to lend a relatability that would touch and resonate with the viewers.
Finally, Danica Lo’s interview with Nikhil Kamath, touted as India’s youngest billionaire, makes us ponder on our own mortality. In his tweet, he wrote, “Book of the year for me [referring to The Denial of Death], so at 34, a fair estimate is I have 36 years left. (Avg life span 70) So easy to forget the finite nature of life, if u were to live backwards with awareness of how much time (approx) is left, what would you change?” Gives one a different perspective on life, doesn’t it?
–Elizabeth Soong, Editor