Editor’s Note
We all need a little hope, optimism and positivity when we are faced with so much unrest and uncertainty in the world. That’s why on one of the covers of this month’s double-cover issue, you’ll see teenage lovebirds Maddie Ziegler and Eddie Benjamin, glowing with romance and looking great in the season’s hottest fashion and glorious jewels. It’s the first time I’ve featured such a young couple on the cover and I felt that for September, when every glossy magazine shouts about fashion newness or the latest collections, I wanted an extra layer to the style discourse to inspire our readers beyond the sartorial. Which is what this power couple provides. Having been nurtured by Sia (Maggie) and steered by Justin Bieber (Eddie), they are on the cusp of greatness and represent a new generation of creatives who will be touching our lives through our screens and Spotify lists. Turn to page 160 to see the spread shot on a rugged Californian ranch, and read about how they fell in love and navigate their relationship under the glare and scrutiny of social media.
Speaking of social media, we also have two Singapore actors coming from diametrically opposite fields talking about how their lives transact with the platforms. There’s 28-year-old Ayden Sng, who is not your cookie-cutter leading man. Yes, he has the chiselled jawline, the dreamy eyes and the toned bod, but he’s also daring, unconventional and unafraid to take chances. He has wholly embraced Instagram, and is producing shoots of his own in high fashion designer gear and shooting TikTok videos in his living room. He has also done a mean erhu cover of the popular BTS song “Butter”. See this man of many talents in his favourite skirts on page 127. The other Singaporean is celebrated actress Tan Kheng Hua, who, at 58, is 30 years his senior. She says that she personally loves seeing the work of young creatives on social media: “I love what they’re doing in the films I see on YouTube, Not Safe for TV and Viddsee. We have so many wonderful songwriters, all Singaporean, who are so, so good.” Kheng, as she likes to be known, is back in our consciousness and on our screens with an action-adventure TV series this year (catch it on HBO Max). She models the latest fall/winter fashion with all the style and verve of a seasoned professional. Turn to page 176 to see this thespian embrace colour, print, and some of the cosiest faux fur and knits.
We all love a fashion revival and Jeffrey Yan’s “The Comeback Kids” feature on page 64 charts the return of Balenciaga’s couture show, the renaissance of Marc Jacobs, an exciting new designer at Alaïa, and the fantastic match of Jean Paul Gaultier and Chitose Abe in their maiden couture collab. These are some of fashion’s most celebrated creators and it’s wonderful that such magical beauty can emerge during a global pandemic. For more glorious fashion, turn to our extensive “The Collections Report” on page 74 and read all about the key designers to note for the season. And finally, a feature that brings much joy to my heart: “C’mon, Dress Happy” on page 68, which extols the virtues of bold, brilliant colour to uplift spirits and banish the blues. As an editor and fashion lover who has always loved and embraced every Pantone shade (even brown!), nothing sparks more joy than a kaleidoscope of positivity and optimism. Boys in pink? Make mine shocking!