editor’s letter
We’re thinking about the future of love and sex in all its complicated, life-affirming, messy and wonderful forms this month. In the past year, it feels like half the ELLE team have got engaged, married, or had babies. Meanwhile, I have friends who are happily single and doubling down on their commitment to themselves. All of this is happening against a backdrop of deep societal discontent. As I write, half a million workers spanning teachers, fire fighters, civil servants, border staff and more are on strike. And a recent YouGov poll revealed that more than 60% of Britons are feeling sad or stressed.
This makes me think of bell hooks’ observation from her seminal book All About Love: ‘Everywhere we learn that love is important, and yet we are bombarded by its failure… This bleak picture in no way alters the nature of our longing. We still hope that love will prevail. We still believe in love’s promise.’
And so we’ve packed this issue with reasons to do precisely that. There’s our cover star, Hunter Schafer, who speaks openly and candidly with contributing editor Lynette Nylander about how the many kinds of love she shares with her Euphoria castmates, from her best friend Zendaya to her partner Dominic Fike, keep her grounded (page 98). Meanwhile, writer Natalia Pasichnyk shares a moving account of her first year of long-distance from her husband, after being separated by the war in Ukraine, and how they’ve managed to hold on to intimacy and connection (page 146). Here in the UK, a desire for the latter is driving zillennials’ shift away from hook-up culture and towards relationships that feel more purposeful, as deputy digital editor Katie O’Malley discovers in her piece ‘Less is more’, which debunks the myth of the great ‘sex recession’ (page 136).
Like the sex-drought debate, much has been made of the post-lockdown wedding boom, which has unfolded since the world reopened. It’s a moment that has given rise to the cult fashion wedding as social-media phenomenon (think Simon Porte Jacquemus’ viral nuptials in Provence or Chloë Sevigny’s epic extravaganza). On page 140, we speak to some of the most stylish brides we know, including Nabihah Iqbal, who reconnected with her Pakistani heritage as she created the outfits for her wedding to designer Nicholas Daley; and Daisy Hoppen, whose buzzy, two-day party featured some of the best of British fashion.
And for those who are simply in a romantic mood, we give you fresh ideas to dress your way through spring (‘A soft life’, on page 110) – looks to lift you as the days grow a little longer and brighter.