Happy Returns
I’M SO THRILLED OLIVIA WILDE is on our cover—a familiar face for a new year. In fact, when I first saw Annie Leibovitz’s otherworldly pictures of her from Palm Springs, which is the setting for her highly under wraps new film, Don’t Worry Darling, I had a sense of déjà vu. I immediately thought of Vogue’s many other portraits of Olivia, and especially the last time she was photographed— wonderfully—by Annie, with her children, for us in 2018.
One of the pleasures of this job is returning to subjects and tracking the way their lives have changed. Olivia is a woman who began her career relatively young, on television—an early role was on The O.C., as our writer Alexandra Schwartz recalls in her profile—and then proved herself as a significant acting talent in dozens of films, as well as a thoughtful advocate for political and environmental issues through the brands she associated with. And then in her 30s, she managed to move behind the camera and astonish everyone by directing an immensely appealing and intelligent debut feature, Booksmart.
Later this year comes her sophomore directorial effort. I’m not allowed to tell you anything about Don’t Worry Darling—except that it represents another impressive evolution for Wilde. You may also be aware that her personal life has attracted rather fierce attention of late. I, for one, find her confidence through all of this—and her evident happiness at the turns her life has taken—inspiring.
She’s just one of several subjects in this January issue that embody Vogue Values—a set of convictions around community, creativity, inclusivity, and sustainability that guide the work we do. With the consequences of the climate crisis upon us, we asked the photographer Eddie Wrey to capture looks from a range of emerging designers around the world who we feel are getting sustainable fashion right. It’s no surprise that these designers are all young—the new generation is focused on climate in a responsibly passionate way. Another example: Xiye Bastida, the activist who has articulated the stakes of the crisis and has rallied others to her cause. Bastida is just 19 and destined for even greater things. I can’t wait to see how Vogue will revisit her in the years to come.