According to the magazine,Beyonce wrote ''Though I find it hard to believe, this issue marks my third anniversary as editor-in-chief of this magazine. I’m not entirely sure how the time has passed so quickly, although for all the obvious reasons, this past year especially feels as if it has disappeared in a flash for many of us.
I always feel glad that it’s a December issue that marks my anniversary at Vogue. I love them. There is something so enveloping and emotive about this time of year, and to embrace that we weave together glamour and sparkle and cosiness and cultural highlights with an emphasis on family and relationships, plus – what every good December issue needs – just a little touch of reflection. It puts a full stop on the year.
Again for all the obvious reasons, it felt important to make 2020’s an extra-special event. On that note, I am delighted to publish, in Royal Wisdom, on page 212, a new portrait of and interview with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. A long-time supporter of the fashion industry’s efforts to become more sustainable, the Prince has been working with Yoox Net-a-Porter on an exciting project. Set up in collaboration with The Prince’s Foundation, The Modern Artisan is a training programme that gives students from the UK and Italy invaluable experience in textile design and sustainable production methods. Their first capsule collection of luxury womenswear and menswear launches this month.
The Prince talks me through the project during a lively Zoom call we had earlier this year between Dumfries House and Vogue House. I’ve known His Royal Highness for a while, and, like many, am always struck by his authenticity. He has been an advocate for the environment and sustainability for 50 years. “Buy better, buy less” was his mantra many decades before it became a buzz phrase of our times. He really was an oracle then, and he remains just as passionate today – as well as being a very stylish man in his own right.
The Prince is also a noted theatre fan, and I hope he will be one of many who enjoy the quiet majesty of photographer Jack Davison’s portfolio of images taken in London’s shuttered playhouses (Dramatic Pause, page 192). Theatre, the centuries-old lifeblood of British culture, has been suffering like so many creative industries these past months, and so we gathered some of the London stage’s finest performers in now empty performance spaces as a rallying cry. From Cate Blanchett to Imelda Staunton, Jude Law to Paapa Essiedu, Sophie Okonedo to Andrew Scott, a talented roster of actors reflect on the power and purpose of their art, and remind us that we not only need to celebrate this country’s unique theatre landscape, but to protect it, too – especially as we move into a challenging new year.
There is still room for a little fantasy, though. On page 228, photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott lead us through an exquisite meditation on shape, while on page 206, the gloves (and jewels!) are on, for a glittering, festive pick-me-up in Glove Affair. On our Trends pages, it’s all about velvet, sequins and a pop of red, and there’s an especially poignant Viewpoint section this month: on page 102, Avni Doshi, the year’s breakout literary star, writes about absent families – something that many of us can empathise with at the moment; meanwhile, on page 104, Anthea and Hattie Rowan, mother and daughter, write movingly about Hattie’s diagnosis with obsessive compulsive disorder, and what it has meant for her life in a pandemic.
Then, of course, there is B. I had the enormous honour of interviewing Beyoncé, and working with the gifted up-and-coming photographer Kennedi Carter on a 20-page fashion story. At just 21, Kennedi becomes the youngest photographer to capture a British Vogue cover. Everyone always wants to know what it’s like to work with Beyoncé and her incredible team, and the answer is… flawless. A perfectionist to the core, more than anything, she wanted her Vogue moment to be filled with positivity as this trickiest of years draws to a close. As ever with Beyoncé’s goals, she got her wish. Enjoy!
The December issue of British Vogue is on newsstands on 6 November''.
More photos below.
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