American Dreamers
Our spring ’22 issue turns its lens to American fashion and the dynamic talent that informs it. This issue in itself, produced during a wave of heightened COVID social-distancing restrictions, proved a feat of endurance and innovative collaboration that had our teams Zooming in from all corners of the globe as we recharted production in real time amidst an ever-changing reality. Through it all, putting this issue together brought into sharp focus how — when the world is dreary — fashion is one of life’s great escapes. It is also one of our more important assets. Practically and figuratively, it is one of our most valuable creative exports and powerful mediums of expression.
In “American Icons,” we spotlight American design creativity in an intimate portrait of some of the industry’s brightest talents. From the legacy designers who gave rise to so many of the iconic styles that were critical to the formation of today’s American fashion identity (see: Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Vera Wang, Tory Burch, et al.), to the brightest new independent talents paving the way forward. As designer, Joseph Altuzarra tells us:
American Fashion is leading the way. At this moment, fashion is coming out of its ivory tower and talking to different people with different backgrounds and perspectives. Here, embracing new ideas and perspectives is the most encouraged. Change happens slower elsewhere.
Few people intuit this same potency of American culture and visual identity than our cover star, Paris Jackson. As the only daughter of the late American pop icon, Michael Jackson, consciously or unconsciously Jackson has spent the majority of her life in the public eye. In “The Evolution of A Pop Royal,” we sit with the [almost] 24-year-old to find a woman imbued with incredible talent and a deliberate vision of how she wants to present herself. At a young age, Jackson has lived what feels like five lives — and candidly shares how she manages the weight of one of the most important American pop culture legacies while forging her own visual and artistic identity. We find her intent with advocacy and connection fueled by a determination to push important conversations forward and inspired by a sense of purpose that is uniquely her own.
It’s a sense of inertia that we similarly embrace as we forge into a new season. Spring has a lot to feel joyous about. From optimistic hues to reimagined basics borrowed from the boys, there’s a sense of joy and revival in the spring ’22 collections. It’s part of the brilliance of fashion, it keeps moving on… as do we.
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KATE DAVIDSON HUDSON
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LVR
