STATE OF INDEPENDENCE

had to ponder really hard about this month’s theme of power. What does power mean today? Fashion-wise, there’s been no better time to dress like a CEO, with tailored trouser suits and shoulder pads angling for space on rows of pristine designer racks. If you flip to page 36 and read-adjacent looks and fashion armour are giving women a sense of enpowerment that goes way deeper than a runway trend. With the Russian/Ukraine war, growing unrest with climate change, over-burdened airports and wave upon wave of new Covid-19 strains criss-crossing the world (let’s not even start with monkeypox), a sense of fearlessness in your sartorial get-up arms you to do battle with what the world throws at you. Utilitarian fashion, combat fatigues and flight suits suddenly make so much sense in fashion and a faux fur coat from Saint Laurent could be the cosiest and eco-friendly alternative for keeping warm and ringfencing you from all the viruses in the world.