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I have major trust issues when it comes to my hair, dating back as far as I remember. One particularly harrowing core memory: I’m aged nine on a school trip to Butlin’s when my teacher, whose straight, blonde locks couldn’t be more different from mine, was tasked with styling my Afro. Her well-meaning efforts – a demented cross between Pippi Longstocking and the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz – left me positively mortified. As a teenager, finding a reliable hairstylist proved just as fraught. After a few years of chemically straightening my hair, I resolved to go natural aged 14. At the recommendation of a friend, I made an appointment with a hairdresser in Battersea specialising in Black hair. What could possibly go wrong? A lot, apparently. Midway through a blow-dry, the stylist threw up her hands. “I’m sorry, but your hair is unmanageable. I can’t do this,” she said. With hairpins still clinging to my partially coiffed do, I was swiftly ushered out the door.
When I finally landed at Charlotte Mensah’s salon, shortly after moving from New York City back to London a couple of years ago, my expectations were miserably low and yet she disarmed me almost immediately. “Whatever the length, whatever the texture, Charlotte finds beauty. She listens to your story about your hair and replaces it with a better one,” writes Zadie Smith, herself a regular at Mensah’s beloved Hair Lounge on Portobello Road. In anticipation of Community Matters, an exhibition celebrating Mensah’s 40th year in the industry, which opens in September at Ladbroke Hall, Smith travelled to Accra with the award-winning British Ghanaian hairstylist. Shot by Nigerian photographer Manny Jefferson, the accompanying pictures are at once a love letter to West African hairstyles, the women who wear them and the decade-long friendship between Smith and Mensah.
Friendship is at the heart of this month’s headlining fashion story too, a bumper introduction to the exciting new generation of British models. Contributing editor Olivia Singer followed Jacqui Hooper (22), Bebe Parnell (21), Charlie Jones (19), Ella Dalton (20), Charlotte Boggia (19), Monet-Lauren Gordon (27), Cathy Simmons (22) and Layla Etengan (20) over a rambunctious shoot with photographer Rafael Pavarotti and stylist Kate Phelan. They were inspired by the throwback swagger of Buffalo style, and that personality-driven aesthetic is in keeping with the vibrant energy of this crew.
At only 20 years of age, the Green Party’s Dylan Law is undoubtedly a next-gen name to know in British politics. Nosheen Iqbal met the new deputy mayor of Hackney just weeks after the local election in May that swept him to office. Law is “an antidote to the GB News-ification of public discourse”, she writes. Photographed by Campbell Addy, he is a breath of fresh air indeed.
Going by his first name only, Demna has long since come into his own as a fashion head of state. Six months on from his buzzed-about debut in Milan for Gucci, the famed creative director talks to Nathan Heller about how he’s resetting the storied Italian brand. “My vision of Gucci is – creating this Fomo,” he explains. “The chic, the elegance, the Italian-ness of it… It’s a fun thing, quite punk, in a way – like, ‘I like myself and I don’t care what other people think.’”
Finally, in the spirit of that clear-eyed self-possession, it gives me great pleasure to announce Nicole Kidman as British Vogue’s September cover star. A fashion law unto herself, the Aussie actor has appeared on every moodboard of every major fashion house in the last 25 years. She’s the definition of Hollywood royalty. Newly single and contemplating her next chapter, Kidman is entering a new phase of life. She’s embracing the change with a sense of optimism and curiosity. “My desire is not to be ruled by my head. I’ve always wanted to live a well-examined life, so what does that entail?” she says. “Trying things, making mistakes, failing, getting back up, moving on, embracing love, staying open, keeping the heart open, and the possibilities.” It’s an uplifting motto with which to kick off the season.
Nicole Kidman wears sweatshirt and jeans, Stella McCartney. Leather bag, Hermès. Sunglasses, Chloé. Gold hoop earrings, Yvonne Léon. Shoes and belt, stylist’s own. Make-up by Clé de Peau Beauté. Hair by Virtue Labs. Hair: Adir Abergel. Make-up: Fulvia Farolfi. Nails: Megumi Yamamoto. Tailor: Carol Ai. Set design: Rosie Turnbull. Photograph: Venetia Scott. Styling: Poppy Kain.