I love December issues. My first here as editor-in-chief at Vogue in 2017 was a December. There’s something so pleasingly blockbuster about them, as the festive season kicks in and fashion gets more eye-catching – jewels sparkle, fires crackle and everyone glitters.
Hand-in-glove with that sentiment, I suspect that the main reason I like December as an editor is that it is a good time to make a statement. Six years ago, we titled the first edition of my tenure here “Great Britain”. Model and activist Adwoa Aboah was the cover star, fronting an issue packed with some of the most captivating forces across British fashion, style, culture, politics and society. Instinct and passion were our guiding principles. It ended up being something of a moment. People seemed so surprised by – and mostly enthusiastic for – a vision of what modern Britain actually looked like.
Now, as we round the corner into the middle of this next decade, and for my last December here as editor-in-chief, we have revisited the theme for our cover and an accompanying portfolio. In the face of a turbulent social landscape, I’ve been thinking a lot about what unites people these past few months; the notion of what constitutes a “national treasure” in the 2020s, and how a shared identity – or at least an ephemeral sense of connection – can sit within the soft power of those people who we all mostly tend to think of as “good”.
Take Olivia Colman, for example, and her wholly British attitude to stardom (calm, unfussy). Or Kate and Lila Moss and their embodiment of cool London style. Meanwhile, the ever bold rapper Stormzy has cut to the heart of the nation, his music redefining what the mainstream sounds like while he acts as a beacon for a new kind of masculinity. And how about actor Jodie Comer, whose dazzling talent has seen her soar in a world where access to the arts remains so inequitable. Then there’s the thrilling esotericism of Tilda Swinton, a true one-off whose entire being sits in a grand tradition of nonconformist creative Brits. Little Simz, the Mercury Prize winner – also excellent on television’s Top Boy – is an unassuming powerhouse whose artistry and uncompromising approach to her craft have made her one of the most thrilling and important musicians working today.
Our cover stars feature alongside a plethora of faces who speak to our theme: Tradition & Revolution, those twin forces that have driven British life since year dot. I hope you enjoy the imagery and interviews as much as we enjoyed working on them. I know that we live in a land that often feels like it’s hell-bent on dividing us. Boomers vs Gen Z. Woke vs... whatever the opposite of woke is. But I don’t believe we are as fragmented as the culture likes to imagine. Nor do I believe that the loudest voices are always the most representative. To that end, I hope these portfolios offer a tonic of sorts. One that, six years on from that first British Vogue of mine, feels all the more revolutionary for how traditional this collection of kingdom-defining talents now feels.
The December 2023 issue of British Vogue is on newsstands from Tuesday 21 November
