Editor’s Letter: A Different Kind of Strength

This month, we turn preconceptions of power on their head

So the very first thing you need to do this month is go and gaze at our beauty shoot, which stars Jude Lewis, Tulsi Vagjiani and Natalie Ambersley, and which we produced in partnership with charity Changing Faces to celebrate Face Equality Day on Friday 26th May.

Amazing, right?

When I first saw the raw images come through, I felt a proper head-to-toe tingle. They are some of the most beautiful pictures I have seen so far this year; not just because they feature beautiful women with beautiful bodies in beautiful makeup, but because they project a spirit of strength through vulnerability that makes my heart soar.

There have been a lot of political, national and literal ‘shows of strength’ recently, and with a General Election suddenly in the works (for which you need Greg Taylor’s brilliant guide) we can only expect more. Most of these power-plays only serve to expose the weakness of the people who make them and drive their targets to entrench; they are the opposite of the humane and courageous sort of might that leads to real influence.

Many of the people we feature in our May digital issue exemplify this understated clout. One such is Mark Horvath, a one-time Hollywood exec who found himself homeless in LA, and used the insight and empathy he gained from the experience to launch Invisible People, an incredible charity that showcases the stories of those living on the streets. Then there’s Joanna Payne, the founder of Marguerite, who has channelled her frustration with the “old boy’s club” of the art world into creating a network where women in the arts can support each other on the climb to the top. Or how about our cover star, the TV presenter Laura Jackson: a down-to-earth northerner who is building an interiors empire one intimate supper club at a time.

I even think this month’s fashion speaks to the idea that strength doesn’t always (rarely, even) lie in suits. The soft punk story juxtaposes clothes that are both feminine and fierce, the gingham trend board reclaims this most innocent of schoolgirl prints for the modern working woman, while our playful Style Sketchbook shows that yes, boys, cute can be tough.

A friend of mine is a fan of kintsugi, the ancient Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with gold. It’s a wonderful metaphor for the truth that exposing and even celebrating your weaknesses can become the very bedrock of your brawn. As Carly Simon put it: “a really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.”