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FKA Twigs Is British Vogue’s April 2024 Cover Star

BY CHIOMA NNADI

Resourceful and resilient: for me, those are the two words that truly underpin the brilliance of British style. As a teenager, I would spend hours sitting outside the old Central Saint Martins building on Charing Cross Road to see how the art and fashion students dressed. This wasn’t about designer label-spotting – most of the kids didn’t, of course, have enough money to shop on Bond Street – but about noting how they would put together the eclectic pieces they’d found at car boot sales or on Portobello Road, which is where I did all my shopping too.

Three decades later and, while much has changed in the 20 years I have been living in the US, London’s beautiful, creative, scrappy energy – one that just can’t be found or emulated anywhere else – remains undimmed. I write this on my way to Milan, utterly rejuvenated from an invigorating slew of autumn/winter 2024 shows at London Fashion Week, which served as a wonderful, nostalgic reminder of how exceptional we are at bringing to life fresh, irreverent ideas. It’s what, I now realise, made me fall in love with fashion in the first place, all those years ago, when I still lived round the corner from the Oxford Circus Topshop.

And so, back on home turf with the new responsibility and supreme honour of taking up the mantle at British Vogue, I knew my first cover star needed to be someone who defined that inimitable spirit. Luckily for me, it was an easy choice. FKA twigs is an artist who represents the ideal of the modern British eccentric: she is a shape-shifter who rejects conformity and takes real joy in clothes. And as someone whose personal style was ignited by the clubbing scene, I was so inspired speaking with twigs about her latest work and the always-alluring relationship between fashion and music. She reminded me that it isn’t just about the runway – it exists and can be found in so many different places, be it at a rave or in our home lives.

Our April cover shoot, photographed by Johnny Dufort and styled by Ib Kamara, also offered the perfect moment to showcase some brilliant British design talent, from Jonathan Anderson’s revered Loewe to rising star Jawara Alleyne, who is just one of a new generation of designers (see also: Supriya Lele and Aaron Esh) whose singular point of view I am excited to amplify. So, too, am I eager to look beyond our capital and tell the style and culture stories unfolding in all corners of the UK. It was a delight to return to Manchester, where I went to university, to witness last year’s Chanel Métiers d’art show. What else have I missed besides the fashion and Brixton’s Jamaican food? The art, the people, the traditions, the nature. All of Britain’s beautiful juxtapositions. So I bring you an undone Lila Moss in the quintessential country garden; artist of the moment Slawn in his new east London café-cum-gallery with his gorgeous family; the under-the-radar vintage collectors whose archives are the envy of all; and Britain’s new leading man, the charming Louis Partridge.

And then there are the stories that reveal another side of life. Take Billie Piper, an actor who has been through her own turbulence, and whose latest role explores a crisis within the royal family. Meanwhile, in a fascinating Viewpoint, the writer Cassie Werber explores what love and parenting looks like in an open marriage. Because how we think and love – as well as how we shop, beautify and style ourselves – are all reflections of a new Britain. And, I hope, Vogue can hold up a mirror to them all. It’s good to be back.

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