Kamala Harris by INDIA KNIGHT

20 DECEMBER 2020 Kamala Harris BY INDIA KNIGHT

PLUS MICHAELA COEL BY DOLLY ALDERTON NICOLA STURGEON BY DECCA AITKENHEAD CHRISTINE QUINN BY CAMILLA LONG

The Barometer

Edited by Jane McFarland

Fashion! Beauty! People! Things! Welcome to your weekly guide to the stuff everyone will be talking about. Do keep up

Uh-oh! The meringue is back Who knew Katie Price’s 2005 wedding lewk would be all over next year’s mood boards?

We did! Whopping wedding dresses were NOTEN DRIES VAN spotted on the catwalk at Tomo Koizumi and Jacquemus. Meanwhile, Molly Goddard’s fantastical foray into bridalwear JACQUEMUS has put princess-wedding-level frou-frou back on the agenda. Forget the Frocky Horror Show: for 2021 it’s less rhinestones, more riotous ruffles. I do! I do! I do! TOMO KOIZUMI KOIZUMI TOMO

Roaring Twenties hair So 2020 wasn’t quite the return to the Roaring Twenties we had hoped for, but there’s always next year, right? Yes, if next season’s hairdos are anything to go by. Waves! Glamour! Think Cecil Beaton with a modern twist. At Dries Van Noten, hairstylist Sam McKnight updated the vintage look with clusters of bobby pins. (Fun fact: the pins must be bumpy side up should you want to recreate the look.) OK, so it’s not the easiest style to copy, but if you didn’t become a hair maestro during lockdowns 1 and 2, what have you been doing? Time and tongs are involved, MOLLY GODDARD MOLLY plus very steady hands. To create the S-shape, curl your hair along the barrel of the tong one way, then the other. Pre-wine, folks, pre-wine.

ON THE COVER KAMALA HARRIS PHOTOGRAPH ZOË GHERTNER

EDITOR LAURA ATKINSON ACTING DEPUTY EDITOR HANNAH SWERLING ART DIRECTOR ANDREW BARLOW FASHION DIRECTOR JANE MCFARLAND BEAUTY DIRECTOR SARAH JOSSEL FEATURES EDITOR LOUISA MCGILLICUDDY ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR SCARLETT RUSSELL JEWELLERY DIRECTOR JESSICA DIAMOND ASSOCIATE FASHION DIRECTOR VERITY PARKER FASHION AND MERCHANDISE EDITOR FLOSSIE SAUNDERS BOOKINGS DIRECTOR AND CREATIVE PRODUCER LEILA HARTLEY JUNIOR FASHION EDITOR HENRIK LISCHKE ACTING FASHION AND BEAUTY EDITOR MOLLY HAYLOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ROISIN KELLY CONTRIBUTING BEAUTY EDITOR LAURA KENNEDY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ALICE KEMP-HABIB PICTURE EDITOR CATHERINE PYKETT-COMBES CHIEF SUB-EDITOR SOPHIE FAVELL SENIOR SUB-EDITOR JANE MCDONALD

COVER: ZOË GHERTNER/ART PARTNER PARTNER GHERTNER/ART COVER: ZOË GETTY, CHANNEL 4, IMAXTREE THIS PAGE: © Times Newspapers Ltd, 2020. Published and licensed by Times Newspapers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF (020 7782 5000). Printed by Prinovis UK Ltd, Liverpool. Not to be sold separately

The Sunday Times Style 3 Are you drinking haute H20? So here we are. We haven’t used our handbags in months. We no longer wash our hair (or maybe that’s just us). And we walk, outside, for fun. Still, that’s no excuse to let the sartorial standards slide. As everyone decamps to “nature”, reﬁllable water bottles to take with you on your “hike” have become the designer accessory to tote. Fendi, Alyx, Marine Serre and Bally have all brought out branded bottle holders. Our top pick? A Lutz Morris leather one. Bottle holder, £360; lutzmorris.com FENDI

Add to cart: the North Face puffer The recent pivot by the North Face from purveyor of naff outerwear to cool-kid

ALYX streetwear has been a small stroke of marketing genius. The brand — whose new fans include Kendall Jenner — has done collaborations with Junya Watanabe, Supreme, Maison Margiela and, soon, Gucci. According to the resale site Depop, “North Face puffer” is now the No1 trending search term, and queries have increased by more than 400 per cent in the past two months, with the fashion search engine Lyst also reporting a 150 per cent month-on- month increase in searches. Snap one up now. Down jacket, £320; thenorthface.co.uk Everyone’s talking about … From left Ben-Adir in 2019 Kingsley Ben-Adir at a premiere; as Malcolm X As if playing Barack Obama this autumn wasn’t in One Night in Miami enough for 34-year-old Londoner Kingsley Ben-Adir, The OA and Peaky Blinders actor now has another political legend to add to his already hefty acting CV: Malcolm X. On Boxing Day the eagerly awaited One Night in Miami will be released in cinemas before streaming its way to Amazon Prime Video on January 15. Directed by Regina King (who won an Oscar last year for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk), it centres on a ﬁctionalised meeting between the activist and Sam Cooke, Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali in 1964. Expect some Kingsley buzz this awards season.

4 The Sunday Times Style The Barometer

Heating up What the heck is . . .

▲ THE JARDIGAN a stretchologist? A cross between a Self-carers are flocking to

jacket and a cardigan. StretchLab in central London @STRETCHLAB Boxing Day lewk sorted for a spot of “assisted stretching”, aka getting your limbs and joints stretched and twisted. Sounds odd, feels sensational. Designed to “ease the aches and pains of modern life” (*signs up ▲ ASMR ART immediately*), it’s the WFH Colour-coded, hyper- hack we didn’t know we needed. organised artworks. See Adam Hillman’s Insta @witenry. Soooothing GUCCI

▲ SOURDOUGH 2.0 It’s back! But now for mince pies

▲ WOKS Our new go-to for making mulled wine. Larger vessel = more booze

Cooling down

▼ CHEWING GUM Got mask breath? Waterpik’s Water Flosser is your new handbag essential

▼ CONTOURED CHEEKS Drop the bronzer: the latest in beauty trends is contoured teeth

▼ GINGERBREAD HOUSES OUT OF Now made of cured OFFICE meats, soft cheese and

Diaepuda consequi optur? Ihic tempora veles min corum ius est utemquatet que ne poremporunt, autempeditas a parchil iquodi aut breadsticks apparently ommod magniet molores tiatusc ipsanis imincium exceriat ipsandus es eos ra si te net que volorem et earum quas platurit, venducillaut voluptis et erferiae natibus est, quisseq uiatus dolest, susa volupta nulparchic torestiae pella cusam reictus, nam fugiae. Nis dolorum The Sk8ter Boi goes luxe ium ius conecaborati dolor soluptaque illanis quunt la volorum quibus non elendebisque modipsunt ulpa cullaut officab orporpo recerat. It’s ofﬁcial — a designer skateboard is the must-have for any hypebeast Re nes ant omnimagnat et ut pore pelecer ibusam duci seque et fugia ne et perum qui aut ea sime erem es accatur, consequ aepratquam quis dolupta worth their salt. In recent collections, Loewe and Gucci added sinctisci dolor sinversped utectus asped skateboards to their merch. Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director ▼ SSOOO Super-specific out of of menswear, Virgil Abloh, has got Brit skaterboarder Lucien Clarke to offices. ‘I will endeavour co-design a trainer. And you don’t even have to set foot on a skateboard: to get back to you within streetwear brand Nicce’s collaboration with the French illustrator the next 24-48 hours.’ Marylou Faure can simply be hung as wheely good artwork. Skate deck,

GETTY, PATTI PERRET/AMAZON STUDIOS, EMOJIPEDIA, @AINTTOOPROUDTOMEG, SPRINGRESTAURANT, WATERPIK, ALAMY , @CAREDENTAL ALAMY WATERPIK, SPRINGRESTAURANT, STUDIOS, EMOJIPEDIA, @AINTTOOPROUDTOMEG, PERRET/AMAZON GETTY, PATTI Calm yourself £70, Woodbury House x Marylou x Nicce; woodburyhouseart.com

The Sunday Times Style 5 WOMENTHE STYLE OF THE YEAR Inspiring, memorable and sometimes divisive: these are the 50 women who deﬁned an unforgettable year

Edited by Hannah Swerling

6 The Sunday Times Style ADDITIONAL WORDS: ROISIN KELLY. PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY, COURTESY OF NETFLIX, NOT A REAL COMPANY PRODUCTIONS INC/CBC human — the clip of her on the phone human —theclipofheronphone across aslikeable, warm, empathetic, and reason like Shecomes aweapon. informed, wieldingfactslike scalpels opinionated butalsoforensically well well:line especially sheispassionately average whitevoter. Shetreads that scary andalienating forthe aprospect woman”, thisapparently too being coming across asan“angry black quandary Harrisfaced,namely not debate withMike Pence, oftheunique during hertelevised vice-presidential she isarticulate. Much was made, her: sheisasconfidentandfierce as of themany magnificent thingsabout 2019. “Ihave my own legacy.” Cueone a mandid,” shetold definemebasedonsomething “Don’t comparisons withBarack Obama: started insexcrimes),sheloathes lazy House administration. America andoftheoutgoing White of inthecontextboth much does butwhichvery need mentioning, brown, whichoneday willnolonger blackand Kamala Harrisisboth professor at Stanford University). in economics(andisnow anemeritus at Berkeley; hewas studying foraPhD they were postgraduate students both Harris, fromDonald Jamaica, when diplomat fromShemet Chennai. Indian, thebiologistdaughterofa mother, Shyamala was Gopalan, get tothecolourofherskin.Herlate terms ofhersex,andthat’s you before achievement of herpolitical orin significance ofHarris,eitherinterms tooverstateimpossible the president oftheUnited States. Itis Potus —thefirstfemale one-term Joe Biden’s age may meanheisa and very —notleastbecause possibly thefirstfemalevice-president Behold KAMALA HARRIS KAMALA A formerstate prosecutor (she by India Knight by India articulate’ and fierce fierce and confident confident ‘She is as as she is sheis as The Times in in all crywhenshe’s sworn in. America’s tarnished halo. you Ibet we presidency isalready burnishing very factofKamalaHarris’s vice- Trump.applied toDonald Butthe until itturnedoutthat themaximalso anything, couldbecome anybody envied andadmired asaplacewhere Harris “Momala”. gentleman. Histwo children call Jewish, theUS’s willbe firstsecond Emhoff,whois Her husband,Doug connections tothemusicsceneinLA. nerd. Shehasallsortsof political orsoundlike a look shedoesn’t cool: completely self-possessed. Andshe’s fully formedonherown.looks Sheis ofhispresidency,of thetropes Harris her husband’s onsome image andtook tohaveappeared mouldedherselfin sometimes Hill. IfHillaryClinton for awoman ontheheightsofCapitol the lower letalone echelonsofpolitics, even up foramantryingtoclamber herself—rareunapologetically enough entirely seems tobe and palatable.herself inorder She tobe toning herselfdown orsimplifying without any suggestionthat she’s running went viral forareason —but saying “We didit,Joe”whileout It used to be that AmericawasIt usedtobe during the US vice-presidential debate. debate. during theUSvice-presidential that landedonMike Pence’s head Halloween shedressed upasthefly awards. Mostimpressively, for artist gongat Music theBillboard and takinghomethetopsongsales at theGrammys soloperformance pop American many milestonesthisyear, from an hit singerandrapper 32-year-old Lizzodoingit.The about extra-special a placeonthislist,there’s something deserves pants andglitterygoldboots wearing anAmericanflag tanktop, hot back from aWest ballotbox Hollywood While anyone whotwerks theirway character. Ifyou know, you know. to theintrigueofTV’smosteccentric weird faux-British accentonly adds wigs, Moira hasearnedthetitle.The theatrical behaviour andstatement word iconlightly, butwithherstyle, Catherine O’Hara). We don’t usethe — anditsmatriarch, Moira (played by 2020 anewaudiencefellfortheshow Schitt’s Creek LIZZO ROSE MOIRA SCHITT’S CREEK MATRIARCH CREEK SCHITT’S SINGER Vogue first aired in 2015, but in firstaired in2015,but cover to winning best cover towinningbest

STYLE WOMEN VALENTINA SAMPAIO MODEL OF THE Blazing a trail can become something YEAR of a habit. Having become Victoria’s Secret’s first openly transgender model in August 2019, this year the 23-year-old Brazilian landed her next CARRIE SYMONDS milestone as the first trans woman to FIRST LADY AND CLIMATE feature in the Sports Illustrated CAMPAIGNER swimsuit issue. Hailed as a significant After the shock departure of Dominic step towards greater inclusivity in the Cummings in November, speculation modelling industry, the move also was that the prime minister’s made a strong political statement in 32-year-old fiancée was the architect Brazil, where 152 of the 350 killings of of his undoing and, indeed, the power trans and nonbinary people worldwide CHARLI D’AMELIO behind the throne. Having given birth this year have taken place. TIKTOK STAR to their son, Wilfred, in April, Symonds All hail the queen of TikTok. This year has been on maternity leave from a 16-year-old Connecticut schoolgirl Oceana, the environmental charity became the first TikTok user to pass where she is a senior adviser. As the the 100 million subscribers mark after pandemic and Brexit play out, it will joining the app 18 months ago. be interesting to see how Symonds Dancing in your bedroom in oversized continues to define her role as first sweatshirts can be a lucrative business fiancée, how much influence she really and sponsorship deals with everyone wields and what next year holds. from Prada to Sabra hummus and Dunkin’ Donuts have reportedly earned D’Amelio an estimated $4 million in the past year alone. If it’s all sounding a bit Keeping Up with the Kardashians, it is: D’Amelio and her family star in a new YouTube reality series, Dinner with the D’Amelios — her older sister, Dixie, is a TikTok star too. TRACEY CROUCH POLITICIAN Of course you’re not a fully fledged There was a cruel irony when strict 21st-century influencer if you haven’t rules dictated that Tracey Crouch, MP, had your problematic moment, tearful would not be allowed to take part in a reckoning and glorious comeback. parliamentary debate on breast-cancer D’Amelio reportedly lost more than a services while she battles the disease million followers in November when herself. Since her diagnosis, Crouch she “came across as rude to the family’s has used her public platform to urge personal chef ” in the first episode of others to check their “bits and the series. Backlash ensued so she duly bobbins”. The 45-year-old member for issued an emotional apology and Chatham and Aylesford directed her promised to do better, and balance was fury about being excluded from the restored to the universe. debate towards the Commons leader, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who had previously said that video links were no substitute MEGHAN MARKLE for the “cut and thrust” of the real DUCHESS OF SUSSEX thing. Crouch said: “While I respect It says a lot about 2020 that Harry and his commitment to traditional Meghan’s historic departure from the parliamentary procedures, I’m sure if royal family already feels like old news. he was on the backbenches and not The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s the fine specimen of health and fitness status as working royals ended on he clearly is, he would be arguing March 31 as they withdrew from forcefully for members to be able to royal duties and worked to become contribute more often in proceedings financially independent. Their

GETTY, ROWAN PAPIER, FLANNERY UNDERWOOD, REX FLANNERY PAPIER, GETTY, ROWAN by modern technology.” statement explained: “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution.” Megxit sent shockwaves around the world, changing the shape of the royal family for ever.

The Sunday Times Style 9 NAOMI CAMPBELL MODEL Supermodel, actress, businesswoman, activist... sanitising icon? Did Campbell know something we didn’t when, back in 2019, she showcased her comprehensive aeroplane hygiene routine on her YouTube channel? Wearing plastic gloves and armed with Dettol wipes, she zealously wiped down her seat, the windows and even EMMANUELLE CHARPENTIER the air vents. Campbell also turned 50, AND JENNIFER DOUDNA marking another decade at the top of SCIENTISTS the industry, from where, in a year of In terms of historic achievements, racial reckoning, she used her powerful developing new tools to edit DNA is up voice to call out the continuing there. This year the French scientist inequality in the fashion world. Emmanuelle Charpentier (above right) and her American collaborator, Jennifer Doudna, became the ﬁrst CLARA AMFO DJ two women to share a Nobel science In the wake of the death of George prize. Their work on the technology Floyd, the Radio 1 DJ gave a of genome editing was hailed as heart-wrenching speech on her transformative, offering new potential morning show. “I didn’t have the to treat inherited diseases. Speaking at mental strength to face you guys a press conference after the award was yesterday,” Amfo said. “I was sat on my announced, Charpentier said: “My sofa crying, angry, confused... stuck at wish is that this will provide a positive the news of yet another brutalised message to the young girls who would black body.” Her very personal reaction like to follow the path of science, and to the event became a deﬁning to show them that women in science moment for the 36-year-old, who went can also have an impact through the on to star in Strictly this year. research that they are performing.”

VICTORIA McCLOUD JUDGE In a ruling published online in February, the High Court judge demonstrated the importance of representation, as Britain’s most senior public figure to have transitioned from male to female stood up for trans rights in a meaningful way. Hailed as a pioneer by equality campaigners, McCloud, 51, argued that the process of changing your name by deed poll needed “close attention” to ensure that trans people are not being outed against their will. She is no stranger to high-profile legal battles — she has SANNA MARIN POLITICIAN made rulings in cases involving Last year, at the age of 34, Marin Donald Trump, Jeremy Corbyn and became the youngest prime minister even Katie Price, and was the presiding in Finland’s history, leading a new NICOLA ADAMS BOXER judge when the Duchess of Sussex coalition government headed by five Not many things were able to save pursued legal action over the pictures women. The feminist leader has 2020, but Strictly Come Dancing made taken of her and Archie in a Canadian previously shared a photo of herself a valiant attempt. Adams, 38, a former park in January. breastfeeding her baby daughter, professional boxer, made history by and her party’s progressive equality forming the show’s first same-sex programme states, among other couple with the professional dancer things, that everyone has the right to Katya Jones. The two-time Olympic determine their own gender identity. gold medal-winner agreed to do the With Finland having one of the lowest show on the condition that she could Covid infection rates in Europe up to have a female partner, saying that it now, she has been praised for her was “definitely time for change”. handling of the pandemic.

10 The Sunday Times Style STYLE WOMEN OF THE YEAR

‘Part of the appeal is her constant one-woman battle against suffocating tides of insincerity’

CHRISTINE QUINN by Camilla Long

What is Christine Quinn’s philosophy of living? It is, according to series one, episode one of the realtors’ reality bitch fight Selling Sunset, to “Bobby Fischer the shit out of a situation”. If this means turning up at some fabricated work dinner in eye-raping head-to-toe Balenciaga casual-not-casual knitwear in order to question closely whether co-star and complete melt Chrishell really was “100 per cent blind-sided” over the fact her toxic husband left her, then you can be sure that this straight-up, stone-cold, lime-green- loving villain’s villain, complete with her menacing rope of dead violet Game of Thrones sex hair, certainly will. Christine’s refusal to suck up any of Chrishell’s fake girly-girly My Little Pony bullshit is one of the reasons that year, turning an otherwise seriously no buffet” gothic nuptials by staging an she is 100 per cent my woman of the average series — and indeed a seriously extraordinary breakdown in not one average summer — into an orgy of but two cities following the collapse of harsh words and radioactive her marriage. athleisurewear: “Only my tits are fake, So what on earth made Chrishell like, I’m not.” think anything could outpace a woman Part of the appeal is her constant who demanded a full zebra be shipped one-woman battle against Chrishell’s in to a nightclub for merely the suffocating tides of insincerity and engagement party? Christine is a confected niceness while stalking woman who says it takes her a whole around in a wardrobe that can be “two years” to thaw. Even her heartfelt summed up by the phrase “this is very, apologies seem like acts of hostility: like, I just killed my husband vibes”. For “I wanna come here and apologise for this Chrishell has repaid her by trying being a total f***ing bitch,” she says to to divert attention from her enormous, former best friend Mary, in a blood-red

ALAMY, DAVID BARRETT, AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, BONNIE NICHOALDS BONNIE NICHOALDS VIA GETTY IMAGES, AFP BARRETT, ALAMY, DAVID Death Star-like, $5 million, “no bitches, sheath. Watch and learn, bitches.

The Sunday Times Style 11 DOLLY PARTON SINGER The legendary DP, 74, has been bringing joy to the world for more than five decades. In April the country star made a million-dollar donation to the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, to which she has made “transformative contributions” before. This time the money was used to fund research for the Moderna coronavirus vaccine. On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last month, Barack Obama admitted it was a “screw-up” not to have awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom when he was in office, adding: “She RENI EDDO-LODGE WRITER deserves one. I’ll call Biden.” Her debut, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, may have been published in 2017, but in 2020 AMBER HEARD HOLLIE DOYLE JOCKEY it had a poignant and important ACTRESS AND ACTIVIST Only 11 per cent of professional renaissance. In the wake of the murder Watching the bitter fallout from jockey licences in Britain are held by of George Floyd and Black Lives Heard’s marriage to Johnny Depp women, but Doyle is personally Matter protests, Eddo-Lodge’s book play out in the tabloids and the making up for the deficit with an was the go-to resource, resulting in it courtroom this year was a grim affair. unprecedented winning streak. At jumping hundreds of places in the The ugly story of his excessive Windsor in August the 24-year-old charts and making her the first black drinking and abusive behaviour and became the first woman in British British author to take the overall No1 the subsequent restraining orders, racing to ride five winners in one day spot on the official UK book charts — divorce and acrimony was a car-crash and, at the time of writing, she had the only other black author to have spectacle that shattered any illusions clocked up a record-breaking 150 done so is Michelle Obama with her of the Hollywood fairytale. Heard, victories this year. She also claimed her memoir, Becoming. 34, endured further abuse and first win at Royal Ascot. Oh, and in accusations of lying from die-hard November she was named the Sunday Depp fans online and outside the Times Sportswoman of the Year. courts, but defiantly stood her ground. Resisting being pigeonholed as a She has become a vocal campaigner “female jockey”, Doyle is credited with on the issue of domestic and sexual dragging the male-dominated world of abuse as an ambassador for women’s horse racing out of the dark ages. rights for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), speaking up about her experiences despite the punishing media glare.

LAVINYA STENNETT ACTIVIST Stennett is determined to improve the teaching of black history in the UK. In 2018 she wrote an opinion piece for HuffPost titled Why I Won’t Be ANGELA MERKEL POLITICIAN Celebrating Black History Month in One of the most powerful women in Its Current Form — and Why You the world, the German chancellor Shouldn’t Either lamenting what she approaches the end of her final term saw as the superficial, selective and next year with the highest poll ratings tokenistic teaching in schools. In of any German politician in history, 2019 the south London-born after 15 years in office. 23-year-old founded the Black Curriculum, an organisation offering new resources to teachers and arts-focused workshops for students, both virtually and in person. In the wake of the death of George Floyd and BLM protests, Stennett’s mission has taken on a new urgency.

12 The Sunday Times Style STYLE WOMEN OF THE YEAR ‘She struck a markedly different tone: sober, compassionate and candid’

NICOLA STURGEON by Decca Aitkenhead

If 2020 was a tale of two cities, for Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh it really was the best of times and the worst of times. Like Boris Johnson in London, she began the year fresh from electoral triumph with a thumping majority. Then Covid struck, bringing unimaginable horror. The virus shattered Johnson’s popularity, but elevated Sturgeon’s approval ratings to a level that could rewrite the future of the United Kingdom. The first minister of Scotland may well look back on this as the year her lifelong dream of independence finally began to come true. On the day Covid sent the country into lockdown, Sturgeon was already facing another threat. Earlier that afternoon Alex Salmond, her predecessor as first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party, had been acquitted of all sexual assault charges — and was rumoured to be plotting vengeance against her for his trial. Facing not just his wrath The virus has wreaked havoc north Covid has been rewarded with soaring but the horrors of a pandemic, her of the border, just as it has across the approval ratings — and not just in position looked unenviable. rest of the UK, the Scottish death toll Scotland; by October she was more now nearing 4,000. But while glib popular than the PM in every region false optimism and incompetence of England bar one. Support for characterised Downing Street’s Scottish independence has been response, in Bute House Sturgeon growing in the polls all year, and has struck a markedly different tone: now reached a double-digit lead — sober, compassionate and candid. a sensational turnaround credited In policy terms her approach hasn’t almost entirely to her performance. differed significantly, and she has Sturgeon hasn’t yet led her nation to faced an angry backlash from independence, and she faces stiff Scottish businesses forced to close. opposition to a second referendum, But her ability to conduct a grown-up not only in England. But for now she is

CAMERAPRESS/CHARLIE CLIFT, PRESS ASSOCIATIONS/YUI MOK, AMAAL SAID, GETTY, MICHAEL POWELL AMAAL SAID, MOK, ASSOCIATIONS/YUI CLIFT, PRESS CAMERAPRESS/CHARLIE conversation with her country about unquestionably the Queen of Scots.

The Sunday Times Style 13

STYLE WOMEN OF THE YEAR

ADELE SINGER You might argue that every year is Adele’s year, but despite not having released any music since 2016, the British singer won the iconic gig of hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live, the programme she credits with launching her career in America 12 years ago, when she appeared as a musical guest. The power of Adele is still strong. In August she praised MARIA BAKALOVA ACTRESS Glennon Doyle’s self-help memoir Chutzpah of the Year award goes to Untamed on Instagram, describing it Bakalova for the now infamous as “ProBloodyFound!”, and the book takedown of Rudy Giuliani in Borat rocketed to the top of the Amazon Subsequent Movieﬁlm. The unknown paperback charts, some five and a half 24-year-old beat 600 others to play months after publication — because Borat’s daughter, Tutar Sagdiyev, who doesn’t want to practise whatever and now we know why. Bakalova’s Adele is preaching? character posed as a journalist to interview Trump’s notorious lawyer in a New York hotel room, then helped him take off his recording equipment. After ﬂirting with her, drinking Scotch and, as some critics noted, failing to socially distance, Giuliani then lay on the bed and appeared to put his hands in his trousers before Cohen burst into the room from a wardrobe, shouting that she is 15 years old and “too old for you”. When the film hit ALEXANDRIA OCASIO- screens in October, just ahead of the CORTEZ POLITICIAN US election, the scene instantly went Clapping back to “the man” has viral. Giuliani claimed it was a become AOC’s MO, and her fans love “complete fabrication”, adding: “I was her for it. The US representative for tucking in my shirt after taking off the New York’s 14th congressional district recording equipment. At no time cemented her status as a feminist, before, during, or after the interview left-wing, millennial hero further this was I ever inappropriate.” But year after the Florida Republican Ted

GETTY, NBC/BACKGRID, FELICITY KAY GETTY, NBC/BACKGRID, Bakalova’s star was already born. Yoho accosted her on the steps of the US Capitol, saying “you’re out of your freaking mind” and “disgusting”. She MEGAN THEE STALLION did not let him get away with it. RAPPER Apparently angered by her recent There was one pop song that got comments linking crime and poverty, everyone talking this year: Cardi B’s Yoho jabbed his finger in her face and WAP (google it). Streamed 93 million then allegedly called her “f***ing bitch” times in its first week, it won best rap as she walked away — something he single at the American Music awards, denies. In an impassioned speech in and the video has 300 million views the House, she said: “I do not need and counting on YouTube. Megan Representative Yoho to apologise to Thee Stallion, who most people me. Clearly he does not want to… And hadn’t heard of before this year, I will not stay up late at night waiting featured on the song, and the for an apology from a man who has no 25-year-old rapper’s debut album, remorse over… using abusive language Good News, subsequently reached No1 towards women.” In November she in 12 countries in its first week of won a second term, thrashing her release. She has now been nominated first-time Republican challenger, John for four Grammys, including best new Cummings, 60, who had raised more artist and record of the year. than $10 million in a bid to defeat her.

The Sunday Times Style 15 LISA NANDY POLITICIAN Yes, January feels like a lifetime ago, but if you cast your mind back, you will remember that Nandy made it on to the final ballot in the Labour Party leadership contest before Keir Starmer won. The shadow foreign secretary and MP for Wigan is known for her forthright, no-nonsense approach, whether it be expressing her preference CHRISSY TEIGEN MODEL FANG FANG WRITER for Biden over Trump, her frustrations In September Teigen, 35, told her What was life really like in Wuhan as over Brexit or her criticism of her own 46 million followers that she had the Chinese government tried to party’s handling of anti-Semitism. suffered a stillbirth. The heartbreaking manage the story of the developing photos captured intimate moments of Coronavirus outbreak? Fang Fang, an grief as she and her husband, John award-winning Chinese novelist and Legend, cradled their stillborn son, poet, has been hailed as a vital source Jack, and said goodbye. While some of truth — one of few. Writing on the criticised, many more sent messages of Chinese social media site Weibo, the support, thanking her for speaking out 65-year-old documented the traumas about something often kept secret. of the city’s strict lockdown and shed Later she wrote a moving blog post light on the developing crisis from the addressing her critics, saying: “These epicentre of the virus at great personal photos aren’t for anyone but the people risk. Her diaries became so popular who have lived this or are curious that they have been turned into a book, enough to wonder what something like Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a this is like. These photos are only for Quarantined City, and translated into the people who need them.” several languages.

OZLEM TURECI SCIENTIST AND BIOTECH ENTREPRENEUR Talk about a power couple: the science behind the new Pfizer vaccine, which early results show could be 95 per cent effective against Covid-19, is the work of BioNTech, a German company founded by Dr Ozlem Tureci and her husband, Dr Ugur Sahin. Born to Turkish-migrant parents, Tureci, 53, is also a pioneer in cancer immunotherapy. Forbes estimates the couple’s worth at £3.6 billion, but they maintain a modest profile.

EMMA CORRIN ACTRESS It’s the ultimate test for a new actor: portray one of the most scrutinised RAQUEL WILLIS ACTIVIST cultural figures of the 20th century on In a year when marginalised voices one of the most scrutinised TV series have fought to make themselves of the 21st century. Absolutely no heard, the 29-year-old black trans pressure, then. Having been cast as activist has made a name for herself. Princess Diana for the blockbuster At a march in New York in June, the fourth series of The Crown, the Georgia-born writer gave an inspiring 25-year-old stormed into the public speech to a 15,000-strong crowd. consciousness with a doe-eyed She later told New York magazine: ﬂourish. The collars! The tartan! The “I wanted my speech to be unfiltered. wedding dress! With only a handful of I’ve had to be filtered for so long. So acting roles to her name, Corrin’s many of us black trans people have.” studied performance captured Diana’s With her debut essay collection, The vulnerability and reinvigorated our Risk It Took to Bloom, out next year, seemingly endless fascination with her expect to hear much more from Willis. complicated and dramatic life. STYLE WOMEN OF THE YEAR ‘As an artist she is bold, intelligent, powerful and sensitive’

MICHAELA COEL by Dolly Alderton

Like the rest of the world, early this summer I watched I May Destroy You, created by and starring the 33-year-old Michaela Coel. Also like for so many others, it was a time when my senses felt ﬂattened — isolation, excessive screen time, insomnia from inertia and too much exposure to a grim news cycle had left me feeling unusually unresponsive. But when I watched this raw and radical show exploring the nuances and complexities of sexual consent, everything woke up. My heart palpitated, my eyes widened, my brain

WILLIE switched back on. I spent 75 per cent of the last episode gripping the edge of my sofa in trepidation, shock and thrill. Every time I thought I understood the “lesson” of an episode, it was turned inside out for me before Chewing Gum Dreams. She has also behaviour rather than simply the credits, making me question been a successful poet. But it is I May reprimand it. And she has found a everything I had decided. It was a Destroy You, a maverick and genre- way to reﬂect the disappointments of viewing experience like no other. stretching 12-part series inspired by life in her fiction in a way that still Coel’s international success may her own experience of sexual assault, feels hope-filled. feel like it’s been overnight, but it that has taken her career to I’ve heard Coel say in an interview has been gradual and hard-earned. stratospheric heights. that she is not yet ready to move on to Born in London, she won a Bafta I have since watched the whole new projects and is in a state of creative for her Channel 4 comedy series series again, and on my second grief in the aftermath of I May Destroy Chewing Gum in 2016, which was viewing I found new things in every You. Female creators are often made to developed from her one-woman play episode that I couldn’t see the first feel like they have short-lived capital time round. This is the artistry of the they must hastily exploit while they’re show — it is dense with ideas and still hot, and I have huge respect for poeticism, yet so very watchable, with her refusal to participate in that panic. characters you recognise and love in She obviously has faith in her own spite of their ﬂaws. work, which you can feel when you I love that in her work she leaves observe it — it is a rare and sovereign room for the undecided and thing. As an artist she is bold, unresolved. It is rare that she delivers intelligent, powerful and sensitive. a straightforward judgment in an As a woman she seems to be all those episode — her stories are explorative things too. She deserves enormous rather than didactic. Her empathy adulation and accolades. And it’s so reaches all peripheries — she wants to right that her stories are reaching so

TOM SCHIRMACHER/TRUNK ARCHIVE, COLE WITTER, DAVID-SIMON DAYAN, GETTY, FELIX SCHMITT/AGENTUR, BBC/FALKNA/NATALIE SEERY, BBC/DES SEERY, BBC/FALKNA/NATALIE GETTY, FELIX SCHMITT/AGENTUR, DAYAN, WITTER, DAVID-SIMON COLE ARCHIVE, SCHIRMACHER/TRUNK TOM understand the darkness of human many people — they need to be heard.

The Sunday Times Style 17 KILEY REID AUTHOR Not many debut novels instantly become a Sunday Times Bestseller, nor do they get longlisted for the Booker prize, but Reid’s Such a Fun Age did just that. A page-turning, big-hearted story about race and privilege, it was SARAH GILBERT SCIENTIST one of the biggest book club picks of We may all soon be eternally grateful 2020. Lena Waithe, the Emmy- to Gilbert, 58, the professor leading winning screenwriter behind Queen the Oxford University coronavirus & Slim, wasted no time snapping up vaccine team. Gilbert worked on a the film and television rights. Reid is universal ﬂu vaccine and was currently working on her next project, developing one for Mers, a different so watch this space — 2021 may be an type of coronavirus, when the even bigger year. pandemic began. Both experiences are said to have aided the development of the Covid-19 vaccine at such a breakneck pace. NAOMI OSAKA TENNIS PLAYER The Japanese-born tennis superstar, 23, is not only (only!) the highest- earning female athlete in the world with two US Open victories and a hot Comme des Garçons collaboration to her name. Osaka has a reputation as an introvert, but her message was loud and clear this year when she honoured Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Philando Castile and Tamir Rice — black victims of racism and police brutality — by wearing facemasks bearing their names on court at the US Open. MARTA LEMPART ACTIVIST Women’s rights in Poland came under serious threat this year when the CAROLINE HIRONS BEAUTY government moved to ban all PROFESSIONAL AND WRITER abortions, even in cases of foetal In July the government delayed defects. The constitutional tribunal’s reopening the beauty industry until ruling sparked mass protests and an mid-August, leaving many therapists, angry reckoning. One of the women aestheticians and make-up artists at the forefront was Lempart, a with little to no income. One in every 41-year-old lawyer and a leader of the 60 jobs in the UK are supported by the grassroots women’s movement beauty sector, which contributes about Ogolnopolski Strajk Kobiet (OSK, or £30 billion to GDP, and those in the All-Polish Women’s Strike). She told industry complained they were being The Guardian: “I think it is a whole unfairly overlooked, especially when backlash against a patriarchal culture, male MPs openly mocked the debate against the patriarchal state, against during prime minister’s questions. the fundamentalist religious state, Hirons took matters into her own against the state that treats women hands, launching Beauty Backed, a really badly.” With hundreds of petition and fundraising appeal to thousands taking to the streets across raise money for Hair & Beauty Charity, the country, the protests apparently which gives financial support to prompted the government to industry professionals and their postpone the court’s controversial children. So far it has raised almost decision and mobilised a new, £600,000 and inspired close to younger demographic of Polish 30,000 people to sign the petition. women to make their voices heard.

18 The Sunday Times Style STYLE WOMEN OF THE YEAR ‘She has helped keep me and her many followers sane’

DAISY MAY COOPER by Marina O’Loughlin

There will be women on this list for seemingly worthier and more laudable reasons than giving their unruly, pyjama-clad bosoms free rein on Instagram and TikTok. But Daisy May Cooper, proprietor of said bosoms, has helped keep me and her many, many followers sane — and in fits of laughter — during lockdown, and for this she has my undying devotion. I’ve loved the Gloucestershire-born Cooper since I first came across her in the mockumentary This Country, and the poignant humanity she brought to the role of Kerry Mucklowe. This tale of life with cousin and mucker Kurtan (played by her brother, Charlie) in a somnolent Cotswolds village delivers laughs and heartbreak in almost equal doses. I loved her more when she turned up at the Baftas in heroic frocks, one made out of bin bags and rubbish by her mum, complete with fake-pigeon-on-bin-lid hat, the other a tribute to Swindon Town FC. But it’s her Instagram for which I’m arrival, baby Jack, who’s subjected to “NO NO NO” nearly finished me off. currently so grateful: her delicious terrible filter indignities or celebrated Her dancing — well, it has to be relationship with small daughter Pip, with raps timed to the beats of her witnessed, but it’s a thing of aka Buckbeak (search me), including breast pump. Her father — who also untrammelled joy. She has also been bedtime stories about bands Busted or plays her dad in This Country — and more serious: her live scriptwriting B*Witched. There’s the new family his attempts to recruit her into his masterclasses were incredibly useful continuing mission of self-promotion. and generous for anyone wanting to Or the lengthy saga of her blighted break into the industry. But really I’m romance with the Sea Captain, an here for that “interpretative dancing”, internet scammer who became the “what can you fit under your tits” increasingly bemused by her challenge. For Covid, the Musical and enthusiastic interactions. Her her lyrics to soap themes — let’s all commitment to this was total, up sing “Everything is f***ing shit” to the to and including getting a message EastEnders’ music. It’s all so uplifting to him from a Boris Johnson and honest and hysterical. I didn’t impersonator — a very bad one. The know what I needed to help get me

CATERS NEWS AGENCY, NICKY JOHNSON, DAVID GODDARD, JOHN CAIRNS/CHANNEL 4, GETTY, IAN WELDON/BBC, TOM VAN SCHELVEN VAN TOM WELDON/BBC, 4, GETTY, IAN JOHN CAIRNS/CHANNEL GODDARD, JOHNSON, DAVID NICKY AGENCY, NEWS CATERS Sea Captain’s panicked response through 2020. Turns out it was this.

The Sunday Times Style 19 LOTTIE JACKSON WRITER DAISY EDGAR-JONES AND DISABILITY ACTIVIST ACTRESS In industries where the experiences of Horny, disaffected teenagers having people with disabilities are poorly lots of sex was a real spring mood represented, this fashion and beauty thanks to Normal People. The BBC writer is an important emerging voice. adaptation of Sally Rooney’s This year the 28-year-old Jackson, who generation-defining novel got millions has had a rare generalised muscle- of us through lockdown 1 and made weakness disability since birth, wrote the 22-year-old Londoner a household an illuminating piece about the ways name. Was Edgar-Jones too beautiful in which lockdown has revolutionised to play the awkward Marianne? fashion and beauty for people with Some viewers thought so, but she was disabilities. Her writing raises mostly praised for her delicate awareness of the challenges facing portrayal of Rooney’s intense, disabled people and offers a fresh damaged heroine. A notable mention perspective. One to watch. for Marianne’s fringe, which, regrettably, inspired a nation of bored women to try to replicate the look with the kitchen scissors after too many wines. Her next big project? A film adaptation of another much-loved book, Where the Crawdads Sing.

ASHLEIGH LINSDELL NURSE Crafting made a comeback this year, with millions of us embracing the “make do and mend” mentality. Linsdell’s hobby grew into something much bigger when her project, For the JACINDA ARDERN Love of Scrubs, became a national POLITICIAN movement. Initially the 30-year-old If leader envy is a thing, then most of NHS nurse used her own money to buy the world has it when it comes to New fabric and make scrubs for her hospital Zealand’s prime minister. From her colleagues when they were in short much-praised handling of natural supply, but after starting a Facebook disasters, terrorist attacks and the group sharing sewing patterns and Covid crisis to her charisma and encouraging others to help, she rallied compassion, it was little surprise the more than 70,000 volunteers, who 40-year-old won her country’s October ended up making 1.2 million items of general election by a landslide. PPE and one million face coverings for frontline workers. When she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Linsdell said: “This doesn’t happen to normal people and I’m just a nurse.” SARAH COOPER COMEDIAN Successfully skewering Donald Trump elevated the previously little-known stand-up to viral fame in 2020. In April the 43-year-old comedian posted How to Medical on Twitter, a video made in her New York apartment, lip-syncing to the infamous Trump address suggesting that injecting disinfectant into the body might cure coronavirus. Something about the low-fi production, deadpan approach and animated facial expressions really landed and more videos followed, turning Cooper into an online sensation and landing her a Netﬂix

comedy special, Everything’s Fine. TIMES, REX LANE/LONDON CHRISTOPHER JACKSON, JOSEPH SINCLAIR, GETTY, LOTTIE

20 The Sunday Times Style STYLE WOMEN OF THE YEAR

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT THE STATUE Fitting tribute to the “mother of feminism” or “Barbie doll on top of a kebab”? We were a nation divided. FELICIA KWAKU After a decade of fundraising, NURSING DIRECTOR November saw the long-awaited When it emerged that black, Asian unveiling of a new commemorative and minority ethnic groups were statue for Wollstonecraft. Created by disproportionately affected by the artist Maggi Hambling, the statue coronavirus, Felicia Kwaku, associate was intended to pay tribute to the director of nursing at King’s College writer, radical thinker and author of NHS Foundation Trust, London, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. decided to do something to support Alas, critics weren’t convinced that it her colleagues on the front line. As well captured Wollstonecraft’s “radical and as her webinars, which reached provocative spirit” and Twitter lit up thousands of her fellow nurses, Kwaku with criticism. Were pert breasts and also highlighted the unsuitability of a full Seventies bush the best way to much of the one-size-fits-all PPE for honour a woman who battled for the many NHS staff. The 52-year-old was equality of the sexes? The jury is out. recognised for services to nursing over As with so many 2020 barneys, the the past three decades in the Queen’s furore “started a conversation”, with Birthday Honours List. reports that plans to erect a public monument to a fully clothed Virginia Woolf have gained fresh momentum. With a survey in 2016 finding that only 2.7 per cent of the nation’s statues depict historical, non-royal women, this particular storm cloud may have a silver lining. CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE AUTHOR A household name thanks to bestselling novels such as Americanah and her essay and TED talk We THE QUEEN THE QUEEN Should All Be Feminists, Adichie won We haven’t seen much of Her Majesty the literary prize of all literary prizes this year (Olivia Colman doesn’t this year. Thirteen years after winning count), but HRH’s televised speech to the Women’s Prize for Fiction, her the nation in April, only the fifth novel Half of a Yellow Sun became special broadcast of her long reign, “winner of winners” in a public vote was watched by 24 million. The Queen to celebrate the prize’s 25th reassuringly embodied the stoicism anniversary, beating the likes of Zadie she is famous for, telling her public: Smith’s On Beauty and Lionel “We will meet again.” Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin.

RIHANNA SINGER AND BUSINESSWOMAN Sorry, Victoria’s Secret, there’s a new kid in town. The lingerie-show-as- spectacle got a makeover in October when a cast including Bella Hadid, Lizzo and Demi Moore modelled Rihanna’s second Savage x Fenty collection. Epic sets, energetic choreography and a multitude of body shapes showed people what a fashion show could really look like. ▪

Were you a 2020 fashion cliché?

FASHION FACEMASK

ZOOM- WORKOUT ABS COFFEE TO GO

TIER 2 SOCIAL COAT

COMFY SHOES

Overpriced leggings. Designer masks. Zoom-worthy earrings. Tick, tick, tick. How many of this year’s must-haves did you fall for? Victoria Moss prepares the checklist

The Sunday Times Style 23 Irina Shayk, right, and Sarah Jessica Parker, below, last month

The Tier 2 social coat The puffer took over from the parka as the serious coat of choice this winter. If you are a cool mum, you bagged yourself the Arket long Upcycled Down one in black or navy. If you are a fashion know-it-all, you swiped the +J Uniqlo black version from the Japanese high street monolith’s sell-out collection with Jil Sander last month. Others speak highly of Weekday’s Ally puffer. The key here is length — it needs to cover your knees — for styling purposes and warmth, given we’re not allowed inside anywhere. Mustard puffer, £180; cosstores.com

Pashley poseurs In the full throes of sun-drenched lockdown 1, when the weeks stretched out ahead of us, full of fitness promise constrained by the permitted one hour out of the house, the bicycle, much in the manner of extras in Call the Midwife, became the white-hot accessory the middle classes couldn’t get to their local country park without. As sales of actual accessories plummeted (RIP high heels), sales of bikes went up 63 per Kate Moss cent, but it was the quaint Pashley that hit the Instagram-poser rides her spot. Of course, now it’s winter those newbie fair-weather electric bike in riders have gone rather quiet. Pity the poor Pashleys gathering the Cotswolds dust in the corners of hastily erected “garden rooms”. in June

24 The Sunday Times Style Rishi Sunak, chancellor of the exchequer, loves a hoodie

Grown-up hoodies If there was one item that united the young, the old and the powerful, it was the hoodie. From cult pastel organic-cotton numbers (see everyone on Instagram wearing Pangaia tracksuits) to camel cashmere (did the Hush catalogue dropping on the doormat ever look more appealing?), the humble hoodie provided comfort to all sorts. Yet the line remains fine. There is a world of difference between, say, Billie Eilish in Gucci and — oh, I don’t know — Rishi Sunak’s attempted rebrand as the Tory chancellor Zoom earrings you can imagine kicking back Once upon a time the power with. The chancellor’s hooded necklace was a trope beloved of attempts at “getting down with C-suite women (and er, Theresa the plebs” (worn over a shirt and May), the chunkier and heftier tie! With gap-yah bracelets!) the better. This year, however, the serve only to make us question status jewellery piece has moved every grey sweatshirt in our higher up, to ensure it’s seen from arsenal. Definitely not dishy etc. every Zoom angle. The CEO Red hoodie, £117; earring — a jaunty yet seriously thepangaia.com hefty authority-asserting chandelier — is the accessory du jour. For full next-season Emily points, underline your status with Ratajkowski Prada’s luggage-tag danglers or out for a hike Chanel’s reassuringly glitzy last month interlocked C ear-framers. Crystal earrings, £375, Isabel Marant; mytheresa.com. Gold earrings, £125; missoma.com

Luxe leggings It all began as such a novelty: hang on, I don’t have to go to the office? I don’t have to wear actual clothes any more! The unbridled joy of sloping downstairs and pulling on yesterday’s tea-stained leggings. Still, there are leggings and there are leggings. When dressed in the things for days on end, the false economy of a cheap pair became evident. There is nothing to be gained from saggy knees or, worse, a lacklustre waistband. That Sweaty Betty sold a pair of its Power leggings (£75) every 90 seconds is testament to the fact that, yes, we were wearing leggings, but good ones. See also Lululemon and Good American. Should the mood take you, you could even do some actual exercise in them. Go on, download the Couch to 5K app again. Leggings, £75; sweatybetty.com

The Sunday Times Style 25 Birks’n’socks Perhaps you once rolled your eyes at the sight of a lone local hipster shuffling along in socks and sandals in some sort of niche tribute to postcards from ye olde holiday park. But now? Forget irony, everyone’s at it. When you’ve worn through your second pair of sheepskin slippers in a month, finding a shoe that can match the comfort of an indoor slip-on with the durability of an actual sole felt like a genius style solution. The fuzzy, sheepskin-lined Birkenstock was a hit with fashion snobs and the at-home-and-humble alike. And socks? Cosy and cost-effective heating. Seasonal styling note: keep your socks a dark colour to match your sandals. Pandemic or no, standards please.

Fashion facemasks Imagine being told in January that by the end of the year you’d have a rotation of facemasks (from quaint prints to sharp black) in the depths of your handbag? That, along with your keys, phone and wallet, this would be the fourth essential you’d irritatingly forget and have to go back for? Facemasks started off as mere curiosities, filed under medical supplies. By April stocks were running out and sharp Etsy sellers had started a burgeoning industry sewing together ditsy floral-print fabric scraps. Fashion labels didn’t miss a trick: Off-White (its men’s mask sold out worldwide, then was listed for resale at three times its original price), Burberry, Christopher Kane, the Vampire’s Wife and Marine Serre all whipped out stylish versions. It offers perhaps the sharpest branding opportunity yet: in the age of the selfie, where better to slap your logo than on the closed lips of your patrons? Black mask, £30, Christopher Kane, and moon-print mask, £120, Marine Serre; farfetch.com

Bella Hadid, left, and Kendall Jenner in New York in November

26 The Sunday Times Style Franken- dressing Now that life is lived mostly via Zoom, the surface area we need to prune to give an air of pulled-together professionalism has shrunk. Sure, you’ve had a wash, plucked your eyebrows and are wearing a sweet blouse on top, but under your Blogger desk? That’s your own Sonia private story right there (see Lyson sports shorts with a smart in July top, as illustrated by Miu Miu, right). It has been nice for the men, though, to be able to revert to their natural state of sitting in their pants all day while being busy and important from the waist up on their little computers (just my husband, then?).

Cottagecore dresses If athleisure isn’t your bag, maybe you found yourself indulging in the quaint yet kitsch “cottagecore” trend: mooning over thatched cottages in the Cotswolds from your dingy flat, floating around in H&M’s pink puff-sleeved maxidress (this year’s version of that Zara polka-dot dress) while you planned tablescapes with floral napkins and Spode crockery on your Ikea breakfast bar. (Although, on reflection, this slightly worrying cutification of women and festishisation of the home chimes uncomfortably with the rising statistics on how the pandemic is pushing back the progress of women’s equality and gender balance in the workplace.) While you ponder that, recline and rest in your so-called nap dress, the apex of the Laura Ashley (RIP) revival movement — see Sleeper’s off-the-shoulder Insta-bait frocks and early Princess Di-via-eBay looks. Dress, £20; hm.com MIU But if you did buy a handbag . . . One encouraging sign of the times was that this year’s most coveted bag wasn’t a £1,000 luxury heavyweight, but Telfar’s Shopping bag, aka the Bushwick Birkin. A plain-looking square thing in bold colours, the vegan leather prize weighs in at the reasonable price of £200 for the largest size. That’s if you could get your hands on one. Carried by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Selena Gomez, as soon as a whiff of a new drop came, they went. In August Telfar ran a 24-hour order event, with bags being sent out by the end of the year. If you want in on the next delivery, all you can do is stare hopelessly at its Instagram feed

ALAMY, GETTY, RISHI SUNAK/HM TREASURY SIMON WALKER, SPARTACUS/SPLASHNEWS.COM WALKER, SIMON TREASURY ALAMY, GETTY, RISHI SUNAK/HM and wait for a refresh. Tense. ▪

The Sunday Times Style 27 Shop with Style

What our fashion director Jane McFarland loves this week

3 1 STYLISH SCENT Armani Privé’s latest FRESH FACED fragrance — Pivoine Craving the ultimate Suzhou Soie de Nacre digital detox? I — is quite the suggest a watch. The mouthful, but simple right one is for life and in scent. Inspired by will help decrease your 2 Asian gardens, it’s a iScreen time. Liberty tribute to the peony, has just launched its with delicious fruity first collection, NEW BRAND TO KNOW notes. £155 for featuring watches with The brainchild of Lagos-born, Texas- 100ml EDT; art nouveau-inspired raised designer Niyi Okuboyejo, selfridges.com accents. There are six Post-Imperial has recently launched on designs and each is Matchesfashion.com and is already inscribed with “No gaining a cult following for its pyjama- minute gone comes inspired pieces; the fabrics, dyed ever back again” — in Nigeria, are a technicolour dream. words to live by. The definition of feelgood dressing. Watch, £500; From £68; matchesfashion.com libertylondon.com 5 ONE FITS ALL ZARA’S LATEST GENDERLESS 4 COLLECTION, UNISEX, INCLUDES BOXY WOOL- CASHMERE BLAZERS AND COATS, PLUS SIMPLE BASICS. *ADDS TO CART* RAINBOW WAVE FROM £20 Designed by Colombian artisans, Marni’s FOR A JUMPER; colourful new collection of glassware-cum-artworks ZARA.COM will spark joy on any Christmas tablescape. From £70 in selected stores; marni.com

28 The Sunday Times Style 7

LUXURY LEGACY Not content with running her uber-successful eponymous shoe brand, Tabitha Simmons has been appointed creative director at London’s LOAFER LOVE long-standing leather goods brand Tanner Krolle Not all shoes are created equal, as Collagerie’s newly (its fans have included Jackie O and Sir David launched collaboration with Penelope Chilvers proves. Attenborough). The result? Super-luxe handbags These come in three colourways and are the update your to last a lifetime. Bag, £990; tannerkrolle.com jeans and jumper so desperately need. Happy feet indeed. Loafers, £225, and matching socks, £25; collagerie.com 6

MASK OFF Get your lips digital-party ready with Alexa Chung’s lipstick set for Code8. No mask required. Lipstick Trio, £95; 8 codeeight.com

POWER UP 10 WHATEVER YOUR PLANS FOR NYE — ZOOM OR IRL — GLISTENING RING-A-DING-DING EARRINGS WILL WORK Sales of fine jewellery have rocketed this year AS THE PERFECT and it’s no real surprise: if you’re not staring PICK-ME-UP. THEY ALSO at yourself on Zoom, you’re watching your MAKE A GREAT LAST- fingers type, scroll or press play. I love British MINUTE STOCKING brand Ferian’s latest ring collection, made FILLER. EARRINGS, £13; using coloured gemstones and glass enamel.

GETTY, TRISHA WARD 9 MANGO.COM From £715, made to order; ferian.co.uk

The Sunday Times Style 29 The house that

Photographs Sean Hazen Instagram built

What kind of a home does the internet’s favourite new comedian, Jordan Firstman, have? A fabulously kitsch pleasure palace, of course. Alice Kemp-Habib takes a tour

The life-sized black panther was bought from NFS Showroom in LA and featured in Beyoncé’s Black Is King

30 The Sunday Times Style It has been a good year for the television writer turned internet comedian Jordan Firstman. If you don’t know the name, you are probably not on Instagram, where his hilariously perceptive impressions, such as the publicist of the fly that settled on Mike Pence during the vice-presidential debate (google it or go to @jtfirstman), have been doing the rounds for the past eight months. Aged 29, he is best known for his short videos in which he “does” both niche stereotypes (“your friend who thinks you neeeed that top”) and metaphysical concepts (“a relationship”) with eye-wateringly funny precision for his 830,000 followers. Vogue dubbed him “the funniest man on the internet” and his celebrity fans include Jennifer Aniston, Chrissy Teigen and Naomi Campbell. So it’s no surprise that the internet’s funniest man of the year also has one of the wackiest houses of the year. His rented This picture Firstman’s Treetop two-bedroom flat in the hipster enclave apartment was designed by the of Silver Lake in Los Angeles could best architect Dion Neutra in 1980. be described as a playground-come- Below Firstman on his faux-fur pleasure palace. He shared the apartment bed, built by Studio John Sharp with his boyfriend of four years; when This picture The bed is ‘some slabs of wood and stapled-on fur — it cost, like, $1,500’. Below The Neon Jungle mural in the dining room is by the LA artist Abel Macias

‘I’m definitely a maximalist. My aesthetic is fantasy glamour’

they split up earlier this year, his ex took all the furniture, and Firstman decided to redecorate the empty space. He collaborated with a close friend, the designer John Sharp, sourcing most of the furniture on Instagram, Craigs list and Face- book Marketplace. Plain white walls were transformed with elaborate tropical murals. Disco balls and neon sculptures were installed. A faux-fur bed — inspired by the 1968 sci-fi filmBarbarella — was erected. “I’m definitely a maximalist. My aesthetic is fantasy glamour,” he says. This much is obvious: when we speak he’s wearing chunky silver jewellery and his hair is neon green. The backdrop is a sky-blue Surreal Cloud mural painted by Meagan Boyd, an LA- based artist whose work includes psyche- delic “spirit portraits”. Built in 1980, the apartment is one of three in a building called Treetops, which was designed by Dion Neutra, son of the modernist architect Richard Neutra. When Firstman and his partner moved in, little had changed since the complex was built and they didn’t make any big adjustments. When the relationship ended, however, Firstman wanted a complete redecoration. While most people might chat to their interior designer over a cup of tea and swap some Pinterest boards, when Firstman first sat down with Sharp to discuss plans for the space, “we microdosed some LSD, ate some Chinese food and were just, like, conceiving”. Predictably, perhaps, the new version of the space really is a visual trip. An explosion of texture and trinkets: in one room a life-size panther paws at the window and a brilliant blue dancer is mounted on the wall. Just metres away are two plush jaguar-print ottomans. There are plants, Perspex ceiling mirrors, Doric columns and a fog machine. “Photographs don’t do Top left and above Sharp found the crescent moon sculpture and it justice. There’s so much stimulation.” Gucci glasses case in a vintage shop in Venice Beach, Los Angeles. Before his series Impressions took off on Top right Cantilever lounge chairs in the style of the French artist Instagram, Firstman was a successful TV Louis Durot sit with a neon dancer sculpture from Timothy Doyle Design

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and film writer. He grew up in Long Island, studied theatre at college but “hated it” and eventually settled in LA. His writing credits include cult indie shows such as Search Party (which aired here on Channel 4) and the animated sitcom Big Mouth for Netflix. As for the future, he confirms he’s working on his own TV show, although he can’t tell me who for or when we will be able to see it. In a year when most people are tying themselves in knots apologising for any modicum of privilege or success, he is refreshingly unapologetic: “I don’t have time to be ashamed. My heart goes out to anyone who isn’t having a good year, but I think my time is better spent making those people happy than making myself feel bad.” ▪ @alice_khabib

Left The four-panel screen and painting in the office are both vintage. The Surreal Cloud mural is by LA artist Meagan Boyd. Below The jaguar- print ottomans are by Rhett Baruch Art + Design

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Sarah Jossel Emergency rescue: these are the super balms and masks that will fix dry lips

There are a few things that send my lips into 1 panic mode. The obvious one is the cold. They throw an instant strop when forced from indoor snug to subzero chill. The second, less obvious one is high-strength skincare such as retinol. My 2 lips detest the stuff. If I get it too close to the lip line they turn flaky and vexed by the next day. The third is one we’re all experiencing this year: our facemasks rubbing — but I can’t bear to talk about the darn things for one column longer. As a result I’ve been upping my lip balm and lip mask ante. Wait, masks? Yes! Lip masks are not gimmicks — they are genius inventions; the good ones are lip balms on steroids. They’re your coffee with an extra shot, your bra with extra padding. My favourite is Milk Makeup Melatonin Overnight Lip Mask (1 £20), which lives next to my bed and feels like I’m rubbing on the softest cashmere each evening. It’s thicker and more unctuous than your usual balm. Packed with shea butter and deeply moisturising plant oils, it replenishes, hydrates and calms parched, painful lips throughout the night. 3 On the lip balm front, my love affair is with Clinique Moisture Surge Lip Hydro-Plump Treatment (2 £14). It’s fragrance-free, which makes it the perfect choice for those prone to irritation. The texture is bouncy and non-sticky, plus it glides on gracefully. It’s a no-brainer for keeping in your pocket and reapplying throughout the day. Also it doesn’t interfere with make-up, so you can layer it over any lipstick that’s looking a touch tired. By the way, don’t be afraid to give someone a lip balm as a gift. I don’t mean the dreary medical looking ones (although sometimes they can be the best). Guerlain Rouge G Balm (3 £26) is the stretch limousine of the lip-balm world. It’s a really satisfyingly creamy one and just look at that lid: the sparkles! It also has a flicky-uppy mirror — if you’re out and about and worried your lipstick has smudged, this makes it a cinch to check. There is one issue I often have with lip balms: they’re such little things (small but mighty, I say) that I spend more time looking for them than actually using them. I’m convinced they sneak off to Lip Balm Land to sit around having tea, laughing at me while I endlessly search. The expectation on my face, then the big drop when it’s not where I thought it was. If you can relate, then an under-£5 4 offering makes perfect sense. My top pick is Catrice Clean ID Highly Caring Lip Balm (4 £4) — based on its quality and long-lasting ability to soothe and soften, I would have guessed it was much more expensive. And it doubles up as a great primer under lipstick. Finally, a lip scrub. If you want to buy one, Fresh Sugar Lip Polish (5 £19.50) is the best. To be honest, I just do it myself. I use two methods: either I gently swipe a toothbrush back and forth to get rid of the flakiness, or I head to the kitchen, where I whisk together 1 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp 5 coconut oil, pop it in a used honey or jam jar, then scrub over my lips. It works

VICTORIA ADAMSON VICTORIA a treat every time. ▪ @sarahjossel

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India Knight A £7 supermarket moisturiser? Forget being a beauty snob, there are bargains to be had

1 Christmas is Christmas, but the rest of the week is, as ever, going to be devoted to the most giant 2 nesty cocooning, all the way to the start of 2021, give or take the odd walk. Despite being obsessed with the weather, I am sadly not able to forecast it, but if it’s one of those winters that pretty much peels the skin off your face every time you go for a stroll, you’ll need a really sturdy and replenishing moisturiser, something like Lacura Caviar Illumination Anti-Age Night Cream from 3 Aldi (1). Yes, Aldi. It costs £7. I bought some as an experiment — ha-ha, Aldi night cream, I thought, like an arse — and was astonished by how good it is. My skin simply drank it in. There’s a day version too, but I haven’t tried that yet. So in the spirit of post-Christmas economy, this column is about nice, more affordable things to use at home when you’re in that post-festive fug and all you care about is your watch list and the contents of the fridge. Beauty Pie rules the roost when it comes to affordability (particularly if you are buying several products a month) — and, actually, a subscription would make an excellent last- 4 minute Christmas present for someone who loves beauty. I’m concentrating on non-face things today, so I highly recommend the brand’s Superdose Vitamin C Bio-Vitamin Brightening Body Lotion (2), which, as I’m sure you don’t need me to explain, uses said vit C, a highly effective brightener and perker-upper, to do to the body what it more usually does to the face. It feels luxurious to slather on something you’d normally dab on carefully in small amounts, but it costs a mere 5 £11.50 for a big old bottle (to members; membership starts at £10 a month). Elsewhere, Waitrose has a really lovely soap called Little Soap Company Olive Oil Soap for £2 (3), which isn’t especially cheap for a bar of soap, but this is an exceptional example of the genre. (Do soaps have genres? Yes, probably: nan soap, nauseating fake-scent soap, old-fashioned soapy soap, good soap.) Anyway, this is cruelty-free, unscented, baby and child-friendly and, as I say, lovely to use. And don’t forget Dr Bronner’s liquid soap — cheap as chips, organic, divine smelling, suitable for use on absolutely anything and anyone, I bought some and available by the litre (5 £20.50) — which is invaluable in this age of constant handwashing. I’m also keen on Garnier Ultimate Blends shampoos, specifically as an experiment the Smoothing Hair Food Coconut & Macadamia one (4 £6), which gives your – ha-ha, Aldi night hair a giant feed without adding any weight to it — a cruel irony at this time of year. I mentioned Aroma Active Laboratories recently, so I won’t go into detail, cream – and but brilliant brand, keen prices, many nest-ready products. Finally: the sheep- was astonished skin hot-water bottle cover you may also need is from Toast (£55). Alas not

VICTORIA ADAMSON VICTORIA cheap, but it is a great life-enhancer. ▪ @indiaknight by how good it is

INDIA LOVES SECRETS AND LIES Here’s a Christmas present that would delight anyone with a taste for an absolutely extraordinary story, beautifully told. Kiss Myself Goodbye: The Many Lives of Aunt Munca by Ferdinand Mount (Bloomsbury Continuum £20) unravels the life of his aunt, who was never quite what she seemed. This year’s sleeper hit, if you ask me.

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The mother project Sophie Beresiner’s surrogacy story continues

We’re almost there, the most exciting event in a new I discovered that wouldn’t be possible, not quite as parents’ calendar, the milestone of milestones: baby’s planned, and suddenly there was a whole new connota- first Christmas. Make that a battled-for surrogate tion to the occasion. baby’s first Christmas and you may as well park your car For the fertility-deficient, Christmas tends to repre- on the hard shoulder and wait for the carnival to pass. sent a fairy-lit conclusion of another year you didn’t get It’s not just the sentimentality of the occasion, there’s to spend with the child you had imagined spending also something about the significance of the time of year it with. It’s an accumulative time stamp, a full stop on that makes it an assisted conception obsession. your failure. Mr B and I had five of those. Five. It’s hard I know there are many demographics for whom to muster the requisite levels of comfort and joy Christmas is just a C-word. I count myself lucky to have when you’re hyper-aware you can’t drink the cham- a warm, wonderful family, and I love the idea of it too pagne because you’re desperately trying another cycle. much to derogate it completely. But if Or you can drink because you found out I take off my blinkers, Christmas 2020 on Christmas Eve that your confirmed will mark a solid ten years of my desperate For the positive result just turned into a negative. annual attempts to reinstate the glory fertility- Or your surrogate fell through. Twice. I had always found in it pre-cancer. Four times. Last year, as we settled into I was diagnosed on December 6, just deficient, the delight of reuniting with our family, after Mr B and I had put up our first tree Christmas of eating and drinking as if our livers in our first flat as a couple. I had ordered were having time off work along with the a huge cheeseboard to get to my parents’ represents a rest of us, we finally had a pregnancy house for Christmas Eve. (I’m very organ- full stop on to celebrate. And my God it felt good to ised when it comes to important eating break tradition and bring some pure joy opportunities.) I lambasted the inconven- your failure into my parents’ house again. We waited ience of a doctor’s appointment smack till everyone had gone to bed, then Mr B bang in the middle of my exciting festive plans, then and I opened the Christmas card we had asked our — bang! A bomb went off in my world and I can’t sonographer to fill in and seal shut. We found out we remember much of the rest of December 2010. Or were having a baby girl — drunk in love, in front of 2011, when I was diagnosed with a cancer recurrence the tree, and I think I felt then all my Christmases a year to the day of my first. As such there has been come at once. an associative dark shadow over my beloved festive This year was going to be the one: the one I had season ever since, and try as I might to reclaim the lily- imagined, at any time of any year in the past decade, white love I had for it (for all the secular reasons that as being the occasion I would cherish the most. And everyone who loves Christmas loves it), I just couldn’t. yeah, yeah, it’s kind of been cancelled by the virus, I can’t. I’ve been trying too hard, you see, putting too and I’ve sulked that out of my system enough by now, much pressure on it being beautiful again. And then, because now it’s here, I can’t even explain the justifi- when I started to rack up the number of cancer-free able joy of December with my daughter. Of watching Christmases, when I started appreciating the abundant her unaccustomed eyes go wide at the twinkling lights, joy of my excitable nieces and looking forward to the just like her mother’s used to before her life got inter- year I’d be here, at my family home, with my own new rupted for a while back there. I think it’s going to be a addition, I almost got there, I almost got it back. Then good one this year. I think we will cherish it for ever. ▪

Read Sophie’s story from the beginning at thesundaytimes.co.uk/themotherproject and follow her on @sophieberesiner and @motherprojectofficial

The Sunday Times Style 41 and calm as possible. Often that means changing their habits, and with those changes comes distance from certain friends. It’s an instinct for self-protection, and I understand it. But I also understand that it hurts to be on the receiving end — to feel as if the way you happily live your life might repulse or even endanger someone (although I have the impression from friends that an afternoon glass of wine with a mate was one of the perks of the otherwise fairly full-on experience of maternity leave). You have to try hard not to personalise her words, and you must have an honest conversation with her. It is possible that when she says she is concerned about your drinking, what she means is that she is concerned about her own drinking when she is around you. Perhaps she doesn’t want to spend time with you because she associates your time together with alcohol, which is something she wants to leave behind. If that’s the case, you can and should be sensitive to that. But she needs to find a way of not placing the responsibility for her relationship with booze on you. It’s not fair that you should become her unofficial representative of The Bad Things, and therefore someone to avoid. There’s also a huge difference between telling you that Your love, life and your friendship has to change and that you have to change. If, as she moves into this new phase of her life, friendship dilemmas answered she feels like she wants low-key, alcohol-free or cosy hang- outs with you, I don’t think that’s unreasonable. I hardly by Dolly Alderton think you’re going to suggest to a pregnant woman or mother of a newborn that you catch up at a rave over a gram of ketamine. The “5pm dinners at Giraffe” years of your friendship may well be officially open from this point. They’re different, but they don’t have to be any less Dear Dolly loving — it’s just what happens as you grow up. I’m sure you have other friends who still want to party with you, so My best friend is trying to get pregnant and you should go on nights out with them instead. The other reason she may want you to change your life- has recently told me our friendship will style is to reinforce that her decision to have a baby is the have to change because of it, mainly right one. This is something you notice more and more as because she thinks that I drink too much. you get older — we want our friends to do what we’re We haven’t spoken since, and I don’t know doing to reassure us that we’re doing the right thing. But we have to resist that desire for uniformity. Not only does what to do. I’m supportive of her plans, but it offer zero proof that our decisions are right for us, but hurt that she thinks I have to change. Anon also friendships would be very boring if everyone we knew was living exactly the same type of life. I don’t know how much you drink and I don’t know if I think it’s worth making it clear that you support this drinking negatively affects your life, so I can’t agree or big, exciting change, while also acknowledging that she disagree with your friend. But you don’t think alcohol is can’t ask you to reconfigure your life to accommodate her a problem and you haven’t mentioned that any other personal choices. I hope that you would never ask that of friends agree with her. So, I’m going to work from the her either. Women should be allowed to take their lives presumption that you are a person who enjoys too many in whichever direction works for them, without ranking pints on a Friday night, rather than too many bottles of those lifestyles in order of importance. Buckfast on a Monday morning. In which case, it’s likely Watching a best friend become a parent is a magical that this isn’t so much about you, but more about her. thing. It can open up a part of their personality that you’ve I don’t think what you are describing is that unusual for never seen before and it can also open up a new chapter a woman who is starting a family, it just sounds like your of your friendship. It is an adjustment that takes mutual friend has articulated herself badly. Deciding to have a commitment, but it is patience and acceptance worth child is a primal desire, and primal desires can make us finding. There is no better investment than the time put behave in uncharacteristic ways (my excuse for writing into a friendship that will see you through your entire life. those love poems about Charlie from Busted all those If she wants to cut out booze, good on her, but it’s in years ago). I have known women who, while pregnant her best interest not to cut out friendships too. A baby is a or trying to get pregnant, have decided to hunker down life-changing love, but it’s not a best friend. She’ll need

and keep themselves in an environment that is as safe a couple of those by her side for the next 18 years. ▪ HADDEN CHARLOTTE

To get your life dilemma answered by Dolly, email or send a voice note to [email protected] or DM @theststyle

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