Table of contents for April 2023 in Harper's Bazaar

THE REINVENTION ISSUE IN SOME WAYS, reinvention is the essence of fashion. It’s a mode of expression that often seems to capture how the times and our lives are changing in a kind of high-definition swirl: the codes and concepts that are revived, reinvigorated, or reimagined; the systems, symbols, and social practices that are upended. But reinvention, in fashion or otherwise, isn’t just about those kinds of monumental external movements in creativity or culture. It can also be a very personal process—one of understanding who we are and what we want in deeper and more meaningful ways. Challenging established thinking, not to mention the precepts and expectations of others, is rarely ever easy. It requires hard work, tenacity, patience, and every other adjective commonly used to describe the great marshaling…

DO YOU KNOW WHERE your sweater came from? If it’s one of Loro Piana’s cloudsoft merino-wool knits and you wave your iPhone over the label, a digital certificate will pop up on your screen that gives detailed information about the bucolic Australian or New Zealand sheep station where the ultrafine fibers were shorn and the factories in Italy’s Piedmont industrial region where they were washed, scoured, carded, drawn, spun, woven, and dyed. You’ll also learn that Loro Piana’s proprietary merino wool, called the Gift of Kings, is the finest in the world—at 12 microns, it’s less than one fifth the diameter of a human hair—and comes from just a handful of breeders who focus on pasture management and grazing practices that preserve biodiversity. While that may sound like a futuristic…

I was sitting in a movie theater next to my mother when, as the lights were about to go down, she turned to me and said, “Don’t you want to put on a little lipstick?” She didn’t mean just any lipstick. She meant red. Bright, bold red. My mother had an almost religious belief in the power of red lipstick to alter your life. Growing up poor in the Bronx with deaf parents who didn’t speak English or know any sign language, she had to advocate for her family from a very early age. She grappled with government agencies, teachers, and landlords on her own and had to exude confidence to ensure she was seen and heard. By the time she was 16, she had a ritual: She squared her…

Recently, Brie Larson went to see a friend who was starring in A Streetcar Named Desire in London. As they left the theater together, the security guard told the actor that there were fans outside waiting for their programs to be signed. Larson stood near him as he did so, unbothered—and, to his surprise, unnoticed. She recalls, “I was just standing there, and he was like, ‘How is this possible?’” Despite the fact that she is Captain Marvel, star of the first female-led superhero franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and despite the fact that she is an Oscar winner, and despite the fact that she has been acting since she was six, Larson, now 33, is still rarely recognized in public. “If I’m checking out at the grocery…

We tend to think of reinvention, this issue’s theme, as a kind of transformation—a dramatic overhauling of self or systems, a marked way of doing things differently. But our cover star, Brie Larson, photographed by Collier Schorr, reminds me that reinvention can be a much more profoundly personal process. Larson won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2016, at the age of just 26, for her deeply affecting portrayal of a woman held captive for seven years in the movie Room. In the period after, she was offered roles that were considered similarly weighty, serious, “Oscar-worthy.” But instead of doing what was expected, she did what felt honest. She did comedies and action movies and launched a YouTube channel. “I want to be in reality,” she tells writer Carina Chocano.…

WHY DON’T YOU…? Punctuate the look with a COCKTAIL RING.…

Jazz is inarguably one of the most influential, foundational, and revered musical genres, yet it’s also one that has been relegated to the margins of mainstream culture over the past few decades. But at this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony, vocalist Samara Joy and pianist, producer, and songwriter Robert Glasper—both classically trained jazz musicians—took home major awards for Best New Artist and Best R&B Album, respectively, dominating two categories that recognize what’s new and innovative and pop. That the two are in the vanguard of modern jazz proves it is a genre that can change with the times and engage new audiences along the way. Along with becoming the second jazz musician ever to win Best New Artist at the Grammys (Esperanza Spalding won in 2011), 23-year-old Joy also took home…

The beauty industry’s on a health kick, and fragrance brands are angling to get in on the act. Aromatherapy, which uses essential oils to impact mood, was just the beginning. “We’ve moved on to aromachology,” says Céline Manetta, a senior consumer-science manager at fragrance powerhouse International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF), referring to the scientific study of the effect of odors on human behavior and emotion. The emerging category of functional fragrances claims to soothe nerves, boost focus, and more. “Smell is the only sense with a direct connection to the amygdala-hippocampal complex in the brain,” says Rachel Herz, a neuroscientist and adjunct assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University. Scent activates neurons in the olfactory bulbs, which sit behind the nose and act…

MODEL: TESS BREEDEN; HAIR: MARI OHASHI FOR ORIBE; MAKEUP: ANNE SOPHIE COSTA FOR CHANTECAILLE; CASTING: ANITA BITTON AT THE ESTABLISHMENT; PRODUCTION: WESTERN PROMISES. FOR MORE SHOPPING INFORMATION, GO TO BAZAAR.COM/CREDITS. = BUY ON SHOPBAZAAR.COM…

Watching Donatella Versace have her photograph taken is like watching the word fabulous emerge out of a seashell, Botticelli’s Venus-style. She reclines on a white leather sofa in her office in Milan—amid eight black-and-silver pillows covered in Versace scrolls, Medusas, and Greek-key meander vectors—and purrs for the lens. Pop music plays, and her longtime hairstylist stays nearby, while his hairbrush, like a paintbrush, hovers just outside the frame, ready to make the most minute adjustments to the most famous bleached locks in fashion history. She is diminutive, even in six-inch wedge boots. Her black pencil dress fits like, well, the paint on a pencil, and when she stands up to greet me, an assistant gives her a little cropped cardigan while her hairstylist lingers behind, stroking her blond hair with…

FEATURED TRACKS 1. “BULLY FREESTYLE” Ice Spice 2. “WONDERWALL” Oasis 3. “MAKE ME PROUD” Drake feat. Nicki Minaj 4. “BEEN LIKE THIS” Doja Cat 5. “SHIRT” SZA 6. “F**K UP THE FUN” Azealia Banks 7. “WICKED GAMES” The Weeknd 8. “I’M EVERY WOMAN” Whitney Houston 9. “CLARITY” Zedd feat. Foxes 10. “GANGSTA BOO” Ice Spice and Lil Tjay 11. “ALL THINGS GO” Nicki Minaj 12. “DOO WOP (THAT THING)” Lauryn Hill 13. “THE BIGGER PICTURE” Lil Baby 14. “JUICY” Doja Cat and Tyga 15. “MUNCH (FEELIN’ U)” Ice Spice 16. “DRIP” Cardi B feat. Migos 17. “MAN IN THE MIRROR” Michael Jackson 18. “CHANGES” David Bowie 19. “PRINCESS DIANA” Ice Spice Listen to Ice Spice’s full playlist exclusively on Apple Music. In January, the Bronx native (born Isis Gaston) released…

WHY DON’T YOU…? Step it up with a pair of chunky PEEP-TOE MULES.…

I don’t make a lot of goals because it’s hard to do things that are different from what you are currently doing. It’s also embarrassing when you fall short, especially when that shit is easy. Drink more water? Can’t do it. Go to bed earlier? But what about my shows? Give up sugar? Not possible. Save more money? But what about buying stuff? Learn a new skill? Where and also how and also with what brain? Get organized? But I love mess. Lose weight? Is there a pill for that, and if so can I take it in cheese like a dog? Eliminate bad habits? Who would I be without them? Have compassion for myself? But I’m a dumbass who sucks at everything and is unworthy of love. I don’t…

Long before LED therapy and 24-karat-gold facials, wellness often focused on rituals of water and heat in hot springs and sweat lodges. Buddhist monks popularized the concept of soaking in hot water in Japan when they arrived there in the sixth century. The word spa itself is an acronym for the Latin term “sanus per aqua,” which translates to “health through water.” The ancient Mayans and Aztecs would perform both healing and cleansing ceremonies in the steam of a temazcal, often a domeroofed structure made of stone or mud brick. And as much as these customs were about individual well-being, they were also about social health—providing spaces for connecting as a community. Thermal baths, saunas, soaks, and hammams are still part of daily life around the globe. These practices—and the…

GLOW-GETTER After a long, cold winter, skin can look lackluster. To get glowing again in an instant, dust the tops of your cheekbones with Hermès Plein Air H Trio Iridescent Mineral Powder ($105). The fashion house’s new high lighter utilizes mother-of-pearl mixed with cheery pink or coral to create luminosity on any skin tone. SPRING CLEANING Lighten up your skincare routine for spring with Doré’s new La Micellaire ($24). The rinse-free formula uses tiny micelle particles to bind to makeup, grime, and excess oil, enabling you to wipe them away with a cotton pad. It removes even the most stubborn lipsticks and is great as the first step in a double-cleansing routine. The wash is also infused with pore-decongesting cornflower water, hydrating Damascena rose, and skin-barrier-supporting aloe vera—all packaged in…

MODEL: LAURA REYES; HAIR: KALLE EKLUND FOR ORIBE; MAKEUP: AURORE GIBRIEN FOR LANCÔME; MANICURE: JULIE VILLANOVA; CASTING: ANITA BITTON AT THE ESTABLISHMENT; PRODUCTION: FARAGO PROJECTS; SET DESIGN: CHLOE BARRIERE. FOR MORE SHOPPING INFORMATION, GO TO BAZAAR.COM/CREDITS.…

HARPER’S BAZAAR’S MARCH 2001 issue arrived at a moment that is now, in some ways, lost in history: The culture was finally ready to declare the 1990s over, but there was an uncertainty about what the future might look like. Six months later, on September 11, 2001, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon would place a definitive marker in the sand. But before the tragic events of that day, there was a general optimism about the burgeoning 21st century and the potential of the internet and technology to transform our lives. For the March 2001 issue, photographer duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin embraced that spirit in a fashion story that celebrated what then was dubbed “multimedia photography.” It was built around a series of…