Harper's Bazaar UK September 2015

In fashion, as in life, September tends to be associated with a turning point of the year – new term, new season, bright beginnings – even if we are contemplating these fresh starts in the languorous days towards the end of summer. And of course, while it is likely that some of you will be reading Harper’s Bazaar on holiday, others may be still waiting for a much-needed escape. With this in mind, we hope you will be as inspired as we were by the different landscapes that appear in Bazaar’s latest fashion stories, from Kirsty Hume’s journey to the Scottish Highlands (page 270), to the clifftops of Ibiza (page 316) and the streets of Primrose Hill (page 294); or far beyond, to the wilder shores of the imagination, in…

Alastair Sooke The British journalist Sooke shares his pop-art expertise in ‘Consumer culture’ (page 232). The Daily Telegraph’s art critic also writes and presents documentaries for the BBC, including Pop Go The Women. His biographies of Lichtenstein and Matisse are published by Penguin and his third book Pop Art: A Colourful History is published this month, just in time for the Tate’s major autumn exhibition. Most-loved piece in your wardrobe ‘My vintage Record De Luxe gold watch.’ Your fashion icon ‘Andy Warhol.’ What does fashion mean to you? ‘Creative or conformist, fashion is always self-projection.’ Kathryn Hughes The historian and professor at the University of East Anglia is an award-winning biographer of Geoge Eliot and Mrs Beeton. She has written for The Guardian, The Economist and The TLS and in ‘Defining moments’ (page…

1 THE SHEARLING JACKET Nicolas Ghesquière does it again. See the new season’s main object of desire: a fabulously furry brushed sheepskin jacket that packs a rock ’n’ roll punch. Sheepskin jacket, £4,150; viscose mix knit, £750; lamb-skin skirt, £2,050; leather clutch, £2,890, all Louis Vuitton 2 THE BACK PACK The utility classic takes a luxe spin: if pink is A/W 15’s unexpected shade, then this is how to update in one simple step. Calf-skin bag, £755 Max Mara 3 THE FULL-LENGTH COAT There’s always glamour in an oversize coat, especially when it comes in such a defiantly impractical colour. Wool coat, £995 Joseph. Viscose turtle-neck, £620 Tod’s. Suede boots, £835 Gianvito Rossi. Sunglasses, £320 Fendi 4 THE MINI SKIRT Rejoice, all ye of firm thigh, for the miniskirt is back. Whether a stiff little A-line or…

That Dolce & Gabbana’s A/W 15 collection should look to La Mamma is more than fitting: she is the heart and soul of Italian family life and culture. ‘Her clothes, fragrance and lipsticks have been unforgettable in our minds since childhood,’ say Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. ‘We have linked fantasy and memories to outline a picture that represents our idea of La Mamma.’ The looks featured decorative red roses – traditionally given by children to their mothers on Mother’s Day – while the theme also appeared in the dresses embellished with children’s drawings, some of which were by the design duo’s nieces and nephews. A pastel-blue coat worn over a shift dress was intended to represent ‘sweet’ mothers, while other models walked the runway holding their own children in…

If a woman you’ve never met before tells you she’s wearing Sacai, keep her close – she’s the kind of person you need in your life. Sacai is the Japanese label of now. The one that fashion editors actually buy; a brilliant fusion of the avant-garde, the elegant and the sportif. Thus, the woman who wears it reveals the most knowing of style credentials. But it’s not new; the label has been big in Japan for years. The designer, Chitose Abe, a youthful 49-year-old, established it in 1999. Twelve years later, looking for an opportunity for her collection to ‘be seen by a wider audience’, she started showing during Paris Fashion Week. And since then a fan club has been steadily growing for those bulky down jackets nipped at the waist…

The writer and photographer Amanda Brooks has the most Instagramable life imaginable, as anyone who has ever come across her beguiling blog I Love Your Style will know. Initially intended as an appendage to her 2009 book of the same name (an upbeat, informative reflection on personal style and her own sartorial coming-of-age), the blog really came into its own in June 2012, when she started to document her family’s seismic shift in lifestyle, from leading the quintessential New York life – working as the fashion director of Barneys and living in a classic downtown loft – to relocating to England, setting up home on a working farm in Oxfordshire. Brooks and her family planned to stay for just one year, but three years on they are still here, revelling…