Off the Wall: Editor-in-Chief Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz’s childhood bedroom wall, filled with magazine pages from iconic shoots.
The launch of Vogue Arabia is symbolic––not merely for the brand’s diversification, but also for the region’s emerging talent in modelling, design, art, culture, and premium journalism. The Vogue voice for the Middle East has landed with Editor-in-Chief Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz at the helm. As the March issue goes on sale today, read the first editor’s letter here to welcome in the era of Vogue Arabia.
The power of great imagery never goes away. A photograph with gravitas can instruct your style DNA. Aged 14, I cut out magazine images that deeply moved me and pasted them inside my wardrobe doors. Christy Turlington— fixed in a permanent pose—stared at me as I got ready for school each morning. Here was a photo of Isabella Rossellini captured by Steven Meisel next to quintessential James Dean; they still wait for me in my old childhood bedroom.
If my younger self had dared to dream that these references would one day be the backdrop to my debut editor’s letter, I’d have never believed it to be true. Now, I have the ultimate mood board to create: a magazine that has the strength to celebrate the creative realm of a distinctive—and often misrepresented—part of the world. Within the pages of Vogue Arabia, we aim to conjure up inspiration that is so enticing that the photographs can be torn out and pasted on closet doors across the region.
Vogue is a brand that evolves with the times, explores, and journeys slightly ahead of the curve, but begs no pardon in looking back at the best of what has been. When eternal style succeeds, it becomes the fabric of your sartorial direction, clings to your subconscious, and informs every outfit you wear. Perhaps forever.
Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz
