On the first anniversary of our platform launching, our community and the team select their personal highlights
One year ago today we launched the Dazed Beauty website, with a Jon Emmony-created world that invited you to muse what the future of beauty is and will be.
If you’ve been here since day one, you’ll have inducted in our Digital Spa – the wellness-themed campaign – as well as exploring everything that modern masculinity is with Behind The Masc: Rethinking Masculinity. Elsewhere, we’ve interviewed talents such as Kylie Jenner, Aquaria, Peter Philips, Paris Hilton, Spencer Pratt, and Chloë Sevigny.
To celebrate, we asked some of our fave community members to share some of their Dazed Beauty highlights, as well as pitching in ourselves with interviews, investigations, photoshoots, and films. Keep scrolling to read the full list.
CUPID
“A highlight of the last year for me was definitely being invited to collaborate with Willow Smith on visuals for her album Willow. To have my work be completely trusted by an artist like that is the highest respect. Beyond that, I genuinely had such an amazing time with her – it was just us being a couple of crazy teenagers and creating something beautiful together.
LA’SHAUNAE
“My favourite moment was seeing myself in print in the ‘fashion made me hardcore’ issue of Dazed! It was my first time in print and I literally felt like a princess on set. I was in shock at one point during the shoot and started crying because I couldn't believe I was actually there. Definitely the most memorable moment within the last year now for me because representation for plus-sized black women in the fashion industry is so important.”
AQUARIA
“When I was first asked to be a contributing editor for Dazed Beauty, I was super excited and honoured to be recognized for both my work in entertainment and fashion, as well for my potential to add a unique perspective to the publication. Throughout this past year, I’ve realised that having a million different other jobs at once maybe is not the best way to allow Dazed Beauty to thrive, but with Isamaya at the helm, I’ve witnessed countless articles that truly do represent the forefront of beauty trends and public interest.
Last December, I had the opportunity to create a digital holiday card of sorts for Dazed Beauty in collaboration with many talented stylists, crew, etc. The OTT glam and slightly campy take on a traditional holiday card or your everyday beauty tutorial really struck a chord with me and resonated with our audience as well.
Creating something new and exciting in today’s world is always something tricky, but I believe Dazed Beauty has a unique tone and constantly introduces and questions elements of the beauty world. As an occasional contributor, I’m very proud to see the wonder the Dazed Beauty has blossomed into, and as a beauty and entertainment enthusiast, I’m never short for inspiration or enjoyment when I read a new article.”
THEO ADAMS
“There are few places you can go to when you want to make a video set on a 1980s Tasmanian public access TV talent competition, featuring two real-life heavily pregnant performers who give birth to miniature saxophones from bursting amniotic sacs; belting out a Japanese power ballad while the TV set collapses around them. Dazed Beauty didn't even question it; I salute you!”
PRINCESS GOLLUM
“The 3D head was definitely the biggest highlight. Receiving a print in the mail with Kylie’s cover was surreal. Working with Isamaya and the whole team was amazing and meeting them in Paris during the Margiela Mutiny Party was precious. I’m excited to see what we do more in year 2!”
NELLIE EDEN, EDITOR
“My favourite moment of Dazed Beauty so far is a toss-up. I love the pictures Joyce Ng took of Carrie Stacks when we launched. They're so energised. They make me feel excited just looking at them and Carrie truly embodies a Dazed Beauty attitude and approach to life for me.
Then I think it would have to be the ‘Move Like A Man’ film we released as part of our Behind The Masc: Rethinking Masculinity campaign that I worked closely with Bunny Kinney on. Nine dancers moving 'like men' and opening up about their relationship with masculinity, their bodies and the future of gender. Gave me goosebumps the first time I saw it.”
LIL MIQUELA
“Skin, pixels, soft lips, face filters – I'm obsessed with it all. For me, this year has been all about suspending disbelief in what's ‘real’ or not. If you can see it, it's real. And it can be beautiful.”
BUNNY KINNEY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
“My favourite Dazed Beauty moment so far was the cover shoot for Issue 0 where we reimagined Kate Moss as a mythical centaur in some sort of dystopian, video game landscape. Alongside Travis Scott, no less. The images were created entirely in CGI by Travis Brothers and Dario Alva, using 3D scans of both Kate and Travis. We wanted to cast an iconic beauty alongside one of the biggest musicians in pop culture today, in a totally unexpected context that, to me, really cemented what Dazed Beauty is all about: the cross-section of creative technology and the transformative power of imagination.”
MUNROE BERGDORF
“My favourite moment was interviewing Kim Petras. I loved hearing about her journey to where she is right now in her career in life and hearing about who inspires her unique aesthetic. Plus she's the pop princess that the trans community deserves!!!”
BEN DITTO, CREATIVE CONSULTANT
“The Kylie Jenner cover was really exciting to work on, to combine someone so famous with dystopian technology and an underlying narrative about the future of identity, introducing a really broad audience to new concepts I find fascinating. That’s the joy of Dazed Beauty for me.”
RICK FARIN
“Lucy McRae's work really resonates with me (specifically the biometric mirror) because it implies a future that is neither utopian nor dystopian; but rather one in between, in constant flux and transformation. What makes us human is our differences, and artists need to be engaging with emerging technologies in order for us to actually comprehend and construct a better and more inclusive future. In other words, a heterotopia.”
ALEX PETERS, BEAUTY NEWS WRITER
“There have been so many amazing moments over the past year it’s impossible to choose just one. The Jon Emmony alien planet world that we launched with perfectly set the tone for what Dazed Beauty is about. Our incredible covers, particularly Kylie Jenner’s which combined pop culture, technology and beauty in such a great and unexpected way. Shooting the legendary Michele Lamy for Pin-Ups; the Pretty Butch shoot for our Behind The Masc: Rethinking Masculinity campaign. Having the chance to interview Peter Philips, who has been quietly responsible for so many of the beauty trends that we’ve seen over the last couple of decades and, finally, the first-ever article I wrote for Dazed Beauty which was a personal highlight for me.”
KROCAINE
“One of my favourite moments this year were these surprisingly influential butterflies I did. They caught the attention of Kylie Jenner and became the cutest trend throughout the industry.”
JESS CANJE, SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
“My favourite Dazed Beauty moment from the past year was the ‘Move Like A Man’ film directed by our editor-in-chief Bunny Kinney for the digital campaign Behind The Masc: Rethinking Masculinity. It was inspiring and a lot of fun to work on this helping it come to fruition. I've been a fan of Wayne McGregor for a long time, so it was cool to shoot at the studio.”
EMILIA ORTIZ
“One of my favourite moments from Dazed Beauty’s first year, was when I got to work on a piece that connected spirituality/brujeria/witchcraft with eyeliner. I was able to have some of the most powerful people in my life contribute to it, as well as touch on glamour magic, a form of magic that so many of us practice in our daily routines. It highlighted more than just cheekbones and was about amplifying energetic power – not just beauty.”
FELICIA PENNANT, COMMISSIONING EDITOR
“Tish interviewed Megan Barton-Hanson from Love Island and I loved it because the reality star was the last person I'd expect to find on Dazed Beauty. It took her so far out of context visually too in the shoot and, overall, the piece really explored a different side to her bombshell personality to explore modern perceptions of femininity and the tension between self-love and plastic surgery. Megan will never do anything else as great as this.”
IRIS ROSINDO-CHALANGEAS
“My favourite moment must have been when we all collectively wore our Skyn Iceland eye and smile line masks, or obviously when Kylie Jenner, our lord and saviour, acknowledged us (and so did Kris Jenner). Both moments represented times where we all came together to rejoice in the joy of our work and the effects it can have on us and the culture around us.”
DOMINIC CADOGAN, ASSISTANT EDITOR
“I remember watching this Jordan Hemingway-shot film featuring Isamaya Ffrench before I joined the Dazed Beauty team and thinking: ‘This is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen!’. The film is so simple in its rawness, but powerful too – and of course, very sexy.
Since joining, I’ve loved seeing all the investigations we’ve done into the darker side of the beauty industry. The feature we ran on the grey area of extreme body modifications – think split tongues, removed nipples, and eyeball tattoos – is a really interesting read.”
AMELIA ABRAHAM, FEATURES EDITOR
“My favourite moment of Dazed Beauty was our Kylie Jenner print cover – I think it’s an iconic image that really speaks to a moment in beauty, both visually and in terms of how it was created. I’ve also loved our collaboration with Nowness – particular the Frederick Heyman video with Michele Lamy, Kim Peers, and Isabelle Huppert, that I interviewed him about. And finally, that I got to work very closely with Munroe Bergdorf and Aquaria – they have been amazing contributors who have really helped us shine a spotlight on the relationship between queerness and beauty.”
JULES AND GEBS, @RAVVEBEAUTY
“Our favourite moment was our first article we did describing our perspective on beauty. Featured monthly on Dazed Beauty for the past year, we have been spotting beauty talents in the shadows of the underground and challenging viewers who end up on our page with images that put traditional beauty representations in question. Dazed Beauty has been an incredible platform that supports individuality, beauty, and art.”