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Is it time to ghost your ChatGPT boyfriend? Or finally admit your parasocial relationship with your AI therapist is interfering with your offline life? As seductive Pluto turns retrograde in Aquarius from 4 May to 13 October, distance from the digital realm might be the most luxurious gift you can give yourself.
Icy, faraway Pluto isn’t the loudest member of the solar system, but astrologically, it’s one of the most powerful. Like a cosmic psychologist and investigator all in one, Pluto operates on our unconscious realms. As the ruler of transformation, shadow work, and the cycles of death and rebirth, this dwarf planet helps us evolve by revealing all the things we buried away. Not exactly fun, but definitely impactful.
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Pluto only changes zodiac signs every 12 to 30 years, which means its movements are slow and generational. When it shifts, culture shifts. Pluto first teased its way into Aquarius in spring 2023—moving into a sign that rules technology, community, innovation, and revolution. Since then, life has become decidedly more sci-fi. And we’re only at the beginning; Pluto is on a solid tour through Aquarius from 19 November 2024 to 19 January 2044.
This retrograde isn’t unusual. Outer planets like Pluto shift into reverse every year for approximately five months. But this one is significant. It’s the first time Pluto’s full retrograde is happening in Aquarius in over two centuries. Pluto’s last full lap through the Water Bearer’s domain was from 1778 to 1798, a period that saw the United States carve out its independence, draft the U.S. Constitution, and attempt to define freedom on its own terms. Now, as Pluto returns to this futuristic, idealistic air sign, we’re in the middle of a new kind of revolution, one that’s unfolding in the digital realm as much as in IRL spaces.
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We’re not going to sugarcoat this: The early years of Pluto’s passage through a sign are often marked by tumult and massive change. Pluto is the ruler of mysterious Scorpio, and in mythological lore, it’s the shadowy god of the underworld who kidnapped young Persephone.
To wit, in 2008, at the same time Pluto moved into Capricorn — the sign that rules the economy, governments, and corporations — markets crashed. Banks and institutions needed government bailouts. Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was discovered. On the plus side, the United States got its first Black president. Sweeping reforms and unexpected curveballs followed for the rest of Pluto’s time in Capricorn (until 19 November 2024)—from President Trump’s first win to the 6 January insurrection to the adoption of cryptocurrency.
The early years of Pluto transits can be fear-inducing, making life feel like a Black Mirror episode. So what can we do to stay centered? Everything might be moving at quantum speed, but Pluto retrograde offers a chance to pause and reassess the systems you’re plugged into. You don’t need to delete your apps or renounce your digital life entirely. But what does it look like to be both connected and protected? To be informed, but not consumed?
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And then there’s the question of community, which is Aquarius’s sacred domain. Are we participating in meaningful organizations or hiding in groupthink? This is the sign that governs humanitarian ideals, but also the tension between fitting in and standing apart. During this retrograde, we’re being asked to examine our resistance to being part of something bigger—as well as our willingness to get lost in the echo chamber instead of thinking for ourselves.
Go easy on yourself, please. With Pluto newly in Aquarius, we are definitely in uncharted territory here. The five-month retrograde is a chance to process all that’s happened since last November. Our hope as astrologers? That this shake-up will foment a response rooted in Aquarian ideals: freedom, equality, strength in community. At its best, Pluto is like a phoenix. It can burn away illusions and lift the veil, allowing us to transform systems that have been operating without integrity. This season can remind us that the future isn’t something we just inherit; it’s something we create, one truth at a time.
This article was first seen on ELLE US.
Some films stay with you, and some follow you out of the theatre and into your sinuses. Premiering this May, Le Musk arrives with the quiet confidence of a project that knows it’s first-of-its-kind. Billed as the world’s first fully integrated multi-sensory virtual reality cinematic experience, it combines scent, motion, music, and haptics into a 37-minute narrative that’s equal parts sensory experiment and emotional excavation.
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Directed and scored by A.R. Rahman, the composer behind Slumdog Millionaire, whose score earned him two Oscars and a permanent place in cinematic history, the film stars French actress Nora Arnezeder as Juliet Merdinian, a woman on a mission of grief and revenge.
Juliet’s story begins in grief, but memory has its own agenda. Her parents were murdered, and the only things she remembers from that night are sounds in the darkness and the distinct scents of the four men responsible.
What follows is a search for closure told not through flashbacks or exposition, but through fragrance, vibration, and movement like a thriller trapped inside a dream journal and emerging with a signature scent.
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Shot with advanced stereoscopic cameras and built atop a motion platform engineered to simulate movement without the usual nausea spiral, Le Musk uses scent-releasing devices and haptic feedback to build a cinematic world that presses in from all directions. You don’t just watch the film, you sit inside it. You turn your head. You track the sound. You flinch when the air changes. It is, in the most literal sense, immersive.
Presented by HD Entertainment Pte Ltd, Le Musk is a test run for what happens when cinematic storytelling drops the screen entirely and lets narrative live across the body, instead of just behind the eyes.
Le Musk premieres on Sunday, 11 May 2025, from 1pm at Golden Village Suntec. The film will run as an exclusive pop-up showcase for three months, with only 50 seats available per day. For more info, click here.
This August, Heart Media Malaysia will debut ELLE Men Malaysia, the 12th global edition of ELLE Men and the first-ever Bahasa Melayu men’s title under the globally renowned ELLE brand. The bi-monthly magazine, supported by a digital platform at ellemen.my and an official Instagram handle @ellemenmalaysia, promises a refreshing take on what it means to be a modern man today.
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Spearheaded by Ardi Idewani, managing editor of both ELLE and ELLE Men Malaysia, the new launch reflects an evolving masculine identity—one that embraces style, self-expression, and substance. “The growing awareness and appreciation of fashion, lifestyle, and culture have undoubtedly affected the tastes and aspirations of the modern man,” Idewani shares. “ELLE Men Malaysia is committed to evolving alongside these global developments.”
Rooted in five core editorial pillars—Fashion, Grooming, Accessories & Horology, Lifestyle, and Features—the title offers everything from trend-driven fashion editorials to profiles of tastemakers shaping contemporary culture. Think bold watches, minimalist skincare, and deep-dive interviews, all delivered with ELLE’s signature polish.
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For Sarah Hani Jamil, editor-in-chief of ELLE Malaysia, the launch is a natural progression: “Malaysia is home to so many incredible male talents, and it’s time they’re given the same spotlight and representation we’ve long shone on women at ELLE.”
The move also signals ELLE’s ambition to push the boundaries of its 360° brand presence in Malaysia. François Coruzzi, CEO of ELLE International Licenses, affirms, “I am confident that ELLE’s universal values, unique point of view, and highest standards of journalism will continue to inspire and resonate with men in Malaysia.”
Available at major bookstores, select newsstands, and across leading digital platforms, ELLE Men Malaysia is poised to become the definitive lifestyle authority for a new generation.
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Sinners may be the movie everyone's watching, but for us, we only have eyes for Hailee Steinfeld's lob. Swapping her then-signature cascading locks for a chin-grazing bob last year, Hailee's grown-out hairdo has made its mark on the red carpet and our Pinterest boards. If you're tempted to make the chop, we've rounded up some inspiration courtesy of our favourite celebs who, like Hailee, have taken the plunge and made the snip.
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Initially cut for her role as Mary in Sinners, Hailee's lob has people booking their next salon appointment. Whether styled in a straight middle part or voluminous Hollywood waves, this one length cut is versatile, easy to style, and works on most face shapes.
To achieve Hailee's glamour 'do, part your hair to a deep side part before going in with good old-fashioned hot rollers. Take three-inch sections and roll inwards, repeating until you've done the entire head. Once it's cooled, gently brush with a boar bristle brush and lock it with a soft hold hairspray.
Volumizing Hot Rollers, $151.89, T3.
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Like Hailee, supermodel Gigi Hadid swapped her long mermaid tresses for a bob ending just a few inches below her jawline. Whether in natural waves, slicked back and tucked behind the ears, or with a flick at the ends, it is easy, breezy, and effortlessly beautiful.
For Gigi's messy waves, apply a heatless styling balm and use your hands to scrunch and create waves before leaving it to air dry.
Hair Alchemy Heatless Styling Balm, $66, ORIBE.
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Thunderbolts* star Florence Pugh is no stranger to a short crop, having previously shaved her head for her role in We Live in Time. Her recent shag is perfect for those transitioning from a pixie or a little more adventurous, with a lot of lift and texture.
To achieve Florence's shag, prep with some volumizing mousse and add some movement and bounce with a hot round brush.
Full Volumizing Mousse, $61, VIRTUE LABS.
Supermodel Kendall Jenner is best known for her long, chocolate brown tresses. However, after going blonde, she went back to the dark side in a big way with a chin-grazing bob. Effortlessly stylish, Kendall often styles in straight, sleek, and tucked behind the ears with a light flick at the ends—very off-duty model chic.
To achieve Kendall's sleek look, after parting the hair down the middle, use a matte pomade to slick the top of the hair down. Make sure to tuck your tresses behind the ears and use the leftover product on your hands to mold the ends into a outward flick.
Matte Pomade, $43, OUAI.
She may not be French, but Emily in Paris actress Lily Collins channeled the spirit of her character Emily with her rendition of a Parisian bob. Sans the bangs, Lily's one-length cut is sleek and sophisticated, hugging her jawline while also retaining some movement at the ends.
To achieve Lily's glossy sheen, use an in-shower hair gloss once a week for silky, shiny, smooth hair.
Perfect Hair Day High-Shine Gloss, $51, LIVING PROOF.
White Lotus star Leslie Bibb's vacation bob—or how the internet calls it "the c**ty little bob"—was one of the highlights of the smash hit series' third season. Hitting the nape of the neck, it needs little to no styling, as Leslie has been spotted wearing it straight or with tons of texture.
To achieve Leslie's undone beach waves, apply a wave spray on damp hair and, with a diffuser attachment, use a hairdryer until your hair have achieved your desired effect.
Wave Spray, $47, OUAI.
No stranger to changing it up when it comes to her hair length, Selena Gomez recently opted for a lob that sits at her shoulders. The multi-hyphenate star often styles her hair in curls or a sleek blowout with volume at the ends.
To achieve Selena's blowout, prep with a pre-styling cream. With a smoothing attachment, blowdry the hair using a round brush, curving inwards near the ends.
Supersonic r Hair Dryer, $759, DYSON.
A Complete Unknown actress Elle Fanning snipped her long flaxen locks last year to rock a lob as well. During the movie's press tour, Elle styled her tresses in 1960's inspired hairdo's complete with tons of volume at the crown.
To achieve Elle's voluminous bouffants, comb out any knots in the hair for a smooth canvas to start. Beginning with a small section mid-crown, start backcombing until you get your desired lift, spritz with some hairspray, and smooth the top with a boar bristle brush. Repeat until you get to the back and, with your hands, gather the brushed hair into a low half-up ponytail and pin in place. Set once again with hairspray.
Session Styling Strong Hold Hairspray, $42, PERCY & REED.
It's hard to believe Gracie Abrams started her career with long, brown hair as her bob has become a signature part of the singer's look. Often worn in beach waves, Gracie's hair perfectly embodies the spirit of a California cool girl.
To achieve Gracie's beach waves, prep with a texturising spray. With a curling iron, take different sized sections and curl in alternate directions. Use a dry shampoo to add volume and more texture.
Beach Club Texture Spray, $57 for 177ml, IGK.
There could be a hundred people in the room, but only Lady Gaga could give us pop culture-defining moments that could last for more than a decade. From cult-classic hits, landmark tours, and roles in award-nominated film and television to iconic fashion and beauty looks (who could ever forget the meat dress from the 2012 VMAS), Gaga has cemented herself as music royalty. With little monsters across Asia flying into town to see Mother Monster herself for her four-night extravaganza, as well as the upcoming launch of Haus Labs at Sephora, we rounded up some of Gaga's beauty looks from her career. From Coachella to the Oscars, here's the best looks from her career so far.
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For two nights across two weekends in the middle of the Colorado desert, Gaga stole the show with her two-hour set at Coachella last month. Switching between several avant-garde ensembles and two hairstyles (a short black bob with bangs and an undercut and her signature platinum tresses), she went with a flawless base and cool-toned bronzer on the eyes and contours of the cheeks. Opting out of blush, she pulled focus to her eyes and lips with fluttery lashes and a bold crimson lip.
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The world of pop culture tilted on its axis when Gaga performed "Paparazzi" at the 2009 VMAS. She had a voluminous curly platinum bob with face-framing pink tips, bejewelled hair clip, smoky eyes, fake blood, and a mission to create one of the most talked about moments of the night—and we still do till this day.
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For the 2022 Chromatica Ball tour, Gaga took to the stage with a slicked-back blonde lob and bleached brows to match. For her eyes, she sported double-winged eyeliner that curved above her eyelids and white shadow on the lid and mid-lower lashline. Her face was perfectly sculpted with contour powder, and her lips were adorned with a glossy red lipstick.
This gothic Rapunzel look caught our eyes in the "Abracadabra" music video. Ethereal and otherworldly, Gaga enhanced her complexion with a satin base and a light dusting of mauve pink blush (it was also dabbed on to her lips for a matte blurred effect). To enhance her eyes, bronzer was applied to the contours of the lids, and white matte liner was applied to the waterline. For her hair, she channelled her inner Cersei Lannister with a half-up braided hairstyle.
Lady Gaga turned up the star power for her 2017 Super Bowl Halftime performance with diamond-studded eyes in a mask-like shape and fluttery false lashes. She paired the look with a matte base, cool-toned contour along the hollows of her cheeks, and a bold red lip.
Gaga swapped her signature platinum hue in favour of strawberry blonde for the "Die With A Smile" music video. Styled in loose waves and a Farrah Fawcett flip along the face framing pieces, the hairdo was complemented by a '60s-inspired make-up look. With sky blue shadow, bold winged liner, and lengthening mascara on the top and lower lashes, she kept the face glowy with cream highlighter, a light dusting of bronzer and blush, and finished it off with a mauve pink glossy lip.
Gaga's Born This Way album was accompanied by a plethora of iconic looks, but the grungy, messy aesthetic was perfectly encapsulated with her choppy mini bangs. With the rest of her locks in textured waves or straight tresses, she paired them with double-winged eyeliner covering the entire lid space, and switched between a bold or nude lipstick.
When you have four ensembles in one, you need one make-up look that's just as bold. Lady Gaga pulled focus to her eyes with some gold metallic falsies on top of her already voluminous lashes, enhanced by a double wing using both black and white liner. With a matte base, bronzer and a mauve blush were applied to add colour and sculpt her visage. For the lips, she opted for a bold hot pink to match her first ensemble. She further enhanced the look with red nails and a lob with tiny hair bows to accessorise.
With an iconic song like "Bad Romance", the make-up needed to be just as memorable. Gaga had a grey smoky eye with tons of mascara and liner on the top and lower waterline. Keeping the complexion neutral, she wore a nude lip and had her hair in waves.
It was pink monochromatic mania when it came to the Chromatica visuals. With a pink-hued hairdo, Gaga enhanced the look with a dark pink cream shadow all around the inner corner of the eyes, blending with a lighter pink on the lids, and topped it with white liner on the waterline and falsies. She added metallic face decals for that futuristic, alien-esce visage and tied it together with a dark pink lipstick.
For the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Gaga was a vision of Parisian chic. With her hair pulled back in an updo, she wore a classic cat eye and voluminous lashes alongside a flawless matte base, rosy blush, and glossy red lipstick.
At the 2016 Grammys, Gaga channelled her inner Ziggy Stardust. Emulating the late star's iconic look, she had flaming orange hair, Blue eyeshadow with matching rhinestones, pink blush, and pink lip gloss on the red carpet. For the David Bowie tribute performance, she switched to an orange mullet and added Bowie's iconic lightning face paint.
For the 2023 Academy Awards, Lady Gaga swapped her bold onstage look for Hollywood glamour. Wearing her hair in a sculpted chignon, the singer kept the make-up simple with a matte visage, a hint of blush on the cheeks and contour to sculpt her cheekbones, and a nude lip. For a hint of colour, she added blue liner on the lids.
For A Star Is Born, Gaga was absolutely unrecognisable in the role of Ally, a singer-songwriter discovered by Bradley Cooper's Jackson Maine. With undone moussy brown locks, her make-up was scaled back with a skin-like matte base, a light coat of mascara, and lip balm.
We end it off where Lady Gaga began with the "Just Dance" music video. With straight, mid length platinum hair and bangs, a bright blue lightning bolt adorns the lower half of her right eye. With coats of volumising mascara, she keeps the rest of the make-up simple with a nude gloss and fishnet nails.
From pioneer Vivienne Westwood to newer champions like Simone Rocha and Cecilie Bahnsen, New Romantic fashion has continually been reinterpreted since its initial boom in 1980s London. Now, this subculture is experiencing another revival with designers like Yuhan Wang. “I believe when we allow softness to fully unfold—whether through lace, silhouette, gesture, or story—it becomes incredibly powerful,” says Yuhan of her innately feminine creations.
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Growing up, Yuhan was a cinephile who was not just captivated by the narratives unfolding on the big screen, but also the costume details, such as the silhouette and fabric movement. “Looking back, it wasn’t fashion in the commercial sense that interested me—it was the way garments could become a kind of poetry, a visual psychology,” she muses.
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Shortly after graduating with a BA and MA in womenswear design at Central Saint Martins, the 34-year-old cut her teeth at Italian label Marni. But it wasn’t until talent incubator Fashion East invited Yuhan to show at London Fashion Week that she considered starting her label. By her third fashion week showcase, buyers were knocking on her door to purchase her collections. In 2018, she officially launched her eponymous label, now available at luxury retailers including Dover Street Market, Browns and Farfetch. Her pieces have also found their way into the wardrobes of A-listers like Selena Gomez, and Blackpink’s Lisa and Jennie.
Her beautifully draped silhouettes experiment with proportions and layering, and Yuhan’s poetic creations have always masterfully toed the line between nostalgia and modernity, theatricality and practicality. Having grown up in China and worked in London and New York, her multicultural background is also the reason why there’s a distinct east-meets-west aesthetic in her designs. “I think what excites me the most is not choosing one influence over another, but seeing how contradictions can sit together—how fragility can live beside strength, how something antique can feel modern again,” she explains.
Her spring/summer 2025 collection entitled The Rose Fist is inspired by the duality of strength and softness. “I was drawn to women boxers—pioneering figures like Alaia Ali, Jane Couch, Barbara Butterick and Bridget Riley—who didn’t just challenge male-dominated arenas, but also redefined what empowerment could look like,” says Yuhan. Exploring the dichotomy between masculinity and
femininity, athletic silhouettes like leotards and biker shorts are paired with ribbon-trimmed corsets and swinging skirts that mimic ballet tutus. Wang also mixes performance fabrics like activewear jersey and technical knits with deadstock lace and satin for a delicate yet assertive feel.
Tie-up corsets, flounce skirts and frilly tops crafted from lace and tulle are a mainstay in the oeuvre of this Seoul- and London-based designer. Further amplifying this Victorian romanticism are the brand’s bridal veils and farthingale hats.
Infused with a gothic edge, Dreaming Eli’s creations explore the rebellious nature of femininity. Think corset dresses juxtaposed with edgy bondage elements and finished with contrast stitching.
With a focus on using innovative textiles and intricate embroidery, this London-based label is best known for its colourful dresses and girly frocks adorned with botanical motifs as well as its whimsical range of beaded accessories.
If you’ve been watching Thai dramas in the last decade, chances are, you’ve seen her. Expressive eyes, high cheekbones, and a presence that draws you in without trying too hard. But Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich, or better known to fans simply as Nychaa, isn’t just another pretty face. Since making her acting debut at 17, she has steadily carved out her place in the Thai entertainment industry, growing from teen sweetheart roles to more complex and layered characters. Today, she’s part of a new wave of Southeast Asian talent shaping their own path in and beyond the region.
“I never dreamed of becoming an actress,” she tells us. “I wanted to be an architect. Or maybe a painter. I loved drawing and colouring when I was a kid.” Life, however, had different plans. “Once I started acting, I realised I really liked it. It’s a kind of art, too.”
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For Nychaa, acting is a craft that is full of discovery, as it allows her to try different things and understand people more deeply. “There were two dramas that really changed things for me. I started to enjoy acting more, and that’s when I knew—this is something I could do for the long haul,” she says of her experiences on the sets of drama series Sapai Jao (2015) and high school romcom series Nang Ai (2016).
When we meet Nychaa on set for this cover shoot, that easy confidence is obvious. We’re shooting in an abandoned pharmaceutical lab—hot, dusty, a little chaotic—but she’s unfazed. Calm, game for anything, and easy to direct, she slips into each frame naturally, building an effortless rhythm with the photographer that shows immediately on the images framed on the screen.
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At one point, we ask if she’s willing to drench herself with water for a shot. She replies without any hesitation. “Let’s do it,” she laughs, tossing her hair back before stepping into position. It’s the kind of easy-going professionalism that speaks louder than any performance. So it’s no surprise that she gravitates toward roles that also stretch her ability and talent. Her most demanding role so far? Playing Bongkot (or Bua), a Chinese opera performer who falls in love with the son of a rich family (and him with her) in the Romeo and Juliet-esque series, Sanae Nang Ngiew (2018).
“I had to sing, dance, and act. And I had to do them all in a style I had never done before,” she shares about the challenging role. “The character went through so much but kept it all inside. To me, that was the hardest part: Trying to feel everything deeply without showing it.”
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That tension between vulnerability and control is something she seems to understand instinctively. It’s there in her career choices, too, like her recent decision to go freelance after years under the same agency, Channel 3, Thailand and Bangkok’s first commercial free-to-air television network. “I just wanted to try something new, to step outside certain boundaries,” she explains about the decision to end her contract. “I didn’t want to look back one day and feel like I hadn’t challenged myself.” And the gamble paid off. “I feel like I’m running free now,” she says. “Trying new things, making mistakes, learning along the way. That’s what excites me.”
One of those experiments was this year’s Halabala. The film, a supernatural horror-comedy which follows the strange happenings in a quiet town, began screening in Singapore cinemas in April. Being part of the film gave her the chance to step outside her comfort zone. “The script was so fun. It felt mature, totally different from my life. I’d never done anything like it—it really pushed me as an actor,” she says of her role. She plays Vi, the heavily pregnant wife of the film’s protagonist, played by Chantavit “Ter” Dhanasevi. “Also, I love horror movies. But no way I’d ever watch one alone!” she adds with a grin.
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Having dedicated the past 12 years to her craft, Nychaa is as candid as she is honest about the more challenging aspects of the industry, such as dealing with criticism and public opinion. “I’ve learnt to separate what’s useful for my growth and what’s not. There are things that we simply cannot control or fix and so I let go of those; and I talk to myself a lot more now. That’s how I’ve gotten to know and trust myself more; I’m more confident.”
That inner clarity also spills over into her personal style. “I’ve always dressed in different ways depending on how I feel,” she says. “But now, I prefer things simpler and more modern.” Her go-to everyday outfit these days comprise oversized sweaters, loose pants, and a great bag to pull everything together—much like the Polo Ralph Lauren looks she wears in the photoshoot. “Even if I’m dressed casually, a good bag and lipstick can change the whole look. It shows a little of who you are,” she quips.
To her, fashion has always been an emotional and intuitive experience. She’s especially fascinated by designers who blur the lines between fashion and art. In particular, she is a big fan of Jonathan Anderson. “I love everything he creates because his clothes bring art and craft into fashion,” she says.
So it feels only natural that Nychaa has been stepping further into the fashion world herself. Earlier this year, she attended Paris Fashion Week, taking in the Loewe and Balenciaga shows with her signature easy-going style. One of her favourite moments, she shares, is the seconds just before a fashion show is about to start. “It always feels like you’re about to step into another world—a world with its own story, its own emotions. I never forget that feeling.”
For all her fame, Nychaa keeps her goals refreshingly grounded. “Finding balance every day—that’s really my main focus,” she says. That could mean treating herself to a great meal after a long day on set, spending time with family, or simply taking some much-needed alone time. “Sometimes, I just turn off my phone, go for a massage, or stay home and watch a movie. It’s important to find those moments for yourself.”
Even as she gears up for a packed year ahead—with her Netflix project Ziam launching soon, alongside several fashion collaborations—she’s in no rush. For someone who never set out to be famous, Nychaa is proving that success doesn’t have to come with noise. “I focus on what’s in front of me,” she says simply. “I know my limits. I know when to hold my ground.”
Photographed by ATHIBODEE SUWANNACHOT
Styled by JEFFREY YAN
Make-up Artist HIRUN BOONKARNWANIT
Hairstylist HARIT PUNYAAIY
Producer VORRAKAMON TECHASARATHUN
Set Designer THANAWAT SAETAN
Photographer’s Assistants KANAPATR TANTIWORAWONG; PIRASAK CHITSOM; ASAWIN ROOPNGAM
Stylist’s Assistant RATCHAPHON CHAROENKUSOL
Production Assistant PRIMPRAEW CHAOTANAPONNON
Set Design Assistant JARUNIPA KEERATIJEERANAN
Lighting Technicians TEAM FIRE
Location Scout CHATRAWAT ASSAWASOPHONKUL
In March last year, Thai actress and cover star Nuttanicha “Nychaa” Dungwattanawanich (pictured above) found herself having an Elsa moment: She ended her contract with Channel 3, Thailand’s national broadcaster, and stepped “into the unknown” so that she could explore something new. She has said in previous interviews that it was a decision that took six months of deliberation. But if she had any doubts about whether she had made the right move then, she doesn’t now. Her horror film Halabala just ended its run in theatres, and she has a new zombie apocalypse Netflix Original film, Ziam, that is slated to air sometime this year.
“This decision came from the fact that I wanted to try something new; to step out of boxes, and to challenge myself so that I don’t regret it later on in my life,” she tells us in our cover story on page 40. “That’s why I went independent—and it has been fun! I try out things on a wider scope, I make mistakes, but it has been very fulfilling because I learn new things.”
The risks have certainly paid off. But, back then, with no knowledge of what lay ahead, it was a lionhearted move that required courage and self-assurance—qualities that the women featured in this issue commonly share.
Chinese-born, London-based fashion designer Yuhan Wang (page 30) forged ahead with her own fashion language to create a “visual psychology” that’s now being retailed at Dover Street Market, Farfetch, and Moda Operandi. Homegrown musician Jean Seizure (page 151) braved the odds and left her comfort zone of camera lights and film sets to find herself in music and on the billboards in New York’s Times Square and LA’s Sunset Spectacular. The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood (page 52) overcame an eating disorder, body dysmorphia, and the pressures of conventional beauty standards to become one of the more interesting actresses we have today.
And then, there’s Preeti Nair who has continuously honed her voice into one that this country has to contend with. At times funny and self-deprecating, other times contentious and thought-provoking, she holds our nation accountable for its actions, even when it results in public ire at a personal cost. Read what she has to say about staying true to oneself, even if it means having to stand alone. “Courage isn’t always loud. It isn’t about never messing up; it’s about showing up and still believing in yourself, especially when the metrics don’t,” she says on page 148.
We couldn’t express it more eloquently. So have yourself a courageous life ahead and leave the metrics behind.
Photographed by ATHIBODEE SUWANNACHOT
Styled by JEFFREY YAN
Make-up Artist HIRUN BOONKARNWANIT
Hairstylist HARIT PUNYAAIY
Producer VORRAKAMON TECHASARATHUN
Set Designer THANAWAT SAETAN
Photographer’s Assistants KANAPATR TANTIWORAWONG; PIRASAK CHITSOM; ASAWIN ROOPNGAM
Stylist’s Assistant RATCHAPHON CHAROENKUSOL
Production Assistant PRIMPRAEW CHAOTANAPONNON
Set Design Assistant JARUNIPA KEERATIJEERANAN
Lighting Technicians TEAM FIRE
Location Scout CHATRAWAT ASSAWASOPHONKUL
Here’s the thing: Lady Gaga doesn’t want to talk about herself. She will, because that’s what’s been asked of her throughout a 20-year-long career spanning music (13 Grammys), film (four Oscar nominations, one win), television (four Emmy nominations), fashion (where to start?), and her very own beauty range (Haus Labs). And she’ll answer my questions with a disarming vulnerability and level of self-reflection. But, she admits toward the end of our afternoon together at her record label in London, “I can’t tell you how much I wanted to ask you questions, too, this whole time. You have no idea how unnatural it is to meet someone and not be able to ask them about themselves. I don’t want to ruin the interview time for you, but I also want to give to people who give to me.”
And it’s this that I find so surprising about meeting the icon, the idea, the moment, or, as she refers to herself at one point, “the product” that is Lady Gaga in person. Before me is a petite woman with artfully disheveled auburn hair and little makeup, wearing a vintage lace dress, oversize biker jacket, and ankle boots. She’s funny, self-deprecating, warm, and comfortingly present. I can’t help but wonder what dark arts, what spell it is that transforms her into such a terrifyingly brilliant powerhouse of a performer.
She’s actively promoting her seventh album, Mayhem, after what her fans (a.k.a. Monsters) might consider creative detours, but she feels are all part of the same journey—an album of jazz standards with Tony Bennett, and Harlequin, a companion to the Joker sequel, Folie à Deux. The appetite for this record is huge. Her last pop album, Chromatica, dropped at the height of the pandemic and missed out on the hype it deserved. The Monsters are hangry and I’m here to tell them that her latest album is a feast.
She moves from the sofa where we’ve been chatting to a chair by a mixing board, to play me the new songs. This is a moment a million Monsters would kill for, and once my gay panic subsides, I’m taking it all in. Gaga bounces in her seat, stomps her black boots, and seems as excited to be listening to it as I am. I cannot wait to be at a club surrounded by my queer friends dancing to this record. It’s euphoric, like a sharp inhale. I feel it in my chest, my heart. “We need this!” I tell her. She smiles, sweetly relieved that I love it.
The sound is hard to pin down. She describes one track as a “happy apocalyptic tune” and says her influences include “’90s alternative, electro-grunge, Prince and Bowie melodies, guitar and attitude, funky bass lines, French electronic dance, and analog synths.” From a genre perspective, she says, “Mayhem is utter chaos!” She adds the record "just feels good to me. It sounds good. It breaks a lot of rules and has a lot of fun.”
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When making music Gaga sees a wall of colour—a phenomenon known as synesthesia. “As I’m writing, it assembles in my brain, then through the recording it becomes a full piece of color,” she says. “Every song is a different shade. A lot of the songs on this album have a maroon, brown color to them. ‘Bad Romance’ was like that—it was reddish.”
I ask how she knows if a song is going to be a hit. “There are great records that I make that will have their moment of completion and I’ll go, it’s not a hit, but I love it,” she says. “Other records, I’ll just know that it has everything it needs. A hit is very powerful at conveying that the energy in the artist is going to get transferred into the listener.”
Whereas in the past Gaga might have approached a new album with a fully formed idea of the work she’s about to make, knowing what it’s going to be called and even what the art will look like, with this, she tells me “I was actually pretty hard on myself about not walking into the studio with any preconceived ideas that I was going to strangle onto. Mayhem is about following your own chaos into whatever cranny of your life that it takes you to. And in that way, it was about following the songs. Writing as many songs as I did for this album was a labour of total love. And then you just have to be very cutthroat by the end.”
She confesses that, up until now, she had always felt it was her stage name, Gaga, that created the music. Now she recognises that, “it came from me. I’m the creator and I made all of it, and that helped me to value myself as a musician and a songwriter in a deeper way.” I ask if this realisation means she might drop the stage name. She looks aghast at the suggestion (phew!) and rushes to say, “No! I love being Lady Gaga. I love being me. I just mean that I became a star when I was 20. Everything gets reflected back to you that this persona is what makes you special.”
We talk about this separation of public and private self and how it has affected her over two decades. She admits to having “a broken feeling” about some of the mental health issues she has had in her life. “I feel some embarrassment, and that’s a very vulnerable thing to share. But I think through making this album, I was able to really love myself through all of that. Confronting the music was a way of confronting some of the things I’ve been through and saying, ‘It’s okay that’s who you are.’ And celebrating that about myself, instead of trying to pretend it’s not real.”
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She tells me that making Mayhem was a process of rediscovery. “The chaos I thought was long gone is fully intact and ready to greet me whenever I’d like. Part of the message of even the first song on the album is that your demons are with you in the beginning and they are with you in the end, and I don’t mean it in a bleak way. Maybe we can make friends sooner with this reality instead of running all the time.”
I wonder if embracing the darkness inside rather than trying to kill it with the artificial brightness of a spotlight has allowed Gaga to let in something softer, more natural, closer to sunshine. She’s valuing the small moments at home with her friends, her dogs, and her fiancé, Michael Polansky, as much as, if not more than, the performances. “Everyday poetry,” she calls it. She explains that even though the "Disease" video is so dark in a way, the process of creating it wasn’t painful. “It was easier to make it [once she was at peace with the darkness]. It felt really fun and celebratory. Like throwing a party for all your demons.“
After the interview, Gaga introduces me to Polansky, a 41-year-old venture capitalist. Gaga’s mother set the pair up after meeting him at a charity event and telling her daughter, “I’ve met your future husband.” Polansky has a kind face and a gentle energy. He also reads as completely un-celebrity-coded (despite being a multi-millionaire himself), more like a good-looking dad you might chat with at the school drop-off. “What did you think of the music?” he asks me, proudly wrapping an arm around his wife-to-be. He grins when I say that I love it and then laughs, because it’s not as if he made it. “You helped me loads, though,” Gaga says, staring lovingly up at him. “You helped write, like, seven songs!”
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Later, Polansky and I talk on the phone. He says: “It’s been one of the most incredible parts of this chapter of my life, to live with and coexist alongside someone making art and being creative in ways that very few people get to experience. I think of myself as really lucky to have been there for it.” He’s loved watching her evolve in the years they’ve known each other, and particularly he says, “return to finding a lot of joy in making art, performing, and writing music.”
“This album was so much fun to watch her make,” he adds. “She recorded it right down the street from our house, so we could easily walk back and forth from the studio. I spent a lot of time with her, bringing my laptop to work while she was there. What surprised me most was how fast she is. I couldn’t believe how quickly a song would take shape. Within five minutes, 80 per cent of the song would have come from nothing.”
I’m interested in what it’s like navigating a relationship with someone so famous. “Accepting that you won’t have the privacy others might have was the hardest part,” he says. “But Stefani’s comfort with it and patience with me has been amazing. Our relationship is probably a lot like everyone else’s. We just have to figure out how to do some of it in public. That makes it even more important for us to have strong friendships and close family relationships. We find normalcy where we can.”
With Polansky, Gaga’s life has a different shade to it; it’s more wholesome. “He used to say to me when we first met, ‘You are a special human being when the cameras aren’t on you. And I get to see that all the time,’” she tells me.
They love to host at their L.A. home. “We make pasta together; we roast things. We also really like making simple dishes with Michael’s mom, who lives nearby.” It’s no secret that Gaga gets on well with older people (“I loved Tony Bennett”) and calls her own mother one of her best friends, alongside Michael’s mother, Ellen. “She and I have built our friendship by sharing our life experiences with each other. It’s about the way we grew up, being a woman in the workplace, what her experience was like and what mine is like, and kind of tracking different generations.”
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She tells me a story. “A while ago my friend Margo was over, and we were talking about lots of things, but at some point I showed her the ‘Disease’ video, and she was smiling. And then she said to me, ‘You know, this girl’”—that is, the one violently writhing around while chained to a pole, and the bloody-eyed, latex-clad demon puking up black bile—“‘well, she also makes great broccoli.’ It was a really sweet moment where somebody that I love and care about knows that as much as I wanted her to like my video, making her dinner was the number one joy of my evening.”
Joy. There’s a lot more of it in her life these days. She’s finding it in “real conversations, real relationships, the authentic stories that we share with each other. I think there’s an element of ‘Fake it till you make it’ all the time in life… but I also believe in being real, with yourself and with people around you. And I think, sometimes, when we have those real conversations, we can feel less alone.”
We meet six days after the results of the American election are announced. Mayhem unleashed around the same time on a global political stage—no one could accuse Gaga of not reading the room. “What’s bizarre is I did not write this album thinking that this would happen. I prayed it would not. But here we are.”
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Gaga endorsed Kamala Harris. She also performed at Biden’s inauguration in 2021, which she has previously called one of the proudest moments of her life. I ask how she’s been feeling. “The main thing is I have so much compassion and love for so many people who are afraid today. I want to acknowledge that I’m a very blessed person, and I feel grateful for so much in my life every day. I know for a lot of people, this election was devastating for their existence, so community is going to be the number one thing. I am one of many people who support the [LGBTQ and other marginalized] communities. And we’re not going down without a fight. We will stick together. It’s going to be hard, but I’m up for it. We’re up for it. And I just want everyone to know how deeply they’re loved and not invisible.”
The music industry has changed so much since Lady Gaga released her first album, The Fame, in 2008: Social media, streaming, and, finally, music’s own #MeToo moment, with some high-profile people being held accountable for their abuse of power. Right now, pop is celebrating strong women solo artists like never before and giving them the space to be themselves. Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, and the like. “They’re amazing,” Gaga says. “They’re strong and vibrant and creative and artistic. I think they’re being celebrated because they’re wonderful.”
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If she could tell these younger pop artists anything, “it would be that the whole you matters. Who you are at home is just as valuable as who you are when you’re onstage. And no matter what anyone says to you, you can value who you are outside of all of this.” She takes a beat, then adds, “I’ve been in this business for years. Being a woman and a product at the same time was really exhausting.”
The artwork for the new album plays with this duality, but it’s not as simple as public and private, good and bad, light and dark—it is about what she calls a “radical acceptance” of all of it—of the mayhem. She says she “had a lot of fun exploring imagery that was different from things that I’ve done before. Things that used to really scare me are now really exciting.”
Such as? “Well, playing with transgressive and challenging themes that make me think of my own anxiety. I couldn’t do that for a really long time. And now it’s just what I naturally want to do. It’s interesting that I could go through a period of being afraid as a person and wanting nothing to do with those themes and then feeling good now and being like, ‘Let’s do all this dark stuff.’”
The concept of radical acceptance comes up a lot during our chat, and feels key to the message she wants to convey about who she is and how she feels about her life and art right now. “I’m not going to torture myself,” she says. “I’m going to celebrate. I used to drink a lot and smoke a lot, and I was always looking for an out. I used to call it the trap door. I used to be like, ‘I need an escape route.’ And I stopped doing that. And I actually started feeling it. Being present. As an artist, it’s hard to go through that and not want to share that with my fans.”
We talk about failure, not a word I associate with the megastar. But Joker: Folie à Deux has had mixed reviews. “People just sometimes don’t like some things,” she says matter-of-factly. “It’s that simple. And I think to be an artist, you have to be willing for people to sometimes not like it. And you keep going even if something didn’t connect in the way that you intended.” She adds that the fear of failure is what can be really damaging: “When that makes its way into your life, that can be hard to get control of. It’s part of the mayhem.”
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Embracing demons, darkness, nightmares, and the sprawling id that bubbles just below the surface in all of us reminds Gaga of her love for Alexander McQueen, Isabella Blow, and Daphne Guinness: “There are amazing artists throughout history who had a relationship to dark poetry as a way of feeling alive.” But for Gaga, there were several years when she lost track of where the darkness began and ended. “It was everywhere all the time. And that was not a sustainable life.”
So now, the darkness is more specific or channeled? "Yeah, channel it in the music and onstage, but then in my life…” You’re making the broccoli. “Exactly!”
It remains to be seen just how being in this new place will affect Gaga’s style and approach to fashion. On the ELLE shoot, she brought her own looks from home to try out and she’s not about to stop having fun with the more outlandish costumes we love her for—in fact, the eponymous character of Mayhem who haunts this album and drives the car in the ‘Disease’ video presents ample opportunities to play with gothic subversion. But, Gaga tells me, “I’m just trying to feel as in my skin as possible and not like I’m performing all the time.” She adds, “I feel really at ease about fashion and clothes. For me, I’m at a place in my life where I just want to feel like myself in clothes. Whatever that means. So if that’s changing, I just want to go with that feeling.”
Most recently, she’s been wearing a lot of baby doll dresses, because she’s become fascinated with porcelain dolls. “They’re so fragile. And they’re beautiful too.” She used to be scared of them, and we agree they’re pretty freaky, but as with so many things now she’s leaning into that old fear and reclaiming it.
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Family has always been a steadying force for Gaga. But now, for the first time, she’s considering starting her own with Michael. “Family—it’s like the roots of the tree,” she says. “They grow long, and sometimes they’re mangled, and sometimes they’re full of water, and sometimes they’re thirsty. Family is what makes you who you are, and it also defines your need for change.”
I then follow up with: If you were to have a child, what would you want them to understand about you as an artist and also as a person as they grew up? It’s not an easy question, but she has a thoughtful answer: “I would want my children to understand that whatever my artistry means to them is totally up to them. I would never actually want to shape it or tell them how to think about me. Maybe other than that I just did my best. And tried to stay true to myself along the way. That’s something Michael and I have talked about a lot—allowing our kids to be their own people. It’s such an intense thing for kids coming into the world. And they’re told how to think and what to believe in and how to eat… I just kind of want to let my kids find out who they are.’” Unless, she jokes, they want to work in entertainment. “My kid might one day say, ‘Mom, why do you do these things? I saw a funny video of you dressed up.’ Most certainly that will happen. And you know, maybe it’s okay to say, ‘What do you think?’”
As a parent to a six-year-old myself, I warn Gaga that kids will bring you down to earth with a thud. In fact, I go as far as to show her a note my daughter has written to the pop star on hearing that I will be interviewing her on Saturday afternoon, and not taking her to the toy shop as planned. “Lady Gaga,” it reads in pink pen. “I like you, but you're [sic] not the best.”
Yep, I say, kids are endlessly humbling. Gaga thinks the note is hilarious. “Oh, I’m ready,” she says, folding the scrap of paper and putting it in her jacket pocket for those moments, we laugh, when she’s getting too big for her boots.
I’m so pleased Gaga has a great sense of humour—not least because that note could have really backfired otherwise. I take the opportunity to ask if she has a favorite meme of herself. “I like bus, club, another club because it’s me saying something about how hard I work, but it comes across in this really funny way. So, there’s something good at the heart of it.”
Lady Gaga is just two years away from 40. So what is she most interested in understanding about herself today? “This is going to be the most weird answer. I’d actually like things to be less about me. I really want to be there for people around me as much as I can. That’s the thing that makes me the most happy. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be an artist. But I think the thing I’d like in my forties is to discover all the ways I can show up better for people in my life. All the ways that I can create positivity and joy. Music’s just one way that I do it.”
For Gaga, a full life in the not-too-distant future will involve “me and Michael and our kids,” she states without a shadow of a doubt. “Sometimes I worry people will say I’m boring these days, but honestly, thank God I’m boring. Thank God! Because I was living on the edge. I don’t know what was going to happen to me living that way. So the fact that I have these answers, on the one hand, I’m like, ‘Oh man, snooze fest!’ But actually, I’m so grateful. Because I found a sense of happiness and joy that is true to me.”
This article was first seen on ELLE US.