The Pageant Issue

Under the Roman sun, our cover star Pia Wurtzbach-Jauncey takes over a sprawling villa in the heart of the city, slipping through marble halls in Bvlgari High Jewelry. Crowned Miss Universe in 2015 and soaring to icon status in her native Philippines, Pia knows the spotlight better than most – having navigated one of the most infamous live television mistakes in memory to prove that the walk continues, even under pressure.

Her story leads a new issue dedicated to the enduringly human ritual of the pageant. Beyond the stage and the crown, we explore a cultural history that has shaped how we perform identity, from the boardwalk beginnings of Miss America to the modern DNA of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the quiet, radical reassertion of Miss Palestine. We also feature the seismic Vanessa Williams, returning as a force from her current starring role in The Devil Wears Prada, The Musical. At a time when headlines are heavy, we recognize that the insistence on beauty and expression is not a luxury, but a language of survival – a refusal to be defined solely by conflict.