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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
January 2026
Every January, without fail, I receive the same phone call from my best and closest friend, the fashion designer Margot Ellroy, in which she asks me precisely the same question: "Hela, have you made your New Year's resolutions yet?" And every year, without fail, I give her precisely the same answer: "No." This confuses her, though it shouldn't. She has known me for over twenty-five years.
The truth is that I find resolutions as commonly practiced to be a fundamentally flawed exercise in self-deception. The average person resolves to eat less sugar, go to the gym four evenings a week, call their mother more often. They write these promises on scraps of paper, tuck them into journals, set them as reminders on their phones, and maybe announce them to their followers on social media with the fervor of a religious convert. By February, the sugar is back. The gym membership gathers cobwebs. The mother, regrettably, returns to being ignored.
I'm not interested in resolutions. I'm interested in commitments.
There's a meaningful distinction between the two. A resolution is a wish dressed up in the language of intention. A commitment is a decision from which one doesn't waver, regardless of inconvenience, regardless of discomfort, or regardless of how badly one wants to reach for the bread basket at dinner. Resolutions are made lying down. Commitments are made standing up, spine straight, and chin parallel to the floor.
This distinction, as with so many truths I have discovered in my six decades on this earth, became clear to me through fashion.
When I was twenty-two years old and freshly arrived in New York City from a small town in the north of England with fifty dollars in my coat pocket, I made myself one commitment: that I would never again allow myself to be dressed in a way that did not express my full authority as a woman. At the time, that commitment manifested itself in the decision to spend my last thirty-three dollars on a secondhand camel coat by Bill Blass at a shop in the West Village rather than on groceries. I ate crackers and canned chickpeas for four days using the remainder of my meager funds. I don't regret a single moment of it. That coat made me look like someone who belonged in every room she entered, and that illusion, sustained long enough, eventually became the truth.
So this January, in the spirit of the new year, I will share with you my commitments. Not resolutions.
Commitments.
First, I am committed to wearing fewer black trousers. I know. You are gasping, dear reader. But black trousers are a crutch, a security blanket dressed up as minimalism, and I've been leaning on mine for far too long. This spring, RÉGINE's fashion department has given me no shortage of inspiration, and I am committed to color. Beginning with page 58, where our spectacular opening editorial "Earthly Delights" showcases the season's most breathtaking botanical prints across fourteen glorious pages, photographed by the legendary Javier Rueda in the Alentejo region of Portugal. If those images don't compel you to abandon your black trousers immediately, I sincerely question your commitment to living fully.
Second, I am committed to reading fashion history with the same seriousness with which I read current trends. Our archival fashion feature on page 102, "The Golden Inheritance", traces the DNA of Spring 2026's most dominant silhouettes back through a century of couture to show you exactly where these ideas were born and why they matter. My fashion editors have produced something eye-opening. I strongly suggest you read it with a notepad nearby.
Third, I am committed to prioritizing joy. Not happiness, which is a passive state that arrives and departs on its own schedule, but joy, which is active and intentional and can be found in the precise moment you put on something beautiful and feel the shift in your own posture. This is, ultimately, what RÉGINE has always been about.
Beyond the world of fashion, the early months of this new year offer extraordinary things that RÉGINE has had the privilege of previewing for you.
The novelist Celeste Adeyemi, whose splashy debut three years ago made every literary critic in New York look at themselves in the mirror with renewed embarrassment, releases her long-awaited second novel, "Singularity", this March, and our exclusive profile of her on page 214 (along with a sneak preview of her upcoming book) is the first extended interview she has given in four years. Celeste is, as I expected, even more fascinating than her compelling fiction.
The film "Angel Of The Rue Saint-Honoré", directed by Sophia Montreux and starring perennial RÉGINE cover girl Irina Kessler, has already generated the kind of conversation at international festivals that suggests it will define cinema this year in the same way that a Prada collection defines the language of the season. RÉGINE went behind the scenes of the project filmed in France and had a scintillating discussion with Sophia and Irina on their first collaboration featured on page 97. Go see it when it hits theaters, then tell me I'm wrong.
In the music world, Grammy-winning global pop sensation Sienna Rhodes releases her fourth studio album, "Polaris", this February, and it is the first record in years that I've listened to all the way through twice in a single sitting without once checking my phone. Her collaboration with renowned composer André Beaumont has produced something that sounds, remarkably, like the feeling of putting on a dress you forgot you owned. Our exclusive interview with Sienna is on page 189.
On the arts side, the blockbuster retrospective of sculptor Mara Johanssen, "Metamorphosis: 1996-2026", opening at the Museum Of Modern Art this spring, is the most important exhibition in New York in at least a decade. We have covered it, photographed it, and spoken at length to the artist herself on page 230.
January, I have always believed, shouldn't be survived. It should always be entered, the way one enters a new room, full of curiosity and composure, and absolutely certain that what you find inside will be worth the journey.
This issue is your entry point. Welcome to a new year that will change your life.
With unwavering commitment,
Hela Parsons
Global Editorial Director and Editor-In-Chief, RÉGINE Magazine
The alarm clock's shrill cry pierced through the pre-dawn quiet of Thor Odinson's modest studio apartment in Queens at precisely 5:30 A.M.
Thor's eyes snapped open, adrenaline already coursing through his veins despite the early hour. Today was the day that could change everything: his first job interview since graduating summa cum laude from New York University with a journalism degree three weeks ago.
Rolling out of his secondhand twin bed, Thor padded across the cramped space that served as bedroom, living room, and dining room all in one.
The apartment was sparse but clean, decorated with framed copies of his favorite New York Times front pages and a small bookshelf crammed with journalism textbooks and classic literature. His graduation cap and gown still hung in the tiny closet, a reminder of the promise he'd made to himself and his late father Odin that he would make something meaningful of his life through the power of words.
The past month had been a blur of rejection emails and radio silence.
Thor had sent his résumé to The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and dozens of other serious publications; each one met with either a polite "thanks but no thanks" or worse, no response at all. His savings were dwindling rapidly, and the stack of unpaid bills on his kitchen counter seemed to grow taller each day.
Then, yesterday, like a beacon of hope cutting through the fog of despair, came the email from the HR department of Infinity Media Group. Thor had re-read it at least twenty times:
Dear Mr. Odinson,
Thank you for your interest in opportunities at Infinity Media Group.
We have reviewed your résumé and would like to invite you for an interview for the position of Junior Executive Assistant at RÉGINE Magazine.
The interview is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:00 A.M. sharp at IMG Tower, 42nd Street and Broadway, 25th Floor. Please bring multiple copies of your résumé and dress professionally.
Best regards,
Janet Van Dyne
Senior Talent Acquisition Manager
Infinity Media Group Human Resources
RÉGINE Magazine.
Thor had to admit, he'd never heard of it before receiving the email. A quick Google search revealed that it was some kind of fashion magazine. Not exactly his cup of tea, but at this point, he couldn't afford to be choosy.
How hard could fashion be, anyway?
It was all just... clothes and shoes and makeup and superficial nonsense, right? Surely his journalism degree would be more than enough to handle whatever challenges a fashion magazine could throw at him.
Thor showered quickly in his shoebox-sized bathroom, then stood before his closet's meager offerings.
He selected what he considered his best suit, a navy-blue number he'd bought at Men's Wearhouse for his college graduation ceremony. It was slightly wrinkled, and the pants were a bit too short, but it was clean and respectable. He paired it with a white dress shirt that had seen better days, a red tie that had belonged to his father, and practical black dress shoes that desperately needed a good polish.
Looking at himself in the cracked mirror that hung on the back of his closet door, Thor straightened his tie and ran a hand through his shoulder-length blond hair, trying to tame the unruly waves. His unruly beard could have used a trim, but there wasn't time now. He grabbed his leather messenger bag—another graduation gift, this one from his mother, Frigga—stuffed it with copies of his résumé and headed out into the bustling streets of Queens.
The subway ride to Manhattan gave Thor time to rehearse answers to potential interview questions.
What were his greatest strengths? His dedication to truthful reporting and his ability to work under pressure.
What were his weaknesses? Perhaps his unfamiliarity with fashion, but he was a quick learner.
Where did he see himself in five years? At The New York Times, breaking important stories that matter to people's lives.
As the train emerged from the tunnel and Manhattan's skyline came into view, Thor felt a familiar surge of determination. This job at RÉGINE might not be his dream position, but it was a foot in the door at a major media company.
He could do this. He could handle whatever they threw at him.
IMG Tower loomed before him as he emerged from the subway, a gleaming pillar of glass and steel that seemed to scrape the very clouds above the city. The building hummed with energy and ambition, and Thor could practically feel the power radiating from its core. This was where dreams were made, where careers were launched, where the future of print media was shaped and sustained in the internet age.
Walking through the revolving doors into the marble-clad lobby, Thor approached the security desk with newfound confidence. The security guard, a gruff-looking man in his fifties, looked up from his newspaper.
"Good morning. I'm here for an interview at RÉGINE Magazine," Thor said, trying to sound more assured than he felt.
The guard looked him up and down with barely concealed amusement. "RÉGINE, huh? Twenty-fifth floor, kid. Good luck. You're gonna need it." He handed Thor a temporary guest badge, pointed him in the right direction, and then resumed reading his newspaper.
Thor thanked him and made his way to the bank of elevators, wondering what the guard had meant by that ominous farewell. As the elevator climbed higher and higher, Thor's stomach churned with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
Whatever happened next, his life was about to change forever.