The Fashion Awards took place in London last night at the Royal Albert Hall, and British Vogue’s Chioma Nnadi skipped all the afterparties so that she could join Nicole Phelps immediately afterwards and give us a rundown of the evening. “Caroline Rush has been at the head of the British Fashion Council for 15 years and these were her last awards so I think they pulled out all the stops,” Nnadi shared. And it was a night of not only incredible fashion—Lila Moss in archival Alexander McQueen, and Model of the Year winner Alex Consani in a Union Jack-embellished custom Dilara Findikoglu dress—but great performances including Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Chloe and Halle Bailey, and Wizkid who closed the show. Vogue’s Anna Wintour was on hand to present Tom Ford with the Outstanding Achievement Award—she collected some funny stories from his friends and frequent collaborators, including one involving Julianne Moore and a pair of corduroy pants. To hear how the story ends, and learn more about the night’s big winners, you’ll have to tune in to the episode.
But this week, we also have an extra-special treat: a conversation between Nnadi and SZA. The American singer-songwriter, whose forthcoming full-length album Lana, will be released on December 9, is British Vogue’s current cover star, decked out in a kaleidoscopic array of clothes—a bold pink Ferragamo trench coat, a chartreuse Stella McCartney mini dress, and a fringed Mugler looking every bit the pop icon.
Their conversation feels less like an interview and more like sitting in on a conversation between two friends; which makes sense since Nnadi and Solána—SZA’s real name, and how Nnadi calls her—go back over a decade. The pair discuss getting older (and wiser), the important things one learns even when relationships don’t work out, and of course, astrology. SZA also opens up about her path to music stardom. “Ever since I was a small child I wasn’t sure if I was going to be a lawyer or a scientist or a veterinarian,” she recalls. “It’s so funny, I never thought I’d be all like artsy-fartsy, with the carefree and the hocus pocus—that was so not me because I had so much ambition. But I couldn’t fit into any of the positions I wanted to be in.”