November 2013: Letter from the editor

We were supposed to shoot Miley Cyrus in Berlin.

But the day before our team was due to leave, we got a call: Cyrus suddenly had to fly home to L.A. to deal with a family matter. Reservations and shoot plans were untangled (thank you, photo editor Erin Seaman!), and clothes and accessories were couriered back to their owners. But there was an even bigger cause for stress: Would this cover shoot happen and, if so, would it take place in time for this issue? And then along came Mileygate, the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast and the twerking tush seen ’round the world. Suddenly our cover had become an even bigger deal. When photographer Chris Nicholls, features editor Elio Iannacci and fashion editor-at-large Zeina Esmail finally met up with Cyrus in L.A., they found a young woman with a clear vision of who she is and the image she wants to portray. How many of us were that assured at age 20? And in a world where success is measured in online hits, Cyrus’s numbers are explosive. Just one example: The September video release for the single “Wrecking Ball” broke the record for most VEVO views in one day.

Star value, and how it can pump up the price of a pearl, is a topic writer Jim Shi touches on in “Endless Love” (page 76). The piece is just one in this issue dealing with, for lack of a better word, math. If that sounds boring, we guarantee our stories on how to save, when to splurge and how to minimize spending guilt are not. Consider us your shopping enablers.

Let us know how you like our Fashion Math issue at letters@fashionmagazine.com.