Model Elana Nair on finding her stride, embracing her roots, and the art of becoming.
Photography by Chuan Looi. Concept & art direction by Khairani Ramli. Styling & text by Abdul Aziz Draim. Elana Nair wears looks and accessories from the Ralph Lauren Collection Fall ’25.
Silk georgette dress; calfskin corset belt; and calfskin boots, from Ralph Lauren.
In an industry often criticised for superficiality, Nair offers something rather more substantial—a reminder that the most compelling stories emerge when authenticity meets ambition.
Currently the creative director of BAZAAR, Aziz has been helming architecture, fashion, and design magazines for two decades now, and he’s been doing it in two languages to boot. Citing Rei Kawakubo, Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier as his earliest fashion gurus, this amateur poet believes that nobody deserves an ugly pair of shoes.