Purple has morphed a fair bit since its 1992 inception as a rejoinder to all that late-80s airbrushed glamour and fashion fromage. The significantly smaller Purple Prose gained some serious heft and took the fashion bull by the horns in the ensuing decades, dropping the ‘prose’ and growing not just in terms of scale and pages, but in its significance among the heavyweight bi-annuals. Now, 30 years on, the magazine has established itself as a modern classic.

This issue explores fashion's expansive reach into areas like gender politics, celebrity culture, and contemporary art, questioning whether it is at its zenith or beginning to lose its originality due to commercialization. It considers whether the rise of corporate groups and new labels marks a new era or signals a decline in fashion’s unique character.

To convey fashion's complexity, the magazine introduces a lexicon of concepts, each capturing a different aspect of fashion’s essence. This tool encourages readers to explore and interpret fashion’s role as a symbol of freedom and self-expression, helping them form their own understanding of its impact and significance.