Dazed #290

Dazed - Winter 2025

COVER SENT AT RANDOM

Who’s afraid of the dark? Amid bleak times, the Shadow issue of Dazed delves deep into the repressed parts of the brain we’d prefer to look away from, both as individuals and societies. Through its pages, a fearless rollcall of creatives making sense of the world by confronting its darkness head-on.

Fronting the issue, Adolescence star Owen Cooper leans in to his love of dark characters in a cover shot by seminal fine art photographer Justine Kurland; Rachel Sennott takes the weight of a generation’s anxiety in a surreal moment caught on camera by Alyssa Kazew; rap’s sad-boy enigma Yung Lean leads us down to the sunken place with photographer Cristina Stolhe; Chase Infiniti is captured by Thurstan Redding in a cover showing the calm under fire that’s made her an Oscars hopeful in her feature-film debut; design duo August Barron bring an uncanny twist to the tradwife aesthetic in a kink-scented cover shot by Lengua; and Anthony Seklaoui notches up a noir-tinged one-two in a pair of covers starring Dara Gueye and Loli Bahia, for Dior men and women respectively.

Strange forces pour out from the pages of this issue, with Arthur Jafa lifting the lid on his incendiary and alchemical art, a deep-dive essay unpacking the carnage of the 21st century to date, and Hoard director Luna Carmoon sharing visionary picks from her cultural syllabus. We hope it unleashes something in you, too.

Yung Lean

The Swedish rap star talks to pop-culture disruptor Charli xcx about shadow selves, underage drinking, and the strange magic that happens when they’re in a room together.

Rachel Sennott

The zillennial comedy queen chan- nels the chaos of twentysomething life into I Love LA, her zeitgeisty new show for “internet It girls”.

Chase Infiniti

The breakout star of One Battle After Another takes the fight to an authoritarian America not so far removed from her own–next she’s in Gilead for a dystopian follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale.

Owen Cooper

Already eyeing his next role as a young Heathcliff in a scandalous new take on Wuthering Heights, the youngest-ever male Emmy winner and star of Adolescence explains why he’s drawn to the dark side.

Loli Bahia

Model of the moment Loli Bahia looks regal in the first of two Dior cover specials photographed by Anthony Seklaoui and styled by Dazed fashion & image director Imruh Asha

Dara Gueye

The Dakar-born model is supremely elegant in the second of our Dior covers, celebrating Jonathan Anderson’s debut collections for the fashion house

August Barron

Fresh from their satirical S/S26 collection, fashion duo Bror August Vestbø and Benjamin Barron answer questions from friends, fans and community about their freaky and fantastical vision.

The Features

Arthur Jafa

The multimedia artist and “agent of shadow activism” invites us into his world, where shocking truths emerge from America’s pop-cul- ture detritus.

The 21st Century: Q1 Review

Twenty-five years into a new millennium that’s turned the world off its axis, we ask: what the hell happened? And what are we going to do now?

A Pilgrim’s Tale

In India, Nick Sethi’s camera alights on intimate moments in a sea of humanity at the world’s largest spiritual gathering.

Turnstile Made Me Hardcore

A view from the moshpit as the band spearheading a punk- rock renaissance rolls into Fort Worth, Texas.

Speakerbox

Right on cue, the young British actors bringing passion and empathy to the screen take to the global stage.

Sound On

Meet the new gen of musicians digging deep for the sounds they can’t get out of their heads.

Syllabus: Luna Carmoon

The writer and director of future cult classic Hoard shares cultural treasures from her cache.

Running Around

Lensed at home in rural Ohio by Tom Johnson and styled by Zara Mirkin, Amish youth reflect on the tradition of rumspringa, where teens get a taste of the outside world.

Wes Anderson

Do we need to mention this one?