Back on track

Love it or hate it, you can’t escape the collective ‘back to school-ness’ of now.

Personally, I’m breathing a big sigh of relief (no offence to my kids). But professionally I’m bracing myself – September is just as noisy as a soft play in the six-week hols. Venice Film Festival; Toronto Film Festival; New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Week…! Eek.

Red carpet and runway coverage aside, my ‘#SkinSchool’ series on Harper’s Bazaar is going to be a focus for me this month. Yes, the franchise name makes sense of the piggybacking, but I’ve previously seen from internal data that searches for skin stories soar in September. Win-win.

I’m also welcoming wellness-related ideas, as there’s no denying that ‘back to school’ and ‘back on track’ feel close in spirit. For yonks, features teams have been coining September the new January, but I think this year the fresh start mentality feels properly zeitgeisty. Whether it’s the law of attraction, or just TikTok’s algorithm, I’m seeing a lot on the topics of self-reflection, resets, and renewal.

Appealing as it all is, I hope it doesn’t escalate into a bandwagon situation, though. I think we can all agree that the world doesn’t need more self-care content pollution. (And I certainly don’t need anyone telling me I can’t consume caffeine and sugar during Fashion Month.) ‘New season, new you?’ No thanks. Just some realistic rejuvenation will do nicely.