Introducing Stylist’s very special guest editor: Billie Piper
Actor, singer and director Billie Piper takes over Stylist as guest editor number 6 in our 10th birthday celebrations. Here’s what you can expect from her issue…
As Stylist readers will know, we are celebrating our 10th birthday this year by handing over 10 issues of the magazine to 10 brilliant guest editors. So far, Jameela Jamil, Brie Larson, Adwoa Aboah, Lily Allen and Caitlin Moran have all taken control to produce 5 extra special issues.
Next up, we handed over to singer, actor and director Billie Piper.
As someone committed to showing life at its most raw and honest in her work, Billie decided to take a ‘bare all’ approach to her issue.
“It’s a source of frustration for me that the way women are discussed in the media is not true enough. We are still not represented in a raw and real way,” she explains.
“So when I was given the chance to edit this issue of Stylist, it was an opportunity to challenge that. I wanted to meet women as real women; to remove the smoke and mirrors. And I had to start with how I was portrayed.”
Billie suffers from adult acne, and decided to brave a make-up free photoshoot for the issue – strictly no re-touching allowed.
“On screen, people have had to spend so much money retouching my skin and CGI-ing things off my face. It’s such a problem,” she explains.
“Going make-up-free took me out of my comfort zone, but hopefully it makes a strong statement. We don’t talk about the causes of acne either. Is it polycystic ovaries, an underactive thyroid or even sensitivity to testosterone, which I have? We need to understand it better.”
As well as an in-depth discussion of acne and it’s causes, Billie sat down with her therapist to have a frank conversation about relationships, control and the value of therapy itself.
“I also cannot overstate the important and transformative role my therapist has played in my life over the past three years,” says Billie.
“Which was why I thought it would be interesting to talk to her in a really candid way. I’m fascinated by what she says about the women she’s observing today.”
Billie also shares her pick of the products that make everyday life that little bit easier – “Because we’re so fucking busy!” – plus personal stories about mental health and a heartfelt letter to her baby daughter, Tallulah.
“There are few women in the public eye who have lived every stage of their lives alongside our own, but Billie Piper was just 15 when her debut pop single hit the charts and she found fame – at a time many of us were children or teenagers,” says Stylist’s Editor-in-Chief Lisa Smosarski.
“Billie’s coming of age may have happened in the public eye, but behind the scenes she has been on a journey of self-discovery. This special issue is a result of that introspection – and what Billie has discovered it really means to be a woman in 2019.”
We hope you enjoy it!
All of the articles from Billie Piper’s special Stylist guest edit will be available to read online from the 17 September.
Photography: Tom Van Schelven