THE AUSTRALIAN MODEL TRAVELS TO SINGAPORE WITH THE HOUSE OF CHANEL AND IS SOON RECONNECTED WITH PARTS OF HER HERITAGE.
The Singapore Chapter:
n fashion, Cruise collections are at the intersection of travel, style and identity. For Australian model Gabriella Brooks, attending Chanel’s Cruise 2025/26 replica show in Singapore — a collection inspired by the imagination of hotel life — meant being
reacquainted with her heritage. “My grandmother is Singaporean Chinese, my grandparents fell in love here, and my mother was born here, too,” she tells ELLE as she wanders through the National Orchid Garden, a place she says she could’ve stayed for days. “I was a competitive gymnast growing up, and my first international competition happened to be in Singapore. It was my first time travelling without my family, but it felt so familiar. Singaporeans are so kind,” she remembers.
First shown in Lake Como in April, Chanel’s decision to replicate its Cruise show in Singapore — warm, humid, lush, vibrant, refined and historic — was a deliberate one. The uprooting from a grand Italian lakeside villa in Italy to a storied colonial-era hotel in equatorial Southeast Asia perfectly underscored how a location plays a vital role in how we interpret who we are and the pieces we wear. Trouser suits, short taffeta ball gowns and evening wares took on new meaning. “What struck me most was how seamlessly the collection adapted to its new backdrop. It was the same collection shown in Lake Como, yet in Singapore it felt transformed,” says Brooks. “The city’s energy and vibrancy cast the pieces in a new light.
“Context changes everything,” she continues. “It was a reminder of how art, once released into the world, takes on new forms and meanings depending on who encounters it and where.”
In a short film directed by filmmaker Phoebe Wolfe, we follow Brooks for a few days as she returns to Singapore. “It is a place that has always felt beautifully multicultural to me, a place where so many stories and histories naturally intertwine, like my family’s,” she says. “Maybe that’s where my love of stories comes from.”
For Brooks, a new chapter has just been written.
I
Sadie Sink
t might not have turned out like this. Sadie Sink’s transition from child actor to adult A-lister could have gone the way of countless others whose paths to stable
stardom were derailed by an abundance of, well, everything except tender loving care.
When Sink appears on our Zoom call, it’s immediately clear she’ll follow in the calm and calculated footsteps of Emma Watson or Dakota Fanning before her — that is, she’s grounded, humble and clear about the direction in which she’s headed. There are no obvious signs of ego that would be warranted of someone her age and calibre — by which I mean a catalogue of work that includes collaborating with Taylor Swift, Helen Mirren, Brendan Fraser and Naomi Watts; a slew of fashion week appearances and campaigns for brands such as Miu Miu, Prada and Armani Beauty; a bunch of awards and nominations; multiple stints on Broadway; and 24.7 million Instagram followers, despite not keeping the app on her phone.
Her ability to stay in the game is something she credits to beginning her career in theatre — that hyper-disciplined environment drilled into her an impressive work ethic from the age of eight — rather than being created by, churned around and spat out by the Disney machine. (She also credits her mum for still asking her to take out the trash, even when she’s been to the Golden Globes the night before.)
As we chat, Sink is all smiles, relaxed on a cream couch under colourful Matisse-like prints, that famous red hair falling in casual waves around her face. She’s in London working on the next Spider-Man, the details of which are currently top secret (“You’ll have to wait and see,” she says with a smirk). It’s a moment of in-between (or, maybe, upside-down?) for Sink: she’s already said goodbye to Stranger Things, the Netflix phenomenon that made her famous, but the final series hasn’t aired yet. Given how enthusiastic the show’s fandom is, it’s going to be an emotional and drawn-out farewell as the eight feature film-length episodes drop in three batches: four episodes on November 27, three episodes on Boxing Day, and the finale on New Year’s Day.
I
Photographed by Philip Gay
Styled by Naomi Smith Words by Alexandra English
Ahead of the fifth and final season of Netflix’s megahit series 'Stranger Things', the actor reflects on the role that changed her life
A SHORT FILM BY PHOEBE WOLFE,
STARRING GABRIELLA BROOKS
The Singapore
AHEAD OF CHRISTMAS, ELLE PARTNERED WITH SWAROVSKI TO HOST SOME FRIENDS AT AN INTIMATE LUNCH AT THE CHARLES BRASSERIE & BAR, SYDNEY
Chapter:
'The Singapore Chapter'. A short film directed by Phoebe Wolfe, starring Gabriella Brooks.