Holiday Magazine N°396, The Samarkand Issue F/W 2025

[BalkaniStaCouture]

Holiday N°396, The Samarkand Issue

Cover 1.
TILYA-KORI MADRASSA IN CROSSROAD ENCOUNTERS BY HILL & AUBREY


Cover 2.
DIYOR IN CROSSROAD ENCOUNTERS BY HILL & AUBREY


Cover 3.
IN THE ABSENCE OF METAPHOR BY HASSAN KURBANBAEV


Cover 4.
MONA IN BEING THE MOMENT BY JONATHAN FRANTINI


Cover 5.
EGOR IN OASIS-BORN. THE SONS OF SAMARKAND BY BRETT LLOYD


Cover 6.
REGISTAN SQUARE IN MOSAICS OF TIME BY OLIVIER KERVERN


Cover 7.
TOLMASOV STREET IN CROSSROAD ENCOUNTERS BY HILL & AUBREY


Cover 8.
BIBI’S EASTERN REVERIE BY DREW VICKERS



The Samarkand Issue

Following a trip to Zurich, Holiday continues eastward and heads for Uzbekistan, specifically Samarkand. The writer Pauline Klein returned from her journey there with a brand-new piece, the director of the Tashkent Center for Contemporary Art Sara Raza shares her views in a lengthy interview about the new creative scene in Central Asia, Delphine Valloire tells the amazing story of the collector Igor Savitsky and — among other stories about local wrestlers, artists and artisans — the filmmaker Furkat Usmanov describes his childhood in the city, whose mere name evokes a string of readymade dreams made up of caravanserais, Persian bazaars and hazily drawn Silk Roads — fantasies that today must be compared to the reality of a fast-changing city and country.

That’s something that photography also makes possible. Hill & Aubrey, Brett Lloyd, Rich Stapleton and Olivier Kervern have brought back their visions of the place and its people, added to by a portfolio from the Uzbek photographer Hassan Kurbanbaev. A body of work enhanced by contributions from Drew Vickers, Dougal Macarthur, Crista Leonard and Matheus Agudelo, as well as Jonathan Frantini, who captures the sheer grace of Mona Tougaard. And since the world is a vast place, Jack Pierson delivers a perspective from afar: a panorama of the New York artists and other figures who keep the city in motion.
(kdpresse.com)

 

[MModa]

My favorite cover is Cover 5 even though I love Bibi as a model. Based on the covers alone, I have a feeling that this will be a great issue again. In addition, Bibi was styled by Emanuelle Alt.

Source: instagram @holidaymagazine

 

[MulletProof]

Fck yeah! will buy this as soon as I see it! love Samarkand, one of the most beautiful cities, and it doesn’t get enough love..

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

Holiday is one of my favourite magazines. I always buy couple of covers. This time I ordered cover 1, 4, 5 & 8. I really like big format and quality of the paper. Plus there are some great articles inside.

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

Holiday Magazine #396 Fall/Winter 2025 Cover​

Photographer: Hill & Aubrey
Creative Director: Franck Durand
Styling: Jerome Andre
Hair: Alexander Soltermann
Casting Director: Piergiorgio Del Moro
Model: Daria Bakhshi
(models.com)

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

Holiday Magazine #396 Fall/Winter 2025 Cover​

Photographer: Jonathan Frantini
Creative Director: Franck Durand
Styling: Robbie Spencer
Hair: Akemi Kishida
Makeup: Anne Sophie Costa
Casting Director: Rachel Chandler
Manicurist: Melvyn Renaud
Model: Mona Tougaard
(models.com)

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

Holiday Magazine #396 Fall/Winter 2025 Cover​

Photographer: Drew Vickers
Creative Director: Franck Durand
Styling: Emmanuelle Alt
Hair: Damien Boissinot
Makeup: Christelle Cocquet
Casting Director: Giulia Massullo
Manicurist: Beatrice Eni
Model: Bibi Breslin
(models.com)

 

[MulletProof]

That Hill & Aubrey story is the highlight so far.. and that’s gotta be the one non-white car in the entire country lol.

I’ve been looking for this for weeks and I don’t even buy magazines, I’m annoyed! I called 2 McNally branches this morning and nothing.. also went to Iconic Magazines on Monday and apparently they will get it ‘later this week’. And they better have the cover with the Registan, I don’t want faces!

 

[MModa]

I have a feeling that the fashion editorials might be missing photographs. They are usually longer in the print issue. However, I think all of them look amazing. My favorite is the Bibi editorial because I just love everything.

 

[MModa]

That Hill & Aubrey story is the highlight so far.. and that’s gotta be the one non-white car in the entire country lol.

I’ve been looking for this for weeks and I don’t even buy magazines, I’m annoyed! I called 2 McNally branches this morning and nothing.. also went to Iconic Magazines on Monday and apparently they will get it ‘later this week’. And they better have the cover with the Registan, I don’t want faces!

Physical copies are available to purchase in Soho News International, a small magazine store, in New York. You can also order the magazine on their website.

 

[Kanzai]

Love Samarkand <3, Emmanuelle Alt has good taste fs. Very into all of this!

 

[MulletProof]

Physical copies are available to purchase in Soho News International, a small magazine store, in New York. You can also order the magazine on their website.

nooo I just left the area 😤 I’m back there tomorrow and will hopefully get my hands on it! thank you!

 

[MulletProof]

@MModa got my hands on it! they had all the covers and they dug up for me the one with the Registan Square, which looks even nicer in person. Many many thanks! I used to go to the other area this store was in (I think..?!) many years ago when I used to buy magazines, I could be mixing them up but pretty sure it’s the same one.. it was nice to be back in that mess, I hadn’t been there in a long long time..



I briefly flipped through the issue cause it’s been a busy day for me and, I get they need to sell and gotta water it down with some commercial stuff but that story with Mona is so unnecessary and kind of a mood-killer..

 

[MModa]

@MModa got my hands on it! they had all the covers and they dug up for me the one with the Registan Square, which looks even nicer in person. Many many thanks! I used to go to the other area this store was in (I think..?!) many years ago when I used to buy magazines, I could be mixing them up but pretty sure it’s the same one.. it was nice to be back in that mess, I hadn’t been there in a long long time..

View attachment 1427574

I briefly flipped through the issue cause it’s been a busy day for me and, I get they need to sell and gotta water it down with some commercial stuff but that story with Mona is so unnecessary and kind of a mood-killer..

I am glad that you got the cover that you desired. I like your cover choice and it would have been my second choice. I ordered the cover with the young man wearing the fur coat and hat. I can't wait to get it.

 

[MulletProof]

^ that Sons of Samarkand story is one of the highlights.. I remember being impressed by the way men dress there, lots of wonderfully tailored pieces, not a wrinkle in sight, very quiet palettes, and always combined with something less sharp, either a knitted hair or a long light coat, sandals, knits, you name it. That story is about that and Egor in that Jil Sander jacket is a lovely shot 🤎 .. that would've been my second choice.

And you're also right on the length of these stories, they're much bigger, that one with Daria is around 39 pages.

 

[Starry]

That Hill & Aubrey story is the highlight so far.. and that’s gotta be the one non-white car in the entire country lol.

I’ve been looking for this for weeks and I don’t even buy magazines, I’m annoyed! I called 2 McNally branches this morning and nothing.. also went to Iconic Magazines on Monday and apparently they will get it ‘later this week’. And they better have the cover with the Registan, I don’t want faces!

Me too when it comes to Holiday magazine, I always try to find the non-face or non-fashion model covers (unless they only did one cover before like the Egypt issue or Capri issue).