KO Média is thrilled to unveil the May issue of ELLE Canada, our green issue featuring Whitney Peak, the Ugandan-Canadian star of the Gossip Girl revival. The new face of Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle fragrance tells us about how her family’s relocation changed her future: “In Uganda, I would never have thought of doing this job. Not because it doesn’t happen there but because it’s as if, in my mind and in my family’s mind, we already had a completely different path mapped out for our lives. Instead, Canada has opened up new opportunities for me that I could not have imagined.” 

We speak to plenty of passionate women in this issue, including actor Simone Kessell from the second season of everyone’s favourite survivalist series, Yellowjackets. Music and fashion double threat Lexie Liu maps her journey to stardom, Priyanka Chopra Jonas lets us in on her globe-conquering ambitions, ice scientist Alison Criscitiello explains how Canada’s deep-freeze regions can tell us about our climate’s past and future and Sana Javeri Kadri shows us how she’s dreaming up a better spice trade. 

In the style department, we peek at trompe l’oeil pieces that will have you double-checking your eyesight, while a Toronto trio of Bangladeshi-Canadians tells us about redefining the “Made in Bangladesh” label and spring sees designers playing with sheer layers on the runway. OddBird Co. rises to the top as an inclusive slow-fashion brand, six sustainable fashion pros tell us about their eco-responsible ways and we take a critical look at whose voice matters in the era of democratized online fashion expertise. We’re wild for Virginie Viard’s latest animal-inspired Chanel haute-couture collection, along with the season’s eye-popping colours, including home design’s pink-meets-green trend that’s a match made in heaven. 

Our editors examine how the beauty industry can improve its carbon footprint by avoiding landfills and turning toward upcycling. We also present a spread of our favourite ethically made products, examine how to reset skincare routines and provide a full how-to guide for clean beauty that breaks down the product lingo. And Marc Jacobs tells us about his fashion and beauty staying power. 

When it comes to lifestyle, we dive into hopeful movements in this era defined by crisis and ask experts about how these times are shaping our financial, work and relationship habits. To be at the top of our game, we look at how to harness the pay-transparency movement and take notes from fitness expert Val Desjardins about the benefits of a functional training approach. We also learn about citizen scientists teaming up with ocean conservationists in Antarctica before kicking back on a 48-hour tour of Toronto and visiting May’s top local and international art shows. For a bookish bent, we talk to journalist Mellissa Fung, whose new work, Between Good and Evil, follows the lives of three Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, and sit down with modern-romance author Emily Henry to hear about her writing process. Plus, superstar Emily Ratajkowski lets readers in on how she controls her own narrative in her first essay collection, My Body, and we are teased with recipes from beloved Montreal restaurant Elena in its team’s first cookbook, Salad Pizza Wine: And Many More Good Things From Elena.

The May issue of ELLE Canada will hit stands and Apple News+ on April 17, 2023.