Marisa Abela unveils an anarchic take on classic silhouettes for Perfect Magazine, fusing preppy polish with a defiant, punk-rock energy (and we’re completely obsessed with the tension).
There is a certain audacity required to pull off fashion that both honors and subverts tradition—and in her new editorial for Perfect Magazine, photographed by Sølve Sundsbø, Marisa Abela demonstrates exactly that. The story, featured in the magazine’s February 2025 issue, is a study in stylish friction.
Take the argyle sweater, a preppy standby forever tied to country clubs and academia. On Abela, it’s not a symbol of polite society, but a canvas for rebellion. She wears it cinched with a wide, sturdy leather belt and a skirt that’s less fabric, more hardware—a cascade of polished metal rings and chunky chains. It’s a look that begs the question: is this a prep school dropout, or just a new kind of student altogether?
A different image presents a masterful play on denim. A jacket and skirt combination, but with a twist. A corset-like lacing runs down the spine, creating an architectural detail that is both delicate and aggressively cool. The long, trailing ribbons lend a touch of dramatic flair, like a forgotten detail from a haute couture show reanimated for a modern punk hero.
The final shot, a stark black-and-white portrait, strips everything away, leaving just a simple oversized button-down shirt and Abela’s piercing gaze. It’s a moment of quiet defiance that proves the styling is secondary to the attitude. What Abela and Sundsbø have captured is the new language of femininity—powerful, contradictory, and utterly captivating.
