i-D celebrates anti-algorithmic behaviour with The Lore Issue for Spring 2026. Engineering student-turned-model Bhavitha Mandava became a fashion darling overnight after opening Chanel’s Métiers d’art show in New York. Her story draws so many literary comparisons—Cinderella’s slipper, Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket, King Arthur’s sword in the stone—that it feels larger than life.Photographed by Inez and Vinoodh in their home in New York, with styling by Clare Byrne, Mandava opens up to writer Iva Dixit about finding her footing in the United States and acclimating to her newfound fame. Elsewhere on our covers, a Scouse phenom reveals himself, an American songstress tells us secrets, and we remember a British legend. But wait—there’s more lore! Zara Larsson escapes the Khia Asylum, Simone Rocha and Martine Rose dish about fashion, Jack Antonoff orders some take-away, we round up London’s best vintage stores, and a group of 18-year old design students interrogate the designers behind fashion’s most famed maisons. Also insi-De: Hasan Piker, Joyce Carol Oates, Adéla, Cruz Valdez’s crew, mega beauty, UFC fighters, Torishéju Dumi, and a Burger King Birkin bag.
