LONG LIVE QUEEN E

Her inner circle know her as E, and even as her social media presence speaks to couture and that lush, jet-set, one percent life that most aspire to, who really, is Ezurin Khyra? At an epic shoot with Prestige, the mission is to divine the essence of her exquisite trifecta: matriarch, master planner, and muse.

- JIMAN CASABLANCAS

“Mafia Mama meets Maharani” was the brief, replete with Cartier High Jewellery fit for a queen. Fashion racks swelled with the drama of key season pieces, rows of statement shoes, exquisite accessories from netted hats to elbow-length gloves, perhaps a fraction of E’s seasonal wardrobe. No style was left unturned. In the corner, a cool gent in a sarong and leather jacket was quietly steaming gleaming silks that would later be twisted into beautiful turbans for this erstwhile royal.

Without pomp and armed with a disarming smile, E slipped in, in stark contrast to her larger-than-life ethernet persona—a soft-spoken sylph in baggy denim, an oversized Valentino white shirt, wedge sneakers, and giant square-frame sunnies. Then came the famous entourage, stalwarts on her nomadic KL-London-NYC route, rolling in with untouched off-the-atelier pieces—and haute couture, of course. Between David Koma and Balenciaga, Alaïa and Valentino, and an unexpected parachute dress from Rick Owens, I whispered to Magie Abang Saufi, her ‘soul sister’ and travel companion, “This is no photo shoot. It’s an artisanal experience.”

Pulling her newly blonde hair out of its slick ponytail, the woman previously known as Princess Ezurin, nonchalantly ruffled it into shape, her razor-sharp eyes staring into the mirror as she surrendered herself to Khir Khalid, her long-time makeup artist.

Her skin was flawless. She moved with a certain feline sensuality that suggested a cognisance of knowledge and experience. She spoke to her team softly, with the occasional rasp-laugh of a woman who has lived. And lived she has.