Produced a Special 35 Under 35 Edition by Shihaam HProduced a Special 35 Under 35 Edition by Shihaam H

Produced a Special 35 Under 35 Edition

Shihaam H

Shihaam H

Opener
Opener

35 Under 35: Building a Special Editorial Edition

The Concept

A special Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka edition celebrating 35 women under 35 who were challenging convention and making an impact across their fields.
Role: Editor-in-Chief Publication: Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka Scope: Editorial concept · Research · Curation · Interviews · Writing · Editing · Production

The Editorial Idea

The idea grew from a gap I observed in the way young women were being represented locally: despite making meaningful contributions across their industries, women in their 20s and 30s were often treated as emerging rather than accomplished.
I wanted the issue to challenge that assumption by putting their work, ambition, and stories at the centre.

The Editorial Structure

To give the edition a clear editorial structure, I organised the 35 profiles into four thematic groups: Builders, Innovators, Activists and Rulebreakers.
Cover and Editor's Letter
Cover and Editor's Letter

Selected Profiles

BUILDER - Randhula De Silva Building spaces where ideas, people and possibility can grow.
INNOVATOR - Yusra Aziz Changing the way women work, connect and tell their stories.
ACTIVIST - Sharanya Sekaram Challenging the systems that shape whose voices are heard.
RULEBREAKER - Anoka Abeyrathne Refusing to follow the expected path, and making her own way forward.

Videos

View the playlist for the interviews here.
The project became a dedicated special edition of Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka, extending beyond print into photography and video to create a larger editorial package around the 35 individuals.
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Posted Jun 6, 2023

I identified & crafted stories of 35 women under 35 breaking boundaries in their fields to defy the traditional notion that younger women are rarely successful