The set is a hive of activity when I arrive. On a couch in one corner, Donna Kelce is curled up and relaxed. She has just flown from the set of Christmas on Call, the Hallmark movie that marks her onscreen debut and which will be out next month. The mother of two of the most famous football stars in America (that would be Jason and Travis Kelce, of course) is alone—no publicist, no stylist, no assistant—but she is immediately comfortable. When she tells me later that Jason and Travis have always been “unashamedly themselves,” I understand immediately that it’s a quality they inherited from her. A former banker, who watched her two sons face off in opposing teams in the 2022 Super Bowl, she has been regaling the crew with tales from her movie shoot, including the perils of filming in winter clothes during the height of the summer heat.
Meanwhile, in a pair of makeup chairs, Maggie Baird, mother to Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, and Mandy Teefey, mother to Selena Gomez and Gracie Teefey, are deep in conversation. Fresh-faced and animated, both bear striking resemblances to their famous daughters—delicate bone structure, soulful features. But it’s their warmth and commitment to doing good that makes them as captivating as their A-list children. Baird, who was a working actor and musician before homeschooling her children, launched the nonprofit Support + Feed in 2020 to fight food scarcity and climate change. Teefey, whose daughters are in fact just next door, shooting a campaign in a neighboring studio for Rare Beauty, has collaborated with Gomez on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why and cofounded the mental health startup Wondermind. No wonder the two seem to form an instant bond.
A few minutes later, Tina Knowles glides in. And I do mean glides. This woman—mother to two stars whose global renown is so universal that I don’t need to name them, do I?—floats on air. When she compliments our visual director on her hair, we all react as if someone in our midst has received a divine benediction. After all, Knowles now serves as vice chairwoman of Cécred, Beyoncé’s hair-care line. And in person, the fashion designer and philanthropist oozes more than power. She radiates the kind of specialness that makes the rest of us feel charmed.
But we have not gathered these women just to bask in their presence or laugh at their jokes (although that happens throughout the day). We’re here because when we drew up our annual list of the women defining our culture to honor as Glamour Women of the Year, we kept coming back to one truth: In speech after speech and in interview after interview, the people we most admire—actors, activists, athletes, moguls, trailblazers—all seem to credit the same person for their success. Mom.
Mothers have raised our icons and our champions. Mothers have believed in the artists we cherish, even when others counted them out. A mom encouraged Jason and Travis Kelce to bet on themselves on the field, nurtured Billie and Finneas, fought for Selena and Gracie, and inspired Beyoncé and Solange to believe the sky was the limit. To put it as they do, Who run the world? Moms.
But of course, I don’t need to tell you that mothers seldom get the thanks they deserve. The women responsible for the literal survival of the human race are often condescended to, overlooked, counted out, or dismissed. And even these beloved moms have experienced that kind of marginalization. So this year, we wanted to flip the script and make them the focus. They have so much to teach us about ambition, perseverance, and love. They’ve juggled the very ordinary moments of parenthood alongside the most extraordinary, from Super Bowls to Super Bowl halftime shows. Between them, they have raised the people who now dominate the worlds of sports, music, TV, beauty, and more. To me, their experiences sum up what Glamour is truly about: the intergenerational power of women.
There’s no question that Donna, Maggie, Mandy, and Tina, our mothers of the year, are iconic—as is their epic Glamour cover. But we aren’t just honoring them. This tribute is also a celebration of all the mothers who empower, encourage, and inspire greatness in their children.
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