In this episode of Style DNA I have a fascinating conversation with the International News Anchor and Lead World News Presenter for Sky News Yalda Hakim. Yalda is an Afghan-born Australian broadcast journalist, Lead World News presenter for Sky News, and documentary maker. She was one of the chief presenters at BBC News broadcasting in English in the UK and globally. Known for her on-the-ground reporting and in-depth interviews, she has covered major global events from conflict zones including Gaza, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Darfur, as well as key political moments shaping world affairs.

Her work is marked by access to high-level decision makers, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and a focus on bringing clarity and context to complex international stories. Born in Kabul and raised in Australia after leaving Afghanistan as a child refugee, Hakim has built a two-decade career in international journalism and documentary filmmaking. She is recognised for holding leaders to account while telling human stories behind global politics. Beyond broadcasting, she founded the Yalda Hakim Foundation, which supports education and mentorship opportunities for Afghan girls.

Yalda offers so many insights about her style journey.

She is very aware of the gravity of her ability to communicate the story accurately.  I ask her about her thought process as to what she wears for specific interviews. She says she gravitates towards black as her power colour whereas many other journalists wear colour in the belief that they will stand out in the crowd. 

She tells me about learning to manage her emotions and getting in the zone before a massive broadcast which she generally does in her “safe space” the hair and makeup chair…once ready her ritual is to look in the mirror and tells herself “You have got this”… and watching her as much as I do on Sky News she absolutely does!

I ask her who was the most intimidating person she has ever interviewed… the Dalai Lama who she says has so such a powerful presence…. What did she wear? A mustard velvet Dolce and Gabbana jacket which symbiotically toned with his His Holiness’s saffron robes. She says it was an instinctive decision…lovely.

Her insights into the world of women in Afghanistan and the Taliban are fascinating… and truly sad particularly when told by an Afghan woman whose life is so different to what it could have been had her parents not taken the brave and bold decision to flee their homeland when they did. 

Yalda recalls that when Kabul fell, a heartbreaking moment, she reached out to a handful of powerful women to help get 1000 young women and girls evacuated.  She singles out Tory Burch, who has a woman’s foundation, as someone who dug deep and engaged with the mission from start to end.  Tory gifted Yalda a beautiful white jacket which is particularly precious as it reminds her of both the pain of the moment but also the power of the sisterhood to make a difference.

We talk about her approach to sustainable fashion and she tells me that she did a piece on the Rana Plaza disaster and the precarious other sweat shops that she visited in the area. She has seen the impact of fast fashion up close …as she says “we need to think about why something might be only £6.00… why is it so cheap?”… clearly because the makers are not being paid a living wage.

Unsurprisingly Yalda is fabulously eloquent and wonderfully open…Her words paint such powerful pictures of her extraordinary life …

Thank you for allowing me to turn the tables and make you the interviewee Yalda…this conversation was a real privilege xx