Some covers celebrate a moment. This one celebrates a legacy.

BELLA Magazine proudly unveils its September/October 2026 Fashion, Arts + Culture Issue, honoring the incomparable Dolly Parton—a woman whose influence transcended music to leave an indelible mark on fashion, entertainment, business, philanthropy and American culture.

From a one-bedroom home in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee to stages around the world, Dolly built an extraordinary life by remaining unapologetically herself.

She was a songwriter and storyteller whose words became part of the American songbook. A fashion original who turned towering blonde hair, rhinestones, sequins and unabashed femininity into cultural iconography. An actress and entertainer who crossed effortlessly from Nashville to Hollywood. An entrepreneur who took her success back home, investing in the people and communities that helped shape her. And a philanthropist whose passion for childhood literacy grew into Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, putting hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children around the world.

But perhaps Dolly's greatest contribution was something that can't be measured in records sold, awards won or businesses built.

She gave women permission to be more of themselves—not less.

Dolly never seemed interested in choosing between femininity and power, glamour and intelligence, ambition and generosity. She understood that a woman could be all of those things at once.

That philosophy sits at the heart of this issue.

Why Dolly. Why Now.

BELLA had already chosen Dolly Parton to represent our Fashion, Arts + Culture Issue before her passing.

Then the world lost her, and this cover took on an entirely different meaning.

Rather than create an issue centered on saying goodbye, we chose to remain true to why we selected Dolly in the first place: to celebrate her.

Inside the issue, BELLA looks beyond the iconography to explore the extraordinary woman behind it—from her beginnings in Tennessee and evolution into one of music's great storytellers to her unmistakable personal style, Hollywood career, entrepreneurial vision and extraordinary commitment to giving back.

BELLA CEO + Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Coppes also shares a personal connection to Dolly's legacy, reflecting on her first family trip to Pigeon Forge in 2019 and experiencing firsthand how deeply Dolly's generosity, businesses and love for her hometown could be felt throughout the community.

It is a reminder that true legacy isn't simply about what we accomplish.

It's about what we leave behind for others.

The Fashion. The Art. The Culture.

Beyond our cover celebration, BELLA's September/October issue turns its lens toward the people, ideas and creative forces shaping culture now.

Fashion becomes a language of identity. Art becomes a vehicle for storytelling. Culture becomes the thread connecting where we've been with where we're going next.

And through it all runs the same spirit embodied by our cover star: individuality, creativity, courage and the confidence to make your own rules.

For Dolly, those rules created a life unlike any other.

For us, they created an icon worth celebrating.

This isn't our goodbye.

It's our thank-you.

For the music.
For the stories.
For the books.
For the laughter.
For the sparkle.

And for showing generations of women that there is tremendous power in knowing exactly who you are.

DOLLY PARTON

A TRUE ORIGINAL. FOREVER.

BELLA Magazine | September/October 2026
The Fashion, Arts + Culture Issue

Order the new issue now at BellaMedia.co.