become really famous. We made stars of people in the fashion world. So when we launched our first special fashion issue in September 2009, I always thought it wouldn’t be a bigger sale—it would be more ‘appetizerfocused.’ Last year, we did our first perfect-bound issue of the biannual fashion edition. We had so much advertising, we couldn’t fit it in a normal stapled issue. We also went with a fashion shot of a model on the cover, instead of a celebrity—that was yet another nail-biting moment! The reaction was great. We hiked the price of the issue up, and it still sold really well. Have you added anything new to the mix? We started book and film clubs last year, so we’ll be exploring ideas like that further. We’re also planning to do a web film of the making of our next fashion issue. How does the weekly pace work to your advantage? We can cover the Chanel show the Tuesday after it happens. We make the monthlies look plodding, old fashioned, and slow.
16 editions—based on the UK one. What was your Royal Wedding coverage like? We usually ship on a Friday, but for the Royal Wedding we moved our deadlines and basically went to press with the entire issue in one day. We pushed our distribution day, too, so some issues could get out the following Monday. It was a bank holiday here, but we were in the office—it was my best day at work, ever, by a long stretch. The moment Kate Middleton stepped out and we learned she was wearing McQueen, a huge cheer went out around the office. We had one of our editors reporting on BBC, journalists on the ground, people in Westminster Abbey, all of us in the office, guests calling to give us color…it was an amazing day! Which celebrities are you and your readers obsessed with now? Rooney Mara. We started getting interested in her at the end of last year, and I think we’ll be obsessed with her all of this year. She just hasn’t put a fashion foot wrong— she steps out looking amazing in Givenchy, Roksanda Ilincic, or in Nina Ricci. We’re kind of interested in Zooey Deschanel. I love her the deep end and hope you’ll be able to kookiness, like pairing a Prada dress with tuxedoed nails at the swim. But when you realize you can, it’s the Golden Globes. How about runway fascinations? most incredible feeling.” I’m excited about pastels and prints, like what Jonathan Saunders is doing. He’s absolutely on top of his How did that newsiness emerge as the mag evolved? game right now. I’d quite like to get a white trouser suit The fact that we could cover big news stories so quickly this year. We kept seeing it at the shows last season. Paul was very exciting. The massive news stories during Smith did a brilliant one… our first year included the ‘Cocaine Kate’ scandal, What do you think of British fashion today? Victoria Beckham having her third child, and Jude and London Fashion Week has just gotten better and better, Sienna splitting up. Those were all things our readers and I’m really excited about the February shows. And the really wanted to know about—and they concern number of brands coming back to London is important. A-list celebrities, compared to the usual D-list When Burberry returned a few seasons ago, that was celebrities you see in weekends. Now, we’re truly an big. Now McQueen is showing the McQ line in London, agenda-setting magazine. and Stella McCartney is doing a show for one of her lines. What are some frequently-cribbed elements You’ve got an amazing range of talent here. 2012 is going of Grazia? to be a great year for Britain with the Olympics, plus the Black and yellow have sort of become Grazia’s signature Queen’s Jubilee. colors, and over the years, you’ve seen that color scheme How did your previous industry gigs prepare you for everywhere—from the newsstand to the food world. your current one? People didn’t really use yellow in glossies before. A I don’t think anything can prepare you for Grazia! You magazine editor once told me I’d have to drop it because have to throw yourself in the deep end and hope you’ll it looked terrible. But it really works for us, and it wasn’t be able to swim. But when you realize you can, it’s the something everyone else was doing. most incredible feeling. I’d say there’s a three-month Which features get copied the most? baptism of fire at Grazia UK. It’s really more like a Style-hunter pages have become really popular. Same newspaper than a magazine around here, and I hadn’t with our ‘Fashion Jury’ feature, where we get people to done a newspaper before. But my first job was on a comment on outfits, and ‘10 Hot Stories,’ and our debate quite down-market weekly women’s magazine, Chat, so features. They’ve all been copied by other Grazias out I understood that pace. And then the rest of my career there. Other publications have copied us, too! was at monthly glossies. Then I did Living, Etc.—a cool, What else has Grazia pioneered? modern interiors magazine. Then I edited Eve, a glossy We invented the term ‘pillowface,’ when someone has for thirtysomethings. I’d had good experience in terms had too many fillers. ‘Catface’ and ‘treggings’ are two of editing, but it was totally different than anything I’d other Grazia-created terms. We’ll also pick up on a ever done before. I didn’t expect to love the newsiness as certain item everyone is mad for, people go crazy for it. much as I do! We picked a pleated skirt at fast-fashion chain Whistles, Any trials and errors? and it sold out in minutes. In our second issue, I changed the color of the logo What’s the difference between your mag and the from pink to yellow and my art director at the time Italian original? told me I couldn’t do that. I said, ‘Why not?’ and his Well, we launched at very different times—1938 and response was that the logo always has to stay the same 2005!—but in general, Italy’s Grazia has longer-form in the weekly market to build the brand. We broke that reads and we’re more bite-sized. Especially in the rule! We started with closer-in shots of the stars on the front-of-book, it’s very pace-y. The UK market wanted covers, like a fashion monthly traditionally does, and something fast, furious, and exciting. So we knew we had then we decided to pull back and get the whole outfit to stick to shorter features and inject more energy into in. We’ve also tried covers with two or more people, everything. Italian Grazia trusted us to know what was including Jude and Sienna or a couple of Real right for the UK market, and that trust has paid off. It’s Housewives, and that didn’t really work. We constantly flattering that Italian Grazia saw our success and liked reassess what we’re doing. We really want to stay what they were seeing. We were the first Grazia outside ahead of the game, and you can’t do that by of Italy, and now I think there are about to be standing still.
“You have to throw yourself
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