6 Fashion Editors That Shaped the Fashion Industry
By Alexus Mosley
As I write this article, the fashion industry is valued at $1.7 trillion and is expected to be worth more than $2.5 trillion within the next year. Employing more than 300 million people worldwide, this business is essential. Not only to the global economy but to the lifestyles we create also. Fashion is a powerful and crucial machine, with several wheels turning constantly to ensure its success. There are the designers who dream up wearable works of art, the models who champion them down the runway, the buyers who use their analytical abilities & gut to choose which designs will debut in their prospective stores, and the marketers who use storytelling to persuade the brand’s target audience to pull the trigger and purchase. Stylists, photographers, and merchandisers are also key ingredients to this artsy-commerce mashup. And then there are the almost mystical and mythical creatures that are Fashion editors.
By definition, fashion editors are responsible for the creative direction and content of fashion-related media, such as magazines, newspapers, and websites. In a nutshell, they manage the production of the stylish fantasy we covet in our darling glossies. Think Miranda Priestly and Jacqueline Carlyle.
While most of them aren’t a household name in the way that famed designers such as Coco Chanel and Tom Ford are, they are still absolutely vital to the business. Here are 6 editors who totally shifted the fashion industry in the best way possible.
Eunice W. Johnson
“Fashion is more than just clothing. It is a reflection of society. It’s art.”
Eunice W. Johnson alongside her husband pioneered fashion media in the African American community. Her work with Ebony Magazine and the Ebony Fashion Fair made high fashion more accessible to blacks across the United States.
Diana Vreeland
"Fashion must be the most intoxicating release from the banality of the world."
Bringing boldness to fashion in a way never seen before, Diana Vreeland pushed fashion as a way of self-expression using her electric storytelling at both Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.
Carmel Snow
“Elegance is a good taste plus a dash of daring.”
During her tenure at Harper’s Bazaar, Carmel Snow reimagined fashion magazines by fusing art and high fashion. She is also credited with the discovery of Christian Dior.
André Leon Talley
“Wearing clothes should be a personal narrative of emotion. I always respond to fashion in an emotional way.”
An advocate for black designers and models, André Leon Talley utilized his je ne sais quoi and extensive knowledge of fashion history to support diversity while at Women’s Wear Daily and Vogue.
Franca Sozzani
“Fashion is a mirror of the era in which we live, why should the magazine be disconnected from reality?”
Going far beyond your typical fashion and beauty advertising used the influence of Vogue Italia to bring awareness to social issues as racism and domestic violence.
Anna Wintour
“Fashion is a reflection of the time.”
As one of the most powerful editors to ever live, Anna Wintour changed the landscape of fashion and celebrity when she became one of the first to put actresses and musicians on the cover of Vogue.