How do you think fashion can spark and sustain desire with so much else going on in the world?
There is nothing more intimate than what we put on our bodies. It's one of the first ways we as children learn to express ourselves. Getting dressed is something everyone has to contend with, even those who profess not to care. Nothing makes me cast aside rational thought more than fashion. I say this as someone who bought a macramé antique cape not long ago. But we can care about the world and also care about clothes. The two aren't even mutually exclusive.
Do trends still matter?
They tell us about aspiration and how people want to see themselves. Having an idea of what is catching on (or doesn't) is important, so in that respect, they do. Although I wish everyone could divorce themselves from them a bit, or leave them to teenagers.
Who are your fashion heroes?
Carmel Snow, Diana Vreeland, Grace Mirabella. I can never get enough of midcentury fashion magazine editors.
Who or what is generating the greatest influence in fashion today?
Social media influencers, even though I'm sighing a little while I say it.
Tell us something surprising about how you got to where you are today?
I have never taken a writing class or a journalism class. I learned by observation —being a huge reader and consumer of media, and a lot of figuring it out on the job.
What has been a highlight of your career so far?
This is such a cheat but I have two really big fashion profiles in the next couple of issues of Vanity Fair coming out. I can't share specifics and I hope the mystery is fun, but they both felt like coups in very different ways and I'm deeply excited for fashion people to read them and weigh in.
What is a positive objective or goal that you would like to see the industry work towards?
The parlor game of rotating creative directors is fun. I love to speculate as much as anyone else. But I would love to see some new points of view at the top. And more women.
If you could make any fashion wish come true, what would it be?
I want Tina Chow's Chanel wardrobe, and all her Fortuny dresses, and the jewelry of her own design to magically appear in my apartment and
to fit me. Honestly I want that for everyone. We can share.
