Where do you look for new ideas or voices in fashion?
I look on social media, I speak to my team, I talk to people at the shows, I read magazines, I talk to PRs. Discovering the new is always easier when you keep your ears and eyes open and you don't stop communicating.
Who or what is generating the greatest influence in fashion today?
That's an interesting question. I think social media critics are driving a lot of the work the designers are producing - for better or worse. There is so much noise, and it must be impossible for the creative people who helm these brands to completely switch off from it. The constant creative director moves, the kaleidoscopic shifts in aesthetic, the precipitous change, this is all powered by the speed of fashion new feedback loop.
With the magazine but throughout the industry, there seems to be more overlap between fashion/entertainment and fashion/sports than ever. Thoughts?
Agreed —never before have actors and sportsmen had such influence over the way people shop and the way designers create. It's exciting because it means that magazines like mine are able to work with great talent who have much more fashion literacy than they once did.
AI will continue to disrupt and impact how we live and work. What excites you and what concerns you?
Although we sometimes forget it, I think what humans are really attracted to and value is human touch. Machine learning and making has its place in replacing that which we don't want to do, but when it comes to the important stuff, to creativity, human touch will always prevail. We just need to train ourselves to not be so easily seduced by newness and convenience.
How do you think fashion can spark and sustain desire with so much else going on in the world?
I think in fashion has infinite power to sustain desire so long as the ideas, fabrics and storytelling are strong enough to grab people. True quality will always sustain.
Do you have an industry story or experience that you have never talked about?
Of course!
Do trends still matter?
Not really. I think it’s about finding the thing that works for you and adopting the most up to date version of it into your wardrobe. I’ve realised I need structured tailoring rather than soft shouldered tailoring, for instance; it suits my body type, so that’s what I’ll be buying from now on, and it’s unlikely to ever go out of style.
Who are your fashion heroes?
Haider Ackermann, Stefano Pilati, Tom Ford, Robert Rabensteiner and Giorgio Armani.
What are you most curious to know about how designers work, how a collection comes together?
I like to know how up close and personal the designers actually are with the products they create - the closer they are, the more excited I become. I feel like Mathieu Blazy is extremely close to the products he creates.
What is one reason to be optimistic about the state of fashion going forward?
There are amazing collections being made by amazingly talented designers, and those collections are selling! That’s got to be exciting. I just wish the brands would sort their pricing out. It’s becoming farcical.
Tell us something surprising about how you got to where you are today?
My first job was working on country life as an intern, writing about dog friendly country house hotels. It was not me. After a week, I ran up to the Wallpaper* office, which was a few floors above, and begged them too take me on. They did! As a staff writer. The rest is history.
What has been a highlight of your career so far?
Becoming editor-in-chief of Esquire UK and relaunching the magazine last November. That was pretty special.
What is a positive objective or goal that you would like to see the industry work towards?
Less stuff for the sake of stuff. Nothing depresses me more than when I’m watching a fashion show and all I can think is “landfill”.
If you could make any fashion wish come true, what would it be?
I’d love the cropped tweed suit in the first look from Mathieu Blazy’s inaugural collection for Chanel - but I fear they may not make it in my size…
This interview has been lightly edited.
