It was such a fun experience speaking with the beautiful and determined Editor in Chief of the iconic InStyle, Laura Brown. Be sure to keep up with Laura on Instagram and Twitter, you won’t regret it. Thank you for chatting with me Laura, I adore you!
XO Diva D
DL: You’re the Editor-In-Chief’ of one of my all time favorite magazines, InStyle. What is it like working with such a big title like that?
LB: I find that you have to make a big thing small, otherwise you get overwhelmed by the scale of it. So, you just concentrate on telling great stories with cool people.
DL: You used to work at Harper’s Bazaar. What made you want to transition into a different workspace?
LB: The opportunity to be the Editor-In-Chief of a magazine is not one that comes around all the time, and I was lucky to be thought of so the decision was made for me.
DL: Have you always had a passion for writing and fashion?
LB: Yes, sadly [laughs]. Ever since I was a kid I could get all the magazines in from U.S. and Australia. The Vogue’s and the Harper’s Bazaar’s and loved all the supermodels and loved things that showed a life that I didn’t have yet, so yes for many, many years before and many, many years in the future.
DL: What’s a normal day at the InStyle office?
LB: There is no such thing! If I’m lucky enough to be in the office, surprisingly enough, I do consider a privilege. I run what I refer to as a “fashion deli,” where people are just coming in my office every one-minute. They think they need to get a ticket— just making decisions on our layouts, our advertisements, on our social media. Oftentimes though, I’m at meetings with advertisers, I’m at shoots. It could be in New York, could be in Europe, it could be in California. I like to be as hands-on as possible with the talent that we shoot for the magazine because otherwise I find you get really stale really fast. Go to the shoot! And, I mean that metaphorically, just go to life’s shoot!
DL: One thing I love about InStyle, is all though that it is a women’s magazine, I as an openly gay teen always find relatable topics for myself in there as well. Do you feel that you guys try and keep the magazine as relatable as you can for everyone, or mainly women?
LB: Good! I think everyone— I mean obviously it’s traditionally was a women’s magazine, but I’ve never been particularly traditional. So, I just think, I, myself am a pretty open person and I have a pretty engaging voice, I would hope. So, I would love people who are boys, girls, neither, whatever they are, old young, any shade of the rainbow that they are that they can find something they love reading InStyle.
DL: I’m a very big Britney Spears fan, so my favorite issue that you’ve done is either your 2002 or January 2014 cover with her. I know there has been so many covers/issues you guys have done, but is there one that you love most?
LB: Well, I’ve only been here for a year, although I am also a huge Britney Spears fan! I think my favorite covers, not just cover, are the multiple covers we did for the September issue with Selena, Steven, Caroline Murphy, Dilone, Marc Jacobs, Salt & Pepa and LL Cool J, because it just demonstrates that everybody is welcome at InStyle and it’s not just about one girl.
DL: Is there any particular person you’d love to see cover InStyle soon or in the new year approaching?
LB: I love a mixture of fresh faces and really established people, so I think if I’m able to continue the rhythm— I did Bella Hadid one month and Julianne Moore the next, I think I’d be a very lucky girl!
DL: I love the fact that the magazine always has tips in it, do you ever use any of them?
LB: Ha! If I used the tips in InStyle my life would probably be more together than it is now [laughs]! No! Brush your teeth? I don’t know. [laughs] I think I’ve got my little rhythms that work good for me so far, so I just keep going. Again, for better or for worse.
DL: Do you have a fashion icon that you admire?
LB: I really love our Aussie girls, I do! I never use the word fashion icon so much because it always reminds me of— isn’t an icon like Buddha? I love Aussie girls, Nicole, Kate, Naomi, Roseburn. I think that they’re obviously incredible actors, but they have really serious style and style in which they really know themselves. Real refinement, and elegance, but they’re also really fun!
DL: Can you give any advice to aspiring journalists like myself who hope to work in the industry someday?
LB: Show up. Intern. Intern, intern, intern, intern! Get the lunch. Because if you get the lunch— a lot of kids these days think they can go straight to the cover shoot, and everything else, but ironically as [Asia who is transcribing this will know] if you get the lunch, you get more face time with the boss anyways, and more interactions, so don’t be short-sided in doing the more menial things because they could be the most valuable in the end.
XO DIVA D 