How many of you knows about Vogue Festival happening every year around April time in London? If you haven’t heard about it is time you look at what you missing out! It is my second year I went to see and meet few influential people, it always turns out to be a nice day. Couple years ago I went to see Natalie Massenet, the founder or net-a-porter.com, which was very inspiring! She is a lovely woman with a business mind – will probably see a lot more from her in nearest future, again. Her session also brought me back this year when I sign up to a masterclass, the Art of editing. I have met some interesting hidden faces behind of Vogue, ladies who works at Vogue magazine either as a freelancers or in the position that everybody would of course die for.
One of the is Susie Rushton, the features editor at Vogue. Before she took on her current role she had an impressive career as a writer as well as editor for numerous other publications. Finding out about how the right ideas are the most important part of putting magazine together was very interesting. I wonder how do you sort out your ideas? I personally have around 5 notebooks and all of them look very messy, but it is full of my ideas since day one of my blogging!
Another inspiring lady is Clare Murray, a chief sub-editor at Vogue. Claire manages team of copy-editors who approve all texts for the magazine. Speaking to Claire made me realise how important is to have somebody to proof your work. It wasn’t a brand new thing to me but of course for us who haven’t studied a journalism, copy editing doesn’t come naturally and some may also not understand it well, but I learnt one thing – Even the best of us aren’t perfect! So if you struggle with writing – same as me, English is still my second language, but man, I am trying hard to put words at the right place, and I genuinely enjoy creative writing. Keep it going, don’t be harsh on yourself and practice every day!!!
The third lady I met was Nicole Mowbray, a writer and editor who has freelanced for every national broadsheet and mid-market newspaper. She was probably the warmest person in the room. Nicole has talked genuinely how she got into Vogue, her way wasn’t easy but she managed to become a successful writer as well as recently published her first book, Sweet Nothing, detailing how she cut out sugar from her diet. Amazing, isn’t it?
Rasha Kahil, a senior art director. Rasha designs and art-directs pages at Vogue. Listening to her was very interesting as all the small visual details goes through her hands and there are lots of changes going through before the issue gets together! It is a big publication at the end of the day of course we all know it. Everyone who is a graphic designer will understand her job very easily, as it is ‘the art of having an eye for detail’!
Christa D’Souza, a contributing editor to Vogue and successful writer. I firstly wasn’t as interested about Christa’s work, but after couple minutes she drug you in. I had find out that every ordinary perhaps even boring story is turned into a successful, best selling article by her! After this she got my interest! I definitely recommend to look at her work and read some of her stories and articles as they are very well written, funny and inspiring!
At last, Rachel Lucas-Craig, a deputy picture editor at Vogue, as well as the picture editor of Miss Vogue. Rachel has sounded probably the most interesting to me just because her job is very similar to mine only in under a much bigger and prestige publication (laugh). The one or more things that varies of course is the amazing big archive that Vogue stores their ‘historic’ pictures. Rachel literally sits down in the archive and go back in years through hundreds of photographs created for Vogue. If you browse the magazine in the future, anything to do with relation to the past, have a think as there is somebody who sits hours even days in the room without daylight. But that’ s all about the success of the magazine and the passionate people working not only to be one of the prestige magazines, but mainly to satisfy the reader of Vogue.
Well, that was my lovely Saturday morning. I also enjoyed the time in London, met up with my gal Misha, went for Crepe breakfast :), had my hair done, dressed up for a friend 26th birthday party, went shopping and chilled.
I hope you have enjoyed reading all about Vogue festival, if you have any comments or question, get in touch.
With love, Radana.xx
