Glossy magazines were driven by gripping stories, not dreary commerce. By Mary Killen
The eighties and nineties were glorious decades for fashion editors. Glossy magazines had big budgets to enable the expression of aesthetic vision. Humans still had the capacity for abstract thought. Never mind if the clothes were neither practical nor affordable; the message could still be absorbed: ‘The barons of impeccable taste decree that this is the vibe this season.’ The ‘vibe’, mark you, not ‘the look’, because you often couldn’t see the clothing clearly on the page. ‘It was all about stories,’ says Charlotte Pilcher, fashion stylist, then fashion editor and now shoe-designer, who entered the glossy world in 1985. Her fashionista stepmother, Meredith Etherington Smith, had arranged for the school-leaver to be interviewed by Michael Roberts, then the creative director of Tatler and reigning grand homme of fashion. ‘I had no real knowledge of fashion history,’ admits Char. ‘But, once Michael realised we shared a sense of humour, he...
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