October 2011: Letter from the editor

by Bernadette Morra
Bernadette Morra
Editor-in-chief, Bernadetta Morra. Photography by Vanessa Veins; hair and makeup by Veronica Chu for Plutino Group/M.A.C Cosmetics; shot on location at 155 Cumberland at the home of Joe Brennan.

“You’re a smart girl. You don’t need to work in fashion.”

The white-haired retiree uttering those words to a wide-eyed MBA grad who expressed interest in the clothing industry was oblivious to the fact that I was reeling from his remark.

Nor did anyone else around the breakfast table at a friend’s cottage twig to the fact that I had just been insulted. At one time, I would have piped up and suggested he ask billionaire Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, whether he thinks there is any upside to a brilliant business mind in fashion.

Instead, I took the Carine Roitfeld approach: quiet satisfaction. Fashion’s coolest living human tells features editor Rani Sheen, in an exclusive Canadian interview (“A Woman of Substance,” page 82), that she, too, felt a certain intellectual prejudice when embarking on her fashion career. The former editor of Paris Vogue feared people would think she was stupid for being interested in clothes. Does anyone doubt her savvy now?

Then there’s Russell James, the ex-cop who talks to Sven Schumann about life as a photographer for Victoria’s Secret (“Wing Man,” page 168). Imagine what his former colleagues thought when he told them he was trading the police force for fashion photography—and how envious they must be today.

People who love fashion and beauty so much they want to earn their living from it persevere, fuelled by one thing: love.

I know you can relate—that’s why you’re reading FASHION. You have the same yearning for fall’s wedge booties and long-haired vests that we do. Luckily, many of the pieces in this issue could be yours—just flip the page, check out our Big Giveaway calendar and visit fashionmagazine.com/biggiveaway to enter. And throughout this issue, you’ll find pink stars beside the products we’re giving away. It’s our annual way of saying thanks to our readers for continuing to make us the most-read fashion and beauty magazine in Canada. And if anyone tells you you’re foolish for spending time and thought on fashion and beauty, send them my way and I’ll give them an earful.

Let me know how it goes at letters@fashionmagazine.com.

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