ven 10 sep 2010
Katie Grand
Her sharp eye, avant-garde sensitivity, and capacity to cut to the quick have made her one of the most respected consultants in the fashion world. Katie Grand, the outstanding editor-in-chief of the magazine, Love, is without a doubt an exceptional woman, who incessantly adds a breath of innovation to the world of fashion.
At the heart of the small world of fashion, Katie Grand is a free electron. Wearing barely any makeup and shunning elaborate hair styles, this 40 year old woman with a gap-tooth smile is a stylist who dares to go natural and refuses the star system, despite having a considerable influence on a good number of high end labels. Louis Vuitton, D&G, Armani and Fendi have often entrusted the intrepid English woman with their image.
For Grand, everything began at the age of 12 when she found herself bedridden with a light illness. To keep her distracted, her father, a scientific researcher, bought her 2 magazines: Vogue and Face. The preteen discovered a deliciously attractive universe, making her want to be cool.
A child of divorced parents with a very open-minded father, Grand burned the candle at both ends. Her adolescent life consisted of parties, alcohol, shopping sprees and skipping school.
At 15, Grand began to compulsively devour fashion magazines and reduce her calorie intake. She dreamt of becoming the editor-in-chief of Vogue, and always wanted to be thinner. This was followed by 10 years of drastic dieting measures and bulimic consummation of fashion magazines.
In order to realize her ambitions, she wrote to Liz Tilberis, then at Vogue UK to ask for some advice. Tilberis suggested that she apply to the Saint Martins School. To prepare herself, she enrolled in multiple art classes, from sculpture to drawing to jewelry design.
Strengthened by her multiple experiences, the young Grand was soon accepted by the Saint Martins School. She was in the same class as Giles Deacon and Stella McCartney who soon became close friends.
This being said, Miss Grand did not find her place in the teachings of Saint Martins. She unhesitatingly quit the school when photographer John Rankin offered her to help create a magazine, Eat Me, followed by Dazed&Confused.
Working with Rankin, Grand learned to be ultra positive, believe in the impossible, go incessantly forward and work with what she had. Her 7 years spent working for Dazed&Confused may have been unpaid, but they offered her the inestimable opportunity to unveil her style talents.
In addition to being a source of knowledge, this experience also opened the doors to the luxury fashion houses, who saw in the young Grand the means to reboost their image. Bottega Veneta was the first among them to give her carte blanche to reconstruct their aura. Grand, who supervised the label's communication, advised them to hire Giles Deacon as their creative director.
The result was enough to attract the attention of Miuccia Prada, who soon asked her to "do something" for her. This was followed by several years of profitable collaboration.
Accepted in the business, Grand was able to start demanding substantial consulting fees: 3000-4000 pounds per day. This financial godsend enabled her to satisfy her passion for Alaïa, Prada and Chanel, but also allowed her to calmly launch her own magazine, Pop.
As of its first edition (published in 2000), Pop was adored by the critics. Its energy, innovative covers, and numerous prestigious invited guests (who fell over each other to appear in the magazine's pages) made it an object of everyone's attention.
Having one's name appear on the cover of Pop quickly became synonymous with success. The stars, e.g. Madonna, passed by one after another, as did the top models (Kate Moss), the photographers (Ryan McGinley) and the designers, often free of charge.
In 2008, Grand and her team decided to leave for Condé Nast to give birth to Love, whose combination of shocking covers, star photographers and Grand's own aura quickly attracted all the big luxury names.
When Grand was asked about why the fashion world was so infatuated with her (especially as a consultant), she talks about her ability to cut to the quick in a world where the designers incessantly prevaricate, a quality that renders her particularly indispensable just before the fashion weeks.
Grand may be fulfilled in her professional life, but she claims she is just as happy in her personal one. She lives in a huge house whose main floor is completely dedicated to her clothing archive (organized in alphabetical order) and was recently married in Alaïa to her longtime boyfriend, musician Steve Mackey.
Also noteworthy:
- Her fashion icons go from Stephanie Seymour to Lara Stone to her father and Miuccia Prada
- She loves swimming and running
- She does not use any beauty products
- She cannot live without a pair of Alaïa stilettos
- Her favorite fast fashion store is Topshop
- If her house caught on fire, she would save her rabbit, Clara
- She detests muesli
- Her philosophy can be summed up in the following words: "No regrets"
- If she were to be incarnated in cinema, she would like to be played by Eva Mendes