Screen Tests: Justine Cullen
Every fashion media and PR girl's favourite editor-in-chief.
I’m not just saying this because Justine Cullen very kindly agreed to be interviewed by my little newsletter, BUT she is consistently one of the best magazine editor-in-chiefs (even though that’s not technically her title) out there. I read her Shop Til You Drop and loved the tips in there and absolutely DEVOURED her ELLE Australia. When I worked at Vogue, it was the only domestic competitor at the time where I’d actually read and feel like I saw or found out something different that I didn’t see anywhere else. And, maybe a bit annoyed that she had commissioned an article angle that I hadn’t thought up of first! Her InStyle is one of the few magazines I buy now (from local newsagents, or Journal in Paddington’s Five Ways which is a physical paean to the love of magazines).
As she puts it herself, she is “pathologically fixated on newness and innovation”.
This interview is witty, clever and made me laugh — like all interviews with good writers (ie Lauren Sams’ interview below — who worked for Justine at ELLE.)
Here are some highlights from the article, which I’ll keep for paid subscribers because it’s that good. She also has excellent recommendations because of her aforementioned curious nature and being a former beauty editor, she’s suggested product that I hadn’t even heard of.
Look, she’s one of the few superstar editors out there now.
On job highlights:
“…Nothing makes me happier than spitballing concepts with the team, or thinking up a creative solution to a challenge, or watching a random idea you had in the middle of the night come to life on a shoot, or designing a cover. Give me that over a fancy event or mind-numbing strategy meetings any day.”
On the why of her career:
“… I’m not particularly ambitious (anymore) — I’m in it purely because I like doing the work, rather than because I’m looking for my next step or because I’m hungry for the (perceived) power or status that comes with this kind of role, and that has allowed me a certain freedom and risk tolerance that is good for creativity.”
On what it means to be an editor-in-chief now:
“… Some EICs are more commercially focused, some are great networkers and brand builders, some are creative leads — ‘editing’ in the literal sense of how everyone imagines the job (which is the part I’ve always leant into). I think if you asked any two people what the role involves you’d always get a different answer. But my role now, within the business model we’ve built at True North, is different again. As well as the magazine (which includes the print editions and the website), I also run our creative custom studio, which means working with companies completely outside of InStyle to ideate and execute creative ideas for their campaigns and shoots, as well as editing magazines and managing digital storytelling for brands. I essentially run an agency as well as a magazine masthead, which I like because applying the skills my team and I have developed across years of creating consumer magazines to making high quality branded content for clients is one of the ways we can ensure titles like InStyle can continue to exist and we can continue to make them.”
If you’re a free subscriber, have the opportunity to read the rest by becoming a paid subscriber.
If you already are one, carry on.