Women With Balls: Alexandra Shulman, former Vogue Editor

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4.4 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Alexandra Shulman is one of the most influential figures in British fashion. She is the longest serving editor-in-chief at British Vogue, having led the magazine for 25 years before stepping down in 2017. Her career in journalism included time at publications such as Tatler and the Sunday Telegraph. She was later editor of the British edition of GQ, before joining British Vogue where she oversaw an increase in circulation to record figures. Alexandra was appointed a CBE for services to fashion journalism, and is now an author, commentator and writes a weekly notebook for the Mail on Sunday.

On the podcast, Alexandra talks to Katy Balls about the heyday of print journalism in the late 1980s and 1990s, why she thinks that discussion of the death of print journalism might be premature, and she opens up about the controversy that surrounded her handover to her successor. She cites her Adele cover as one of her most memorable during her time at Vogue, and she explains why she thinks expectations around beauty – despite her best efforts at challenging contemporary standards – have gotten worse.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of Women with Balls is sponsored by Alliance Witten Investment Trust. From the OPEC
0:06.0	oil crisis of the 1970s, the financial crash in 2008, to the COVID epidemic and Liz Truss's
0:13.1	doomed premiership. There has been no shortage of economic crises over the last 58 years. And yet,
0:19.6	throughout that time, every single year, without fail,
0:22.8	we've paid out an increased dividend to our shareholders. In fact, Alliance Witten's history
0:28.3	dates all the way back to 1888. And today, we manage around £5 billion in assets.
0:35.5	If you're looking for a less stressful way to invest in stocks and shares,
0:39.2	learn more about Alliance Witten and find your comfort zone.
0:45.7	Hello and welcome to Women with Balls, where I, Katie Balls, speak to today's trailblazers.
0:50.3	My guest today is one of the most influential figures in British fashion and fashion journalism.
0:54.7	She began her career as a journalist working for publications including Tatler, the Sunday
0:58.6	Telegraph and GQ, but she is best known for her time at British Vogue, where, as a longer
1:03.5	serving editor-in-chief, she transformed the magazine and increased its circulation to record
1:07.9	figures. After stepping down in 2017, she has been a columnist, author and commentator,
1:13.4	speaking on the changing landscape of media and fashion.
1:16.5	She has written candidly about her leadership style,
1:18.6	her thoughts on the industry's evolving values,
1:20.8	and the challenges of balancing commercial success of editorial integrity.
1:25.2	My guest today is Alexander Shulman.
1:31.2	Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. Delighted to have you. On this podcast,
1:35.7	we ask everyone the same question and is sometimes accused of trying to be a therapist on a couch.
1:40.7	Would you describe yours as a happy childhood? I would describe mine as a happy childhood. Yes. I mean, it's funny, sort of, as you get older and I've got two siblings, it emerges what everybody thinks about their childhood more and more. But I regarded it as a pretty happy childhood year.
	...

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