Dahlia is joined by Alexandra Shulman, journalist, author and former Editor in Chief of Vogue magazine.
The conversation centres around reflections from Alexandra's book 'Clothes and other things that matter', which was written as a way to capture her time at Vogue, sharing stories and experiences through the outfits she owns.
Alexandra describes the role clothes have played for her over time and some of the outfits that she has owned that are the most meaningful to her. Dahlia and Alexandra also discuss the wider topic of identity with Alexandra giving her view on how she felt leaving Vogue, how she knew she was ready to step into something new and how she sees her writing now.
Alexandra also shares her tips on building confidence, how she approached leadership at Vogue and what getting dressed everyday means to her.
Alexandra Shulman was brought up in London. She attended St. Paul’s Girls’ School and gained a BA in Social Anthropology from Sussex University.
She started her career working in the music industry and then moved into magazines as a secretary on Over21 magazine. She began working as a journalist on Tatler magazine in 1980, leaving in 1986 to become Women’s Editor on The Sunday Telegraph. She returned to magazines as Features Editor of Vogue in 1988, becoming the first female editor of a monthly men’s magazine when GQ launched in the UK in 1990. In 1992 she became Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue where she stayed for 25 years leaving in June 2017.
During that time she launched an annual Vogue Festival, oversaw the launch of Vogue’s digital programme including Vogue.co.uk and Vogue Video and took the sales of the magazine both domestically and internationally to a record high.
In 2007 she was awarded an OBE for services to fashion journalism and in 2018 a CBE for services to magazines
She has also written two novels, Can We Still Be Friends, and The Parrots both published by Fig Tree/Penguin, and a memoir of the Centenary year preparations for British Vogue, Inside Vogue: A diary of my 100th year. Her book Clothes….and other things that matter was published in Spring 2020 by Octopus books and was a Sunday Times Bestseller. She also wrote the introduction to Elizabeth11 –Queen, Princess, Icon – published in 2022.
She is a contracted writer for the Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail and contributes other papers and magazines. She is known as a commentator on female leadership, fashion, and contemporary style
She was a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery for eight years, and a Trustee of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity for eight years. She is currently a Vice President of The London Library and Trustee of The Wallace Collection
She is now working as a journalist, consultant, speaker and author.
Alexandra has a son, Samuel and lives with her partner David Jenkins in London
