Talking Points: In Conversation with Jennifer Dixon

Jennifer Dixon? Many of you probably already know the name, because it was on Jour Nelles already a career interview with the native from Hamburg. At the time, she was the fashion boss of InStyle Deutschland and thus one of the most sought-after positions in the German media sector. She is now at the Munich shop Stylebop.com changed, where she was appointed Editorial Director.

Of course, we found this very interesting, especially since we were both from a generation of editors, for whom a post in an onliner action was almost equal to a degradation. Really, at the beginning of the Nullerjahre nobody wanted to do the job, but continue to type the texts in Word and wait for delivery to the publication of the book at the kiosk to admire the result.

In the meantime, a lot has happened and everything is different: many print magazines are dying out, we read the news first online and also the trends are more of the blogs and social media. (More on this in our conversation “ So our editorial everyday really looks “.)

So how came Jennifer to her new job, what challenges did she face, and what did she have to learn again? And how seductive is it to be surrounded every day by mountains of cartons with clothes, shoes and bags for shopping? All this you can find in our career update.

Dear Jennifer, you have recently been Editorial Director at Stylebop. What is your job?

Yes, I started on April 1st. As an editorial director, I lead the editorial team and am responsible for all fashion-onsite content, ie the topics on the page, in the magazine as well as in the newsletters, as well as for the styling and the description of the looks.

Why does an online shop need an editorial director or magazine?

Stylebop leads now over 250 luxury brands, both established designers like Valentino or Alexander McQueen as well as progressive and emerging talent like Vetements, off-white or Attico.

The buying team acts as a kind of curator and we translate the New Arrivals “From Catwalk to Sidewalk” on all channels. As an editorial director, I can collect ideas, bundle them, summarize them and pass them on at the right time. We make the trends of the shop visible and want to inspire.

The onlinemagazine deals with the subject of zeitgeist and reports on the latest movements from fashion, music, art and culture; Here we can go even further into the depth of the topics, or take a different look at them.

How hard did you like the change from print to online?

It was not difficult, after 14 years it was simply the right time for something new and exciting!

What attracts you to the online work?

Exactly! It’s new and exciting, it’s the natural advancement of my previous job. It is particularly exciting to see results directly and to be able to react more quickly to topics.

How can you imagine your new working day?

I work with both the editorial team on topics on the page and for the newsletters as well as with the styling team on the looks, which can be seen on the page.

What kind of things do you have to learn?

My work is more analytical and, of course, there are some technical details that I have not used before in my work. On the whole, however, everything is familiar to me.

How does your day begin — and how does it end?

After an initial check my email and the news of my favorites BoF , WWD and Vogue.com meetings with the Editorial team, as well as photo and layout approvals are pending. I am also often in the Fotostudio and work on the looks. This is very seductive, my love is growing every day …

How big is your editorial team? What jobs are there in the team?

In the editorial team, there is the graphic, photo and text editing; The editorial team then re-divides into editorial and copywriting.

What are the similarities to a classical editorial work? And what the differences?

The work is indeed very similar: we want to inform and inspire. I now work more spontaneously on topics, which is a great advantage.

How do you plan the editorial plan? You used to work for a monthly magazine three months in advance, online something new needs to happen every day, the goods are currently available.

I am also preparing a seasonal plan now, based on the trends of the fashion shows and our shopping and topics, which we find especially important. Concretely, we can design the topics when the goods have arrived and also worked in the Fotostudio, ie styled.

How do you keep track of all the nice things in the shop and find your topics?

This works very well. Since I am also responsible for the styling and in this respect spend a lot of time in the Fotostudio, I get a very good overview of the daily arriving goods. So I get in touch with the latest parts right away, which is also perfectly related to the topic composition.

During our first interview, you told us that you are most pleased to develop concepts for fashion and craft. What do you like most about your new job?

Conception of topics is still my main task, be it for newsletters or on the site. However, I just noticed that the compilation of the Looks great as I really enjoy, so it goes back a bit “Back to the Roots”, back to my early days as a stylist.

The readers and customers are no longer just German, but come from all over the world. Do you have to think also bigger, ie international?

From a certain level is fashion, trends are always international. The designers we sell, the streetstyle photos we use for our themes, are international.

How can you create your own style and taste in this new job?

Fashion is always subjective as well, the layouts, the looks I take off, of course, I also always like a personal and not only professional perspective, in that way one will always see my style, but clearly, in a stylebop framework.

You love accessories. The job at a online shop is certainly very dangerous. At what parts are you weak?

Any visit to our studio is VERY dangerous, here I always see the latest parts and of course is always something, what I then necessarily have immediately! Shoes are still the most beautiful for me and funny, there is still the one, which I have not yet and need urgently …

also clearly looking for new labels and designers. Whenever something interesting strikes me, I pass this on. We regularly submit your application.

At the moment, I find Attico and Off-White, for example, and I am also looking forward to Marques Almeida, which we will reintroduce from July 2016 onwards.

Has your favorite look for the office changed?

Not really, my go-to basic are still jeans, in any shape! There are so many exciting new styles & labels, jeans just never get boring. For example, my Levi’s of Re / Done Jeans (see below), which sit perfectly!