Laura Brown is one of Australia’s most successful exports. Until recently,she was editor of AmericanInStyle,which under her leadership over the past five years has become so much more than a middle-of-the-road fashion magazine. “It’s important to represent different voices,” Brown told me when we met for aGood Weekend in 2017,shortly after she was named to the top job. This was before “diversity” became every company’s favourite buzzword:over at USVogue that same year,Midwestern model Karlie Kloss was photographed as a Japanese geisha,andThe New York Times published a in which 18 black journalists saidVogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour favoured thin,white employees from elite backgrounds.
For Brown,“everyone isInStyle”,and subjects to receive the fashion mag’s glam treatment included Deb Haaland (America’s first Indigenous cabinet member,in traditional Pueblo garments),Stacey Abrams (a voting rights champion,dressed in suffragette white) and Anthony Fauci (the diseases expert,pictured poolside looking vaxxed and relaxed).
Brown didn’t just change what people expected to see in a fashion magazine – broadening the definition of “style” to include people doing good,bringing joy and breaking barriers – she also transformed how we think about fashion editors via her Instagram account,in which she was anything but the icy stereotype.
Encounters with marsupials on trips home were documented with as much excitement as dinners in Manhattan with Laura Dern,Cindy Crawford and other A-list friends. During a time of great volatility Stateside,the proud Aussie didn’t shy away from political engagement,either. Nowadays,she’s more likely to use her platform to raise awareness among her half a million followers about sexual violence or charities supporting Afghan refugees than to wax lyrical about a heel.
When the news came through in February thatInStyle’s new owners had decided to shutter its print operation and “eliminate” Brown’s position,I was saddened – because if a magazine as groundbreaking as Laura Brown’sInStyle can’t survive,which ones can? Then I was curious about how she’d publicly respond to the news.
“Life is more fun when you’re less interested in what other people think of you,” Brown had told me back in 2017,and while this is something a lot of people say,I got the impression she actually lived these words. Her persona – lessDevil Wears Prada than devil-may-care – is what enabled her to create such an eclectic portfolio atInStyle.
In responding to her job loss,Brown obviously decided to heed the adage that if you can’t say anything nice,say nothing at all. Her “grid” – the images posted permanently on her Instagram feed – hasn’t even mentioned it. No dignified but seething statement;not even a round-up of her achievements in charge.
It has instead been dominated by what I am certain Brown would describe as an infinitely more important event:the Russian invasion of Ukraine,and how to help Ukrainians in need.
The path forward for Brown isn’t obvious. She could decide to pivot to “influencing”:selling products to her followers for what could easily turn into a seven-figure hustle. I suspect what she does next will be more interesting and unexpected than that,but I’m not nearly smart enough to guess what it will be.
To read more from Good Weekendmagazine,visit our page at, and.
The best of Good Weekend delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning..