FASHION Magazine

By Susie Sheffman

FASHION Magazine’s fashion director, Susie Sheffman, recalls the story that inspired her career.

I wanted to be a fashion editor before I even knew what a fashion editor was—and never more so than the day this article, “The Fashion Editors,” appeared in the Summer 1982 issue of FASHION.

This was before Madonna and MTV were household names. Before Mischa Barton and Lindsay Lohan had stylists—if you must know, before Mischa Barton and Lindsay Lohan were born. Before “stylist” was even a word, let alone a career choice, there were fashion editors—legends like Carmel Snow and Diana Vreeland at legendary titles Harper’s Bazaar’s and Vogue.

I was smitten.

I didn’t just read the article. I devoured it, as if by absorbing the pictures and type I could, through some strange osmosis, transform myself onto those pages and emerge as one of them. 
From early on, I had an obsessive craving for fashion, and a love of photo-graphy—and magazines. But until that day, I hadn’t realized that the one career that could feed my fashion frenzy existed right here in Toronto.

These pages brought me face to face with Canada’s very own fashion editors: Marina Sturdza, Jane Hess, Anne Apor and Diana Shuter. Their confidence, style and fashion formulas revealed! By 1983, I was lucky enough to call some of these women mentors as we worked together at various publications. Pure heaven.

By 1986, I was a stylist for FASHION, and in 2001 I became the magazine’s fashion director. Hundreds of shoots and thousands of fashion pages later, I’m still smitten.

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