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T Magazine Names Alexander Fury Chief Fashion Correspondent

Alexander Fury has been named chief fashion correspondent at T: The New York Times Style Magazine, the newspaper’s fashion and culture supplement.
Alexander Fury | Photo: Jackie Dixon
By
  • Kate Abnett

NEW YORK, United StatesAlexander Fury has been named chief fashion correspondent at T: The New York Times Style Magazine, the newspaper's fashion and culture supplement. The appointment is effective immediately.

Fury is known for combining a fanatical knowledge of fashion history with sharp opinions. (Last year, he wrote that Hedi Slimane had "ripped apart, quietly gutted" Saint Laurent). In June, he stepped down from his position as fashion editor of The Independent and i newspapers, shortly after The Independent shuttered its print operations in March.

Previously, Fury was the editor of Condé Nast's Love magazine. He has acted as a creative consultant to brands like Mary Katrantzou and held the role of fashion director at Nick Knight's SHOWstudio from 2008 to 2012. In January, he was appointed men's critic for American Vogue.com, a role he has since relinquished to become "largely exclusive" to T.

"The thing that I love about writing for newspapers is that you're not just preaching to the converted," said Fury. "The challenge is to write something that can appeal to people that know how Balenciaga cut a sleeve and people that don't even know how to spell Balenciaga."

“Fashion writing can feel a little insular, where it feels like people who know about fashion talking to people who know about fashion,” added Whitney Vargas, executive editor of T. “Alex knows the players better than everybody else, he has these incredible relationships with designers and with houses, and at the same time, he is able to contextualise fashion for people.”

According to Vargas, Fury’s appointment is not part of a broader shift in the fashion strategy at T, which comprises 13 print editions a year, distributed as part of The New York Times newspaper, as well as a website. But she added that T would be experimenting with new content formats, including video. “It’s going to be a case of hitting the ground running and seeing how the role develops during the September season,” said Fury. “The New York Times [newspaper] already has the Style section, so for me it’s what can I come in and do to add to that mix.”

I'm not a 'critic' but I will be critiquing, analysing, investigating things.

Fury will not be a “critic” in the traditional sense. “Especially here at The New York Times, there are very strict standards of what that means,” said Vargas.

“When we talk about a fashion critic, we think of someone giving almost a blow-by-blow breakdown of a show the next day,” added Fury. “Actually, I think fashion criticism can be much wider, much more analytical. It’s picking something apart and explaining what works and what doesn’t work... I’m not a ‘critic’ but I will be critiquing, analysing, investigating things.”

Fashion and luxury advertising is a significant source of revenue for newspapers like The New York Times, The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, all of which publish glossy fashion and luxury supplements alongside their main papers which serves as vehicles for high-end advertisers. "Fashion and luxury is our largest advertising category at The New York Times and T remains one of the premiere destinations for our fashion and luxury brand partners," confirmed Elizabeth Webbe Lunny, vice president of luxury at The New York Times and publisher of T.

Fury's appointment follows a series of staffing changes at T, which is edited by Deborah Needleman. In April, deputy editor Hanya Yanagihara exited the magazine, shortly after articles editor Emily Stokes decamped for The New Yorker. Last year, fashion director at large Joe McKenna departed the magazine, while Elizabeth Webbe Lunny filled the role left by former publisher Brendan Monaghan, who left last year.

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