Laura Brown is the Australian-born journalist and was the former editor of InStyle magazine.
Known for her down-to-earth perspective and sense of humour, Brown embraced social media and the power of video to engage audiences of millions with candid celebrity interviews and fantastical editorial shoots.
Prior to InStyle, Brown was features, special projects and executive director of Harper’s Bazaar, where she worked for 11 years after moving to New York in 2001. At Bazaar, she produced over 100 covers, including one that put Rihanna in the mouth of a shark as an ode to Jaws. “I still get such a kick out of an image that my team and I have made; that can keep me going for weeks. I need to dream as much as I need to produce.” she told BoF in a 2016 interview.
Taking over from former InStyle editor Ariel Foxman in 2016, Brown acknowledged the influence of the magazine in her first few month in the role. “People turn up for this magazine and I just want to engage them in more and different ways,” she said. “This is a massive, behemoth of a magazine. It’s an incredibly powerful brand. It’s a dominant force in this business. It has an amazing spine, I’m just bringing up the jazz hands a little bit.” Brown stepped down from her role at InStyle magazine in February 2022 as Dotdash Meredith announced it was shuttering American fashion magazine's print edition.
Growing up in Sydney, Brown studied journalism at Charles Sturt University. For two years, she was a production editor at now-defunct Australian magazine Mode, before moving to London for two years, where she was an international correspondent for Harper’s Bazaar Australia. Upon relocating to the US, she worked at Details and W magazine before joining Harper’s Bazaar.
In late 2016, Brown collaborated with Sydney-based label Mon Purse on a series of handbags designed by the editor.
