Newsweek - USA (2020-03-20)

MARCH 27, 2020

Culture

48

Illustration by BRITT SPENCER

project runway’s elaine welteroth is arguably the queen of

multi-hyphenated credits. In 2016, at the age of 29, she was named edi-

tor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, which, at the time, made her the youngest person

to lead a Condé Nast magazine and only the second African American to be

named editor-in-chief in Condé Nast’s history. Then in 2019, she became a New

York Times bestselling author with her memoir More Than Enough. Welteroth

attributes her love of personal style to her mom, who would “transform in

front of the mirror before church on Sundays...that outward transformation

completely altered the way that she walked.” Inspired, Welteroth started to

think about the role that beauty and fashion plays. “It’s a signal that tells the

world how you want to be seen.” And with a resume as impressive as hers, she

is also quick to point out that success is ultimately about your vision. “It doesn’t

matter what your background is or what your pedigree is, at the end of the day,

you have to have the vision and the drive to get where you want to go.”

Elaine Welteroth

How was it growing up as one of the

few girls of color in your hometown?

I remember an assignment where we

had to create a family collage. I was

like. “I’m going to do what everyone

else is doing.” I came home with my

white paper family, and my mother, a

very proud black woman, took one

look at it and said, “Houston, we have

a problem.” She pulled out Ebony and

Essence magazines and made [my

brother and me] redo the assignment.

When was the ɿrst time you really

felt that fashion can be a force to

help you become who you are?

I felt most powerful when I started to

embrace my natural hair texture. As

I’ve gotten more comfortable, my hair

has just gotten bigger and bigger and

bigger and bigger. Now, a special day

means the bigger the better.

What advice do you have for people

who don’t have a clear sense of

what they want to do?

People say, follow your gut. I’m always

like, “what does your gut sound like?”

Because what’s loudest is usually fear.

I would offer, follow your enthusiasm.

Have you seen the roles of women

change over your career?

The conversation around women in

leadership and diversity and inclusion

has certainly become more trendy.

We have a lot more work to do to see

how those conversations and those

buzzwords are really translating into

real sustainable change from the inside

out of companies. —H. Alan Scott

PARTING SHOT

“My hair has just

gotten bigger and

bigger. A special

day means the

bigger the better.”