Chatting with Rachael Wang, Style.com

Fashion maven Rachael Wang dishes on the must-have skills an editor needs to excel.

What attracted you to covering fashion? Oh boy, I think I just always loved fashion. I was really into getting myself dressed starting around age 3.

Take us through what’s it’s like producing a shoot, from concept to print. I would imagine it’s different for every editor but for me, the Cliff’s Notes version goes like this:

1. Get inspired by… a fashion show, an art opening, a photo book, a trip to Nepal, a person on the subway, anything…!
2. Formulate a shoot concept around this inspiration by choosing what clothing/accessories/model/hair/makeup/location best expresses the idea. Determine what photographer will best capture the mood. Create “mood boards” or collages of all these ideas in order to articulate the shoot concept through images to others. 
3. Pitch this story, via mood boards and verbal explanation, to my editors. 
4. Once the story is approved, I notify the photo editor who will book the photographer, hair and makeup, the model editor who will book the model, and I get busy requesting all the clothes and accessories I need to bring the fantasy alive. 
5. On shoot day, I will work closely with the photographer, model, and hair and makeup artists to create the desired mood. Literally, I put together the looks for the model and help her get dressed, creative direct the image by determining poses, specific locations, add in props, etc. 
6. After the shoot, I wait a few days for the photographer to process the images and send her edit, which is a selection of her favorite images. From there I will work with my editor’s to decide which images we like best and want to use in the story. 
7. Our art department sizes the images and creates the layout for the website. I make sure all the clothing is credited properly. 
8. Celebrate the day the story goes live! 

What are fundamental habits and skills should every fashion editor should have? Optimism, curiosity, creativity, unrelenting work ethic, pride, a sense of humor and grit.

What steps should someone take if they want to be a fashion editor; what if internships aren’t an option? I think it’s helpful for someone to pinpoint the companies she feels most connected to and to do everything in her power to get an interview and ultimately a job at one of those companies. It could be doing anything. You can work your way up from the bottom.

What is a favorite published piece that you’ve written/contributed to? I’m incredibly inspired by the lives and careers of Kim Peers and Hari Nef and was very lucky to get to work with each of them recently.

What can you not work/live without? Balance.

What is an industry pet peeve of yours? Tardiness.

Twitter or Instagram? Snapchat!

Do you have any advice for people trying to break into publishing? Listen well and have a thick skin.

What word/phrase/motto do you live by? Don’t ask, don’t get.

Photographed by Sandra Semberg.

Amanda Jean Black is a guest blogger at Ed2010, sharing stories from her site onthemasthead.com. When not hunting down publishing’s elite for an interview, you can find the native New Yorker obsessing about style and culture, shopping for designer streetwear, and jamming out to 90′s alt rock.