Bloginity’s Appointment with ELLE’s Kyle Anderson
Senior Accessories Editor Kyle Anderson (@KyleEditor) didn’t let growing up in a small suburban town get in the way of his dream of working in fashion. Interning at magazines like Vogue and Esquire, Kyle found his home at Elle Magazine six years ago. Daniel Haim has a chat with Kyle as he talks about his early adventures in the big city, the must have items of the year, his favorite designers, and why a Birkin is longterm investment in your future.
Daniel: I had a great time getting to know you at dinner last week and I must say I am so intrigued by your talent and want to share your story with the world. Tell us about yourself- where did all of this begin?
Kyle: Actually, I knew even in kindergarten, that I wanted to work in fashion. I was obsessed with clothes. My best friend and next door neighbor growing up had a mom who was obsessed with shopping and for vacation and weekends we would do nothing but go to malls and look at clothes, buy magazines and talk about designers. I grew up in a small suburban town, but in our minds we were really connected to what was going on in fashion.
Whenever my parents asked me what toy I wanted I would only want clothes. When I was in middle school, I’d go to the public library after school and read magazines like W, ELLE and Vogue and at that time I remember I was obsessed with the huge oversized ads in W and would ask my parents to buy the magazine for me so I could rip out the Chanel ads. I was really crazy about Chanel.
In high school, I thought maybe I wanted to be a fashion designer. In college I studied international business and finance, but wanted to quit to go to FIT. My parents talked me into staying and getting my business degree but immediately after graduating I moved to NYC and started interning at Esquire the day after I graduated. I also started taking classes for fun at FIT. Right away I knew I didn’t want to be a designer, and by the end of my first day of my internship I was obsessed with getting a job at a magazine. I interned at all different types of magazines. Esquire, COSMOgirl, Marie Claire, Vogue and ELLE. When I started interning at ELLE I remember thinking I don’t care how long it takes to intern – even if I have to work here 3 years unpaid, I’d rather be doing this than anything else in the world. The people who worked at ELLE seemed so cool to me. A group of people who really had good taste and had such an intense passion for finding cool things. I knew that this was the place I was meant to be. They were on the cutting edge of what were the newest, coolest, chicest clothing and accessories.
One day I was asked to do freelance work for ELLE. I couldn’t have been happier. It was supposed to be for 90 days. After a week our fashion director, a woman who has been the biggest influencer and supporter in my life, called me into her office and said, ” shut the door and sit down”. She said “I’m hiring you today.” It was a moment that really changed the rest of my life. That was 6 years ago and I’m still at Elle.
