LAUREN SHERMAN
Fashion Journalist
The longtime fashion journalist has become one of the most influential voices in the industry with "Line Sheet," a Puck newsletter that explores the backchanneling, backstabbing, and board-room shenanigans that keep the fashion world interesting.
WHAT’S ONE BOOK, WORK OF ART, OR FILM THAT GOT YOU THROUGH AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE? Anne of Green Gables. I had a pretty lonely childhood (only child, single mom, lack of interest in organized sports), and a book was often my only companion. The Lucy Maud Montgomery series about an orphan living on Prince Edward Island, just trying to stay out of trouble and pursue an interesting life, honestly made me feel like it was possible that I could do the same. It taught me that you could have everything you wanted: a career, a marriage, and a pretty dress (the protagonist, Anne Shirley, was obsessed with “puffed” sleeves)—even if you weren’t born into such fortunate circumstances. Also, this is where I first found the term “kindred spirits”—or people who share a similar sensibility and outlook on life—which is something I still think about a lot.
WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT WERE YOU KNOWN FOR? My curly hair and asking too many questions. The neighbor would often refer to me as “Oprah.”
NAME AN INFLUENCE OF YOURS THAT MIGHT SURPRISE PEOPLE. My first real reporting job was at a business magazine, so I read a lot of James Surowiecki’s old column in The New Yorker, called “The Financial Page,” which taught me how to write about business and economics in a clear, entertaining way. But I’d say the author Michael Lewis and in particular his debut, Liar’s Poker—about his time working as a bond salesman on Wall Street during the 1980s boom—made a huge impression on me and has deeply influenced how I approach my work.
“"My curly hair and asking too many questions. The neighbor would often refer to me as 'Oprah.'"”
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF IN YOUR INDUSTRY? LESS OF? More creativity. Over the past decade, the fashion industry got lazy because consumers were overconsuming. You could present a dirty dish towel and they would buy it. There was a reticence to take risks because what was already available was selling. But now, fashion consumers have closets full of clothes and more sophisticated taste than ever, and they’re asking, Why should I buy something else? Executives in the industry have to get more creative, hire more daring talents, and ask themselves, Why should someone buy this?
WHAT QUESTION DO YOU ASK YOURSELF MOST OFTEN WHILE YOU’RE MAKING WORK? Why would anyone want to read this? If I don’t know the answer, then I have a problem.
IF YOU COULD ATTRIBUTE YOUR SUCCESS TO A SINGLE QUALITY, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Persistence. The only thing that works is to keep working.
in your life?
