FARRAH STORR, editor in chief of Elle UK, is on a mission to propel the magazine to new heights. As a member of the Social Mobility Commission, she has been doing a great deal of work to attract more diverse talent to the media, and she is now bringing that work to the pages of the biggest-selling fashion magazine.
The September issue of the magazine last year has seen the launch of a new initiative, giving 12 students from underprivileged socioeconomic areas in the country unparalleled access to the creation of the landmark issue. The students, who were paid a junior freelancer’s fee, were mentored by members of the Elle team, and virtually attended the magazine’s cover shoot with Adwoa Aboah.
“Everyone deserves a door to be opened for them” Storr says of the initiative, launched in partnership with the commission. An accomplished editor, credited for the successful launch of Women’s Health and the turnaround of Cosmopolitan, Storr has also been leading the efforts of the commission for several years to identify ways to attract talent from more varied backgrounds into the media landscape.
One of the first initiatives she introduced was a scholarship programme, offering paid internships to students, which now runs across Hearstmagazines. For someone who built her career through many an unpaid internship, it’s a cause that’s very close to her heart. And, Storr has promised further initiatives to “better support, promote and open the door to marginalised groups and voices” from the publishing company.
Born to a Pakistani father and an English mother in Salford, near Manchester, Storr is aware that “opportunity isn’t as fairly distributed as we’d like to believe” in various sectors of the society including media, and she is committed to address this issue. “There are no shortcuts, but there are ways of opening doors,” she notes.
Growing up, she says her career options, as dictated by her ‘ambitious’ immigrant father were: doctor, engineer, lawyer... or failure. Yet, a writing competition in the late 1990s would open a crucial door for her, by giving access to the media, and once she stepped through it, there was no looking back. With all her initiatives targeting the next generation, she ultimately aims to get young women to understand that there is a media career path available to them, should they wish to take it on.
