Joanna Hillman, Senior Fashion Market Editor, Teen Vogue Magazine
Joanna Hillman
Big Apple Dream Comes True for Teen Vogue Editor
During her first visit to New York City at the influential age of 16, Joanna Hillman was captivated by what she described as the fairy tale-like experience of staying at the famous Plaza Hotel, taking in Fifth Avenue and walking in Central Park. More than a decade later, she has ironically found herself back in the Big Apple – fulfilling her own childhood fairy tale. Hillman, BA’01 (Visual Arts), is Senior Fashion Market Editor with Teen Vogue Magazine where she covers New York and Italian fashion markets, and puts together models’ outfits and sets as a stylist for magazine fashion shoots.
The former child model once dreamed of gracing the pages of Teen Vogue’s parent – fashion authority, Vogue Magazine – so, in a way, her fantasy came true. “I remember telling my mom I’d be in Vogue Magazine some day – so this is close... When I was little, I got used to being on sets in front of a photographer and loving that whole set atmosphere and here I am in New York doing a similar type of thing... I still kind of pinch myself in certain situations and know that I could never experience this in any other city,” Hillman explains. “If you’re not sure what you want, it’s impossible. But if you know where you want to get to, you can at least make a plan and do your best to try to get there.”
To some extent, Hillman’s plan began to take shape during that visit to New York in her teens because she realized it was a place she wanted to be. Then the rest of the plan formed during her years at Western. That’s where she decided to study visual arts and later spent a semester abroad at Lorenzo de’ Medici School in Florence, Italy where she took some courses in fashion design history.
It’s also where she met Emily Creed, BA’01 (Psychology), a friend who later helped her land a job as an assistant to freelance fashion stylist Lori Goldstein in 2003. Creed – now an entertainment editor at Men’s Vogue – worked as a personal assistant to Goldstein shortly after graduating from Western and recommended Hillman for an assistant stylist job. Hillman was working at Slavin Agency, a multi-brand fashion wholesale company in her hometown of Toronto, when the invitation to New York came.
“If I didn’t become friends with Emily, I wouldn’t be here. Sometimes it’s people – it’s that connection that can change your path,” Hillman says.
While working for Goldstein on H&M clothing campaigns and on photo shoots with magazines such as W, the Japanese and Italian editions of Vogue, and Vanity Fair, Hillman gained experience that would land her a job as Fashion Market Editor with Teen Vogue in 2005. Now, as Senior Fashion Market Editor, she has moved from covering denim, lingerie and New York showrooms to reporting on fashion for all of New York and Italy.
Her next goal is to do more styling for the magazine. She has had experiences some people only dream of – including a photo shoot with actress Angelina Jolie and celebrity portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz for the cover of Vanity Fair, while working with Goldstein. She also met renowned photographer Richard Avedon – known for his striking photos of the rich and beautiful – shortly before he died in 2004.
Hillman now lives a fast-paced, glamourous life that would leave some people stressed and weary. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. “The best part of my job is the relationships I have and it’s such a fun and energetic work atmosphere. I couldn’t ask for anything better. We’re always laughing – always having fun. It’s very creative and I work with such talented people. It’s so many things,” says Hillman.
Her advice for new graduates hoping to enter the fashion field is to intern as much as possible when first starting out and to never lose sight of their dreams. “If you want it, it’s there. You just really have to want it and go after it.”
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