InStyle Editor-In-Chief Ariel Foxman on New Products & Old Songs
Photo: Micaela Rossato
Ariel Foxman took an alternative route to the top of one of the most widely read fashion magazines. The editor of InStyle worked in publishing (as in books), before landing a gig at The New Yorker, launching men’s magazine Cargo, and settling into his current role in 2008. His fiancé, Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, is a principal in the South Bronx, but he might be even more product-obsessed than his fashionable groom-to-be. Below, the two dish on everything from failed Sun-In experiments to their go-to rainy day movies.
YB: You started your career in publishing, then went to the New Yorker, and now you work in fashion. How did that literary start affect you, or shape your perspective?
AF: I’ve always really liked fashion, but I’ve always really loved content. I’m all about connecting with an audience, telling the story; understanding who we are talking to, about what and why, and then finding the most innovative way to do just that. The fact that I get to do this in the worlds of fashion, beauty and celebrity is just major icing.
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YB: You’re not necessarily wearing the hair and makeup trends chronicled by InStyle, so how do you approach them? What happens when a trend isn’t your favorite, but readers might love it?
AF: It’s not about favorites or not favorites. For us, it’s about authenticity. We report the news, of course, when it comes to trends, but we are only going to advocate for trends that we are ourselves are going to buy, try, and wear. We are not going to push our readers and users to get excited about something we are rolling our eyes about back at the office. We have to maintain a trusted relationship with our audience first and foremost.
YB: You recently tweeted: Enough with “…is the new black.” What else is on your “enough” list?
AF: Editors and designers saying something is a “modern twist on a classic” and anyone using the word “great” when they can use any other adjective.”
YB: You lead an enormously successful magazine. How do you approach leadership?
AF: I know what I know, and I know what I don’t know. I surround myself with incredibly talented people and I let them do what they do best. Also, someone once told me that a leader’s energy is like sun that can rise and warms an entire organization. Or it doesn’t. I try to remember that.
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YB: You must be inundated with new products all the time. Do you love to test them out or stick to the tried-and-true?
BC: I am obsessed with trying new products. I always think there’s something better out there than what I am currently using even if I have some favorites. I am a total sucker for a pushy store clerk, and it doesn’t help that Ariel is always bringing home new things to try.
AF: Every once in a while, I get very excited about a new product, but I am incredibly non-compliant. I can’t stick to a new regimen. Integrating something new into a routine is very challenging. I usually just fall back on my basics.
YB: So what are your basics?
BC: Staples include Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster—add it to your moisturizer and you get an instant tan without clogging pores. Caudalie Vinoperfect Day Perfecting Cream SPF 15 is super light, you don’t sweat in it, and Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Youth Activating Oil is the first thing I put on every morning after washing my face. It acts like a serum and it makes your skin feel bright. Crest White Strips and Colgate OpticWhite toothpaste keep me smiling and Rohto Eye Drops help when I leave for work at 6 a.m.
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AF: Patricia Wexler Universal Anti-Aging Cleanser, Tracie Martyn Absolute Purity Toner, Clarins Double Serum Concentrate, D.S. and Durga Cologne, Mario Badescu Drying Lotion, Laicale Molding Paste, and YSL Touché Eclat are some I like to fall back on.
YB: Do you ever look back on a certain look you had and think, “What was I thinking?”
BC: All the time! When I was a teenager, I put Sun-In in my hair. I also just did a closet purge and found some really offensive boot cut jeans. Enough said.
AF: I had long hair with a middle part for a large chunk of the late nineties. I also wore a fake nose ring. Not cute.
YB: New Yorkers have endless definitions of style. How do you define it?
BC: 90’s casual with a Japanese take on preppy
AF: Navy, black, contemporary tailoring.
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YB: What trends are exciting you right now?
BC: I love flannel anything. I just got a great Band of Outsiders shirt I am going to wear up until the edge of spring. For work, I am ditching button ups and living in suits with thin sweaters underneath.
AF: Oversized coats. But not oversized pants.
YB: What kind of person turns your head and makes you think, “Now, that’s someone with style”?
BC: I work in the South Bronx as a principal at a middle and high school and I am always amazed by the ways in which the kids put together their looks. The resourcefulness to both emulate and develop new trends is inspiring.
YB: How do the two of you make time for each other? For your individual selves?
BC: It’s all about scheduling. Ariel is a priority for me so I make sure to carve out time for him the same way I have to for other important parts of my day. You can’t just assume your paths will cross; you have to plan for it.
AF: We are conscious of making Friday nights special. And we’ve also been taking a weekly dance class together, it’s an amazing time to be focused as a couple, no matter how busy the week gets.
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YB: What’s the best life advice you’ve ever received?
BC: “If your partner feels it … then it is true.”
AF: “Listening is not about preparing a defense. And, be nice.”
YB: What would you tell your 20-something self?
BC: I would tell my early 20-something self to call home more often.
AF: Go out every single night. Spend every dollar.
YB: What’s your go-to breakfast?
BC: A venti Starbucks iced coffee and anything I can grab and go. I leave the house at 6 a.m.
AF: Iced coffee.
YB: Your favorite way to exercise?
BC: I love a class at the gym. 30-60-90 at Equinox, in particular.
AF: Treadmill or tennis.
YB: Your rainy day go-to movie?
BC: Funny Girl
AF: Annie Hall or Bridesmaids
YB: And the last song you listened to?
BC: Brandy, “I Wanna Be Down”
AF: Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”
BC: We keep it old school on the Foxman-Cardet Spotify
