On Tuesday evening, AnOther’s Susannah Frankel and Katie Shillingford spoke to Jack Sunnucks in a special conversation to celebrate 25 years of the magazine, hosted by Selfridges
On Tuesday evening, we celebrated 25 years of AnOther Magazine with a special one-off conversation featuring editor-in-chief Susannah Frankel and fashion director Katie Shillingford. Hosted by Dazed’s executive editor Jack Sunnucks in the opulent rouge Selfridges cinema and bar, the exclusive talk dove into the magazine’s longstanding history at the forefront of fashion and culture – from recollections and reflections to never told before stories and behind-the scenes anecdotes, high and low.
Over cocktails and popcorn, Frankel and Shillingford discussed how each issue develops around a central thematic – take Memory, Epic, or Monster as examples. Not always overtly, photographers, stylists and collaborators will draw inspiration from the notion, personalising, ideating and evolving it into the stories that grace our pages each issue.
For the 50th issue, that thematic was Kinship – the relationship between members of the same family; a feeling of being close or similar to other people or things – which felt apt in marking 25 years of the magazine and celebrating all those who have contributed to its making. It was a homecoming of sorts – both Solange and Pamela Anderson returning to the cover for the second time. Covers dedicated to Chanel, Givenchy, Comme des Garçons, Gucci and Prada also reflected long term relationships with designers at the heart of the AnOther Magazine.
Sunnucks asked what makes an AnOther talent. What is the AnOther perspective? “AnOther is about looking at things with another point of view, bringing what is not always obvious to the surface,” answered Frankel. Shillingford added: “And challenging things in a beautiful way.” At its core, AnOther is a document of the times, an exploration of culture and context.
With shared aims and ideologies, AnOther has been working with many of the same people for years – designers, photographers, stylists, casting agents and writers alike. At least some were in the audience, including Emma Wyman and Nell Kalonji as well as core members of the AnOther team: photographic director Helena Whelan, editor Sophie Bew, art director SJ Todd, producer Bryanna Kelly, and myself. The relationships are symbiotic. “In many ways, we’ve grown up together,” said Frankel, which prompts reflection on the magazine’s very foundations.
When Jefferson Hack co-created AnOther with Rankin back in 2001, it was one of very few biannual publications. Frankel has been a part of the publication since its inception, collaborating with Hack on nurturing and upholding its tone of voice, its spirit. “AnOther is rebellious,” says Frankel, “and sexy.”
The room breaks out in laughter as Frankel affectionately recounts anecdotes from the past. Early iterations of the publication saw Frankel’s collection reports, in which she’d interview designers on their seasonal collections. “I had two landlines, unheard of now,” she remembers. “Once, I had Marc Jacobs on one line and Tom Ford on the other.” To celebrate 15 years of the magazine, Frankel spent a year following Karl Lagerfeld – every show, every fitting – for a 30-page profile on the designer, written by Frankel, along with an edit of the six Chanel runway collections of 2015, photographed by Colin Dodgson and styled by Katie Shillingford. Lagerfeld was tender, gentle and kind-natured, Frankel recalls of her experience, which was as stressful as it was special. “Is that really the best you can do today Mrs Frankel?” Lagerfeld once asked her, before telling her she really ought “to know your Marlowe”.
Each issue of AnOther is a beautiful object. Shillingford remembers ripping images from magazines to pin up on her wall when she was young. “I hope we’re making that kind of imagery, the kind that people want to put up on their walls.”
The evening ended with a round of questions from attendees. Frankel and Shillingford offered advice and wisdom to a room full of readers, and spoke about their favourite covers, who they’d love to see in future issues, the magazine’s enduring relevance in the worlds of fashion, arts and culture. They discussed the publication’s form and structure – how each section functions, from the fashion stories, the art project and literary document section, to how each story is titled, using niche references from cultural classics in film, music and literature. They even let the crowd in on a little secret about who will be guest-editing the Document section in the upcoming Autumn/Winter 2026 issue.
