Meet Kate Davidson Hudson, co-founder and CEO of Editorialist.
Kate Davidson Hudson comes from years of fashion editorial experience covering the luxury women's market. Graduating magna cum laude from the Honors Program at The George Washington University, her work experience includes tenures at Surface magazine, five years as a fashion accessories editor at Harper's Bazaar, and four years at ELLE, where she served as Accessories Director for two years. During her editorial career, she specifically covered the luxury designer accessories market in London, Milan, Paris, and New York, along with watch and jewelry markets in Geneva and Basel, Switzerland. During her tenure as Accessories Director at ELLE, she launched and directed content for ELLE Accessories online in March of 2010, and launched the ELLE Accessories blog Accessories File in April 2010. In 2012, Hudson oversaw and directed content for the relaunch of the print edition of ELLE Accessories. In addition, Hudson continually contributes her extensive styling experience for editorial publications and luxury brands. She also currently contributes as an industry expert through the Editorialist.
The concept of Editorialist, editorial-meets-commerce, connects the dots between aspiration and access and offers a new construct for how we consume our fashion media. With the pieces on their pages largely available to purchase as part of Editorialist’s meticulously curated buy, they stand behind the images they conjure and the style cues they impart by buying into the pieces, designers, and collections they put forth in their editorials.
Be sure to follow Kate on Instagram and shop the Editorialist!
December 3, 2018
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R&S
What inspired the decision to create Editorialist:
Kate
While I was at ELLE, nearly seven years ago my business partner and I realized that we were consuming our media mainly through digital channels on the day-to-day; and, we were also shopping exclusively online due to our busy, career-focused lives. We thought there must be a better way to marry the powerful editorial content we were consuming with our desire for immediate access to the product in the fashion editorials were we reading. So we launched Editorialist as the one-stop solution for accessing all of the product in top editorials in one frictionless, streamlined experience.
R&S
What were some of the biggest challenges you were faced with when starting Editorialist and how did you overcome these obstacles:
Kate
Learning the digital vernacular and resigning yourself to the fact that your business is, for all intents and purposes, always under [metaphorical] scaffolding in the sense that you need to be constantly innovating and testing and improving to optimize the experience for your user in a way for which my background in traditional print media never prepared me.
View Kate's Essentials
R&S
Walk us through a typical work day:
Kate
Every day is entirely different. But I typically start off my day with a market appointment, which is going to see a designer or walk through a new collection at a designer’s showroom. Then I head to the office where I meet with my team and review the next issue production lineup as well as pending stories in the production pipeline. From there, it’s a working lunch with a brand partner or PR. Then it’s back to the office for story run-throughs, tech and partnership meetings. And, most days are capped with a work drink or dinner with editorial collaborators, brand partners, or PRs.
R&S
What do you love most about your work:
Kate
I love that I’m constantly inspired. Whether it’s a new collection or brand we’ve discovered, new talent that we’re shooting or interviewing for the magazine, or new concepts centered on fashion, technology, beauty or culture that the team brings to the table for editorial consideration, each person and idea that I encounter on a daily basis keeps me so inspired throughout my work day.
R&S
You decompress each day by:
Kate
Cuddling up with my two young children for stories at bedtime every night.
R&S
What’s a trend you predict will catch on this year:
Kate
I think this idea of new androgyny—with the proliferation of chic suiting options and menswear plaids reworked into more feminine silhouettes is offering a brand of understated sexiness that we’re all in the mood for in the current cultural climate.
R&S
On the weekends, we’ll find you wearing:
Kate
If I’m not in riding gear or lululemon workout clothes, you’ll find me in an Isabel Marant sweater, Frame cigarette jeans, and Gianvito Rossi moto boots or Veja sneakers. And, if it’s not a good hair day… a Maison Michel baseball cap.
R&S
Skincare product you can’t live without:
Kate
Elta MD UV-Clear. It’s a slightly tinted moisturizer with SPF 45. I am very fair so I almost never leave the house without some sunscreen. This is a perfect one-hit-wonder because it has a silky texture, a hint of color and a heavy dose of sun protection all in one.
R&S
What’s next for Editorialist:
Kate
Editorialist is growing quickly! We’re constantly discovering new, directional brands and offering access to them for our readers. We will also be increasing our daily editorial output, including the launch of our new Outfit Index, which essentially is a digital personal stylist and compiles hundreds of immediately shoppable ideas for outfits to try on a daily basis. It’s basically my go-to every morning for a dose of fresh style inspiration and a great resource for our readers to tap into every day.
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