'I changed the world'

Glenda Bailey claims a global influence for her work at Marie Claire. Now she is reviving Harper's Bazaar, she tells Lynette Peck

People like to knock Glenda Bailey. In the past, journalists have focused more on her hair ("an extravagant mop of copper-coloured frizz") and her strong regional accent than on her professional capabilities. She is the diametric opposite of the chic ice-queen Anna Wintour, editor of US Vogue; perhaps her no-nonsense, larger-than-life persona just doesn't chime with people's idea of how the editor of an upmarket fashion magazine should be.

But, after more than 15 years in the business, she can take the knocks. "I'm not from a privileged background and I don't hide my past, and I'm sure some people find that intimidating. They look at me and realise I am where I am because of my talent. It isn't a popularity contest, so judge me by what I produce."

As editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar (US) and former editor of British and American Marie Claire, Bailey has won numerous awards, including two from Amnesty International.

Bailey, 42, took a degree in fashion at Kingston Polytechnic, and her first job involved designing a collection for an Italian house. The switch to journalism came in 1986, when she became the editor of Honey. She was made launch editor of UK Marie Claire two years later. By June 1996, the call had come from across the pond, and she was hired to edit the magazine's US edition.

Under Bailey, US Marie Claire became the best-selling fashion magazine on the news-stand. She ran features on women and Aids and on female genital mutilation. It was an approach that led to an increase in sales of 82 per cent over five years. Then, last year, she became the latest editor in the 134-year history of the fashion bible Harper's Bazaar, whose news-stand sales she has increased by 12 per cent. Part of her success in cracking the US market has been recognising the cultural differences.

"There are huge differences between the way US women and women in the UK think," she says. "In the US, they have Hollywood on their doorstep and see glorious images of exquisite women all their lives. They have ideas of perfection and they spend a vast amount on beauty and fashion products. In Britain, you feel guilty about pampering yourself – you can have a beautiful woman who owns a stately home and wears an expensive tweed suit, but she will still have a ladder in her tights."

Now, the focus is on returning Harper's Bazaar to its high-fashion roots. "What I always find astounding in fashion magazines is that there is so little fashion," she says. "Bazaar has such a great heritage of offering its readers exquisite images that transcend our everyday lives. The magazine is known for offering its readers luxurious moments to enjoy fashion and glamour."

She is embracing the magazine's heritage by bringing back its decorative logo and elegantly stylised cover, and reintroducing the "Why Don't You...?" column created by Diana Vreeland, Bazaar's editor in the Forties and Fifties.

"We want to bring Bazaar back to its traditional values, but with a modern twist," Bailey says. "Harper's Bazaar has a fabulous heritage, and for many years it hasn't been a commercial success. It is a wonderful challenge to take it on. It always stood for the most prestigious, luxurious and beautiful things in the world."

Bailey's motives and ambitions are lofty. "I am a fashion and beauty editor first and foremost, and my high-profile work has had huge effects and changed the world for the better." Her proudest achievement, she says, is the Look Good Feel Better programme that she pioneered with the Royal Marsden Hospital, in London, organising makeovers for people having chemotherapy. "It was very dear to my heart," she says, "as my mother, aunt and grandmother died of breast cancer."

The project continues under the guidance of Hilary Dart, global president of Calvin Klein cosmetics, and Caroline Neville, chairman of Neville McCarthy Associates, who both deserve "huge kudos", Bailey says, for expanding the programme from seven hospitals to 70.

Bailey enjoys the New York lifestyle. "I feel fortunate to go to premieres and have dinner with creative and exciting people and wear the best clothes. But you also have to understand the life of your readers – they are the most important."

This is a version of an interview in the December issue of 'Beauty' magazine