Type “Faran Krentcil” into any search engine, and you will immediately receive several thousand hits concerning Bryant Park, fashionista.com, New York magazine and Fashion Week Daily. For one who has never heard the name before, it is made quite clear that Krentcil is a force in the fashion world. So who is this mysterious editor, writer and fashion enthusiast? It’s said that the end depends on the beginning, so we’ll start there – namely, Andover, Massachusetts. Krentcil grew up in the town of Andover, and she graduated from Phillips Academy, Class of ’99. She was very involved in The Phillipian during her years here, and wrote most of her coverage on visual art and theatre, both of which she was very involved in. Krentcil said, “I remember my first Phillipian article came out when I was 15, and the thrill of seeing my name in print, knowing that my writing was getting talked about, people — it was a fulfillment I had never experienced before.” One of Krentcil’s most avid supporters and nurturers of her writing talent was faculty member Craig Thorn. She said, “Craig Thorn once told me ‘You’re a lot like Joni Mitchell… you have this natural rhythm, and you respect the way each word sounds out loud; now that you know, you need to be even more aware of it and push it as hard as you can.” After Andover, Krentcil attended Duke University and majored in art and dramatic writing, graduating in 2003. After leaving Duke, Krentcil snagged several positions at various fashion institutions over the course of a mere five years. Krentcil said, “First I worked in the fashion closet at Jane magazine. Then I wrote a tiny, itty-bitty shopping column in New York magazine. Next was The Daily — fashionweekdaily.com; If US magazine and Women’s Wear Daily mated, this would be their child. Last year I started Fashionista.com… And now I’m at Nylon.” With a wicked sense of humor in her blogs and in person, a concise but fun and honest approach to writing and excellent insight into up-and-coming trends, Krentcil’s writings and online posts are all equally interesting to read — from short articles on dating to extensive pieces about up-and-coming designers. Her language and content is accessible but exceptionally knowledgeable and certainly appealing towards a younger crowd. Krentcil said, “I have a unique rhythm [in writing], and I try to cultivate that as much as possible. And my voice is funny without being malicious. There’s almost a school of thought that the Devil Wears Prada is the ways people are supposed to act in fashion. On lots of websites people are critical without being analytical. And it makes one think, ‘Who made you an expert?’” Now, after years of attending fashion week, scouring New York for the latest trends and critiquing upcoming styles in print and blogs alike, Krentcil has followed her upward trajectory and moved on to the big leagues—she has joined the ranks of Nylon magazine as Digital Director. Krentcil said, “Basically I’m in charge of how we express ourselves online and on NylonTV. Every day we look at what people at the magazine are interested in, what the fashion industry is interested in, what the music industry likes, what we’re seeing on streets; what people wear, what they’re listening to, what parties are going on — we take these things and publish six to twelve stories about what we’re obsessed with at a given second.” She added, “It’s a job that becomes your whole life. Any time you’re working in a creative field, you’re taking stuff you love to do anyways and funneling it into something where you get paid. [I do] a little less journalism and a lot more trend spotting. It’s basically creative director, but instead of figuring out what model to use for the next shoot, I’m finding what fashion trend is coming up, what concert to take pictures at, etc.” Nylon magazine is a fashion entity of its own caliber — wholly removed from the generic consumer, materialistic spoon-feeding that other popular publications offer readers. The name stems from the two cities that the magazine often features, New York and London. Some of the defining facets of Nylon are the dynamic photographs, bold layout and vintage, collage-like design. The magazine embodies vivacity, a free spirit and a lux, indie-chic lifestyle. The prose is rich and interesting, every picture is stunning and the artwork is unreasonably amazing. The magazine offers an artistic, underground, gritty look at pop culture and the fashion world; from the first glance at the cover, one knows that Nylon isn’t “just another fashion magazine”—the featured cover celebrities stray from the ubiquitous teen starlets and banal actresses who parade across covers of other publications countless times over. Now that Krentcil has made it to the top of the heap (and she is still in her twenties!) she offered some advice for aspiring journalists. She said, “I think that you should work really hard and never be afraid to ask for what you want, never be afraid to ask someone you admire for help… Be true to what you’re really interested in; don’t be afraid if what you see is the real story, don’t be afraid of asking real questions and don’t be afraid of being ambitious.”
