Tatler editor Reardon steps down

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 5, 2017

In a year when a number of major editors have stepped down from the high-end magazines they’ve run for years, Kate Reardon unexpectedly resigned on Monday as editor of Condé Nast’s Tatler. The high-end title is a major forum for luxury brands and also a big recipient of their advertising budgets.

Reardon, who is believed to be pursuing an unspecified new project, has had “seven very successful, accomplished and high-profile years at the helm of the title,” the magazine’s publisher said.

Although seen at times as an anachronism in an increasingly diversity- and equality-focused world, Tatler has been a success story for Condé Nast as it faces up to the new reality of glossy magazine publishing.

While new British Vogue editor Edward Enninful famously said he wanted to clear the Vogue staff of “posh girls”, Reardon has described herself as a “honking great Sloane” and maximises the posh girl impact. That plays well with its readers who include traditional landowning readers, the affluent middle classes and ‘new money’, many of them high-spending ex-pats now living in the UK’s most affluent areas.

She raised the circulation to around 80,000 monthly, much of that being paid for, which is a good figure for a niche title. She has also significantly boosted its online page views and social media following and launched  a number of B2C events that have engaged with its readership.

Reardon’s (and Tatler’s) profile was raised back in 2014 when a largely-sympathetic BBC documentary Posh People followed her in her working life and saw viewing figures of 7 million.

Nicholas Coleridge, Chairman of Condé Nast Britain, said: “Kate has been a first class Editor of Tatler, producing a magazine of wit, mischief and glamour. She has an instinctive understanding of her readers, you feel her personality on every page.”

Reardon began her career as a 19-year-old fashion assistant at American Vogue, and at 21 was made the fashion director of Tatler – the youngest ever at Condé Nast. She was a founding advisory board member of Net-A-Porter and spent a decade as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. 
 
Deputy Editor, Gavanndra Hodge, will oversee the title in the interim and a successor will be announced in the New Year.