Amy Astley

Architectural digest’s new editor plans to bring in younger readers, especially online by adding new verticals. 

- Emma Bazilian

The September issue of Architectural Digest—your first full issue—recently hit newsstands. Tell me about the process of putting that issue together and what changes you introduced.

I did it very, very fast, in a matter of weeks, which isn’t normally how you put together any September issue. But I think the issue gives you a sense of the fact that I’m looking for personality, energy, interesting spaces, interesting homes. I want fewer anonymous homes. I think that people are interested to know who’s living a life in this house. And that’s why I used that great Diana Vreeland quote in my editor’s letter: “Few things are more fascinating than a peek into the private hours of how people live.” I don’t want the magazine to look like a real estate catalog, cold and staged. Like I keep saying, it’s all about having a mix.

You shot Marc Jacobs’ New York townhouse for the cover story. How did you pull that together so quickly?