January 22, 2024

Man About Town: Derek Blasberg Never Says No

37 minutes

Derek Blasberg, a dynamic force in the worlds of fashion and media, boasts a multifaceted career as a writer, editor, and a New York Times bestselling author. Previously YouTube’s head of fashion and beauty and director of public figures, Blasberg transformed the platform, earning praise from industry luminaries like Tom Ford. His influence extends to the Gagosian Gallery, where he spearheaded the relaunch of Gagosian Quarterly and collaborated with renowned image makers, especially in celebrating the life and work of legendary American photographer Richard Avedon. After his 2023 Gagosian landmark exhibition Avedon 100 in New York, Blasberg follows with the launch of Iconic Avedon: A Centennial Celebration of Richard Avedon in Paris on January 22, 2024. A graduate of NYU with degrees in dramatic literature and journalism, Blasberg comments on his journey from Vogue assistant to front-row favorite, underlining his extroversion, passion for the fashion industry, and the importance of never saying no—and that’s what’s contemporary.

Episode Highlights:

Sweet nostalgia: Blasberg remembers his upbringing in St. Louis, Missouri, as typical and all-American, but not one that facilitated a knowledge of fashion from the get-go.

Surrounded by manuscripts: With a mother who was the managing editor of a medical journal, Blasberg had his first connection to documents and texts through medicine and later as a prolific note-passer at school.

Contrasts: “I had a fundamental lack of understanding or loose grasp of the fashion industry, as I now know it today,” Blasberg says.

Beginnings: Being predigital but a natural extrovert, Blasberg found an agency and advocated for himself, with his first foray into the fashion world writing biographies for models, later working for Vogue and W magazines.

Hired and fired from Vogue: Blasberg calls it an educational process and experience, even though managing and assisting “was probably not the best fit for me.”

The evolving role of the journalist: Though the traditional writer role doesn’t exist in the same form it did two decades ago, Blasberg sees the ability to express oneself in written language as more important than ever.

Do readers exist?: Regardless of form, people may not be reading but are still consuming content and “still curious what people have to say and what they have to write,” Blasberg notes.

Bazaar Models: Blasberg’s books explore successful models and muses in a form that fuses literature, journalism, and sheer curiosity about the lives of talents.

Man About Town: Blasberg has a unique freedom and independence in navigating the fashion industry, which he sees as a result of open-minded optimism.

Perspective as a “trader in culture”: Blasberg notes that live streams, online and resale marketplaces, and influencer culture are ways in which the fashion industry, in particular, has changed over the course of just the last few years.

Full-circle moment: A career highlight is the Paris centennial celebration of Richard Avedon, Blasberg’s childhood hero.

Driven by passion: Inspired by icons like Richard Avedon and Marilyn Monroe, Blasberg’s work at the Gagosian Gallery is unique in its capability to portray other elements of culture and history, such as the Civil Rights Movement. His enthusiasm for the subject matter shines through.

What’s contemporary now: For Blasberg, it’s never saying ‘no.’

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By What's Contemporary

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