Harper’s Bazaar US Appoints the First Arab Woman of Color as its EIC
By Malak Khaled
Samira Nasr was born in Montreal, Canada to a Lebanese father and a Trinidadian mother. She moved to New York to acquire a master’s degree in Journalism then started working in fashion publishing. Nasr got her start at Mirabella before working as an assistant to Grace Coddington at Vogue for 3 years. She then moved to Harper’s Bazaar and high-level styling and consulting for clients including fashion and beauty brands like Laura Mercier, Tiffany & Co., Tory Burch, Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Clarins and more. A few years later she quit her job and worked as a freelancer until she became Style Director for InStyle Magazine, publishing her first issue in 2012.
Now, and six months after Glenda Bailey’s stepping down from Harper’s Bazaar, Hearst Magazines executives revealed her successor, which is none other than Samira Nasr. After 153 years of publications, Nasr marks the first black EIC in the history of Harper’s Bazaar. Nasr is said to be taking over at Bazaar on the 6th of July.
Her appointment not only attracts a younger audience to Bazaar but also opens the gates for black girls and women to follow and achieve their dreams.
In Nasr’s post on the magazine’s Instagram page, she says that due to her parents and her background “[her] world view is expansive and is anchored in the belief that representation matters.” She also explains that, “It is a thrilling challenge to be in a position to re-imagine what a fashion magazine can be in today’s world. And I know that this position places me in a particular intersection that I do not take lightly.”
She further explains that she is “[committed] to begin a new chapter in Bazaar’s history” and in a strong statement says that she “[will] work to give all voices a platform to tell stories that have never been told.”
Nasr did not overlook thanking the Black Lives Matter protests saying, “To all the protesters, community organizers, activists and those currently fighting to be safe, to be seen and heard through our own narratives, I see you, I thank you, and I hope we can join forces to amplify the message of equality because Black lives matter.”
Nasr ended her Instagram speech by saying: “I cannot wait to get started and I look forward to this new beginning with you”
