New York Magazine editor-in-chief David Haskell announced today that Lindsay Peoples Wagner (@lpeopleswagner) will be the next editor-in-chief of the Cut, New York’s site for women, covering style, self, culture, and power. Peoples Wagner will conceive the strategic direction for the Cut’s next chapter, overseeing all editorial content, events, brand extensions, and more. She joins the Cut from Teen Vogue, where she has been editor-in-chief since 2018; she is also the co-founder of the Black In Fashion Council, focused on the advancement of Black people in the fashion and beauty industry.
This will be a return to the Cut for Peoples Wagner, who was previously the site’s fashion market editor from 2015 to 2018, writing about fashion, race, and culture and producing photo shoots and celebrity profiles. Her last major feature for the Cut was “Everywhere and Nowhere,” an in-depth examination of what it’s really like to be Black and work in the fashion industry, featuring more than 100 people of color’s insights and perspectives. While at Teen Vogue, Peoples Wagner launched Generation Next, a mentorship initiative which invited six diverse designers to showcase their lines at New York Fashion Week in September 2019. Under her leadership, the publication put a spotlight on new voices, publishing its first-ever cover featuring a trans person of color with actor Indya Moore and making musician Lil Nas X the face of its annual music issue, marking his first cover in spite of the fact that he had a No. 1 song out.
Peoples Wagner will be taking the reins of the Cut from Stella Bugbee, who announced in October that she would be moving into the role of editor-at-large at New York Magazine. Bugbee was the Cut’s first editor-in-chief.
“I cannot wait to see what Lindsay does as the Cut’s new editor-in-chief,” says David Haskell. “She is that extraordinary thing: a leader with a vision, someone in firm command of the terrain while also able to see beyond the horizon. Her time at the Cut was memorable — legendary, even — and she gets what makes it such a special publication. She will arrive at a time of massive change in the lives of the Cut’s audience, as well as in the fashion and media industries, and I’m certain she has the confidence and imagination to meet that opportunity and build on Stella Bugbee’s phenomenal legacy. Lindsay will also be an integral member of New York’s editorial leadership and be a trusted partner as we chart the magazine’s future.”
“Not long after Lindsay first came to the Cut, she came into my office with a prepared deck of printouts and pitched an entirely new column that she would cast, style and write, even though it was beyond the scope of her role,” says Stella Bugbee. “She had incredible ambition mixed with a sure-footed confidence. And as it turns out, she was a phenomenal scout for talent that would become household names, from Cardi B to Lil Yachty, Ashley Graham, and Issa Rae. I remember thinking, Someday Lindsay should run the Cut, so, naturally, I’m thrilled that she will be coming back to take the reins. Her commitment to creating an inclusive fashion community is unparalleled in the industry. She’s a force who’s just at the beginning of her career, and I look forward to watching her as she blazes her path forward.”
“We’re all multifaceted human beings, and we can enjoy fashion and want to enjoy some fun but also really care about the state of the world and where we are in politics,” Peoples Wagner tells the New York Times. “I think the Cut has done a really good job of not putting women in boxes.”
During her first tenure at the Cut, Peoples Wagner won the ASME Next Award in 2017, honoring outstanding achievement by magazine journalists under the age of 30. More recently, she was celebrated among Business of Fashion’s 2019 “BoF 500” and named to the 2020 Forbes “30 Under 30” list. She was also included on the 2020 “Root 100” list of most influential African Americans.
Earlier in her career, Peoples Wagner held fashion roles at Style.com, Teen Vogue, and O, The Oprah Magazine. She hails from Wisconsin, graduated from Buena Vista University with a bachelor’s degree in art and journalism, and currently resides in Brooklyn.
The Cut is one of the leading women’s media brands, publishing award-winning commentary, defining trends (from normcore to millennial pink), and launching new talent. The Cut was named Website of the Year on Adweek’s 2018 Hot List and was a 2019 National Magazine Award finalist for best service and lifestyle website. The Cut began as a fashion blog in 2008, following earlier incarnations as a part-time Fashion Week blog. Under Bugbee’s direction, it relaunched in 2012 as a full-fledged fashion and lifestyle site, and with a 2017 redesign, it gave more room to coverage of politics, careers, health, gender issues, and more. Today, it publishes esteemed writers Rebecca Traister, Cathy Horyn, Allison P. Davis, Matthew Schneier, and many others.