EDITOR’S OFFICE
Iadore books. Coffee table hardbacks, autobiographies, anthologies of short stories, you name it. But my true favourite is the epic novel: doorstop tomes that transport you to the Belgian Congo, Second World War London, Partition India… My husband recently bought me ‘A Year in Books’ from my local bookshop Lutyens & Rubinstein. Every month I am sent a paperback, chosen by them based on a questionnaire he’s filled in. Allowing myself the time to enjoy these novels seems the ultimate luxury – opening each book means pausing to escape into my imagination, even if only for 10 or 20 minutes at a time. It’s this very quality of books that led me to a passion for print. Just like a book, a good magazine encourages you to step back and slow down, and this is the indulgence that we hope to offer you with these pages; the chance to dream of your perfect interior, to develop your sense of style and discover interesting places, spaces and people. But I come to my first issue as Editor at a time of seismic change in the print-media world. The word ‘transformation’ has never been so loaded as we move forward to create multi-platform magazine brands that engage our treasured readers in many more ways than just via the printed page. I find it incredibly exciting, especially as I realise the scope that innovative technology brings. I’m delighted that this issue launches our partnership with smartphone app Ownable, a new and brilliant way to shop from magazines. When you see a product you love, you simply open the app on your phone, enter the page number and with no more than a couple of clicks you can have bought directly from our favourite brands and retailers. Not just that, prices are also checked against major high-street names to ensure you get the best deal. Inspired by our New Neutrals shoot to add more texture to my pared-back home, I Ownabled (yes, I am hoping this becomes a verb) the vase on page 73 before this issue had even hit the news stand. This was super-exciting as a consumer (so easy) but also as an editor – whereas before we could offer you that interiors inspiration moment, now we can also give you a shopping high. This might just be indulgence 2.0.