LONDON — Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou, the founder and global editor in chief of 10 Magazine, is holding court.
She’s celebrating a milestone anniversary for the title she founded 25 years ago, a feat in an industry facing cutbacks.
Toasting the big anniversary, 10 Magazine has released 18 covers and on one of them is British model Erin O’Connor, transformed into Neophitou-Apostolou with coils of black hair and an all-black uniform, which naturally includes Balenciaga, Giorgio Armani and Alaïa, a staple of her wardrobe.
Erin O’Connor on the cover of 10 Magazine.
“Humour and satire is important,” Neophitou-Apostolou said in an interview.
“I would wear Alaïa to travel because I can wear it on a flight and it wouldn’t get crumpled and I can go straight into a business meeting. It also just flattered my body, I’m a girl of curves,” she continued.
Neophitou-Apostolou’s zeal is to be admired. She recently twisted her ankle while on vacation in Greece — she was wearing an Alaïa outfit, but was without her impossibly high Alaïa heels. She has since been making her way around fashion shows and parties on crutches.
At 10 Magazine’s 25-year celebration during London Fashion Week, the editor found a corner spot at Sael in Piccadilly and turned it into her throne as friends, colleagues and business partners came to pay their respects.
Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou with her son Zac.
Courtesy 10 Magazine
“I really believe we should pull people up,” Neophitou-Apostolou said.
She’s given a cover to Edward Enninful as he embarks on his own magazine, 72, and Emma Grede, cofounder of Skims and CEO of Good American, as well as the plus-size burlesque dancer Dirty Martini.
“Not that Edward needs any help from me, but he’s on his journey now and he’s worked under the umbrella of quite a lot of control and a lot of choices that weren’t always his own. There’s so many beautiful voices that celebrate creativity, but in a very specific way. We’ve all got our own little football teams and we’ve all got our fans,” Neophitou-Apostolou said.
She doesn’t have a formula per se for 10 Magazine’s covers — everything is photographically led and 25 years into producing the magazine, she’s steered clear of putting Hollywood celebrities on the cover. When she does, it’s a one-off instance such as Blondie or David and Victoria Beckham on a his-and-hers cover.
Edward Enninful on the cover of 10 Magazine.
She contends that fashion died a death in the environment of relying on celebrities to sell copies.
“I’ve always tried to avoid the predictable path of very well-known celebrities because, for me, that somehow hinders [what you can do] because they’re real people and then there’s a publicist layer. I like to try and keep it all as independent as I can,” Neophitou-Apostolou said.
10 Magazine has launched international editions in the U.S., Germany, Japan and Australia.
Neophitou-Apostolou is ambitious about expanding the magazine into further territories such as the U.A.E., Korea, India and possibly Greece, a nod to her proud heritage.
Emma Grede on the cover of 10 Magazine.
She still finds publishing a magazine to be an inexplicable experience, especially one 25 years in the business.
“The beginning was very much about exercising or having a home to have creative freedom. It was really selfish, but I was very focused on the fact that I didn’t want to be controlled in my creative conversations. As a creator, there’s so much frustration in being over-edited and controlled,” Neophitou-Apostolou said.
She has used the 25th anniversary issue of 10 to be all about freedom — in expression and politics — referring to the trans community being villainized by politicians.
“We have a different type of power of communication as a platform that isn’t linked to men in suits dictating what we do. We can make choices that actually can have a positive impact on our community. It was important for me that this conversation exists in our huge portfolio,” she said.
Dirty Martini on the cover of 10 Magazine.
Neophitou-Apostolou started her career at Condé Nast and the British newspapers.
“Being at Conde Nast from almost the beginning, I could see that was not going to be possible in that environment because there are so many boxes to tick. Even though 10 began purely as a creative conversation, I quickly realized that you have to wear two hats. You have to achieve a balance of creativity and business,” Neophitou-Apostolou added.
She remembers attending her first clutch of advertiser meetings for 10 Magazine with a Ryman’s folder filled with the names of editors and people that were willing to contribute to the magazine’s first issue.
Neophitou-Apostolou was inspired by the DIY-nature of Terry Jones’ i-D Magazine and the fashion magazine Dutch.
“The challenge of making the magazine was getting the money to print it — I did that by getting a car loan because the banks were unwilling to loan me 20,000 pounds for part of the print run,” Neophitou-Apostolou said.
The founder, publisher and editor in chief of 10 now oversees her own indie media group, Zac Publishing Ltd., which is named after her son. The magazine comes out twice a year, while 10 Men is also biannual. There’s also an editorial website and an Instagram page, with a following of 993,000, that features a mix of fashion news, features, interviews and an insight into Neophitou-Apostolou’s life on the fashion road.
