New York has a new fashion director — Amy Larocca. A longtime contributing editor at the weekly, Larocca succeeds Harriet Mays Powell, who is stepping down after a six-year run to “develop a multimedia project,” according to the magazine. “As appointments go, this was kind of a no-brainer,” said New York editor in chief Adam Moss. “Amy is as gifted a writer about fashion as exists anywhere, and she is also a writer who thinks like an editor. She is fashion-fluent but also speaks the language of a generalist. Her very experience as a journalist makes her the ideal person to lead our fashion coverage in this new era.” (This has meant fewer traditional fashion shoots of late.) In addition to being the face (and voice) of New York in all scenes and matters fashion-related, Larocca will oversee the biannual fashion issues, the biweekly Fashionables trend shoots, and contribute regularly to nymag.com’s fashion blog, The Cut. As a contributing editor, Larocca wrote profiles on personalities such as Marc Jacobs, Isabella Blow, Carine Roitfeld and Christian Lacroix, and kicked off the “Look Book” feature, which was spun into a book in 2007. She’s also written for Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour. As for Powell, during her tenure, the magazine significantly increased its fashion coverage both in print and online. In addition, she helped launch the fashion supplement Look, which ceased publication after three issues.
Powell’s departure is the latest in a string at New York since the beginning of the year. Other recent exits include staff photographer Hannah Whitaker, who left to join her old boss, Jody Quon, at W, where she’ll be an exclusive contract photographer.