Farrah Storr

{{short description|British journalist}} {{Infobox person | image =  | image_size = | name = Farrah Storr<br><small>{{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}</small> | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1978|11|8}} | birth_place = [[Manchester]], England | alma_mater = [[King's College London]] | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = Journalist | years_active = 2001–present | title = Editor of [[Elle (magazine)|''Elle'' (UK)]] | spouse = | partner = | children = | website = }}

'''Farrah Storr''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} (born 8 November 1978)<ref name=ukwhoswho>2018 "Storr, Farrah, (born 8 Nov. 1978), Editor-in-Chief, Cosmopolitan, since 2015." WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 4 Dec. 2018</ref> is a British journalist, and the former editor-in-chief of the UK edition of ''[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]''. She previously worked on several UK magazines, winning a PPA Award and a BSME Award in 2018 as editor-in-chief of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]''. Storr wrote ''The Discomfort Zone'' in 2018. She is currently head of Substack in the UK and Europe.

==Career== Storr's first job was working on ''Women and Home'', at age 23. She moved onto ''[[Good Housekeeping]]'', then ''[[Eve (magazine)|Eve]]'' and then ''[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]''.<ref name="Koman">{{cite web|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/career/news/a51231/cosmo-uk-farrah-storr-eic-interview/|title=What It's Like to Be the Editor of ''Cosmo'' U.K.|work=[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]|last=Koman|first=Tess|date=12 January 2016|accessdate=10 September 2018}}</ref> Storr has been features editor of ''[[Marie Claire]]'' and deputy editor of ''Top Santé''. Storr launched the UK edition of ''[[Women's Health (magazine)|Women's Health]]''.<ref name="BAME"/><ref name="Pizzey">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-masterclasses/guardian-masterclass-blog/2018/jun/18/meet-the-tutor-farrah-storr-cosmopolitan-guardian-masterclasses-blog|title=Meet the woman running the world's leading female media brand|work=[[The Guardian]]|last=Pizzey|first=Rebecca|date=18 June 2018|accessdate=10 September 2018}}</ref>

A 2017 report by ''[[The Guardian]]'' and [[Operation Black Vote]] listed Storr as one of the 1000 most powerful people in the United Kingdom, making her one of seven BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) women to be included on the list.<ref name="BAME">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/sep/24/who-are-36-bame-people-uk-1000-most-powerful|title=Who are the 36 BAME people among the UK's 1,000 most powerful?|work=[[The Guardian]]|last=Noor|first=Poppy|date=24 September 2017|accessdate=10 September 2018}}</ref>

Storr became editor of the UK edition of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'' in July 2015.<ref name="discomfort"/> Storr chose plus-size model [[Tess Holliday]] for the front cover of the magazine, with some people viewing the move as glorifying obesity, and [[Piers Morgan]] calling it "dangerous and misguided". Storr appeared on ''[[Good Morning Britain (2014 TV programme)|Good Morning Britain]]'', which Morgan co-hosts, and argued that Holliday was chosen to "explain that there is a different way to look" in "a culture which venerates being thin".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/tvfilm/piers-morgan-marks-good-morning-britain-return-with-fiery-debate-with-cosmopolitan-editor-over-tess-a3925966.html|title=Piers Morgan returns to Good Morning Britain in fiery debate with Cosmopolitan editor Farrah Storr over Tess Holliday cover|work=[[London Evening Standard]]|last=Sporn|first=Natasha|date=3 September 2018|accessdate=10 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/tess-holliday-cosmopolitan-cover-editor-farrah-storr-defends-good-morning-britain-piers-morgan-a8520366.html|title=Cosmopolitan Editor Farrah Storr Defends Decision to Put Tess Holliday on Magazine Cover|work=[[The Independent]]|last=Hosie|first=Rachel|date=3 September 2018|accessdate=10 September 2018}}</ref> For her work in editing ''Cosmopolitan'', Storr won 2018 Editor of the Year categories in the [[Professional Publishers Association]] (PPA) Awards and the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) Awards.<ref name="campaign"/> She was also nominated for the Editors' Editor of the Year Award in the 2018 BSME Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bsme.com/2018-bsme-awards-shortlist|title=2018 BSME Awards Shortlist|publisher=British Society of Magazine Editors|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref>

In 2018, Storr wrote ''The Discomfort Zone: How To Get What You Want by Living Fearlessly''. The book includes personal memoirs, interviews and scientific content, linked by the theme of achieving personal growth by spending time in the "discomfort zone". It was published by [[Piatkus]].<ref name="discomfort">{{cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/piatkus-wins-book-cosmo-editor-farrah-storr-771121|title=Cosmo editor Storr pens first book on 'discomfort zone'|work=[[The Bookseller]]|last=Cowdrey|first=Katherine|date=20 April 2018|accessdate=10 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/cosmopolitan-editor-in-chief-farrah-storr-writes-book-about-our-discomfort-zone-/articleshow/63910796.cms|title=Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Farrah Storr writes book about our "discomfort zone"|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=26 April 2018|accessdate=10 September 2018}}</ref>

In April 2019, it was announced that Storr would be moving from ''Cosmpolitan'' to its sister magazine ''[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]'', where she held the same role of editor-in-chief.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/cosmopolitan-uk-editor-farrah-storr-moves-to-top-job-at-elle-uk/|title=Cosmopolitan UK editor Farrah Storr moves to top job at Elle UK. In 2021 she left magazines to head up Substack in the UK. |work=[[Press Gazette]]|last=Walker|first=James|date=12 April 2019|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref><ref name="campaign">{{cite web|url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/cosmo-uk-editor-farrah-storr-moves-elle/1581858|title=Cosmo UK editor Farrah Storr moves to Elle|work=[[Campaign (magazine)|Campaign]]|last=Oakes|first=Omar|date=11 April 2019|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref> In 2024 Storr was awarded an MBE for services to media and diversity. She was also a board member of both The Social Mobility Commission, and until 2025, The National Theatre. In 2023 Storr was also made a fellow of Kings College University.

==Personal life== Storr's father Javed Iqbal Butt was Pakistani, and was born in [[Amritsar]], India. Storr grew up in Manchester,<ref name="Pizzey"/> and has three siblings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/the-cosmo-editor-who-doesnt-do-cleavage-any-more-jcmgd5gwt|title=The Cosmo editor who doesn't do cleavage (any more)|work=[[The Times]]|last=Storr|first=Farrah|date=10 June 2017|access-date=10 September 2018}}</ref> Storr was educated at [[Bury Grammar School (Girls)]] and graduated with a BA in English and French Literature from [[King's College London]].<ref name="ukwhoswho"/><ref name="Koman"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://alumni.kcl.ac.uk/news-features/18it02/farrah-storr-recommends|title=Farrah Storr Recommends|work=InTouch|publisher=[[King's College London]]|accessdate=4 December 2018}}</ref> She is married to author [[Will Storr]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.redonline.co.uk/red-women/blogs/a518126/what-love-feels-like-when-youre-childless/|title = What love feels like...when you're childless|date = 4 May 2015}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storr, Farrah}} [[Category:1978 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Alumni of King's College London]] [[Category:British magazine editors]] [[Category:British women magazine editors]] [[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]