As he steps down as Fashion and Creative Director and into his new role, we look back (or at least, try to) on all the ways Robbie’s vision defined this era of Dazed
Today we share the news that Dazed’s Fashion and Creative Director Robbie Spencer is stepping down, after 6 years in the role and 15 years at the publication. Anyone who has worked with him, or picked up the magazine in that time, will understand how much he has shaped Dazed’s visual identity in a lasting way, as well as the sheer love and dedication he has put into making the magazine unforgettable.
Luckily, this is not the end of his longstanding relationship with Dazed and its other titles – from here, he will continue to contribute under a new title of Executive Fashion Director, styling cover shoots and fashion stories across the group. Robbie has been the driving force behind Dazed’s identity across two decades which have seen huge shifts in the industry – as well as some mad adventures behind what ended up on the pages of Dazed!
Starting his career as an assistant to Bryan McMahon back in 2006, Robbie’s journey through the magazine’s masthead is one that intersects with so many beloved members of the Dazed family. Now known for his collaborations with photographers such as Paolo Roversi, Mario Sorrenti, Viviane Sassen, Roe Ethridge, Ben Toms, Collier Schorr, Willy Vanderperre and Ryan McGinley, Walter Pfeiffer, Angelo Pennetta, and Sean and Seng, Robbie has also been instrumental in championing a new generation of imagemakers. Bringing visual voices like Harley Weir, Johnny Dufort, Daniel Shea, Charlotte Wales, Casper Sejersen, Tyler Mitchell, Leslie Zhang and Jack Davison into the Dazed family, he has shaped what the spirit of Dazed & Confused means to a new generation of youth.
“Where do I begin!,” says Robbie on his time at Dazed. “I started buying Dazed as a teenager and it was one of the first magazines I discovered before moving to London age 19. I actually started working here before I even started university. It was my first ever job and in many ways, I feel I arrived as a kid and feel like I am leaving as an adult. Dazed has never been solely just a magazine, it has always been a community of like-minded creative people. That culture of supporting creativity and the way we work is all I know. The sense of family and community is incomparable to any other publishing house, and the tradition of supporting talent from within the team.
I am so proud of what we have achieved and the friendships I have made with so many people. I want to thank all of the collaborators I have worked with over the years and the team – Isabella and Jamie, I am so proud of all we have achieved together. I have so much respect for you all. And thank you to Jefferson for all your trust and belief in giving me the freedom to express our vision over the past 6 years. It’s been an honour.
It has been an amazing journey and a real privilege to grow up through the pages of Dazed – sometimes miraculously managing to pull off some of best moments in Dazed’s history. I am looking forward to continuing to contribute as Dazed moves into its next exciting era.”
“Robbie, there are so many things I will miss about working with you,” says Dazed’s Editor-in-Chief, Isabella Burley. “It’s been six and a half years, and there has not been one moment where I’ve not been excited or inspired to make the magazine with you. You’ve been my family. We’ve made the craziest ideas possible, pulled off impossible cover stories, and never compromised on what we all believe in. Thank you for always supporting me no matter what, and letting me grow. I wouldn’t be here without you.
There are so many things I will miss, but most of all, I’ll miss watching you eat matcha eclairs in the back of the car in Paris and eating pasta with you in total silence at the end of Paris fashion week... because we’ve run out of things to say. Thank you for everything. Always.”
“Robbie is a visionary stylist and as creative director of Dazed has crafted some of its most impactful cover stories,” adds Dazed Media’s co-founder Jefferson Hack. “(He) ushered in a new generation of image makers that have defined the zeitgeist...I look forward to him making iconic stories for Dazed in the future.”
Pioneering campaigns and cover stories styled by Robbie include the inaugural Dazed 100 winner Kendall Jenner shot by Ben Toms in Junya Watanabe (Winter 2014), Young Thug as you’d never seen him before by Harley Weir (Autumn 2015), the Stranger Things special issue with Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown shot by Collier Schorr (Winter 2016), Lana del Rey in a Hollywood dream world by Charlotte Wales (Spring/Summer 2017), and Rihanna shot after dark by Harley Weir (Winter 2017). Perhaps the most memorable cover to this day, however, is Iris Apfel, the then 91-year-old queen of fashion, who covered Dazed in full Comme Des Garçons in November 2012 (a moment that led to a guest-appearance by Robbie in the Iris documentary directed by Albert Maysles, arm in arm with Ms. Apfel on set).
From Iris to Chloë, we celebrate some of our creative and fashion director’s most memorable moments – not including his noteworthy guest spot, painted green as a model in the ‘Eye Spy’ pages in 2007... (look it up!)
Thank you for everything, Robbie, from the whole Dazed team. It’s been a pleasure and a brilliant ride, and we wish you all the best for what’s next.