Bridget Foley

Bridget Foley was executive editor of Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), a position she held for over a decade. From her front row perspective, Foley’s opinions on the wider industry were an integral part of industry trade paper's coverage.

Foley’s style is direct, informed and resolutely fair. Patrick McCarthy, former WWD editorial director said in 2003, “She can look at two or more sides of any issue from any particular angle... In a discussion with Bridget about anything, she will always bring up the counter argument before you get to it.”

Foley joined the publication in her early 20s, from California Apparel News, her first major job. When Foley joined WWD in the mid 80s it was still presided over by John Fairchild, who refused to allow bylines to be featured under show reviews and features. Bylines are still absent from WWD’s show reviews; however, at the insistence of Fairchild Publishing’s (WWD’s parent company) editorial director, Foley began signing her name below her features, published as "Bridget Foley’s Diary."

As the digital age continues to catapult editors onto the global stage, Foley remains adamantly low key. The former executive editor has refused to be drawn onto the circuit any further than her journalistic duties require. Foley has positioned herself in keeping with the publication she edited, as a knowledgeable, educated journalist, not an influencer of a global fixation. “I’m writing about an industry. It’s about fashion. It’s not about me.”

Foley has come under criticism in the past for her close relationships with some designers, however, as Foley herself explains, “Whether or not one likes one’s subjects, honest criticism involves a level of separation.”

At the end of 2020, Foley announced she had left her position as executive editor at WWD.