Karen Kay - Biography & Images
Karen Kay has been working as an eminent, award-winning lifestyle journalist for 15 years.
After studying Fashion design and then Fashion Journalism and Promotion at the London College of Fashion, she immediately joined TODAY newspaper at the age of 20, where a new role of Deputy Fashion Editor was created for her.
After 15months in this role, she transferred to the Features department of the paper, and specialised in ‘lifestyle’ issues including health, travel, motoring, cookery, celebrity interviews, social comment and opinion pieces.
A year later, at the age of 22, Karen was headhunted by the Daily Mirror and became their Fashion Editor – the youngest person ever to hold the position on a national newspaper. Her remit was challenging: to transform the paper’s fashion, beauty and style coverage and compete with mid-market dailies. Karen instigated international catwalk coverage from Milan and Paris, along with unprecedented regular fashion pages, photographed on location.
In 1994, Karen broke from her staff position, deciding to pursue a career as a freelance writer and consultant. Since then her career has gone from strength to strength, seeing her working as a prolific contributor to publications including YOU magazine, (the Mail on Sunday’s colour supplement), the Saturday Times magazine, the FT’s How to Spend It magazine, the FT, The Times, the Evening Standard, ES magazine, the Daily Mail, The Express and numerous contract publications within the consumer and luxury goods industry (ranging from Barclaycard’s customer magazine to the Marbella Club resort magazine).
She now works on a retainer-based contract as Contributing Editor on YOU magazine, alongside acting as a contributor to other publications. She is recognised as one of Britain’s most authoratative fashion journalists, and the breadth of her work is wide: from beauty writing to consumer issues; from travel writing to social commentary and current affairs; from sports features to celebrity interviews.
Alongside her print journalism, Karen has spent many years using her expertise as a broadcast journalist and producer, for BBC TV, Sky News, Sky Sports, Fashion TV and Entertainment Tonight (USA), as well as BBC Radio Five Live, LBC and numerous regional radio stations. She has been working as Fashion Correspondent for Sky News for ten years, and continues to present their coverage of events such as London Fashion Week, the Oscars and Royal Ascot.
Creative consultancy work and copywriting are other aspects of Karen’s work, seeing her employed by a diverse range of corporate clients and PR agencies, including: American Express, Volvo cars, Alfred Dunhill, Louis Vuitton, opodo.com, handbag.com, Proctor & Gamble, Hill & Knowlton, Molton Brown, Stephanie Churchill PR, etc etc. Karen has also worked as a documentary producer and director for The British Council, and a contributing author on their publications.
