The special edition will hit the streets on February 6th, 100 years to the day that women – over the age of 30 and owning their own property – were first granted UK voting rights, with the issue aged to have the look and feel of a magazine from 1918. Carrying bespoke advertising copy designed in celebration of the Suffragettes and women’s equality, the likes of House of Fraser, River Island, L’Oréal Luxury & Paris, and Sky are already on board, say the publishers.
The special edition will tell the moving stories of the heroic women from 100 years ago who dedicated their lives to gaining equality, and will also focus on present day activism for women’s’ rights.
Helen Pankhurst, the renowned international women’s rights activist and great-granddaughter of the leader of the British Suffragette movement Emmeline Pankhurst, has consulted with the Stylist editorial team on the content for the Suffragette issue, as well as writing the cover feature, and will be interviewed live on-stage at a one-off Stylist event in February.
Helen Pankhurst said: “It’s been fascinating to be a part of the planning for this beautiful issue of Stylist, and to work with the team of passionate women behind it who have put so much thought and research into the topics covered.
The coverage in this issue and throughout the year as part of Stylist’s Visible Women campaign is going to be amazing. It will include support for a range of women’s rights initiatives from the celebration of the first time some women could vote on the 6th of February, to events such #March4Women on Sunday 4th of March in advance of International Women’s Day.
The Suffragettes were instrumental in changing social norms and giving women a greater say about their own lives and their roles in society – together in Stylist we honour them and continue the task of forging a more equal and liberated world.”
The Suffragette Issue is the first high-profile piece of activity in Stylist’s year-long initiative, Visible Women. This editorial activation aims to raise the awareness and profiles of women, past and present, who have made a difference to the world, with a view to empowering and inspiring their own audience. Stylist believes ‘You can be what you can see’ and has outlined three pledges the brand will commit to delivering over 2018.
1. The Visibility pledge: raising awareness of women who’ve made a difference to society and celebrating their success to ensure there are more role models for girls and women.
2. The Representation pledge: as just 32% of MPs are women, and just 26% of the cabinet, Stylist will work to increase the visibility of women in the political sphere.
3. The Education pledge: teaching future generations about inspiring women, past and present.
Lisa Smosarski, editor-in-chief of Stylist, said: “When I launched Stylist just over eight years ago, I circled February 2018 on my planner. I knew that the centenary of the first women in Britain receiving the vote was an important moment to mark for our audience of smart, feminist women. But as the events of 2017 unfolded, as we watched #metoo grow, remembered the stories told through Laura Bates’ #everydaysexism campaign, once again saw the gender pay gap increase, and shook our heads in despair at the lack of representation in parliament, we knew that we were still a long way off the gender equality the Suffragettes had made sacrifices for.
So this seemed like the right moment to embrace the spirit of the Suffragettes, to really finish what they started. This issue, and our year-long Visible Women initiative, is our way of rallying the army of Stylist readers who demand true equality to encourage them to make changes to their own lives and the lives of women around them, and to demand the visibility all women need and deserve.”
