Daily Front Row

2012 May 31

Meenal Mistry Named Fashion Director at WSJ's Off Duty

Comments | | Print

Meenal Mistry
Patrick McMullan View Gallery

(NEW YORK) The latest talent reporting for duty at The Wall Street Journal's young, well-received Off Duty: Meenal Mistry is the weekend lifestyle section's newest fashion director. Mistry's predecessor, Alexa Brazilian, is departing the post (under the title of style director) but not the publication, as she relocates to London and segues to the role of Off Duty's editor-at-large. Mistry's arrival at the Journal is hardly a hasty one—she has served as interim fashion features director at WSJ. Magazine during Whitney Vargas' maternity leave absence for the past three months, in addition to freelancing for the newspaper prior. 

Mistry's respected industry trajectory traces its roots to her first gig at Harper's Bazaar as assistant accessories editor, beginning immediately upon graduating from the University of Michigan with an art history degree. After decamping from Bazaar in 1998, Mistry spent nearly four years as assistant to Joe Zee, then the fashion director at W. She contributed to photo shoot coordination in that role as well. In September 2002, Mistry was named fashion news editor at W and WWD, a position she held for another four-year duration.

Since the summer of 2006, Mistry has struck out on her own as a freelance writer and editor, with a diverse roster of projects and capacities under her belt in the six-year duration. To wit: Mistry's extensive load of runway reviews in New York, London, and Paris for Style.com as a contributing editor for the site, a book editing project in 2010, working on Harper's Bazaar Fashion: Your Guide to Personal Style, and assignments for publications including Vanity Fair, InStyle, Departures, Grazia UK, and T Magazine. 

Mistry will report to Off Duty editor Ruth Altchek (who was formally appointed to that title in August 2011). “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Meenal into the Off Duty fold. As much as we will miss Alexa’s presence in the office, we’re excited to see her blossom in this new role,” Altchek said in a release. WSJ. editrix Deborah Needleman, who also oversees Off Duty, further rhapsodized on the addition of Mistry to the Journal's stylish klatch. “At [WSJ.] magazine, where Meenal has worked the past three months, we all fell quickly in love with her—her talent, knowledge base, work ethic, and endless supply of wonderful ideas and solutions." 
ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV