Olivia Petter
Olivia Petter is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster and a columnist at The Independent whose fashion and culture coverage is rooted in celebrity image-making, gender politics and modern relationships. Her work spans fashion, beauty, dating, pop culture and violence against women, using individual stories to examine how women are perceived and treated in contemporary culture. In her piece on Zendaya’s ‘method dressing’ echoing Kate Middleton, she treats clothing choices as a form of character-building and public storytelling.
Celebrity fashion and image-making
Petter’s fashion writing treats celebrity style as a window into power, status and public narratives rather than as surface-level trend reporting. She has explored the mechanics of “method dressing” in the context of stars like Zendaya and figures such as Kate Middleton, showing how wardrobe choices deliberately mirror roles and reputations to shape audience expectations. In a column on Taylor Swift’s dress sense, she examined how accusations about the singer’s clothes being “terrible” or manipulative reveal more about critics’ attitudes to female fandom and relatability than about the garments themselves. Her fashion portfolio also includes reporting on brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch and the rise of Y2K fashion, where she connects aesthetics, marketing and nostalgia to questions around exclusion, body standards and the legacy of size-zero culture.
She has written on how costume designers updated Sex and the City in And Just Like That, treating outfits as cultural texts that negotiate ageing, friendship and contemporary femininity.
Dating, relationships and modern masculinity
Alongside fashion, Petter devotes a substantial part of her column to dating and relationships, using technology, celebrity news and reader experiences to interrogate modern intimacy.
In her analysis of Tinder’s high-priced subscription, she argued that a $500 tier risks giving entitled users permission to harass others, framing product design as part of the wider ecosystem that enables abuse. Her widely read piece on age-gap relationships unpacked the different narratives applied to older men with younger women versus older women with younger men, highlighting how gendered double standards shape public judgment.
She has written about unconventional domestic arrangements, such as Cameron Diaz’s endorsement of separate beds, to question the assumption that constant physical proximity is the marker of a “good” relationship. A deep dive into why men are stepping back from dating and why women are fed up drew on reader testimony and expert opinion to depict a dating scene characterised by burnout, misaligned expectations and retreat from commitment.
Across these pieces, she treats romance and sex not as lifestyle curiosities but as a way to discuss power, emotional labour and the cultural scripts that govern heterosexual relationships.
Violence against women and misogyny in pop culture
Petter specialises in writing about violence against women and the broader culture of misogyny that runs through news, entertainment and digital platforms. In a column on the sexist abuse directed at Taylor Swift around her relationship with Travis Kelce, she described the language used by commentators as a form of hate against women, drawing attention to how sports media and online audiences police female visibility and success. Her piece on the treatment of Rebecca Loos revisited a long-publicised footballer scandal to question why women associated with alleged affairs are persistently vilified, while the men involved are allowed to rehabilitate their images. Coverage of dating apps and harassment returns to the same themes, showing how commercial platforms and pop-cultural narratives can normalise coercion and humiliation. This strand of her work links fashion, celebrity and technology to structural questions about consent, blame and the stories told about women in crisis.
Columns, profiles and multi-platform work
Petter writes regular columns for The Independent that blend reported detail, cultural criticism and personal insight across relationships, fashion, pop culture and women’s issues. She also writes celebrity profiles, bringing a similar focus on how public personas are constructed and received.
Her journalism appears across a broad range of publications, including national newspapers and magazines such as The Sunday Times, The Guardian, British Vogue, Stylist and Grazia, as well as digital outlets and lifestyle platforms. Beyond print, she launched and hosted The Independent’s Millennial Love podcast, later renamed Love Lives, for six years, establishing a long-running format for conversations about dating, sex and modern relationships. She is the author of the non-fiction book Millennial Love and the novel Gold Rush, extending her exploration of contemporary relationships and culture into long-form work.
Recognition in Forbes’ 30 under 30 list underlines her position as a prominent voice on modern relationships, gender and pop culture, with fashion coverage that consistently sits inside these wider social themes.
4 more fashion journalists.
Adam Cheung
Adam Cheung is a style writer at British GQ with a specialist focus on sneakers, streetwear and menswear product coverage. He treats sneakers and streetwear as culture and design objects, writing about individual models, new silhouettes and the details that make them stand out. His work spans men’s style, watches and grooming, keeping attention on how people can wear and buy into emerging trends. He produces service-led shopping edits on shoes, bags and accessories, built around clear recommendations and concise reasoning. He covers brands and market trends with an emphasis on wearable takeaways for everyday style and occasion dressing. His British GQ features are republished across international GQ editions, and he runs Typed Hype, an Instazine dedicated to sneaker culture, extending his coverage across mainstream menswear, niche releases and culture-facing commentary.
Alexandra Fullerton
Alexandra Fullerton is a freelance stylist and fashion writer for The Telegraph, known for turning professional styling methods into simple, practical rules for dressing. She covers outfit formulas, wardrobe edits, seasonal dressing, tights, festive knitwear, high-street fashion, smart shopping and investment pieces. Her advice focuses on what to keep, what to buy and how to wear it in real life, rather than fashion news or abstract trends. She draws on a long career as a fashion director and editor at Stylist and Glamour, styling shoots and working with actors, musicians and presenters. She also styles commercial campaigns and individual clients. Fullerton writes fashion books, including guides to everyday dressing and Chanel bags, and runs the My3Words shopping concept based on her three-word method.
Alexandria Dale
Alexandria Dale specialises in turning celebrity style and emerging trends into affordable high street shopping guides. She is Digital Fashion Writer at Cosmopolitan UK, covering fashion news, trend analysis and product-led features. Her beat includes seasonal colours, fabrics, transitional dressing, polished looks on a budget, sustainable fashion and new brands. She finds high street alternatives to luxury pieces and identifies trends worth investing in, with a focus on fit, fabric, versatility and repeat wear. Her guides often centre on one trend or wardrobe staple, with specific buys under a clear price cap. Recent work includes Victoria Beckham-inspired burgundy leather midi skirts, Primark wide-leg trousers, M&S argyle jumpers and Primark home delivery. She has six years of fashion journalism experience across digital and print titles, including Glamour and Ok!, and reports with practical styling advice and product detail.
Alice Reynolds
Alice Reynolds is a writer and production journalist on The Independent’s IndyBest shopping desk who tests accessible supermarket and high-street products in real life. She focuses on fashion, beauty, food and fitness, reviewing supermarket food and drink, protein bars and creatine supplements, and high-street clothing and beauty launches. Her beat spans supermarket staples such as dark chocolate, pizzas, Easter eggs and Greek yoghurt, plus workout snacks and performance supplements, and value-led fashion like viral jackets, wrap skirts and beauty advent calendars. She runs comparative “best of” round-ups that weigh flavour, texture, thickness, quality, price and usefulness, using hands-on trials and taste tests. Her reporting is plain, practical and grounded in repeated supermarket and high-street testing, informed by interests in food, fitness and lifestyle shopping and earlier experience across travel and news formats.