Edie Locke (3 August 1921 - 23 August 2020) was an Austrian-American magazine editor and television producer and presenter. She was editor-in-chief of '' Mademoiselle'' from 1971 through 1979.

Early life

Edith Rosenberg Laub was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

on 3 August 1921 to Dora Hochburg Laub and Herman Laub, who was a department store buyer. She had one younger brother who died as an infant. In 1938, when

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

invaded Vienna, she and other Jewish students were expelled from her school and her father was fired. Locke was in 1939 able to obtain a US visa and fled, first by train to

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

, then on the ''

Aquitania Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gallia ...

'' to New York; her parents were unable to obtain U.S. visas and fled to England. Locke lived in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, where the family had relatives who took her in, worked in a toothpaste factory, and took courses at Brooklyn College, including English lessons, as she had immigrated speaking no English.

Publishing and fashion career

Locke got a job as a secretary at ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'', a monthly women's magazine. She became an assistant editor at '' Junior Bazaar''. She wrote a monthly newsletter about fashion for an advertising agency, which was read by ''Mademoiselles editor-in-chief Betsey Blackwell, who hired Locke in the early 1950s as an associate fashion editor. In 1971 Blackwell retired and Locke became the magazine's

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. She was fired in 1979 by

Alexander Liberman Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman (September 4, 1912 – November 19, 1999) was a Ukrainian-American magazine editor, publisher, painter, photographer, and sculptor. He held senior artistic positions during his 32 years at Condé Nast Publicat ...

, then editorial director of

Conde Nast Conde may refer to: Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a commune Linguistic ''Conde'' is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Count ...

, because he wanted a "lighter and sexier" magazine, similar to competitor ''Cosmopolitan'', than the issues-heavy version Locke was producing. During her time at Mademoiselle she worked with and mentored multiple fashion designers. Proteges she mentored when they were launching their careers included

Betsey Johnson Betsey Johnson (born 1942) is an American fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. Many of her designs are considered "over the top" and embellished. She also is known for doing a cartwheel ending in a split at the ...

Donna Karan Donna Karan (, born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabin ...

, and

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

. Locke hosted and produced You! Magazine for

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

starting in 1981 and later a regular fashion segment for Attitudes, a daily lifestyle show on Lifetime.

Legacy

The ''Christian Science Monitor'' in 1986 said she had "helped shape the way a whole generation looked and imagined themselves." In 2016 the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

included her in ''Documenting Fashion'', a series of oral history interviews about the fashion industry.

Personal life

Locke met Ralph Locke in the early 1960s on a trip to

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

, where he was the manager of the Buccaneer Hotel, and they married in 1963. The couple had a daughter and grandchildren. From 1994, she lived in Los Angeles. She died on 23 August 2020, at her home in

Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tree ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Locke, Edith Raymond People from Vienna 1921 births 2020 deaths American women journalists American women television producers American women television presenters Brooklyn College alumni Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United States after the Anschluss 21st-century American women