Lisa Armstrong

Lisa Armstrong is a British author and journalist. She is Head of Fashion of The Daily Telegraph. She was awarded an OBE in 2022 for services to fashion.

Early life and education Born in the UK, Armstrong grew up in Dorset in the sixties and seventies, where she says that "fashion didn't really exist". She graduated in 1984 from the University of Bristol, where she studied English and French Literature, then journalism at City, University of London. In 2011, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Arts London. In 2002, Armstrong was awarded with Fashion Journalist of the Year at the Fashion Awards. In 2017, she was presented with the Fashion Journalist of the Year award by the Press Association, which she was also presented with in 2019.

Journalism After graduating, Armstrong was offered a job at Elle UK after her freelance writing work was spotted by the then-editor Sally Brampton.

In 2000, Armstrong was the fashion journalist chosen by the Fashion Museum, Bath to choose that year's most representative outfit for their Dress of the Year collection. She decided on the green chiffon dress designed by Donatella Versace and famously worn by Jennifer Lopez. Armstrong used her expertise to argue that this dress, which received a great deal of media attention through being worn by Lopez, Geri Halliwell, and others, represented "some kind of high water mark in the current symbiosis between fashion and celebrity."

Novels Armstrong has written four novels. Elle reviewed her first novel, Front Row, as "Has all the juice of a Jackie Collins plus the kind of fash pack details that Armstrong, as fashion features director at Vogue, knows all about." In contrast, the Birmingham Post thought it was amusing, affectionate and indulgent. Armstrong herself commented on Front Row: "It would've been hypocritical of me to do a complete annihilation job. I still work in that world and although it can be absurd and stupid sometimes I just found it funnier the more I observed and wrote about it."

Her other novels are Dead Stylish (2001), Bad Manors (2004) and Déjà View (2005).