The following excerpt is from an interview with Argy Koutsothanasis, Fashion Director at Fitness Magazine. 14 | BOROMAG.COM | JULY 2014 CHARACTERS FITNESS & Fashion STORY + PHOTO Lizabeth Nieves “I grew up in Woodside. I was born in Astoria. When I was 2 years old, my parents sent me to Greece to live with my grandparents—and then they forgot to pick me up for five years. Five years later I showed up, and there were these two people they claimed were my sisters. I was like, okay, I guess… “Being Greek, we would spend every weekend in Astoria in the Greek grocery stores, and do the Feta shopping—which is really important. I never left Queens after that. I went to Queens College. My family moved to Whitestone when I was 16. For me, it’s choking me or something living there. I like apartment buildings. I like to know that there is someone around. Noise doesn’t bother me. I like life being around. I love that we live in a city that doesn’t sleep. “I studied English literature and did my masters in creative writing and poetry. I thought about writing, but it’s tough. Getting into a place where I can start writing is very challenging for me. I would like to publish something, and I still write for myself. I studied poetry and I like the precision of poetry. Writing is tough. I love it, but I don’t think it’s something I can earn a living at. “After college, I started working full time as a tour operator, planning other people’s vacations. That wasn’t so much fun. I was at the travel company a few years, and someone at work advised me, “Write a really great letter to someone you love in fashion, and see if they will talk to you.” I thought that was a great idea, and instead of writing a letter, I thought, let me make a magazine. I wanted to work at a plus magazine at the time called Mode, because I thought that would be a great place to work. If you think about it, a plus-size magazine espouses loving yourself. I was heavier back then, and I didn’t think I would get a job at Vogue or Marie Claire. “So I then stalked the editor of Mode magazine at a Macy’s event, and gave the magazine to her. Of course I didn’t hear back from them. A month later, I decided to call her directly, and the human resources department called me back. They had a paid internship available. I was 26 at this point. I felt like I was really behind, so I felt like I really had to push myself. “The environment there was the opposite of what I expected. It was all these fat women who had been rejected in the mainstream magazine world, who were so angry and bitter. They were the nastiest group of women I’d ever encountered. I lasted two months there. “A stylist then told me about a gig with Golf Magazine for Women. I wound up getting this great gig where I freelanced for six weeks, and then had two weeks off. It was amazing. They ended up keeping me. Then they hired a new fashion director. I genuinely had the best experience with the new director a human being could have. At this point, I was a freelance stylist contributing. I worked with him for three years before he left, and I became the fashion director. Then the magazine shut down. “I heard about an opportunity for Fitness magazine to cover a maternity leave. My time ended with them in January as a freelancer. The woman came back, and wound up resigning right away, and they offered the position to me. “Going to Fitness magazine was great. It transformed who I am as a person. They are an incredible group of people. It’s really lovely to work with such talented people who work hard, but don’t forget to live their lives. I have been at Fitness six years this September.” For more of Argy’s work check out her website at www.argystyle.com
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