Since skeptics proclaimed that print is dead some years ago, the opposite seems to have happened. There are now more fashion magazines than ever – just walk into Wardour News; the choice is overwhelming. Yet something is missing in all those glossy pages, a void that Amnah Hafez and her incredible team at a new magazine Cause & Effect are about to fill. I wanted to know more about their exciting venture, and so I spoke to Amnah to find out what to look forward to. One thing I am already sure of: I cannot wait to get my hands on the first issue. Now everyone, form an orderly queue, please.

BK: What inspired you to start your own magazine? 

AH: I wanted to see a magazine out there that was inherently diverse and inclusive. I was frustrated at the lack of that in the magazines I was picking up. And by that I mean in terms of age, gender, race, body type, work experience etc. I wanted to celebrate those who I felt were ignored. The content I was seeing never represented me, my friends or a lot of the people I know and respect. It was born after years of discussion between Tom Rasmussen (Executive Editor) and I. We essentially were so upset at how the industry was basically based on exclusion.

BK: Why Cause & Effect?

AH: When the discussion began on how we wanted to layout the magazine, I thought about the number three a lot. A number I always felt was complete and whole (I am superstitious and believe good things and bad things happen in threes, and so this was my good thing in threes, I suppose). I started to research the number itself within the context of religion and mythology, and ended up reading about the rule of three in Wiccan religion. “It states that whatever energy a person puts out into the world, be it positive or negative, will be returned to that person three times.” Essentially Karma. Cause & Effect was born from that. We wanted to put out something good into the world. We wanted to carve out a little place for ourselves within the industry where we could showcase the works of people we admire and create content where the unappreciated could feel appreciated.

BK: What is the concept/ethos of the magazine?

AH: This is exactly what we wrote down when we set out to begin the magazine, and what we would send to potential contributors:

Cause & Effect marries fashion and politics. We want to talk about a love of fashion that doesn’t require moral and intellectual compromise. We want to explore beauty beyond the realms of the unachievable, the non-diverse. We want to discuss mental health, race, body type, gender, sex, sexuality in a candid way, in a beautiful way, in an accessible way.”

BK: Is there a magazine that influenced how you put together C&E?

AH: Not really. William, my husband and our Art Director is a furniture designer who also creates digital artwork. He doesn’t have a background in graphic design per se, so the layouts are influenced by the pieces he was working with rather than existing designs he’d seen elsewhere.

BK: Why did you decide to create a print magazine rather than going digital? 

AH: Because I’m not well equipped to deal with that world just yet. Ha! I also wanted to create something that you could always go back to. Like any of the coffee table books that you would have. I wanted it to be tangible and beautiful. There is such a quickness to online content. It’s there, then it’s gone. I know you can save it, but how often do you go back to something you bookmarked? Or re-read an article you’ve saved? I don’t know, that’s my feeling about it. The books I own are always my source of inspiration.

BK: What types of articles can your readers expect from issue one?

AH: Articles on mental health, fetishism, leaving religion, fat-shaming, being a drag queen in the Middle East.

BK: You have a very small team of five editors. How did you manage to put the magazine together when you all have other jobs as well? Was there a big dependence on other collaborators? 

AH: In a way, of course, there would be no magazine without their help. We have some amazing contributors in this magazine that we were so eager to work with, so we’re very lucky they agreed to work with us. But at the magazine itself, we just divided the work between each of us. Everyone in my team happens to work freelance, so we met when we could and split the jobs between us. Tom and Emily Carlton (who is our Managing Editor) concentrated on the written content as well as commissioning writers, while myself and Vince Larubina (Senior Fashion Editor) produced the shoots. I styled some of them and came up with some of the concepts for them, and we also handled all creative aspects of the magazine such as finding and commissioning artists. It’s an annual magazine so it was basically done in our spare time.

BK: How did the decision to work with your husband and close friends come about? Was it something you always spoke about or did it happen quite organically?

AH: As I said, Tom and I talked about it for sometime and when we began, it was the two of us that really founded this magazine. We reached out to people we knew to carry other responsibilities in their spare time, because we couldn’t keep up with the workload. I think it’s natural that you’ll reach out to people you know because you trust them, know what their job situation is like, so you know when they’re available and how often, and most importantly, know that they’re good at their jobs. I reached out to Vince (who lives in New York) because he had just quit his job because he was unhappy (he’s got the best eye and the best taste, and his body of reference is just unbelievable), and I needed the help. So he came out to London and lived with me for some time and we worked on the magazine together. I couldn’t have done it without him.

BK: Do you have any tips for people who would like to start their own magazine? 

AH: Have something to say. Make it your truth. Always ask! You never know who will agree to contribute or help out. Remember that this isn’t a job where you’ll be making money (ha), so you’ve got to fucking love it.

BK: What are your hopes for the magazine in the future? 

AH: For someone to buy it and read it? Haha. I would love to continue to showcase and represent more people I admire, for those people to inspire others as they have inspired me. I have a vision for the brand itself, and for the magazine but it’s baby steps. I want to eventually create an online presence, e-commerce (t-shirts, posters etc.), eventually a charity, but some of it is not for quite some time yet. I want to make a few more issues before expanding – I just hope that with time, Cause & Effect can be my full-time job.

First issue of Cause & Effect will be out in March/April 2017.