Matthew Whitehouse and The Face of Today

• Growing up in Morecambe and dreaming of escape
  Born in a rainy seaside town that felt “far” from where he was meant to be, Matthew talks about music as his first love and his imagined ticket out, from The Beatles and Oasis to Springsteen.
  
  
• The ice cream man with a band and big plans
  While friends went to university, he stayed behind in Morecambe, working as an ice cream man and waiting for his kicked out bandmates to finish college so they could take music seriously.
  
  
• Dropping out for The Heartbreaks and accidental fame in Japan
  He leaves university just before the fee deadline, signs a publishing deal days later, tours with his band The Heartbreaks, tastes pop-star treatment in Japan, then ends up back home working in a meat packing factory.
  
  
• Band life, Burberry campaigns and the old fear of selling out
  Alongside the band, he appears in a Burberry campaign and editorials for i-D and Dazed, remembering how brand work once felt like “selling out” in a way that feels almost quaint now.
  
  
• From factory freezer to i-D and the grind of becoming a writer
  While cutting lamb shanks at 5 a.m., he pitches free pieces to small music sites, builds a portfolio, lands a short research job at i-D’s video team, and eventually pivots into editorial because he knows he has to write.
  
  
• The fast leap from editorial assistant to editor of The Face
  In about three years he moves from editorial assistant at i-D to editor of The Face, initially thinking the relaunch is a bad idea before realizing the opportunity of a clean slate with a legendary masthead.
  
  
• Legacy, fragmentation and making a magazine about the now
  Everyone remembers a different “version” of The Face, so he sees himself as a guardian trying not to ruin something beloved while making it feel true to 2025, balancing global pop stars with niche local figures.
  
  
• Politics in the margins rather than as a banner
  He describes issues where politics is felt rather than announced, like an edition that quietly became about the cost of living crisis through its voices and stories rather than an explicit think piece.
  
  
• When timing lands and small stories carry big themes
  He relishes moments where covers hit the perfect moment, like Jenna Ortega on the day Wednesday drops, and stories like a Manchester record label piece that opens up into class, race and regional inequality.
  
  
• What makes a good editor and what is contemporary now
  He likens editing to jazz, knowing which notes not to play, trusting his team, staying in conversation with young people, and defines what is contemporary now as whatever you are genuinely excited enough to run toward.

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Notable Quotes: 

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“I felt like I was born a long way from where I was supposed to be — and now I realize I was born exactly where I needed to be.”

“Music was my first love. It was the thing that made escape feel possible when nothing else did.”

“Every time I’ve talked myself into a decision, I’ve regretted it. Every time I’ve followed my gut — even when it was wrong — I haven’t.”

“Everyone remembers a different version of The Face. My job is to take the spirit of it and not fuck it up.”

“I’m not interested in the future. I’m interested in now — in documenting what it feels like to be alive in this exact moment.”

“The Face isn’t made in a vacuum. Culture, politics, joy, struggle — all of it touches the magazine whether we name it or not.”

“Start with a small story and use it to communicate something much bigger. That’s when a magazine really works.”

“I want The Face to feel like where the action is. If this were 2,000 years ago, I’d want an office in Ancient Rome.”

“Hold on to the things you felt as a teenager — the love, the anger, the urgency. It stops you from becoming complacent.”

“Whatever you’re excited enough to run toward — that’s what’s contemporary now.”