What do you do when you photograph one of Formula 1’s most compelling personalities, pitch the story to every major magazine, and get knocked back by all of them? If you’re Esme Buxton, you build your own magazine.
Esme is the founder and editor of The Paddock Journal, a Formula 1 fashion and lifestyle publication that launched just over a year ago and has quickly become one of the most distinctive new voices in the sport. Based in Cheltenham, England, she joined Di this week to talk about how a single photoshoot with F1 TV presenter Laura Winter became the catalyst for something she never quite planned, but couldn’t stop once it started.
The Paddock Journal began on Substack and Instagram, born from Esme’s observation that Formula 1, arguably the coolest sport in the world, had almost nothing in the way of fashion and culture media compared to basketball, football, or the NFL. Within a year it had become her full-time career, driven entirely by a community of passionate contributors doing it for the love of the sport.
The debut print issue, produced in just over two months by a team of three with no publishing experience, featured Cadillac F1 chief brand advisor Cassidy Towers on the cover. Shot on location in Miami, Cassidy wore her own wardrobe of couture Dior, including a piece later lent to Jennifer Lawrence for the Oscars. Esme talks about what it was like to spend time with Cassidy, why her story deserved to be front and centre of that first issue, and what the process of building a print magazine from scratch actually looked like.
The episode also gets into the moment Susie Wolff told Esme she knew and loved The Paddock Journal, the editorial philosophy behind a publication that deliberately seeks out the voices in Formula 1 that rarely get heard, and why Esme believes the sport’s fashion and culture scene has been dramatically underserved by media for years. The core team and most of the writers and creatives are women, not by design exactly, but because those are the people whose stories have been waiting to be told.
And if you have ever wondered how to break into Formula 1, Esme has a clear and genuinely encouraging answer.
This season, The Paddock Journal is also launching the Paddock Journal Atelier, a fashion showroom and styling experience in partnership with the Pop-Up Hotel at Monaco and Silverstone. Fans can shop motorsport fashion brands, work with a stylist on-site, and attend events including a gala at Silverstone. At Monaco the Atelier is open to the public at Cap Ferrat from Thursday through to race day Sunday. At Silverstone it is located inside the circuit at the Pop-Up Hotel, the only inner-track accommodation at the British Grand Prix.
This interview was the inspiration behind Away We Go’s own Substack where Di shares more of the stories, travel guides and Formula 1 content that goes beyond the podcast – https://awaywegopodcast.substack.com.
The Paddock Journal / https://thepaddockjournal.com
The Paddock Journal on Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/thepaddockjournal
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Paddock Journal / https://thepaddockjournal.com The Paddock Journal on Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/thepaddockjournal