Tidying Is Trendy Says Jane Bruton, the New Editor of Good Housekeeping UK
LONDON — Jane Bruton is ready to unveil her first issue as editor in chief of Good Housekeeping UK, the country’s biggest women’s fashion and lifestyle title, and she wants to make a few things clear.
Despite what a zillion people have asked her already, she’s not changing the title, or the branding, and contrary to what some might assume, “housekeeping” is not a fuddy-duddy term.
More from WWD
“Everything involves housekeeping — from what you wear, to your finances, friendships and relationships. We even refer to ‘housekeeping’ during work meetings. It’s not an old-fashioned word. It’s just a misunderstood one,” said Bruton during an interview alongside the brand’s managing director, Liz Moseley.
Bruton added that everyone seems to be housekeeping in one way or another, from Marie Kondo devotees to TikTokers to glamorous Instagram experts sporting rubber gloves and wielding sponges. Martha Stewart, America’s best-known housekeeper, built a commercial empire on it.
“Housekeeping is not a thing you do when you’re a certain age, or in a certain social position. Everybody now declutters as part of their Sunday reset, and there is mindfulness in doing that — so it’s actually a really modern concept,” said Bruton.
The April issue will be released on Thursday with the English actress and singer Patsy Kensit on the cover, and a host of headlines that reflect Bruton’s cheeky sense of humor.
They include “Hurray — no more dates of doom!” and “Fridge Wars: The decluttering tip that could save your marriage.”
There’s also advice on how to deal with “vinegar face,” a reference to the contorted facial expressions that may accompany an orgasm, while inside, there’s a column called “Absolute Filth!” written by the cleaning expert Katie Mottram.
This is not your mother’s Good Housekeeping.
Bruton, who served as deputy editor and lifestyle director at The Telegraph newspaper after she left Grazia UK, describes her approach as “evolution, not revolution” because the magazine is already in good shape.
The latest ABC results for 2024 saw a 2 percent uptick in headline circulation to 370,395; a 3 percent rise in paid subscriptions, and a 53 percent uplift in paid digital subscriptions compared to the previous year.
Good Housekeeping is Hearst UK’s largest monthly title by circulation and is more than triple the size of Cosmopolitan UK, and five times bigger than Harper’s Bazaar. Its circulation is more than twice that of British Vogue, which is part of rival media stable Condé Nast.
Hearst UK’s plan is to grow the brand across print, digital and events via three interactive, multiplatform subscriptions. Following the implementation of new technology infrastructure last year, it now offers digital, classic and VIP “memberships.”
Moseley said she tapped Bruton to restore the “cultural relevance” of the title, and to speak more clearly to the wants and needs of the readers, who range in age from around 35 to 65 years old.
“I needed an editor who could really come in, color our world, and bring it to life. What we want to do to make the brand match-fit for the next 100 years,” Moseley said.
She added there was no need for a complete turnaround as business has always been healthy thanks to various affiliate and licensing deals and the robust Good Housekeeping Institute accreditation business.
Bruton could not wait to get started and said the first thing she did when she took the job was to study the archives. She said she loved reading the essays written by Virginia Woolf in the 1930s, and earlier articles by Millicent Fawcett, the English political activist and writer who campaigned for women’s suffrage.
Good Housekeeping UK was launched in the wake of World War I, a time of huge social and political change in the U.K., “to give a voice to women everywhere,” said Bruton.
She wants to continue to empower women, and has tapped some of her former female colleagues at Grazia UK. She’s named Melanie Rickey to the post of style director and given Paula Reed, the fashion editor and stylist, a column called “Upkeeping,” where she writes about practical skills such as plumbing, darning and power drilling.
The April issue also includes the results of the new “Gentelligence” survey, which asked women what they needed to thrive in 2025.
The magazine surveyed 2,951 women aged between 18 and 80-plus about their attitudes toward money and security, sex and relationships, body image, motherhood, feminism and activism. The study also looked at how those attitudes have evolved over the last 50 years.
Bruton has ramped up the fashion shoots and beauty coverage, and said her covers will feature a broader range of celebrities, while the look will be more modern.
“They need to be people we’re talking about at the moment, someone with a story whom we feel is a Good Housekeeping-type person. But we’re not taking a tabloid-y approach. There’s nothing intrusive,” she said.
The magazine will continue to work in sync with its sister, The Good Housekeeping Institute, a platform that quality tests thousands of consumer goods each year. The GHI also stages regular customer events and has a powerful fan base, according to Moseley.
“The Good Housekeeping Institute is the reason why good housekeeping is still here,” said Moseley. “It has earned Good Housekeeping a sense of trust, and that trust is the reason why people still pay a premium to consume the content.
“It’s also the entry point for the brand, and the thing that earns us the right to participate in all the other conversations the magazine is having. It’s an exciting opportunity,” she said.
Moseley said the institute attracts an “inter-generational audience” because most people — at some point in their lives — are going to have to buy a dishwasher, a fridge-freezer, or an iron, and they’ll likely be looking at the GHI rating.
Bruton said she relishes speaking to a cross-generational audience with diverse interests. “Grazia was similar. We said, ‘Why can’t you be interested in news and shoes?’ Like our readers, we never want to stay in our lane,” she said.
Best of WWD
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
