Writer Paul Gorman explores the history of the Face magazine.

Launched by NME editor and Smash Hits creator Nick Logan in 1980, The Face became an icon of “style culture,” the benchmark for the latest trends in art, design, fashion, photography, film, and music being defined by a thriving youth culture.

The Story of The Face tracks the exciting highs and calamitous lows of the life of the magazine in two parts. Part one focuses on the rise of the magazine in the 1980s, highlighting its striking visual identity—embodied by Neville Brody’s era-defining graphic designs, Nick Knight’s dramatic fashion photography, and the “Buffalo” styling of Ray Petr— and its unflinching approach to journalism. Contributors included a host of writers who subsequently made their impact in the wider world, from Julie Burchill, Robert Elms, Tony Parsons, and James Truman to Jon Savage, Richard Benson, and Sheryl Garratt