Joshua Glass: beyond the dining room table

Family Style isn’t just a magazine—it’s a take-home dinner party in print. Founded and edited by Joshua Glass, the publication serves up a thoughtful, multi-course experience where food and fashion share the table as equals. Whether it’s a feature on must-see exhibitions or a spotlight on hand-crafted furniture to gather your guests around, Glass curates each issue like a perfectly composed meal—flavorful, layered, and deeply considered.

For Glass, making a magazine is not just about publishing stories—it’s about building a world. Last May, he debuted Takeaway, a spin-off project that he affectionately calls “the Miu Miu to Family Style’s Prada.” Geared toward the stylish, scene-savvy girls of New York’s Lower East Side, Takeaway channels a more playful, rebellious voice—another outlet for Glass to explore storytelling on his own terms, guided by his own instincts.

In this conversation, our editor-in-chief sits down with Glass to talk about building a media brand rooted in personal values, and what it takes to create stories that leave readers not just entertained, but fulfilled—long after the last page is turned.

hube: You’ve once described Family Style as an “imaginary dinner party”, such a beautiful concept. If you could invite absolutely anyone, knowing they’d say yes, who would be at your dream table?

Joshua Glass: That’s a question I often think about in relation to others, but it’s challenging for me to answer for myself! A good dinner party is all about variety. Would I want to dine with the divas of yesterday? Of course. Would they make for the most enriching table? Likely not. I would, of course, need a visual artist to start our conversation—and who better than Basquiat, whose 1980s dinner parties helped define Downtown Manhattan? I’d pair him with Jonathan Anderson, who referenced Basquiat and his crew of out-on-the-towners in his Dior debut this June. Joining us would be someone from film and TV—perhaps Mia Goth, whose exquisite weirdness would surely delight all the guests, and the young British actor Damson Idris, who has suddenly made all of us interested in race car driving. Rounding out our six-top (you always need two table heads) would be the writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir—to read us all to filth.

h: Could you tell us a bit more about the concept behind your new publication, Takeaway? What are your goals for the magazine?

JG: I describe Takeaway as the Miu Miu to Family Style’s Prada. It’s not about money—if you think about both brands, their price tags are nearly identical. The distinction, however, is their points of view and the people they’re speaking to. Prada is cultural and luxurious, whereas Miu Miu is young and edgy, speaking to the next generation. I wanted a different approach to take on the topics we don’t typically touch on in Family Style: music, entertainment, and youth culture. Takeaway is fast and crunchy; it’s a moving target.

h: You mentioned seeing an opportunity to build a media brand that functions not only as a beautiful print object but “also beyond that.” What does beyond look like to you? How do you envision Family Style and Takeaway evolving across platforms or formats in the future?

JG: Don’t get me wrong, I love print—making a magazine fulfills my heart and replenishes my soul no matter how stressful it is. However, in 2025 a magazine has to be more than just a physical magazine, cool editorials, and interesting articles. More than unique social content and web features. Because both Family Style and Takeaway are rooted in food’s amazing quality of bringing people together, our curated experiences really speak for themselves and set us apart from our peers. Between Family Style’s bespoke dinners and Takeaway’s dance parties, we are fostering two unique communities, building one-of-a-kind events with the creativity and precision of a fashion editorial.

h: How do you personally approach that intersection of editorial integrity and commercial collaboration? What are some principles or boundaries you’ve set for Family Style when working with brands? Have you ever had to say no to a partnership that didn’t align with your vision?

JG: I own and edit both magazines, and because of that, I can operate according to my own values and morals. We refuse to work with several notable fashion houses that are discriminatory, even if they advertise in other magazines. We don’t shoot fur or work with stylists who support the Trumps. Integrity—not just for commercial purposes—is incredibly important to me and to us as a whole. We discuss teams, concepts, and briefs in depth to ensure that what we’re creating is not only beautiful and interesting, but also good.

h: Is it possible, in your view, for a media platform to feel both deeply personal and widely accessible? How do you balance intimacy with reach?

JG: It’s an extremely difficult balance, which I like to think we manage well. Some of my favorite magazines are also some of the most alienating publications for readers outside the fashion industry or art circuit. Why is that? It’s because these worlds have historically been exclusive. Our challenge is not to flip the funnel outward, but to widen it—bringing nuance and sensitivity into our approach. If you’re not familiar with a certain artist we feature, that’s okay—we’ll tell you why you should be. And we try to work with collaborators who feel the same way, whether they’re established journalists or contemporary photographers—it’s important to have warmth and gentleness.

h: How do you approach the digital side of Family Style and Takeaway? Is that something you enjoy, or is print still your first love?

JG: Family Style has its own digital ecosystem. Our website, www.family.style, is updated daily with all of our cultural sections: design, culture, fashion, art—and food, of course. Some of our print content goes online, but we’re also commissioning news stories, essays, and cultural features to live and be enjoyed on a short lead. Our weekly newsletter, Finger Food, has become something of a fan favorite. It comes out every Sunday and tells our readers what to eat, what to know, and who to follow. All of this is cycled through our Instagram, @family_style, where we tell stories with a much more visually forward point of view. As of now, Takeaway is just in print—twice a year—and on Instagram, @t_a_k_e_a_w_a_y, although we’ll be launching something soon.

h: How do you define success for Family Style and Takeaway? Not in terms of numbers or growth, but in terms of impact? What moments have made you feel like, “Yes, this is why we’re doing this”?

JG: Family Style and Takeaway are so different, but they do share overarching goals. The main indictor of success for me is hearing feedback that we are telling substantial and different kinds of stories. You can’t compare yourself to others, nor am I in the business of purposely going against the flow to defy it, however I think readers, followers, subscribers, and guests are craving specialness; what we do is best create things that are special.

h: Is there a misconception you find ironic that people have about what it takes to run an independent media brand?

JG: That all I do is go to many dinners or fashion shows. I do attend many, yes, but I’m working right up until the moment we sit down or the first model hits the runway—and the second after the finale. Making an independent magazine is a more than a full-time job, and we have three. The industry is not the fantasy we want it to be, nor are the people working in it.

h: Working with highly creative people often means navigating strong personalities, sensitivities, and even moments of vulnerability. As the founder and editor-in-chief, how do you balance honoring that emotional landscape with the practical need to meet deadlines, uphold standards, and keep things moving?

JG: I try to be respectful and sensitive as the creative landscape can often feel like a landmine, however things always have to get done in a timely manner. People also often think because we are new and young, they can treat us however they want. As the leader, I have to be protective of the magazines and our teams, but also open to work with different types of personalities. It’s not always easy. Sometimes I get off a Zoom and I want to scream into my office, but that’s life. Our strength is that we can collaborate across the spectrum and around the world. I love that about it, understanding that it takes a lot of empathy and kindness in these communications.

h: Could you name 5 rising creatives (in any field) you’re particularly curious to watch?

JG: The painter Sasha Gordon, the musician Sam Austins, the photographer Alessandro Furchino Capria, the wine bar Lei in New York by Annie Shi,  and the fashion designer Rachel Scott of Diotima.