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to support you, and if you screwed things up sometimes, it was okay. So yeah, I guess it began at The Day School and grew from there. Trevor: So, starting in college, where did your career take you? How did you end up back in New York as a reporter? Hugo: I went to Duke for college, and I liked it, but it felt a long way from home. I felt very eager to move back to New York City. I didn't even really think about going anywhere else. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I ended up finding a job at this unusual architecture and design magazine called Metropolis. It turned out to be great. I worked there for three or four years. Metropolis had this beautiful design and this collection of amazing people working there who were all kooky in the best way. It's funny, it was a little like The Day School. Trevor: So eventually you make your way from Metropolis to New York Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and The Hollywood Reporter. What was that journey like? Hugo: Well, it took a long time. Metropolis was on the outskirts of mainstream publishing, so people in publishing didn't generally know of it. Eventually, I was interested in getting into a more mainstream publication, and the first big job I got was at George Magazine, which John F. Kennedy Jr. had just co-founded. That was sort of a pivotal time in my career. The magazine itself was never that good, but it was so much fun to work there, and there was so much energy behind us doing something new. John F. Kennedy Jr. was just a lovely guy who was very kind to the people who worked there. From George, I got to know people in the industry and got a job at New York Magazine. And there, I felt like I was at a publication that was both really good and had a readership. That was a great place to work and a great place to be a young person. We felt like we were really part of the city, going out all the time and seeing all the movies and the museum shows and the concerts. Everything was at our fingertips. I couldn't believe how lucky I was. Trevor: And around this time, you're probably starting to see technology changing, too. What was that like? Hugo: Yeah, it was funny; the internet didn't seem like it was going to change everything until it changed everything. In the late '90s, print culture was dominant, so what I really learned how to do well was make magazines; I loved having to conserve space and know what goes next to what and put together photography and design and headlines to make it come to life. There was so much collaboration between the designers, photographers, fact-checkers, and copy editors to make that happen. That's since changed. There's still great writing everywhere, but the synergistic quality of that doesn't exist now like it did then. From New York Magazine, I went to The New York Times Magazine with my boss. Later, he went back to New York Magazine, so I went back with him. I spent about 10 years between those Hugo's advisory group picture from 1981. (He is 4th from the left.) Hugo's advisory group picture from 1980. (He is 4th from the right.) 54 / TREVOR MAGAZINE SPRING 2024–25

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