Maria Ward is a writer and editor living in New York. Her specialties include brand voice, storytelling, email marketing, content strategy, and branded partnerships. Throughout her 10-plus years as a contributor for Vogue, she has interviewed countless celebrities and designers, like Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Maria Grazia Chiuri, and Zac Posen.

Ward grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an undergrad, Ward spent her summers interning at Seventeen, Glamour, and Vogue, assisting the likes of Glamour Executive Fashion Editor-at-Large Suze Yalof Schwartz and Vogue Editor-at-Large André Leon Talley.

Midway into her Vogue summer internship at Vogue, she was hired as a freelance researcher, where she assisted with the launch of the Vogue Archive by identifying hundreds of models whose names were, for decades, omitted from the magazine credits. Ward also contributed research for Voguepedia, fashion’s first digital encyclopedia —chronicling designers, photographers, models, brands, trends, and more—written entirely by Vogue editors. 

To create Christian Dior’s Voguepedia—from the designer’s first fashion show in 1947 to today—Ward conducted extensive research and spent countless hours digging through the Condé Nast, Fairchild, and New York Times archives. Sourcing newspaper reviews for every Dior fashion show, she selected the best quote that illustrated each collection. 

Upon graduation, Ward joined Vogue.com as an Editorial Producer before being promoted to Email Marketing Manager one month later. She wrote and led the robust Vogue (and later, Vogue Runway) newsletter program, increasing monthly website traffic by 10x. Ward was promoted again to Vogue Fashion News Writer and the Parties Editor in 2016. As a top traffic-driving author, she wrote at least three articles daily, plus the weekly column, “5 Things You Didn’t Know About,” covering pop culture. Her’ fashion test-wear feature stories, drew the most recognition.

Maria Ward’s debut test-wear feature, where she donned latex on a date, went viral and became listed on Vogue.com’s Top 10 Most-Viewed Articles of the Year.

After five years at Vogue, Ward expanded upon her experience by writing for multiple outlets. She immediately became a regular contributor to the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). For three years, she covered fashion, beauty, parties, and the CFDA Fashion Awards and was also the chief critic reviewing collections at Women’s, New York Men’s, and Bridal Fashion Week.

In 2018, Ward strategically transitioned into retail, joining Macy’s as a Brand Authority Copywriter and Copy Editor (the only Macy’s copywriter ever to absorb a copy editor role and do both simultaneously). As the head of copy on all fashion campaigns, she created key narratives that drove the marketing strategy each season—using “story-selling” to capture style’s new mood.

In March 2020, Ward joined the luxury cashmere label White + Warren as the first-ever Editorial Director, overseeing content and strategy across all marketing channels. During the pandemic, a challenging climate for retail, she spearheaded the launch of Closer Knit—a series featuring interviews with exclusive interviews plus ways to connect while social distancing. The franchise contributed to a 21% YoY boost in traffic and a 33% increase in Instagram engagement.

In September 2021, Ward became the Director of Editorial, Branded Partnerships, and Marketing at Over The Moon, an e-commerce website, wedding registry, and content destination. Under her leadership, she developed and refined the brand voice across all touchpoints. In addition to managing the marketing team with five direct reports, Ward edited all copy for the website, social media, email, and more. She also spearheaded all branded content, ideating and executing best-in-class campaigns for partners, including Carolina Herrera, Monique Lhuillier Jessica McCormack, 1stDibs, Bumble, Loeffler Randall, Spanx, and more. Singlehandedly ideating, developing, and landing every pitch, she led a dozen branded campaigns that generated over $275,000 in revenue.

Today, Maria is a freelance writer for Vogue.com, Women’s Wear Daily, Galia Lahav, and others.