Ryan's daughter

Like mother, like daughter. New Zealand's youngest editor, Bridget Hope, tells JENNY FORSYTH why she's followed the well-shod footprints of her mother, Paula Ryan.


The birthday presents said it all. When Bridget Hope, new editor of teen mag Creme, turned 22 her mother, fashion expert and publisher Paula Ryan, knew exactly what her like-minded daughter would adore.

"Look at this - it's a printer's loop," says bleached-blond Bridget, gazing through the ornate magnifying glass used to check page proofs.

"Mum's first printer gave her one, so she got one imported for me. I just love it. I got that ... and a great white sapphire ring."

Fashion and publishing: they're passions that have moved on a generation, despite Bridget's best intentions to follow another career path.

And the similarities don't end with Bridget's new job. Like her mother, Bridget has also won New Zealand's Rose of Tralee competition, and the pair have a startling resemblance that extends to their short, blond hairstyles, strong eyebrows and sleek, chic, monochrome wardrobe.

The family business story began in the early 80s when Paula Ryan, with former husband Don Hope, began publishing Fashion Collections. The successful magazine was later renamed Fashion Quarterly and eventually sold to ACP.

Fast forward to 1999. Daughter Bridget, a trained photographer, had embarked on her big OE in London and dreamed of earning a Pulitzer prize for searing black-and-white photos from the world's trouble spots.

"I never wanted to be an editor and I was working so hard to get away from the fashion industry ... then I ended up here. Maybe you end up with what you resist the most," says Bridget.

Like it or not, magazine ink and a sense of style must run in the blood. Ryan senior now owns and markets the clothing range Simply You, using her familiar well-groomed face and a biannual magazine.

And Bridget seems to be following her lead. When the publishers of Front Row rang her in England with the surprise offer of an editor's role, Bridget couldn't resist.

She returned to New Zealand to edit Creme, a music and entertainment magazine similar to Australian competitors TV Hits and Smash Hits and written for a teenybop audience aged 8-16.

Bridget now works 80-hour weeks, dividing her time between organising photo shoots, interviewing bands, buying in photos and interviews and taking her own photos - including that infamous cover shot of body-painted Bernadine Oliver-Kerby for sister magazine New Zealand Rugby World.

You'll also find her using that new printer's loop to make sure those teen bands look as fresh-faced as they should. In this editor's book, a misplaced pixel is as disastrous as the pimples her magazine advises on.

Now, with the first four monthly issues behind her (last issue's sales 8500), Bridget has put thoughts of trench warfare firmly behind her. She is, however, well versed on subjects like who the boys from Westlife date, when Christina Aguilera will be in town and the latest plot of Shortland Street.

She's also had a crash course in editing, with a lot of help from her mother, and has no illusions about how much her publishing pedigree has helped her.

"I'd be ignorant to think my background hasn't helped me. I grew up with visits to the printers. When there was a disaster I sure knew about it. We'd have 12,000 magazines in the house ... and I'm used to having models around, too. Sometimes dad would slave for hours over a roast, then the model would be vegetarian."

And has the name itself helped her career?

"Possibly, but it was my enthusiasm that won me the job," says Bridget. "I haven't gone out of my way to do what my mum's done, though I imagine it looks that way. But I'm proud to be associated with my mother. She's done so well, so I don't have any fear of being Paula Ryan's daughter."

Strange. Most daughters would go to any lengths to look and act nothing like their mums. But these days, Bridget says the pair have a relationship more like good friends than mother and daughter.

Meanwhile, she describes her father Don, now publishing Golf, Lifestyle and Leisure magazine in New Zealand, as "very business-orientated", "a wheeler-dealer" and "the practical one".

"If I had a major drug problem I'd go to my mother, but if I lost my passport and airline tickets I'd go to my dad," says Bridget.

"We're great friends, but my mother and I don't compete with each other. Just look at Julio Iglesias and his son Enrico. They don't even talk. Oh my God, I can't believe I just compared us to Julio and Enrico.

"I guess she has given me a lot to live up to, though. I set myself strict standards in terms of the magazine because I've seen mum and dad do that."

Bridget, who appeared with her mother on the Simply You ads ("I was dreadful. Mum was much better") brushes aside suggestions she's also adopted her mum's fashion style.

"We're kind of a testing ground on each other - but I have to say I got this haircut first," she laughs.

"Actually she never sat me down and told me not to wear red and pink together, but people say we stand together and look like clones. And our wardrobes are pretty similar - you have to shine a torch in there to see anything it's so black.

"About six months ago we turned up to the movies both wearing white shoes, black trousers, white T-shirts and a black puffa jacket. We just laughed and went out."

This happy-go-lucky partnership has its occasional pitfalls, she admits. One of the most recent was when Paula Ryan refused to offer advice on whether Bridget should quit England and take the Creme job.

"I was really angry with her," says Bridget.

Ryan, for her part, is unrepentant.

"We have to make our own decisions. She got really cross with me but I just told her to mull it over. If anything, I'd actively encouraged her to stay away from publishing ... If we'd realised she wanted to get involved we might have kept the magazine.

"I think the similarities between us are quite funny. She entered the Rose of Tralee to get the fare to Europe, just as I did."

Asked if she found it odd that her daughter should want to travel such a similar path to her own, Ryan says: "No, not odd, just amusing. I guess at some stage I must have had a huge influence over her without realising it.

"I think the best thing her background has given her is that she's not in awe of anyone. She's not in awe of the rock stars she talks to and photographs because she's always had models and glamorous people around.

"And I like to think that the thing I've encouraged her with is her enthusiasm. She's always so positive, and I'm like that too. No time for negative people.

"She's very talented but I think that's why she's done so well."

Indeed, the future looks bright for the young and energetic Hope. But will she stick to the same path her mother has walked?

For a moment, the very self-assured and single-minded Hope dithers.

"Well, I can't see myself editing Tennis Monthly. I still want to really get into photography but I've also got this incredible passion for magazines.

"I think I'll end up editing overseas. Something to do with culture, entertainment and the arts. I love my job at the moment but I can't see myself being in New Zealand forever."