Creating a new narrative between climate and culture with Atmos Magazine

Atmos Magazine is beautiful, eloquent and inspires action. The biannual publication delivers a culturally-led luxury fashion feel with the substance of the National Geographic. Atmos was founded by Jake Sargent, who previously managed Monocle’s retail and product collaboration development before taking up the position of joint Creative Director alongside Daniel Corrigan for the premium denim brand Simon Miller. In 2017 Jake founded Magic Hour, an early-stage venture capital fund with a portfolio of brands that spans wellness, social consciousness, environment, food and fashion with the common thread to inspire change and transform consumer behaviour.

Following a reconnection through a mutual friend, Jake and Willow Defebaugh began to bring Atmos to life. Willow’s career in fashion publishing began after moving to New York to intern at Vogue Magazine. After working at GQ Magazine, they moved to the distinctively cool, culture-obsessed, V Magazine, where during 5 years there, rose from assistant to Editor.

Why would you leave a career that appears from the outside the perfect example of a focused and driven fashion professional? Well, after experiencing what they call ‘fashion fatigue’ they hit a turning point around the time of the Trump election and decided to use their voice as a writer and editor to make a difference in the world. As someone who leads a consciously connected life, and helps others to live in alignment, Willow could no longer be part of a system perpetuating consumerism.

Now as Editor-in-Chief of Atmos, Willow has created a new narrative between climate and culture to re-connect us with nature and ourselves. Recognising that we have become divorced from the very thing that sustains us - the Earth - Will opens up the channels of communication between an aesthetic that we desire and the insight that we crave.

After recently launching Atmos Magazine Volume 3 entitled Flourish / Collapse we caught up with Willow to talk to about; life in the fashion industry, the concept behind the title of Atmos’ latest publication and the Future Earth Day project.

Listen to our podcast above and on

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This is the first podcast we’ve ever recorded without the interviewee in the same room as our host, Jodi Muter-Hamilton. Usually preferring the joy and intimacy of a face-to-face conversation, we have stepped out of our comfort zone and recorded this podcast with Willow in New York thanks to the power of the internet! We have welcomed this push to connect beyond our immediate network and it sets a new way of doing this for us, so thanks to Willow for doing what you do so well, helping people to see things in a new light!

“It’s very hard for people to care about an issue that they don’t feel connected to, or that they don’t feel they have a right to be connected too. We have created this sort of divorce within our culture between ourselves and nature but specifically between culture and climate.”

— Willow Defebaugh, Other day Podcast Episode 31

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Sweet Poison. Words and photography by Stefanie Moshammer

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Nature is the great force of balance. When we have ourselves at too far of an extreme in either of these directions - in flourish or collapse - it’s just going to create more and more imbalance. I think what we are really striving for right now is being in a state of equilibrium. ”

— Willow Defebaugh, Other day Podcast Episode 31