Daily Style Phile: Amanda Hearst, Heiress, Editor, And Activist

by Georgia Bobley · April 6, 2012

Amanda Hearst, great-granddaughter of American media mogul William Randolph Hearst, could be just another blonde-haired blue-eyed socialite (if ya know what I mean), but instead of coasting through life on her name and her trust fund, the 28-year-old seems intent on avoiding the tabloid and reality TV culture that can shoot a girl with her looks, money, and last name into heiress-infamy.

Amanda Hearst hasn't entirely avoided the kinds of things that come with being part of one of the richest families in the country-- a few years ago she was voted #7 on Forbes' list of Hottest Billionaire Heiresses, alongside notorious party girls Nicky (#3) and Paris (#1) Hilton--but she maintains her good-girl image with some simple rules: "I try to stay in line and not be a jerk," she recently told the Times.

[Photo via]

It's ironic that Amanda, whose great-grandfather essentially founded tabloid magazines, strives to remain controversy-free and out of the very rags on which her family's fortune was built, but she doesn't shy away from discussing the evolution of the industry. In an interview with The Telegraph, Hearst said,

"It is the inevitable progression of what he [William Randolph Hearst] began...He pretty much started sensationalism. Which is good and bad, I guess."

Her reluctance to indulge in any typical socialite behavior is only part of the reason we love her. Amanda is also a fashion editor at Marie Claire, and even though her family name is on her office building, she doesn't use it to her advantage. The Times wrote about Amanda's role at the office:

"She keeps her head down, even at work at Marie Claire, where, as the associate market editor since 2009, she has a tiny and cluttered work station far from any window views. There, she picks products for her pages and on her blog that fit the description of ethical fashion (meaning sustainable, local and any number of other nice things that ease shopping guilt)."

[Gillian, Lydia, and Amanda Hearst, photo via]

[Amanda Hearst and Lauren Bush modeling for Lilly Pulitzer in 2007, photo via]

And when she's not holed away in at Marie Claire, Amanda has a modeling career on the side. When she left college for a year to pursue modeling, she immediately landed deals with Tommy Hilfiger and Lilly Pulitzer, and though she returned to school to complete her degree, Amanda still models today, most recently having been featured in a new Assouline book called "American Beauty" by Claiborne Swanson Frank.

When speaking about her own style, she identifies her icons to be women with classic looks like Grace Kelly and Gwyneth Paltrow. She said,

"I definitely identify with the whole 1950s, 1960s Hollywood glamour, I guess. Nice hair, red lips, very feminine, ladylike and tailored clothing."

When she's not busy with her day job at Marie Claire or her modeling career, Amanda puts her passion for animals and animal rights to good use. In mid-March, Amanda and Georgiana Bloomberg headed to North Carolina to take part in a puppy mill raid, during which they rescued 88 puppies.

With her elegance and grace, Amanda proves that not every heiress has to follow the same path.