It's a Lipstick Jungle in Here

editor in chief kim raver in the conference room at marie claire

Danielle Levitt

Lipstick Jungle at Marie Claire

MARKETING CONFERENCE ROOM, 9:00 A.M.: The features staff gets an earful as Raver raves on about the importance of punchy cover lines. Next month, there should be 356 Hot Looks, not 351 Hot Looks, she advises. "I find a woman who knows what she wants to be very sexy," says Raver, ruling the meeting with a pretty fist. "They come in, look beautiful, and still make tough choices without being hard and aggressive."

models in the fashion closet at marie claire

Danielle Levitt

Lipstick Jungle at Marie Claire

FASHION CLOSET, 10:07 A.M.: Model meltdown! "Can I move in?" gushes Raver, dashing into MC's famed fashion closet for a Gisele-size emergency. Behind the designer racks, a colossal shoot hangs in the balance as our scowling beauty feigns "exhaustion" (after a Page Six-worthy bender the night before). "It's a beehive in here," muses Raver, serenely selecting a frilly frock sure to lure the model to the set.

marie claire's art department selecting photos with photo editor kristen schaefer

Danielle Levitt

Lipstick Jungle at Marie Claire

ART DEPARTMENT, 1:22 P.M.: Selecting film with photo editors Kristen Schaefer (left) and Andrea Volbrecht, Raver goes green with issue-board envy. "The one I have on the show is so small!"

marie claire editor in chief kim raver smelling a new fragrance in the beauty closet

Danielle Levitt

Lipstick Jungle at Marie Claire

BEAUTY CLOSET, 2:43 P.M.: Driven to drink already? Nope, just getting a whiff of a new designer fragrance with beauty director Ying Chu during a product run-through. Fearlessly facing more appointments, Raver is no stranger to multitasking. "People always ask me, 'What do you do in your downtime?'" she says. "And I'm like, 'Downtime? Are you kidding me?'"

editor in chief kim raver in her office at marie claire

Danielle Levitt

Lipstick Jungle at Marie Claire

THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S OFFICE, 3:27 P.M.: Sure, she's smiling -- she found a Gucci invite for Milan fashion week mistakenly buried under a heap of manuscripts. "To be a woman in power, you have to go for it -- no second-guessing," says Raver, who edits stories with a Sharpie. Talk about getting the last word -- permanently.