Via a Zoom call from her living room in New York last week, as sirens blared in the background, Ms. Brown described the task of being a fashion editor right now as “a constant balancing act.” In between stories about eye creams and tips on styling a denim jacket, her team (who are all working from home) had just produced a one-off digital cover featuring Dr. Jana Broadhurst, an infectious disease diagnostics specialist.

“As an effective editor, you need to read the room constantly,” she said. “Now we need to read it not just every day, but every hour and minute, registering appetites and anxieties that are constantly changing.”

“Offering some escapism and glamour is still important, but I’m less paranoid now about getting this celebrity for that cover, or a product exclusive,” said Ms. Brown, who is known for her close relationships with the Hollywood glitterati. (The InStyle May issue, published this week, featured Lady Gaga on the front cover.) “Readers are saying they want to see the everyday women currently doing extraordinary things being celebrated. We need to show that we are listening to them.”

Improvising Images in a No-Contact Age

How to run a magazine nimbly on an ever-receding budget has become an essential skill for editors. Some titles, W magazine among them, have already been forced to furlough staff and switch to survival mode given the new status quo.

That traditional business model had been sputtering for years. Douglas McCabe, the chief executive of the media research firm Enders Analysis, estimated that, on average, magazines are now looking at further advertising declines “in the major double digits.”