Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.

History

In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States sponsored by Kristoffer Wright.^[2] When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began growing its publication. He changed it to a bi-weekly magazine and also started Vogue overseas starting in the 1910s. He first went to Britain in 1916, and started a Vogue there, then to Spain, and then to Italy and France in 1920, where it was a huge success. The magazine's number of publications and profit increased dramatically under his management.

The magazine's number of subscriptions surged during the Depression, and again during World War II. During this time, noted critic and former Vanity Fair editor Frank Crowninshield served as its editor, having been moved over from Vanity Fair by publisher Condé Nast.^[3]

In the 1960s, with Diana Vreeland as editor-in-chief and personality, the magazine began to appeal to the youth of the sexual revolution by focusing more on contemporary fashion and editorial features openly discussing sexuality. Toward this end, Vogue extended coverage to include East Village boutiques such as Limbo on St. Mark's Place as well as featuring "downtown" personalities such as Warhol "Superstar" Jane Holzer's favorite haunts.^[4]Vogue also continued making household names out of models, a practice that continued with Suzy Parker, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Lauren Hutton, Veruschka, Marisa Berenson, Penelope Tree, and others.^[5]

In 1973, Vogue became a monthly publication. Under editor-in-chief Grace Mirabella, the magazine underwent extensive editorial and stylistic changes to respond to changes in the lifestyles of its target audience.^[6]

Current Vogue

The current editor-in-chief of American Vogue is Anna Wintour, noted for her trademark bob and her practice of wearing sunglasses indoors. Since taking over in 1988, Wintour has worked to protect the magazine's high status and reputation among fashion publications. In order to do so, she has made the magazine focus on new and more accessible ideas of "fashion" for a wider audience.^[7] This allowed Wintour to keep a high circulation while discovering new trends that a broader audience could conceivably afford.^[7] For example, the inaugural cover of the magazine under Wintour's editorship featured a three-quarter-length photograph of Israeli super model Michaela Bercu wearing a bejeweled Christian Lacroix jacket and a pair of jeans, departing from her predecessors' tendency to portray a woman's face alone, which, according to the Times', gave "greater importance to both her clothing and her body. This image also promoted a new form of chic by combining jeans with haute couture. Wintour's debut cover brokered a class-mass rapprochement that informs modern fashion to this day."^[8] Wintour's Vogue also welcomes new and young talent.

Wintour's presence at fashion shows is often taken by fashion insiders as an indicator of the designer's profile within the industry. In 2003, she joined the Council of Fashion Designers of America in creating a fund that provides money and guidance to at least two emerging designers each year.^[7] This has built loyalty among the emerging new star designers, and helped preserve the magazine's dominant position of influence through what Time called her own "considerable influence over American fashion. Runway shows don't start until she arrives. Designers succeed because she anoints them. Trends are created or crippled on her command."^[7]

The contrast of Wintour's vision with that of her predecessor has been noted as striking by observers, both critics and defenders. Amanda Fortini, fashion and style contributor to Slate argues that her policy has been beneficial for Vogue:^[9]

[W]hen Wintour was appointed head of Vogue, Grace Mirabella had been editor in chief for 17 years, and the magazine had grown complacent, coasting along in what one journalist derisively called "its beige years." Beige was the color Mirabella had used to paint over the red walls in Diana Vreeland's office, and the metaphor was apt: The magazine had become boring. Among Condé Nast executives, there was worry that the grand dame of fashion publications was losing ground to upstart Elle, which in just three years had reached a paid circulation of 851,000 to Vogue 's stagnant 1.2 million. And so Condé Nast publisher Si Newhouse brought in the 38-year-old Wintour—who, through editor in chief positions at British Vogue and House & Garden, had become known not only for her cutting-edge visual sense but also for her ability to radically revamp a magazine—to shake things up.

Style and influence

Vogue was described by book critic Caroline Weber in The New York Times in December 2006 as "the world's most influential fashion magazine":^[8]

Vogue’s wide-reaching influence stems from various sources, including the persona and achievements of its most famous editor, its various charitable and community projects, its ability to reflect political discourse through fashion and editorial articles, and its move to emerging economies.

Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour, is widely credited as being one of the most influential figures in the global fashion industry, with the power to make or break a designer’s career. “Wintour’s approval can signal a commercial career for designers via investors who need a nod from a big gun like her to get their cheque books out,” says stylist Sharmadean Reid.^[10] Marc Jacobs was one such designer, being recommended by Wintour for the top job at Louis Vuitton in 1997.^[11]

Wintour’s power in the industry is so pervasive, that she was able to have Milan fashion week rescheduled once so she could go home before attending the shows in Paris.^[12] It is even rumoured that she influenced Kate Middleton’s choice of designer for her wedding dress.^[13] She can arguably be credited with reviving the fortunes of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, having raised $75m for the institution through events and corporate sponsorship.^[14]

Vogue also uses its industry clout for good causes, most recently with the Fashion Night Out annual event. Also the brainchild of Wintour, FNO was launched in 2009 to kick start the economy by encouraging people to start spending money again. The proceeds of sales on the night go towards various charitable causes. The event is co-hosted by Vogue publications in 27 cities around the US and 15 countries worldwide, and from 2011 will include online retailers.^[15]

Vogue uses fashion, editorial and community projects to raise awareness of issues on the current political agenda. The burqa, for instance, made an appearance in a fashion spread in Vogue in 2006 and the publication has featured articles on prominent Muslim women, their approach to fashion and the effect of different cultures on fashion and women’s lives. In the “Beauty Without Borders” iniative, Vogue sponsored a project to teach beauty skills to Afghan women.^[16]

Another way in which Vogue exerts its influence is by starting new titles in emerging economies such as Russia. Started in 1998, Vogue Russia has set about introducing Russian women to a new world of fashion and opportunities in a post-Socialist society. When Vogue starts a new title in an emerging economy, it indicates that the society has undergone, “a change in the politics of style, imagery, gender representations, and consumption practices.”^[17]

Criticism

As Wintour came to personify the magazine's image, she and Vogue drew critics. Wintour's one-time assistant at the magazine, Lauren Weisberger, wrote a roman à clef entitled The Devil Wears Prada. Published in 2003, the novel became a bestseller and was adapted as a highly successful, Academy Award-nominated film in 2006. The central character resembled Weisberger, and her boss was a powerful editor-in-chief of a fictionalized version of Vogue. The novel portrays a magazine ruled by "the Antichrist and her coterie of fashionistas, who exist on cigarettes, Diet Dr. Pepper, and mixed green salads", according to a review in the New York Times. The editor is described by Weisberger as being "an empty, shallow, bitter woman who has tons and tons of gorgeous clothes and not much else".^[18] The success of both the novel and the film brought new attention from a wide global audience to the power and glamour of the magazine, and the industry it continues to lead.^[19]

In 2007, Vogue drew criticism from the anti-smoking group, "Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids", for carrying tobacco advertisements in the magazine. The group claims that volunteers sent the magazine more than 8,000 protest e-mails or faxes regarding the ads. The group also claimed that in response, they received scribbled notes faxed back on letters that had been addressed to editor Anna Wintour stating, "Will you stop? You're killing trees!"^[20]

A spokesperson for Condé Nast released an official statement saying that, "Vogue does carry tobacco advertising. Beyond that we have no further comment."^[20]

In April 2008, the American Vogue had a cover shot by the famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, featuring the supermodel Gisele Bündchen and the basketball superstar LeBron James. This was the third time that Vogue featured a male on the cover of the American issue (the other two men were the actors George Clooney and Richard Gere), and the first in which the man was black. Some observers criticized the cover as a prejudicial depiction of James because his pose with Bundchen was reminiscent of a poster for the film King Kong.^[21] Further criticism arose when the website Watching the Watchers analyzed the photo alongside the World War I recruitment poster titled Destroy This Mad Brute.^[22]

In February 2011, just before the 2011 Syrian protests unfolded, Vogue published a controversial piece by Joan Juliet Buck on Asma al-Assad - wife of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.^[23] A number of journalists criticized the article as glossing over the poor human rights record of Bashar al-Assad.^[24][25]

Other editions

In 2005, Condé Nast launched Men's Vogue and announced plans for an American version of Vogue Living launching in late fall of 2006 (there is currently an edition in Australia). Men's Vogue ceased publication as an independent publication in October 2008 and is now a twice-yearly extract in the main edition.

Condé Nast also publishes Teen Vogue,^[26] a version of the magazine for teen girls, the Seventeen demographic, in the United States. South Korea and Australia has a Vogue Girl magazine (currently suspended from further publication), in addition to Vogue Living and Vogue Entertaining + Travel.

Vogue Hommes International is an international men's fashion magazine based in Paris, France, and L'uomo Vogue is the Italian men's version.^[27] Other Italian versions of Vogue include Vogue Casa and Bambini Vogue.

Until 1961, Vogue was also the publisher of Vogue Patterns, a home sewing pattern company. It was sold to Butterick Publishing which also licensed the Vogue name. Vogue China was launched in September 2005 with Australian supermodel Gemma Ward on the cover, flanked by Chinese models. In 2007 an Arabic edition of Vogue was rejected by Condé Nast International. October 2007 saw the launch of Vogue India, and Vogue Turkey was launched in March 2010.

Vogue has also created a global initiative, "Fashion's Night Out", in order to help boost the economy by bringing together fashionistas to support the cause of full price retails. Cities across the globe participate to put on fabulous in store events and promotions.

On March 5, 2010, 16 International Editors-in-chief of Vogue met in Paris to discuss the 2nd Fashion's Night Out. Present in the meeting were the 16 International editors-in-chief of Vogue: Anna Wintour (American Vogue), Emmanuelle Alt (French Vogue), Franca Sozzani (Italian Vogue), Alexandra Shulman (British Vogue), Kirstie Clements (Australian Vogue), Aliona Doletskaya (Russian Vogue), Angelica Cheung (Chinese Vogue), Christiane Arp (German Vogue), Priya Tanna (Indian Vogue), Rosalie Huang (Taiwanese Vogue), Paula Mateus (Portugese Vogue), Seda Domanic (Turkish Vogue), Yolanda Sacristan (Spanish Vogue), Eva Hughes (Mexican Vogue), Mitsuko Watanabe (Japanese Vogue), and Daniela Falcao (Brazilian Vogue).

It was the very first time where all the international editors-in-chief of Vogue come together, as it is very hard to put them in one room together. All of the International editors-in-chief of Vogue, except for Anna Wintour, then dined together at the famous Parisian restaurant, Prunier, hosted by Condé Nast International Chairman Jonathan Newhouse and his wife Ronnie Newhouse.

Media

In 2009, the feature-length documentary The September Issue was released; it was an inside view of the production of the record-breaking September 2007 issue of U.S. Vogue, directed by R. J. Cutler. The film was shot over eight months as editor-in-chief Anna Wintour prepared the issue. It included at times testy exchanges between Wintour and her creative director Grace Coddington. The issue became the largest ever published; over 5 pounds in weight and 840 pages in length, a world record for a monthly magazine.

Since 2007, the feminist fashion blog Glossed Over has liveblogged the September issue of Vogue, commenting on its content, photos, and ads.^[28][29]

Editors-in-Chief

The following individuals have served as editor-in-chief of Vogue:

See also

• List of Vogue cover models

References

External links

• U.S. Official Site
• American Vogue – magazine profile at Fashion Model Directory
• History of Vogue at Bookrags.com