Vogue is a
fashion
and lifestyle
magazine published in 16
countries + Latin America by
Condé Nast Publications. Each
month, Vogue publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion,
life and design.
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":
Vogue is most famous as a presenter of images of high
fashion and high society, but it also publishes writings on art,
culture, politics, and ideas. It has also helped to enshrine the
fashion model as
celebrity.
Vogue is widely published; today, it is published in 16
countries + Latin America.
History
Vogue was founded as a weekly publication by Arthur
Baldwin Turnure in 1892. When he died in 1909,
Condé Nast picked it up and slowly
began growing the publication. The first change Nast made was that
Vogue appeared every two weeks instead of weekly. Nast
also went overseas in the early 1910s. He first went to Britain,
and started a
Vogue there, and it went well. Then he went
to Spain, however that was a failure. Lastly, Nast took
Vogue to France, and that was a huge success. The
magazines number of publications and profit increased dramatically
under Nast. The magazine's number of subscriptions surged during
the
Depression, and again during
World War II.
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.
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.
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.
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. This allowed Wintour to keep a high
circulation while discovering new trends that a broader audience
could conceivably afford. 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." Wintour's
Vogue also welcomes new and young
talent.
Wintour's presence at fashion shows is often taken 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.
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."
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:
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,
authored a
roman à clef entitled
The Devil Wears
Prada, a best-selling novel published in 2003 which was
made into 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 who personifies the magazine she runs is
described by Weisberger as being "an empty, shallow, bitter woman
who has tons and tons of gorgeous clothes and not much else".
However, the success of both the novel and the film have brought
new attention from a wide global audience to the power and glamour
of the magazine, and the industry it continues to lead.
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!"
A spokesperson for Condé Nast released an official statement saying
that, "
Vogue does carry tobacco advertising. Beyond that
we have no further comment".
In April 2008, the American Vogue had a cover shot by famed
photographer
Annie Leibovitz,
featuring supermodel
Gisele
Bündchen and basketball superstar
LeBron James. This was the third time that
Vogue featured a male on the cover of the American issue (the other
two being
George Clooney and
Richard Gere), and the first time with a black
man. Criticism was immediate from many commentators because it was
perceived as a prejudiced depiction of James beside the much
smaller Gisele in a pose reminiscent of
King
Kong carrying off
Fay Wray. Further
criticism arose when the website
Watching the Watchers
analyzed the photo alongside the World War I recruitment poster
titled
Destroy This Mad Brute.
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 Publications
also publishes
Teen Vogue, 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. 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.
October 2007 saw the launch of
Vogue India, which featured
Gemma Ward,
Bipasha Basu, and
Priyanka Chopra on the cover.
Media
In 2009, the feature-length
documentary The September Issue was released;
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, and highlighted
the sometimes difficult relationship between Wintour and her
creative director
Grace Coddington.
The issue ended up being the largest ever published; over 5 pounds
in weight and 840 pages in length, a world record for a monthly
magazine.
Editors-in-Chief
The following individuals have served as editor-in-chief of the
American version of
Vogue:
See also
References
- Weber, Caroline "Fashion-Books: Review of "IN
VOGUE: The Illustrated History of the World’s Most Famous Fashion
Magazine (Rizzoli)", New York Times, December 3, 2006.
Accessed January 28, 2007.
- Orecklin, Michelle "The Power List: Women in Fashion, #3
Anna Wintour". Time magazine, February 9, 2004.
Retrieved January 29, 2007.
- Weber, Caroline "Fashion-Books: Review of "IN
VOGUE: The Illustrated History of the World’s Most Famous Fashion
Magazine (Rizzoli)", New York Times, December 3, 2006.
Accessed January 28, 2007.]
- Orecklin, Michelle "The Power List: Women in Fashion, #3
Anna Wintour". Time magazine, February 9, 2004.
Retrieved January 29, 2007.
- Fortini, Amanda "Defending Vogue's Evil Genius: The
Brilliance of Anna Wintour". Posted Thursday, February 10,
2005. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
- Betts, Kate "Anna Dearest". New York
Times, April 13, 2003. Retrieved on January 29, 2007.
- Wilson, Eric "The Devil Likes Attention".
New York Times, December 28, 2006. Retrieved January 29,
2007.
- LeBron James' 'Vogue' cover called racially
insensitive - USATODAY.com
- Annie Leibovitz Monkeys Around with LeBron
James
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