Fabien Baron - Artistic director

[MissMagAddict]

Source | Hint Fashion Magazine | Special Thanks to The Imagist

HINTERVIEW:
Fabien Baron: One-Man Brand

Fabien Baron—graphics guru, branding visionary, creative director extraordinaire, multitasking myth-maker—can do more in 15 minutes than just about anyone. So it was no great surprise when news spread earlier this year that he'd been named editorial director of Andy Warhol's Interview (as well as Art in America and Antiques), a title he shares with style writer Glenn O'Brien, both of whom had worked for the magazine before. The September issue marks the official relaunch, but Baron has already been putting Warhol's axiom to the test with three "warm-up" issues, as he calls them, one of which featured Marc Jacobs on the cover in a gray-white tousled Warholian wig. But while Baron can whip up miracles in mere minutes, give him 15 years and he can recreate the publishing universe. That's exactly what happened when he was appointed creative director of Harper's Bazaar in 1992. His signature negative space splashed with oversized letters became the aesthetic benchmark to imitate and himself a Warhol-worthy superstar. All the while, with his branding agency Baron & Baron and its staff of dozens, he's been conceiving and realizing the ad campaigns and product designs for such blue-chippers as Calvin Klein, Burberry, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Giorgio Armani, to name only a few. Here, at his new Hudson St. digs in Tribeca, where straight lines and right angles still dominate (save for massive round light fixtures), the unflappable maverick opened up to Lee Carter about everything from his Interview redesign to his designs on the White House.

This is my first time in your new office. Last time we met was on 57th St…
I'm so glad not to be there anymore.

Why did you move?

It was too small and too…well, too small.

You're still going through growing pains. How do you juggle everything?
I'm a perfectionist. I'm very respectful of deadlines, but I usually hold back if I know there's a little something wrong. It doesn't go out if it's not right.

Everyone says they're a perfectionist. Do you have a note from a doctor?
I should. It's almost a disease. I don't know what it is, if it's control or because I just like to do things well. I'm like an athlete trying to break a record. (Phone rings.) It's Craig McDean calling about a layout. He wants me to send it to him, but I'm not finished—exactly what we were talking about.

In our last interview, you were saying you're always on the go…

That hasn't changed.

Where have you been of late?

I'm still doing a lot of magazine work, packaging, ad campaigns, photography and commercials. I mix my mediums. I like that. I find it easier to work.

Which commercials?

For Calvin and Giorgio Armani.

And, of course, there's Interview. Has that started?

Yeah, kind of. September is the official first issue, but we're putting out three issues before that, like warm-ups.

What's different with September?

The size is new, the paper is new. I think the photography and attention to all the details will be new. It will be a total redesign.

Who's on the September cover?

I can't tell you! (Laughs.)

What exactly is your role is there?

I'm editorial director, one of them, with Glenn O'Brien. I share the title with him. He's an old partner of mine.

You've been friends for a long time.

I've worked with him for about twenty years, and with Karl [Templer, creative director] for fifteen. I've known Peter [Brant, publisher] for about twenty.

Like a family…

We're all connected. And with that we create a buzz, I guess, which goes back to what Andy tried to do. The Factory was an open house. None of us overshadows the others. Karl is very fashion, I'm very visual, Glenn is very wordy. And each one of us is interested in what each other finds. Together, we're taking care of three magazines [Interview, Art in America, Antiques], redesigning them and repositioning their editorial content.

To be sexier? More intellectual?

To be more of a reflection of what's going on today. I think Interview was basically a style magazine invented by Andy Warhol for his friends to be in it, a vehicle for showing stylish people, to bring marginals and high society together under the same roof. He was really obsessed with fame. We have plans to make it much more important than it's ever been.

Will anything stay the same?

I like the name.

What's the competition?

I don't think there is any. The thing with Interview is it's at the crossroads of art, fashion and entertainment, which we can treat in a very authoritative way. It's a unique position that not many magazines can accomplish. Today one jumps between the worlds of art, fashion and entertainment all the time. Designers hire artists to work on their products, while artists want fashion people to be interested in their work, and they both care about fame the way Hollywood cares about fame. Where before these fields were very elitist, today they spread out everywhere. They're interacting more than ever, overlapping and becoming almost one. Interview will represent that. We can make a special fashion issue and be believable, or make a special art issue and be believable, or do entertainment.

It seems like that's what Andy would've wanted.

And it's what he did very well. He was able to mix glamorous and trendy on the same page, to show the worlds together as one. We can be the ambassadors of this vision.

A big swirl.

Yes. Vanity Fair rules Hollywood, American Vogue rules fashion, and Art Forum rules the art world. I think we can have the authority where those three fields meet, to own that spot. If Vanity Fair were to do an art issue, they would focus on where the money is coming and going. They would seek out the underbelly of the art world, to fit the position of the magazine. And if Vogue did it, where will they put the fashion? They could only do a six or eight page story. I'm not saying it would be bad. It would be very valid, very much like the piece you need to see about the art of the moment—what's coming up at the Met or the Modern. But they'll never be able to get into the story like we can. We can blow twelve pages on an artist, show his art and interview him, then another artist right after that. Then a portrait of sixteen artists, or some big collector, etc. At the same time we can have special backstage story on Paris couture. Then we can interview Martin Scorsese or do a big thing on Brad Pitt. It's vast. And the three categories of art, fashion and entertainment need and want each other more than ever, the same way they did in the 60s and 70s. It's all more and more connected.

 

[MissMagAddict]

continued...

And to me, one of your warm-up covers, Marc Jacobs, embodies that philosophy.

Exactly. His front row has music types, actresses, downtown people that you never see in other front rows. And he collaborates with artists like Richard Prince. Marc is representative of the new ethos. He's very much like a curator because he's always curating things that represent his world. There's no other magazine that can deliver that more than Interview. That's the legacy and the mission, to preserve the brand but bring it forward—to basically go out there and kick ***.

You always kick ***. Did you ever met Andy?

Strangely enough, when I was a kid in Paris—well, I was like 16—I went to my first fashion show, Yves Saint Laurent. I was assisting a photographer who had a front row seat. I was sitting next to him when Andy Warhol came in and sat next to me. I was like, oh ****. He was very quiet. He looked at me, I looked at him and that was it. A few years later I met him a second time at another fashion show. I think it was Perry Ellis, when he was still alive. I was running late and the show had started, so I stood at the entrance. I looked next to me and there was Andy. We watched the Perry Ellis show side by side.

Did you talk to him?

No. And he didn't talk to me either.

Do you still get star-struck sometimes?

Yes, of course. I guess everyone does.

When was the last time?

When I met Madonna for the first time. I met her at her home on Central Park West to talk about working on her Sex book. It was very comfortable but very uncomfortable at the same time, which is a very interesting feeling. She's very imposing and knows what she wants. She's very informed and opinionated, which makes her genius. She takes you in and swallows you up—and you don't mind it, you actually enjoy it. There's an unspoken seduction that goes on. I was young, She was young, too, and beautiful.

That was an unforgettable era.

Yeah, she put that book out at the best moment. She timed it very well. She knows what she's doing. And such drive. Some people want to lift stones and see what's under it. She'll be on a beach with millions of stones and want to lift every one of them.

You have that kind of drive.

I'm more of a prima donna. (Laughs.)

So what's next for you?

Whatever I'm working on needs to be of a certain quality.

Do you think there's been an overall decline in quality?

Yes, absolutely.

In fashion?

Yes, with everything. There's definitely a lack of quality going on, a lack of craftsmanship, a lack of intellect. There's also a search for ideas. Things don't look as good as they should. What happened was you had these big luxury brands that advertised themselves really well and opened mega-stores. They've put out a lot of smaller products of a lower grade and communicated those products at a lower common denominator. Then you have mass-market companies like H&M, Gap and Banana Republic that are trying to go up. So today, if you look at the advertising for the two sides, if you remove the logos, what you're looking at is very similar. This overlap has created a blend. High and low are not so different anymore. We have to deal with it.

What will happen with big labels?

They'll be fine. There'll always be a need for people with a lot of money to dress in a certain sophisticated way. They'll always want a sweater that won't stretch after six wears or fall apart if you wash it once.

I think you should have a fashion line.

I don't think so.

Why not?

It's too complicated. I'm good at branding. I wouldn't know what button to use. I've thought about it, though, but I'm not interested.

Any offers?

Yes, but I've said no to all of them. I thought sunglasses were a nice thing to do on the side and wouldn't overlap with my clients. It's almost outside of fashion, but very fashionable.

Yes, your new sunglasses. I think they're fantastic. When I first saw them, I was thinking that all along you've created visual identities for large brands, so this is kind of a way to create identities on a smaller scale—for people.

Yeah. For me, it was about doing something personal that would reflect what I like.

What's the design concept?

I like classic things—with a measure of modernity, of course. It's a very simple accessory and it really does change your face, and it can change your personality.

They're handmade in Japan. Is that the best place to make them, like denim?

Yes. The crafting is better. We wanted to do something special that wasn't like everyone else.

Which one is your favorite?

The bug-eye ones, a little bit 70s.

What about doing a fragrance? You design all those bottles anyway.

That could be, but I have a clients in the business and I intend to keep them.

 

[MissMagAddict]

continued...

Let's talk about your book that's coming out in September.

It's called Liquid Light [SteidlDangin].

Is it your first book?

Yes. It's all seascape pictures that I've done over the past twenty years in different places. Each one is very similar.

The same horizon line in the middle?

Exactly. The composition is always the same, but it might be noon, the middle of the night, stormy, whatever.

Is it a calming thing for you?

Totally, a way to do something personal and meaningful. I spend most of my time taking care of clients, magazines, etc.—making sure everyone is happy. This is something I started just for me. Then twenty years later a couple of people looked at the pictures and said I should make a book. I've collected over a 1000 negatives over the years.

What else do you have your hands in? What about a designer phone like Dior or Prada?

I was talking with Vertu a long time ago, but we didn't get along. I had problems with the phone they wanted to come out with. They told me it would be a luxury phone. I said good idea, and my first question was how much will it cost. They said $15,000 and I told them they were crazy. They'll have only a few people buying it. Plus I didn't think the phone looked very special.

Designing technology must be tricky.

It's not high-fashion. And I find, as technology progresses, people don't connect like this anymore. People don't know how to behave anymore. And those ****ing emails by the thousands. The time spent in front of the computer is insane.

Yet I noticed you're designing websites, too…

Yeah, we have to because people ask us. We did Balenciaga's website and Ian Schrager's website. And we're very happy with our own.

I remember asking you once what you thought of the web, which was still new then, and you said it was too slow to take off.

I remember that. It was too slow, but the minute broadband came along, it was like, boom.

And apparently a lot of the hotels in Paris didn't have high-speed and you had to change hotels just to communicate with your team.

Yeah, to the Park Hyatt, which I didn't like. What a nightmare. But you need that. These days I can do layouts from anywhere, and sending 20 mb is no big deal. Before, 2 mb was like a nightmare. I always thought when technology gets it together it's going to be incredible.

Do you get back to Paris much? You're from there.

When I worked at French Vogue, yes.

Is that completely over?

Completely over.

Do you still talk to Carine [Roitfeld]?

Yes, all the time.

She seems quintessentially French to me.

She is. She's comfortable with her own style. She knows what she's doing and where she stands. She's kind of crazy, too—a little bit sexy and a lot of fun. I love her for her uniqueness and her desire to push.

Do you think French culture is in crisis?

Well, they like to complain in France and work less and less. It comes from those years of socialism, when everything was taken care of too much. If you didn't work you got a salary anyway. What's that about? If you were sick you didn't have to pay for anything. That's great and fantastic, but you have to pay for it. The world changes. They're not in balance.

Why did you move to New York?

For those reasons. Because of politics and the way work was going, I felt like there were no options left in France to do something important at that time. So I left. I knew it was about coming here. Fashion and style were coming to America and New York was the place.

Is this America's century for fashion and style?

Back in the '80s it felt that way. Now I would say that things have shifted back to Europe again. I think Paris owns fashion today more than ever, with luxury labels like Chanel, Dior, YSL, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Lanvin, etc. Strangely enough, none of the designers working for these labels are French except Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga.

Art obviously has a very central role in all that you do. Do you have any art clients—artists, dealers, galleries?

No, but maybe that will change now.

Peter Brant is a big collector, isn't he?

Yes, he's very connected to the art world and the fashion world. He knows photographers, designers, stylists, models. He knows the way it works. He's a very charismatic character. He's also very passionate, which makes him a great person to work with, because he understands when you say we're going to need this or that. He gets it. What's interesting about Peter is he first acquired Antiques because he's an antique collector. For him it was important to own the magazine. The same with Art in America and Interview, since he collects so much art, like Warhol, Basquiat, etc. That's how he got into his magazines, because he's passionate about the subject matter.

Will he keep buying magazines?

Maybe. We'll see.

Is Stephanie [Seymour] one of the editors there?

I think she's going to be like a muse for the magazine. She'll come up with ideas, do some interviews, help us, with anything actually. She's also very charismatic, with very good opinions on things. She collects art herself.

It's cool that you can be good friends with your clients.

It's better that way, it's much easier.

Do you have any clients you don't like?

No.

Would you tell me if you did?

Yes, definitely. I did have clients like that at first. I told them I'm trying to help their business, but they're not listening to me.

They should. You're not just a visual person. You have a business mind, too.

I know how to make money for people, that's for sure—more than people think. I've made a lot of money for a lot of clients. The proof is in the numbers, no doubt about it. It takes a long time, a lot of drawing and a lot of failing, but little by little you understand the way it works.

There's nothing wrong with making money. Commercial doesn't have to be a bad word.

Saying something is too commercial is bull**** because there are a lot of things that are too commercial and ugly, but when something is commercial and very good, it's the best. Look at French Vogue, for example. They were in the red for more than eighteen years when I started. But in the time I was there [2003-2008] they were in the black and it looked great.

 

[MissMagAddict]

continued...

Is that your secret?

I guess. What's wrong with having a product that looks great and that people want? Apple to me is the only American company that understands that design is important.

They should ask you to design a Mac.

They're doing pretty well by themselves. The iPhone is a beautiful object, although they should have worked out the technology more. It's still way better than anything from mi.. mic...

Microsoft?

Microsoft.

Did you really forget the name?

I never use their stuff. It's so ugly I can't deal with it. You look like a moron with those big fat computers that weigh a ton.

Have you met Steve Jobs?

Yes.

On his yacht?

No, at a furniture show for Marc Newson. The Apple people were there and they had the iPhone. I tried it and fell in love with it instantly.

What is Steve Jobs like?

I don't know. I spoke with him for three seconds. But apparently he runs his business by talking to only five or six people, and that's it. Then they go out and do what he says.

Is that like cloning?

I could be Baron & Baron & Baron & Baron.

You told me once there's no other Baron besides you. Is that right?

But maybe one day there will be.

You have one son?

One son and two daughters.

Are they showing any interest in design?

Yes, of course, they're showing interest in everything. My 16-year-old daughter is more interested in writing. She's done an interview with Lapo Elkann for Interview. She knows him well, so we asked her for an interview. She thought it was boring what he was saying so she made it into an article instead. We're going to publish it.

Did you pay her?

Yeah, like a regular writer. And my son is into cinema. He's at Vassar. He's in heaven there. He's having a blast and getting into everything.

Like father, like son?

Absolutely.

Or father knows best?

There are many things he knows better than me. Kids today are very smart. My generation is more old-fashioned, especially coming from Europe, and a little ****ed up in the head. We had troubles. Kids today are very happy. They're not desperate the way we were.

When was the last time you caused trouble?

The last time was the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign a while ago. It was quite controversial. The FBI got into it. They thought we were making kiddie p*rn or a p*rno film.

Ridiculous.

Yes, and it went really far. It was on the cover of the tabloids. It was a big scandal and then suddenly the case was closed.

No trouble since then?

Little things here and there, but nothing major. I like small amounts of trouble. It's like spice.

Okay, one last question, as if I don't know the answer: Barack or McCain?
Barack, but if he takes Clinton as his vice president. But I am scared of the dormant Republican machine. And when I saw that look Clinton had, the dressing up and the hair, I could foresee her losing to Obama. She looked like an unhappy lesbian.

I'm sure her lesbian base was happy. If only she wore Calvin Klein.

She could have looked better—more attractive, more seductive, more like a woman. She's a great person, and her ideas and concepts are very valid, but people care more about that they see.

It's true that people vote based more on image than issues.

The Democrats should call us then.

 

[MissMagAddict]

EROTICA [1992]
Madonna
Directed by Fabien Baron

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPBMufzQhEw

 

[MissMagAddict]

US Harper's Bazaar September 1992
Editor-in-Chief: Liz Tilberis [First Issue]
Art Director: Fabien Baron
Model: Linda Evangelista
Hair: Garren
Makeup: Laura Mercier
Photographer: Patrick Demarchelier


source | hfgl




source | scanned by MMA

 

[MissMagAddict]

FREEZE FRAME
W Magazine May 2001
Model: Stella Tennant
Photographer: Fabien Baron




source | scanned by Alien Sex Friend

 

[BerlinRocks]

thanks for the itw MMA ....
but he doesn't look like a person i could bare irl ....
to be honest ....
though on some points, he's pretty right .....

 

[kasper!]

Calvin Klein Man Fragrance
Ph: Fabien Baron
Model: Garrett Neff



source:bwgreyscale

 

[kasper!]

Boss in Motion Fragrance by Hugo Boss
Ph: Fabien Baron
Model: Julien Hedquist



source:mh

 

[kasper!]

Kors Fragrance by Michael Kors
Ph: Fabien Baron
Model: Mariacarla Boscono



source:ma collection de pubs

----------------------

btw,i think this thread should be renamed " Fabien Baron - Artistic Director & Photographer "..

 

[MissMagAddict]

ANGLES IN AMERICA
The New York Times T Style Magazine Women's Fall 2008
Model: Sasha Pivovarova
Hair: Eugene Soulieman
Makeup: Carrasquillo
Stylist: Karl Templer
Photographer: Fabien Baron




source | screencaps by MMA from nytimes

 

[MissMagAddict]

source | fashionweekdaily

Zac Posen in a Bottle
Fabien Baron collaborates on designer's fragrance concept
Tuesday, August 26, 2008

(NEW YORK) Although Fabien Baron has been working extensively on the new Interview redesign, the creative genius hasn't quit his day job. The Daily has learned that the visionary has been busy designing the packaging and concept for Zac Posen's new perfume, which is being released by Selective Beauty. "Yes, we have been working on the bottle for Zac Posen," confirmed a spokesperson for Baron & Baron. The company, of course, has plenty of experience art directing for beauty brands. Baron oversaw the creative direction for best-selling scents from Calvin Klein, Burberry, Armani, Prada, Viktor & Rolf and Issey Miyake. "This wasn't a very difficult decision for Zac," said a source close to the Posen brand. "As soon as the perfume was planned, Fabien's name came up. He just has a tremendous amount of respect for him as a friend and a creative genius."

 

[surrealseven]

Oh I love him!

 

[MissMagAddict]

Interview September 2008
Editorial Directors Fabien Baron & Glenn O'Brien
Discuss the Latest Issue & the New Format
Blackberry to Blackberry


source | scanned by auxt

 

[MissMagAddict]

DON'T BUG ME
Interview September 2008
Model: Raquel Zimmermann
Hair & Makeup: Mark Carasquillo
Stylist: Karl Templer
Photographer: Fabien Baron




source | scanned by jssy4eva

 

[kuli_trendy]

that really bug me! i was wondering what is the intention by using the motorcrosser helmets??? but still he's genious!

 

[gius]

^ i think it's because it makes them look like bugs
the title ...

They should use the current fall accessories by Marni
Would go really well
Chunky and huge and insect-like
bracelets

 

[MissMagAddict]

Source | The New York Times | by Cathy Horyn


MAKEOVER MAN Fabien Baron, fashion’s favorite art director, in his office at Baron & Baron.

Fabien Baron: The Art Director as Star

It was early August, and Fabien Baron, the art director, was spending some time at his vacation home in rural Sweden, a minimalist farmhouse designed by the architect John Pawson and outfitted with similar restraint by Mr. Baron. Then there would be three weeks in Greece, followed by an end-of-summer visit to the Hamptons, where he also has a home.

Few art directors working in the fashion arena — in magazines, advertising, packaging and product design — are as successful as Mr. Baron. For a minimalist, he finds it hard to say no. Over the last 20 years, he has revamped five magazines, including Italian Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and, his latest, Interview, where he is also editorial director — a role that expands his influence at the top of the industry.

He has shaped the images of Calvin Klein and Burberry. He has created lucrative perfumes for half a dozen designers, including Giorgio Armani. And where many art directors confine themselves to page layouts and client logos, Mr. Baron has packaged himself. There is Fabien Baron Eyewear and Fabien Baron furniture for Cappellini.

Even his personal life seems crammed with a rococo complexity. He has three children from three different relationships. He has a son, Matthew, 20, a junior at Vassar, with his first wife, Heidi Siegel. He met his second wife, Sciascia Gambaccini, a fashion editor, when he was designing Italian Vogue in the late 1980s; they have a daughter, Ariel, 17. For the last 15 years he has lived with Malin Ericson, a striking Swedish woman whom he met at Bazaar. Mr. Baron and Ms. Ericson, who have a daughter, Eva, 8, recently separated.

When it was remarked that even in his romantic pursuits he was a workaholic, Mr. Baron, a robust man with a jowly face and a smooth head of hair, looked sheepish. His brown eyes softened.

“That’s all I do — work!” he said.

Mr. Baron, who turns 50 next year, certainly loves the work. “He is the modern version of Brodovitch,” said Michael Roberts, the fashion editor of Vanity Fair, referring to Alexey Brodovitch, the Russian émigré who was the art director of Bazaar from 1934 to 1958. Like Brodovitch, Mr. Baron floods his layouts with white space, favors bold, overlapping typefaces (often Didot), and treats photographs — and hence, their makers — like stars.

A son of a Parisian newspaper designer, he also brings a journalistic clarity to his pages. That’s what was missing, he said, with French Vogue, where he was art director from 2003 until this year, when he took over Interview. In terms of fashion, French Vogue’s stilettoed editor in chief, Carine Roitfeld, and her team were unbeatable — “they’re killers,” Mr. Baron said. But he felt the magazine lacked order. “I think I sharpened everything,” he said.

Mr. Baron first gained notice in the late 1980s, for his redesign of Italian Vogue and then Andy Warhol’s Interview — from which he was fired by its editor, Ingrid Sischy, after a handful of issues. But it was at Brodovitch’s magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, that he made his name. In 1992, Bazaar was a tired dog of a magazine when its new editor, Liz Tilberis, called him. At Vogue, Anna Wintour was driving to make her title the dominant fashion voice in America. At the smaller W, the creative director Dennis Freedman was building a distinct home for daring photography.

Such were the competitive pressures in New York. In a 1993 profile in The New Yorker, Mr. Baron implied that by joining Ms. Tilberis, a veteran British editor, he had in effect invited her into his “club.” Perhaps eager to demonstrate his clout, Mr. Baron also said in the article that he had brought in the star photographer Patrick Demarchelier. He recounted his pitch to Mr. Demarchelier, a friend: “It’s me and Leez, why don’t you come?”

But, according to Mr. Demarchelier, that conversation never took place. It was Mr. Demarchelier who brought Ms. Tilberis and Mr. Baron together. “She didn’t know who he was,” he said, adding, “He was trying to find work, actually.” (Mr. Baron admitted that his earlier statement was incorrect.)

Although Brodovitch was himself a photographer — Mr. Baron just released his own book of seascape photographs — he did not live long enough to glimpse the power, and the money, that would be available to the art directors of fashion magazines. Since 1992, Mr. Baron has built a substantial parallel business through his agency, Baron & Baron (a redundancy, since he is the only Baron on the 35-member staff), creating advertisements and packaging for designers. And of course those designers advertise in the magazines that he serves. From an aesthetic viewpoint, he said, “jumping around from commercial work to magazines to designing a perfume bottle helps you have a better understanding of what’s going on.”

The editors who have worked with Mr. Baron say he brings an incredible level of finesse to his layouts. But are they individual-looking? And does the “jumping around” sufficiently prepare him to now be an editor in chief? A number of art directors said that, despite the distinctiveness of his style, it doesn’t really change.

“I always get the sense he’s doing the same thing with every magazine,” said Luca Stoppini, the art director of Italian Vogue. Ms. Sischy said last week that this was essentially her objection, when she dismissed Mr. Baron. She pointed out that Warhol did not have an art director at Interview during the pivotal years of the early ’70s, giving the magazine a playful look.

“With Fabien’s design there was an overall sense of sameness, from article to article, and issue to issue, which is his strength, even his gift, but just not my preference,” she said. “While I admired how it brought a strong look to the magazine, I worried that it might sacrifice the thing that in my judgment made Interview special: a belief in the individual voice.”

Or course Mr. Baron now has Ms. Sischy’s job. But in any case he acknowledges that they didn’t see Interview the same way.

To be sure, Interview is not Vogue or Vanity Fair, though it has a special flavor, and Mr. Baron shares the duties of editorial director with Glenn O’Brien, a respected journalist. In February of this year, they succeeded Ms. Sischy following the decision of her domestic partner, Sandra Brant, who had operated Interview for nearly 20 years, to sell her 50 percent interest to her former husband, Peter Brant. She and Ms. Sischy then resigned, and Mr. Brant, a newsprint magnate who had initially wanted his ex-wife to buy his shares in Interview, hired Mr. Baron and Mr. O’Brien.

“I really had no interest in buying it,” Mr. Brant said. “Editorially, I didn’t agree with it, although I thought Ingrid was very competent.” He added that he liked the new editors’ ideas, as well as the potential for greater online exposure.

So far, the new issues are visually compelling, with a strong fashion and art component in the September issue, which featured Kate Moss on the cover. “I feel it’s my point of view, and it has Glenn’s view in it,” Mr. Baron said. “People buy into personality. And you need to be bolder.” But, as some of his fellow editors said in Milan last week, magazines have a density of experience that depends as much on curiosity and dislikes as much as a singular point of view.

“This is something that Anna Wintour has, whether you like American Vogue or not,” Mr. Roberts said. “She’s willing to put things in her magazine she’s not comfortable with. Is Fabien willing to put his dislikes, as well as his likes, into his magazine?” Even with a strong editorial partner, Mr. Roberts also questioned if Mr. Baron can manage this new role with his other interests. “You can’t be a part-time fantastic editor in chief of a magazine,” he said.

Mr. Baron wasn’t upset when told of these comments. “I think human beings are capable of doing many things during their lives,” he said. Later, though, he said, a little defensively, “I think a lot of people would like to see me fail.”

In many ways, Mr. Baron presents the opposite type of the industry he dominates. “He’s slightly naïve,” says Karl Templer, the creative director of Interview, who has known Mr. Baron for years. “He’ll say, ‘Oh, that looks good.’ Or, ‘Look at the clouds. Aren’t they funny looking.’ He’s a child.”

But he can’t be surprised if editors like Ms. Wintour use their power to block his access to photographers. That’s what editors are supposed to do.

It may be, finally, that the reason Mr. Baron wants to run his own magazine is as simple and direct — and maybe a little naïve — as his beautiful pages. “Because I was born into newspapers and magazines,” he said. “I like the pace of it. It’s my Achilles tendon.”

 

[Kanna]

Thanks for the article and interview, MMA. Now I'm very intersted in this man. They are helpful for me.