Franca Sozzani

[AlbertNoir]

instagram.com/riccardotisci17

 

[AlbertNoir]

The 4th Annual Official First Ladies Luncheon at The Pierre Hotel on September 23, 2014 in New York City and The Vogue Italia and Peroni Nastro Azzurro global partnership announcement reception on September 23, 2014 in NYC.

zimbio

 

[AlbertNoir]

Adidas Originals X Italia Independent party in Milan, September 19 2014

with Lapo and Ginevra Elkann

vogue.it

 

[AlbertNoir]

The New York Times cocktail for Vanessa Friedman - Milan

with Vanessa Friedman

vogue.it

 

[AlbertNoir]

@ Lanvin S/S 2015 Paris

instagram.com/fashiontomax

 

[AlbertNoir]

Dinner Amsterdam Sauer for Bianca Brandolini d'Adda in Paris

vogue.fr

 

[AlbertNoir]

^

vogue.it

 

[AlbertNoir]

Jean Paul Gaultier tribute to fashion editors for his last ready-to-wear fashion show

S/S 2015 Paris

Model Sigrid Agren as Franca Sozzani



style.com

 

[AlbertNoir]

Vogue and Vanity Fair dinner in Paris

with Ronnie Cooke Newhouse

with Giambattista Valli

vogue.fr

 

[AlbertNoir]

@ Givenchy S/S 2015 Front Row - Paris

with Clotilde Coreau




@ Giambattista Valli S/S 2015 Front Row - Paris

with Bianca Brandolini d'Adda

zimbio instagram.com/fashiontomax

 

[AlbertNoir]

@ Valentino S/S 2015 Paris



zimbio

 

[AlbertNoir]

Backstage Moncler Gamme Rouge S/S 2015 Paris



zimbio

 

[jexxica]

Franca Sozzani attends the Valentinos 'Mirabilia Romae' haute couture collection fall/winter 2015 2016 at Piazza Mignanelli on July 9, 2015 in Rome, Italy.

zimbio

 

[Benn98]

She looks regal in that embroided Valentino dress. Glad she changed her hair for once.

 

[jexxica]

Franca Sozzani attends the Miu Miu Women's Tales Dinner during the 72nd Venice Film Festival at Ca' Corner della Regina on September 3, 2015 in Venice, Italy.

zimbio

 

[RedAzalie]

Franca passed away

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/franca-sozzani-1950-2016


I can't believe it

 

[Blake]

http://www.vogue.com/13514942/anna-wintour-remembers-franca-sozzani/

 

[Highsky0916]

I can't believe it .RIP

 

[Deleted member 141523]

Today is Franca's birthday. I miss her so much

 

[alwaysademo]

Photographing Fashion: Creativity before Novelty
Interview with Franca Sozzani by Nathalie Herschdorfer (2012)



Since 1988, you’ve been in charge of the Italian edition of Vogue, which has become a key title internationally. You appeal not only to people who are passionate about fashion but also to a readership that enjoys the unusual approach to the subjects that you cover. In this regard, you’ve always devoted special attention to the medium of photography. Which photographers particularly inspired you when you started out in magazines?

When I was editing Vogue Bambini, I worked with a number of photographers, of course. I particularly remember Oliviero Toscani, who was Italy’s top fashion photographer at the time and who also lived in Paris. I didn’t have any special knowledge of photography as a field, apart from the fact that I looked at other magazines a lot. This was the period of Arthur Elgort, Barry Lategan and David Bailey. Just as I was starting at Lei magazine, Toscani was going off to work for Bennetton. And that was when I went to the States to work for new photographers. I met Bruce Weber, who worked for GQ, and also Herb Ritts, who was a set photographer, and Steven Meisel, who was teaching at Parsons. None of them were fashion photographers yet. Meisel didn’t really have a book, but I remember 3 photographs he showed me very clearly: boys on a Vespa, with a little makeup. That image gave off such incredible energy. And that was how we started working together.

You went looking for new photographers. Why did you go to New York and not to Paris or London?

In 1982, it wasn’t really the right moment for London or Paris. A few years later I went to Paris, when I saw that there was a new generation of photographers emerging - François Deconnick, Jean-Jacques Castres and Jean-François Lepage, for example. In the early 80s, New York was the real capital. I discovered Bill King there, I remember. In Europe around the same time, I first saw Peter Lindbergh’s work in Marie-Claire. I also discovered Paolo Roversi, who’d moved to Paris.

The photographers you mention are still working with you today.

If you mean Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Peter Lindbergh and Paolo Roversi, then yes, it’s true, I’m still working with them. But a lot of others have gone their own way. I’m thinking especially of Jean-François Lepage, François Deconnick, Koto Bolofo and Arthur Elgort.

Why have you stayed loyal to photographers whom you discovered more than 25 years ago?

It’s all about creativity, or ‘genius’. It’s not novelty that creates ‘genius’. It’s ‘genius’ that creates novelty. It doesn’t repeat itself. Things change because they have to. There’s a constant evolution. As soon as the magazine has gone to press, it’s already old news. You have to start again and do something else. What strikes me in retrospect is the photographs that stands the test of time - that have become timeless. I say ‘become’ because you don’t know right away. You take a picture, you publish it, you like it, then sometimes you hate it and find another one that you hadn’t liked as much but which suddenly seems absolutely brilliant. There are so many images published in the life of a magazine that most of them get forgotten. Images pass by and they don’t usually come back.

Do you sometimes go back to your archives? Are you interested to see the images that you published in the past?

Not really, I’m mostly thinking about the future. A magazine comes out; then it disappears, very quickly… Some things do remain, but not everything. Some photographs have a kind energy, a rigour that makes them timeless, but that isn’t the case with all photographs. As I said, it’s not novelty that makes for creativity. There’s a portrait of Linda Evangelista by Steven Meisel that’s a good example of what I’m talking about. She’s sitting in the studio and bursting with laughter. The image is very simple and so modern that it could represent any period. In the end, there are very few images that are so powerful.

Are you thinking about your readers when you’re choosing the images for the next issue?

To be quite frank, I never think about other people. Above all, you’re the one who has to be convinced, then others will follow you. How can I think of my readers? Who is the Italian Vogue reader? It could be someone of 25 or someone of 60; someone wildly extravagant or very conventional - I’ve no idea. You can’t think about your readers and you can’t please everybody. It’s just not possible. Even if I bring out the most conventional person in the world, there’ll be people who like me and people who don’t. Sometimes you have to show stuff you don’t like. There are some fashions that don’t appeal to me, but I show them anyway because they’re contemporary: they’re what’s going on now. It’s all about how you show things. The way I see it, you need to mix things up and show that there’s not just one model worth imitating, not just one type of woman. One magazine should be able to target different sorts of readers.

Why are images sometimes not publishable?

Because something isn’t working. It’s instinctive. I know when it’s not right. I work intuitively and I’m pretty clear about what I want in an image. I never regret it when I don’t publish a particular image. There’s rarely any discussion about it. Even if my team try to change my mind, I know what’s worth keeping and what isn’t.

Do you discuss the final selection of images for publication with the photographers?

Yes, it’s a true collaboration. And, anyway, when I come across a photograph I don’t like, I call the photographer straight away to discuss it. The truth is that I’m sent fewer images these days because some of the selection process happens during the shoot, as soon as the image appears on the screen. But if I’m not entirely happy with the final choice, I ask the photographer for other images. As a matter of principle however, I trust the photographers I work with. It’s important to believe in them and to respect their creativity. I don’t want to be saying to them “Listen, the girl should be moving further to the right, with her hair to the left, and her nose higher up”, and so on.

When you’re running a magazine like Italian Vogue, is it important to reflect contemporary tastes and styles? Or is the opposite the case, and it’s the job of your magazine to influence those tastes?

Both. It’s vital that we keep an eye on what’s going on around us. That’s really important, because otherwise you’re too avant-garde and nobody understands you. But you also have to shake things up a bit and give them a bit of a nudge. My philosophy is not to be too didactic, not to explain too much, not to say too much. But it’s important to be in tune with the times. If certain icons appeal to people, that must mean something. Here’s an example: for a while, it was a bit fashionable to be a bit vulgar. To be quite honest, I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t ignore the fact because it said something about the times I was living in. And what does ‘vulgar’ mean anyway? Things can sometimes seem vulgar to one person but not to another. It just depends on how you see things. A few years ago, everyone was talking about cosmetic surgery. We covered it because it was what was going on at the time. Same thing with the paparazzi phenomenon. A magazine like Italian Vogue needs to talk about it, but in an ironic, witty way, and linking it with fashion.

Let’s talk about your collaboration with Steven Meisel. You’ve been working with him continuously since 1988, which is an exceptionally long time. How did that come about? Was it by chance or was it a deliberate decision?

Chance had nothing to do with it. When we began working together, we decided to do something that would work in the long term. Steven Meisel has designed all the covers for Vogue Italia since 1988 and we’ve worked together to create the magazine’s identity. When I first started at Vogue, I realized that we had to stand out. There are thirteen different editions on the newspaper stands. You have to be different, you have to have an identity because otherwise, how could they tell Italian Vogue from Korean Vogue? 40% of our sales are outside Italy. So it’s important to have distinctive style that sets us apart from other editions. When I look at other magazines, I know that working with Meisel was the right choice. He’s the only real fashion photographer around. Of course, there are lots of very good photographers - photographers of women, photographers of ideas- but my magazine is about fashion and it’s vital to work with someone who understands fashion. Photographing fashion is ultimately quite a complex business.

Is it important to show the clothes? Edna Woolman Chase, the first EIC at American Vogue, complained that her photographers didn’t show enough of the clothes, the folds and the way the fabric hung, that sort of thing. Beaton, Hoyningen-Huene, Horst and Steichen had some memorable arguments on the subject.

Yes, it’s important to show the clothes. But sometimes what matters most is the atmosphere, and then it doesn’t matter as much if you don’t see the clothes so well. I a photograph, you might want to focus on the colour or a feeling of sensuality rather than the details of a garment. Yet sometimes the opposite is true. The way I see it, the image is governed by the clothes and the clothes are governed by the image. It works both ways. Most of all, it’s about working closely with the photographer.

What’s a stylist’s role during a photo shoot? Have stylists taken over from photographers?

In the case of Steven Meisel, he’s the one who decides everything. He has total control. He knows what he’s doing, he trusts his creative instincts and you wouldn’t expect anyone to dictate to him. The truth is there aren’t many good stylists around. Only about ten or so, maximum, and they generally work with Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier and Peter Lindbergh. They all know each other. I do think that stylists have more of a say with regard to designers. They look through collections and make specific choices. But I wouldn’t call it taking over. It’s primarily about collaborating, working together.

You’ve worked with your art director Luca Stoppini since 1991. What exactly is his role?

We talk a lot about photographers but not much about the art director, who’s essentially responsible for two vital aspects of the magazine: the cropping and the sequencing of the images. Cropping a photograph is very important. As is putting the images in the right order. You might have three great stories, for example, but it’s not a question of slapping them down one after another. If you get the sequence wrong, it will throw the magazine out completely. The sequencing, the way the stories are linked, is really important and doesn’t happen by chance. The layout of a magazine is not just a graphic design issue, it’s about the way the images are cropped and assembled. This is where Luca Stoppini comes in. The photographer can make a suggestion, but the magazine has its own rhythm and the final decisions are ours.

How do you go about finding new talent? A great many photographers got started with you, first at Lei, then at Italian Vogue. Can you tell straight away when a photographer looks set to be different from the rest?

I discover photographers by looking at their books. Sometimes, one of my team will show me a particular piece of work. I remember very clearly discovering Tim Walker in 1997. There were some photographs of butterflies in his book and one of the images was a scene involving a butterfly net. That image stayed with me. There was a real poetry in his work and I immediately got the sense he was doing something I hadn’t seen other photographers do. I look for artists who have strong ideas and something to say. Miles Aldridge, Craig McDean, Mario Sorrenti and Solve Sundsbo are all photographers with a strong point of view. It’s a talent that I can see right away.

Doesn’t a photographer’s style also develop as they collaborate with the magazine?

No, I would say that their style continues to develop as they collaborate with the magazine because they become more confident. I have confidence and they gain confidence. But the spark that distinguishes their work is there from the start. And that’s something you sense straight away. Some photographers have the talent that others lack. New names are always appearing. New ideas are always coming through. But real talent is rare. If you think of the 1950s, we had Avedon and Penn, and both of them were incredibly powerful. The same is true today. You won’t find quality everywhere. There aren’t thousands of possibilities to choose from. If a good photographer comes along, you put your faith in him and get straight on with it: you give him something to get his teeth into, and see if it works.

In 2010, you launched the Italian Vogue website, which was an instant success. So you think the same way on screen as on paper?

No, you have to think differently. You have to forget paper and arrange your material in a different way. The challenge today is to make the website as good as the magazine and above all to make it universally accessible. Our site attracts 1m6 users every month, 60% of those outside Italy. But online success doesn’t mean the end of paper because we know our site encourages new readers to buy the magazine. Since Italian Vogue has been online, our sales have increased by 18%.

In 2011, you launched ‘Photo Vogue’, an opportunity for new photographers. Thousands of people have already taken part, knowing that there’s a chance of being published in Italian Vogue. Have you discovered the future Steven Meisel?

…That person may still be growing up.