Next year, British Vogue will turn 100 years old. How to celebrate? Why, with a TV show, of course! Word reaches The Londoner that the style bible may be set to open its doors to camera crews for a documentary which will provide avid readers with a glimpse into the fashion cupboards, photoshoots and sartorial debates behind the creation of the magazine.
The doormen at Hanover Square’s Vogue House are, after all, already prepared. Last year Posh People: Inside Tatler followed the staff of the middle- class staple, also a Condé Nast publication, explaining how the Sloane favourite is put together. The BBC2 programme made a star of editor Kate Reardon and her colleagues, following them as they learnt how to ride side saddle, compiled the School Guide and toured Poundland. Even the royal family got involved, apparently asking the BBC for a copy on DVD.
It is unsurprising, then, that Vogue’s formidable editor Alexandra Shulman is prepared to follow suit, especially considering the success of 2009’s The September Issue, which followed her US counterpart Anna Wintour as she edited what was then the magazine’s biggest ever edition.
The fash pack at Condé Nast are keeping their expertly made-up lips shut but if previous fashion films are anything to go by we can expect diva strops, office politics and cameos from designers and models, with Kate Moss — the mag’s most prolific cover star — sure to make an appearance. If Shulman has any fear of paling in comparison to past efforts, though, she can consider the words of Wintour: “If you can’t be better than your competition, just dress better.”