The Business of Magazines

[eizhowa]

^Well, he didn't edit out the part where Kate said she didn't want to talk either, so maybe he is deliberately showing us when he is rejected, made uncomfortable etc to show us how uninviting the enviroment feels?

(disclaimer: I haven't seen the second episode yet)

 

[eizhowa]

I just re-watched the first episode and I am a bit confused. Shulman said it would not be beneficial for sales to have the same cover model on the stands within the same marked, but then she puts Rihanna on the cover the same month as the US? Surely she is saying one thing and doing another? It seems quite dishonest.

I find it all very confusing.

 

[Benn98]

I just re-watched the first episode and I am a bit confused. Shulman said it would not be beneficial for sales to have the same cover model on the stands within the same marked, but then she puts Rihanna on the cover the same month as the US? Surely she is saying one thing and doing another? It seems quite dishonest.

I find it all very confusing.

British Vogue got a headstart because they released their cover at the beginning of April, while US Vogue only surfaced two weeks later. So Alexandra had Rihanna for roughly two weeks to herself. Flip the coin, and if she actually published that cover in May she'd have gotten far less, because the US edition would've sucked up all the press and hype.

 

[eizhowa]

British Vogue got a headstart because they released their cover at the beginning of April, while US Vogue only surfaced two weeks later. So Alexandra had Rihanna for roughly two weeks to herself. Flip the coin, and if she actually published that cover in May she'd have gotten far less, because the US edition would've sucked up all the press and hype.

Thanks! The situation makes much more sense now

 

[Benn98]

The entire second episode was littered with awkward scenes. There's the scene in the car, where Alexandra literally paid no attention to the interviewer, Lucinda's colour block shoot where they're struggling with Lineisy, and the online news girl (the one bleating on and on about Vetements). In fact, I squirmed throughout the latter's entire scene. Perfectly explains why she and her immediate superior are stuck with the fleeting immediacy of Vogue's digital platform. I feel like the Ab Fab segment was the only one which I thoroughly enjoyed. Notice how their only compliment was actually aimed at US Vogue, instead of the UK one. Lol.

Also, Karl and his obsession with his cat, lol. No different to my nan and her Trixie, tbh. He even boasted with a little brooch of Choupette. However godly people may treat him, he's still very much human, lol. But what did struck me was that Shulman had no real connection to Lagerfeld nor Stefano Gabanna. The chatter was so vacuous. To waste all that time just to sit and talk about a cat, very little reflection (from her) about the actual collection. Stefano actually tried to court more of a response in the prior episode, but she glossed all over it. Yet with Lucinda and Testino for instance, you can see the affinity they have for one another.

What I did find interesting was small, passing flickers. The fact that Alexandra's office is structured in such an odd way, almost as if she's the PA of someone else, the preposterous comment Macer made saying the grey haired editor may succeed Alexandra (as if!!), and how passionate Lucinda feels about her job, even after so many years.

I'm absolutely convinced this documentary enterprise was sanctioned by the higher ups at CN, and that that dull as dishwater Macer must've been elected by the BBC.

My biggest complaint: too little of Laura! Also, I'd have loved to see more actual interaction between Shulman and Lucinda.

 

[Benn98]

Edit: Sorry for the typo.....Jamie, not Laura!

 

[Lola701]

Seriously, that second part was the most frustrating thing EVER!

What's the point of going to see Karl if the only question you have to ask to him is "How long have you known each other"?
What really struck me was the lack of english designer (i don't count Beckham). In the Carine little segment when she was at Vogue, we get to see Tom, Karl, Riccardo, Gaultier, Hedi. Those people are her collaborators and friends.
Even Mario! I mean, he has been in every VOGUE EIC documentary and the only one he doesn't seems to have any interaction with is Alexandra.

It's really impossible for me to believe that NOBODY wanted to say something about Alexandra. So maybe she said to them to not appear on the documentary.

When they're talking about the influence, the business side...They should show us something that proves that.
We saw Anna's power with retailers, we saw Carine's power when Pinault said he called her for advices.

The girl talking about Vetements. So funny! The worst thing is that she took herself very very seriously.
Sarah Harris was my favorite!

I really don't think that documentary was good for Vogue Uk or even Alexandra. She is an interesting woman but she doesn't seems to be interested in fashion really. I need someone who can share her passion to me.
It can be photography, Art, clothes or individuals. I get that with Emmanuelle, Franca & Anna. But not with her!

 

[Benn98]

What really struck me was the lack of english designer (i don't count Beckham).

She is an interesting woman but she doesn't seems to be interested in fashion really. I need someone who can share her passion to me.
It can be photography, Art, clothes or individuals. I get that with Emmanuelle, Franca & Anna. But not with her!

Do you know, I recall posting in the June thread how odd it was that UK Vogue couldn't get custom looks from British designers for that special issue. Instead they wasted time with t-shirts and Topshop! But yes, you're right. Whatever relationship she may have with British designers sure wasn't highlighted at all.

Her passions (based on past interviews) are mainly intellectually rooted. Literature, psychology etc etc, and it does of course translate throughout the magazine with the written content. But what I've never picked up until this documentary was that sense of haughtiness. As if she will not even give fashion or it's creators a chance, keeping them all at arm's length. Somehow the idea that she's at the helm of the third most profitable fashion magazine of the world eludes her. So it baffles me how she's managed to last this long. My guess is that her endurance starts and ends with the magazine's sales performance.

 

[SpeakThatJDunn]

K i just caught up with both episodes. First of all, what a boring 2 hours. Secondly, Alexandra is everything i've always expected her to be. Cold, dull, judgmental, annoying etc. She seemed a little better in the second episode, i think this was purposely done because someone told her how she was coming off.

The most exciting thing about the 2 hours was the Rihanna drama. Trust Rihanna to bring the drama and entertainment! I wish Richard had the balls to tell Anna about the cover! The Lineisy shoot in the first episode was tragic. You could tell no-one was happy. I felt bad for her, but at the same time - be expressive gurl! Ending on Kim K was annoying, but i'm glad Richard pointed out his previous conversation with Alexandra about Kim.

All in all, the documentary was like British Vogue. Obvious, dull and pretentious at times.

 

[honeycombchild]

I found this post from Alexandra quite amusing. It regards a review of the programme in The Observer.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKgYLOZgA3w/?taken-by=alexandravogue

The reviewer didn't care for the interviewer or Alexandra like most of us. Alexandra seemed to enjoy his critique of her.

Possessing #concomitant gracelessness" rather a brilliant description and now my favourite phrase of #absolutelyfashion by Euan Ferguson @observer @observernewreview

The reviewer hits the nail firmly on the head. Alexandra did not want to do the documentary, that much was evident from her attitude. The fact he wasn't granted access to all shoots also showcases this point. If Alexandra had of wanted she would have ensured the photographers and shoots were filmed for it, she simply didn't want to. It was forced upon her by CN for the 100th birthday.

British Vogue is sadly very, very stale. Every now and then it produces something worthy but sadly it is mundane. It's sells well because it doesn't particularly have an opinion on fashion that people could be averse so, squarely aimed at the masses. I really hate the attitude Alexandra goes into it with - hiring 'intelligent women' as if saying anyone who works in fashion is inherently unintelligent.

I'm glad News Desk Julia came off as awfully to everyone else as she did to me also. By far the biggest embarrassment of the two hours for me. Cringe.

 

[Benn98]

Trust Rihanna to bring the drama and entertainment! I wish Richard had the balls to tell Anna about the cover!

I don't think she should feel to chuffed with herself for 'bringing the drama'. As it is, she's probably barred from British Vogue indefinitely. And if it's true that Anna didn't know, then that relationship too may be a bit jeopardised.

Also, there's a part where the bookings editor talks about Naomi not making it for the initial shoot. Of course this is normal, but the way she said it, . Almost like there's a history to the story which we're not privy to. My guess is this may be part of the reason why we don't see her on British Vogue anymore.

Anyway, how weird to see Alexandra engaging with criticism It's not her style at all, in fact, she normally avoid this sort of thing. I think she's clearly taking issue with the awful review, notice how her army of IG followers rallied their support with eyeroll-inducing comments.

 

[maybelaterblue]

...Shulman said it would not be beneficial for sales to have the same cover model on the stands within the same marked, but then she puts Rihanna on the cover the same month as the US? Surely she is saying one thing and doing another?

The UK April cover would be available for the month of March. US magazines come to the UK for the next month so the April issue is available during April. So in this context, US Vogue would be the month after British Vogue, does that make sense?

 

[eizhowa]

^Yes, Benn98 already explained to me

Shulmans reaction puzzles me. I didn't get the feeling she had a great sense of humor, but maybe brits are just naturally self-deprecating to a certain extent. I would have expected her to simply ignore the (bad) reviews.

 

[SpeakThatJDunn]

I don't think she should feel to chuffed with herself for 'bringing the drama'. As it is, she's probably barred from British Vogue indefinitely. And if it's true that Anna didn't know, then that relationship too may be a bit jeopardised.

Also, there's a part where the bookings editor talks about Naomi not making it for the initial shoot. Of course this is normal, but the way she said it, . Almost like there's a history to the story which we're not privy to. My guess is this may be part of the reason why we don't see her on British Vogue anymore.

I still don't think it was Rihanna's teams fault. The two issues were different, British Vogue was about Manolo and US about her typical personal life. Rihanna's team can't be held accountable for how she is booked by a magazine. Conde Nast should keep tabs on who is being booked and act accordingly if something overlaps. All Rihanna had to do was turn up, and if she's still selling the magazine, they'll keep using her. American Vogue will at least. British Vogue might be done with her.

This year has actually been a mess with covers and timings. There's been no exclusivity. Kendall, Gigi and Cara have all been on multiple big covers in the same month.

And yes, instantly when the editor said "a late model", i knew it was Naomi. She's probably cost these magazines a lot of money with her punctuality.

 

[Phuel]

There’s been a running joke about Naomi’s tardiness since she started working 30 years ago, Benn: If you need her there at 1pm in the afternoon, you better tell her the shoot is at 9am instead, since she’ll always be a few hrs late. But cancelling a shoot last minute is so unprofessional.

The “Vetements” woman is hilarious. I thought she was punking them on with her expression and voice. And not until her segment was over and nothing else was said about her, that I realized she’s for real— and perfectly why she’s a Vetements fan…. “My red Prada shearling coat. It costs more than a used Mini…” I thought it was like a Sacha Baron Cohen interviewing the clueless. Wished there were more with her.

 

[eizhowa]

There’s been a running joke about Naomi’s tardiness since she started working 30 years ago, Benn: If you need her there at 1pm in the afternoon, you better tell her the shoot is at 9am instead, since she’ll always be a few hrs late. But cancelling a shoot last minute is so unprofessional.

The “Vetements” woman is hilarious. I thought she was punking them on with her expression and voice. And not until her segment was over and nothing else was said about her, that I realized she’s for real— and perfectly why she’s a Vetements fan…. “My red Prada shearling coat. It costs more than a used Mini…” I thought it was like a Sacha Baron Cohen interviewing the clueless. Wished there were more with her.

Nonononono! "My. Red. Prada. Shearling. Coat.... Costs more than (pause for dramatic effect) a second hand mini."

 

[honeycombchild]

I wonder if she's cringing about her shocking 5 minutes in the documentary or quite happy with it? It could of course be that it was edited to showcase her in a very unflattering way, however I did get the impression that what we saw was 100% what she is like.

The way she talks about Vestments was just hilarious. Like some brainwashed cult member talking about their leader.

 

[eizhowa]

I wonder if she's cringing about her shocking 5 minutes in the documentary or quite happy with it? It could of course be that it was edited to showcase her in a very unflattering way, however I did get the impression that what we saw was 100% what she is like.

The way she talks about Vestments was just hilarious. Like some brainwashed cult member talking about their leader.

Someone told me she posted about it on social media, but I don't know her instagram (I am assuming) account.

 

[honeycombchild]

https://www.instagram.com/juliahobbs_/?hl=en

That's her Instagram.

My guess is she was very happy with her five minutes of fame.

 

[Benn98]

https://www.instagram.com/juliahobbs_/?hl=en

That's her Instagram.

My guess is she was very happy with her five minutes of fame.

Oh God! Thanks for this, just saw the 'red shearling Prada coat' in question....