The Business of Magazines

[Miss Dalloway]

^ They always leave them out, and how interesting that WWD has been doing these sale reports about UK magazines, but nothing about US titles, for few years now!! I always loved how they would break down which issues did espeically bad for American market!

 

[honeycombchild]

Oh please. Like hell do Marie Claire sell 150k issues. I refuse to be that is an accurate figure of how many copies 'sell'.

 

[Benn98]

^what about Dazed, I-D, Another ? I am really curious about their performance !

I don't think these magazines submit their circulation to ABC, which is the main auditing body in the UK. It's an extremely costly exercise to take part and especially with them being indies, I don't think they can really afford to.

If they do do circulation auditing, then it's most likely with a smaller private firm (like the one Porter works with) who doesn't distribute the figures as widely as ABC.

 

[Benn98]

September Issues: Experts Call Out the Winners and Losers

Creative directors weigh in on this year's crop of covers.

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke on August 16, 2017

Despite all the changes in the magazine world, the September issues remain relevant. At least, so far. Thick with advertising pages, the magazines represent a chance for the editors — not to mention the celebrities they feature — to underscore the core message of their brands. How do the covers this year compare with years gone by, and what do they say about the current status of the publication?

WWD asked a handful of creative directors to evaluate the September covers of the leading women’s fashion magazines.

VOGUE

Star: Jennifer Lawrence

Instagram Likes for the Cover: 181, 505 (as of 8/15/17)

Claim to fame: For Vogue’s 125th anniversary edition, the magazine commissioned four different covers of Jennifer Lawrence — including a painting by the artist John Currin. Featuring the Statue of Liberty on its newsstand cover, which was shot by Annie Leibovitz, prompted an assertion from an editor at the conservative outlet Breitbart that Vogue was taking a pro-immigrant stance.

The Pros:

Trey Laird, Laird + Partners: Uber classic. Because it is an anniversary issue, I think there was something beautiful in the classicism of it. There was something just very timeless and elegant about it. It felt very American and very iconic, and that’s really what that magazine represents for me in fashion. To do something for the 125th anniversary that feels timeless is absolutely the right choice. Anna’s great strength is knowing what note to hit at the right moment.

George Lois, advertising veteran: Is the Vogue cover really that simply designed? And inherently, an anti-Trump statement about his immigration policy? If so, terrific!

Richard Kirshenbaum, NSG/SWAT: Most iconic (but safest). Jennifer Lawrence is gorgeous, funny and the right choice for the September issue as America’s newest sweetheart. She looks positively stunning and in her classic Leibovitz pose. However, If I was creative directing the Vogue cover and using the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, I would have used the opportunity to pair Jennifer with a diverse actress to illustrate what the statue stands for and the immortal words of Emma Lazarus on the base.

Sam Shahid, Shahid & Co.: The different covers were nice. I like that some people can look at the Statue of Liberty cover one way and some people can look at it another way. Anything that gets you to think or react is great. At least it creates some kind of emotional reaction.

Becky Wang, Crossbeat: My first thought was that they were trying to be reminiscent of “The Great Gatsby” or say New York is the center of fashion. So I actually feel like I am giving them credit by making it political. I am trying to give it a place in the cultural conversation, because I would expect that of Vogue. So I’m just going to give it to them.

Dennis Freedman: By far, the stand-out cover is the John Currin cover. It’s a great portrait of John’s that stands on its own. The simplicity of type respects the image. For me, this is the cover worth discussing. It inspires me.

Ferdinando Verderi, Johannes Leonardo: The role of magazines is changing. So is the role of magazines’ ultimate issue. I think Vogue is the only one with the authority and the responsibility to lead the industry to a new era. I can’t wait for a time in which the September issue’s cover will reflect this pioneering spirit. A cover, even when printed, is a message most of us will experience on a screen. Acknowledging this is the first step towards creating something that can take advantage of the way we consume information today.

W

Star: Katy Perry

Instagram likes: 9,194

Claim to fame: W turned to augmented reality to make scannable pages that come to life with a custom app.

The pros:

Laird: To me, the strongest one overall is W. Obviously that’s coming from a creative point of view, and I know there’s newsstand considerations and that type of thing. But it seems like one of the few that has a concept and an idea. All the different images inside her head are arresting, and I think that’s what great covers are meant to do. Ideally, they have an idea or hook beyond just a headshot, [which] is so much stronger. It felt like a whole concept. I just applaud that because I don’t think there are that many people doing that.

Kirshenbaum: Graphically most interesting and most interactive — W does a splendid job breaking the third wall between print and digital. Kudos for Katy Perry, who continues to innovate and the W cover takes advantage of her extraordinary talent and new look.

Shahid: W is the most interesting. It’s way out there.

Verderi: What I find interesting in this Steven Klein portrait is the fact that it inspires us to learn more about the multiplicity of stories the image implies. It could be the door to a multilayered and multimedia storytelling system, which, if developed, could be a testament to how stories are experienced today.

Lois: W robotic cover is an eye-catcher. But the rest are same-o, same-o.

MARIE CLAIRE

Marie Claire September 2017

Star: Emma Stone.

Instagram likes: 7,466

Claim to fame: Is that a hat?

The Pros:

Andrew Essex, Tribeca Film Festival (formerly Droga5 I think it’s a great cover. It looks strong and confident.

Kirschenbaum: Best accessory Award. Emma Stone has attitude and rocks it with the choice of a jaunty Bolero hat! Emma is great choice for Marie Claire. Again, if I was creative directing I am not sure of the meaning of the bolero hat— but it looks great!

TOWN & COUNTRY

Star: Billie Lourd

Instagram likes: 1,865

Claim to fame: We all miss Lourd’s mother (Carrie Fisher), and grandmother (Debbie Reynolds).

The pros:

Kirschenbaum: Billie Lourd is a Hollywood Princess from Hollywood Royalty. A perfect choice for T&C. She looks lovely and demure. That said, If I was creative directing I may have pushed a bit to strengthen the connection to mother Carrie Fisher and grandmother Debbie Reynolds…perhaps just a nod to heritage!?

Shahid: Don’t even get me started on that. It has nothing to do with Town & Country. There’s no class. Type screaming all over the place — unbelievable. There’s a desperation.

ELLE

Star: Alicia Vikander

Instagram likes: 8, 248

Claim to fame: It’s the September issue.

The pros:

Kirshenbaum: Just “nice.”

Shahid: It looks old and boring. She’s just staring at you with no feeling. It’s almost like they are desperate and think if they put a star on it that’ll sell it. There’s no conceptual idea. No emotion.

HARPER’S BAZAAR

Star: The Weeknd

Instagram likes: 32,118

Claim to fame: The Weeknd is on a women’s fashion magazine.

The pros:

Kirshenbaum: How can you go wrong with the Weeknd, Adriana Lima and Irina Shayk all color coordinated with black lipstick? The ménage is sexy and chic with Carine Roitfeld once again proving the French have great style and that Saint Laurent still has the juice.

Essex: It doesn’t seem like they went through a lot of trouble on the cover lines. I mean, the “best bag and shoe.” Really? It’s achingly generic. And to have their flagship issue with a man on the cover of a women’s magazine — that’s a little sad.

Lois: And are the black lips on the Bazaar cover inspired by “The Addams Family?”

GLAMOUR

Star: Blake Lively

Instagram likes: 11,053

Claim to fame: Casual typography.

The pros:

Laird: I thought it looked a little messy to the eye. They used an outdoor picture, which was nice because so much is studio and controlled. It was an interesting idea that maybe didn’t all come together, but I applaud them for trying something different. It didn’t look just like a same-old same-old.

Essex: Those handwritten cover lines seem youthful and precocious.

Shahid: It’s less tight. All that script chokes the image. They are trying so hard. Like Glamour will pop out because of the type. It’s really about the script, not the image. It’s claustrophobic.

INSTYLE

Star: Selena Gomez

Instagram likes: 26,324

Claim to fame: One of two magazines that features a cover star who isn’t caucasian.

The pros:

Shahid: You can really tell they are going to the common denominator there.

Wang: I commend InStyle for putting Selena on the cover, but it just wasn’t anything. It looked like it should be a May issue.

Essex: Utterly suffused with energy. The cover lines have a huge range from utility to entertainment to provocation.

Laird: I’ve never seen more type on the cover. I don’t even know how you’d fit more cover lines on that. But I guess that works for them. Different magazines have to serve in different ways. A magazine like InStyle has to sell like hotcakes at every airport newsstand in the country. I get that and understand. But as a visual, you don’t even think about the picture because of all the stuff on the cover.

2017 OVERALL:

Wang: Only two of the covers feature people of color. Still. In 2017. I think media is forgetting that there’s a really diverse audience out there. I think it’s a problem in media, and we need to come together as an industry to be more thoughtful about it.

Essex: It’s a clear reflection of the highs and lows of the industry in the sense that there’s stuff that demonstrates the iconic power of a beautiful image, and then there’s stuff that seems desiccated and sad.

Lois: Great fashion is created by hundreds of truly creative people, but the magazines that display their work are unimaginative and poorly designed. Gone are the days of Henry Wolf and Ruth Ansel and the earlier time of Alexey Brodovitch and Dr. Agha.

Shahid: Magazines are in trouble — we all talk about it. And they are not taking chances. They think this is what the consumer wants, but consumers can surprise them. They think putting a celebrity on the cover guarantees a sale? I don’t think so. I’m so disappointed where everything is going. Nobody is out there being conceptual like they used to be. All they say is that they have a celebrity on the cover. Nobody knows what to do in the magazine world. If any time is a time to take chances it’s now.

Laird: At this time when magazines are in such peril and the industry is facing such challenges, and newsstand is such a dying concept anyway, it seems like people would almost take more chances and be more disruptive and really go for it. If one of those magazines was my client, that’s what I would tell them. I don’t know if it’s a battle of the newsstand wars anymore. Or if it is, it seems like a dying battle. And I’m a print fan. I think it’s still a super-exciting medium and can be used in so many ways. As a lineup, it didn’t feel like a powerhouse September based on other things I’ve seen before.

Source: WWD.com

 

[Miss Dalloway]

Love the last bit, it really is one of the worst September's for magazines in general!!

 

[MON]

That Bazaar criticism. Where's. The. Lie?

 

[tigerrouge]

Good for W for trying to expand on the digital aspect, but that does nothing to change the fact that the actual print copy of their September issue is sitting on the newsstand, doing nothing, and therefore still has to appeal to purchasers on the traditional terms of print magazines.

And if all the PR hype is about the action that's happening in an app, why would I bother to buy the paper version in the first place?

 

[magsaddict]

Great review of the September covers, although i still think thefashionspot forum members say it best, even if it's a little less diplomatic at times!

 

[Benn98]

I was a little bit disappointed with the lack of criticism for the smaller titles. It's seemingly all about Anna and Tonchi? If you ask me titles such as Elle and Marie Claire also need constructive criticism.

And Bazaar getting a thumbs up? Preposterous!

 

[sixtdaily]

Just posted about this in the Elle WW thread, but it might interest some of you here.

Elle France has already sold 3 million copies, in 1 week, of the Brigitte Macron cover (including subscriptions). This is the best selling issue of the past 10 years. Elle France monthly average in 2017 was 313 525 copies.

 

[Miss Dalloway]

^ Whoa, now that is seriously impressive! On every point!

 

[Benn98]

Exclusive! Photographer Michel Comte Reflects On His Extraordinary Career

By Eddie Roche | August 24, 2017

It’s almost impossible to think of someone that legendary photographer Michel Comte hasn’t shot. From ScarJo to Jake Gyllenhall to 45 to Sophia Loren, he’s lensed some of the most remarkable figures of our time and spent decades working alongside the late great Franca Sozzani. He tells The Daily about his latest endeavors, what it was really like shooting Trump, and whether he’ll ever put the camera down.

You credit Karl Lagerfeld for discovering you. How did that relationship begin?
I met Karl at a dinner when he was at Chloé. They did a campaign with another photographer, and for some reason or another, there was nothing on the film. It was black. Karl, as usual, was curious and said, “Why don’t you come by the Chloé offices?” The next morning an old lady opened the door, and she was the owner of Chloé. She walked me in and she said, “Karl said you are going to photograph the new campaign.” I never at that point showed anybody my work. I had two black and white prints with me. The next day I shot Chloé. That was the beginning of my career. The pictures ended up on the desk of Alexander Liberman, who used to run Condé Nast. A few days later I had a ticket to New York, and I shot 26 pages for American Vogue. That was really the kickstart of my career. Then Karl moved on to Chanel, and I signed my contract with them. After that, Liberman said, “You have to meet a girl, she’s going to go very, very far, she’s incredibly talented.” Liberman sent me to Milan to meet Franca Sozzani. I worked with her for the last 35 years until she passed. A few days before she passed, we had worked together.

How did the relationship with Franca begin?
She wasn’t at Vogue then, she was at Per Lui. About three days after Liberman sent me to see her, I got a phone call. She said, you have to shoot Miles Davis in the next two days because we are closing the magazine. But she didn’t know how to get in touch with him. I don’t know him, but I knew [from a neighbor] where Miles was living, and I walked straight to the Essex House a few hours later the same day, knocked on Miles Davis’ door, and said to him, “I’m in trouble. I need to shoot you!” The next day I shot him. I called Franca, I sent the pictures that were ready, and that was for the Silver-Gold issue of Per Lui, which became the famous Miles Davis cover. Since then, the only thing I knew was there is no “it’s not possible.” It’s not “I cannot.” It’s just, “Yes, I’m going to do it,” and this is how it’s been from the beginning to the end.

Are you still going to be working with Italian Vogue?
Not right now. I’m working on two major art exhibitions and my collaboration with Breuninger. I don’t even have the time to do anything else. This year, I’ve worked on some very big personal projects so that basically takes all my time. I’ve done it for the last 25 years, so I’m not going to stop.

Tell us about your role at [German department store] Breuninger Nürnberg.
It’s an iconic department store in Germany, and I’m the creative director. It’s very much what John Jay used to do for Bloomingdales, but I’m also responsible for a lot of other interests. I, along with an incredible team, am evolving the legendary store brand image with new and exciting window displays, exterior building packaging, in-house visuals, and production of a high fashion magazine, cultural branding and video installations. You could compare it to Barneys or Neiman Marcus in the U.S.

What changes have you made?
It’s interesting when you see the development that we have done in the last six months. Between when I went to the store for the first time and go now, the change is very visible. The very first building that we worked on we entirely packaged with cherry blossoms in the windows, and we basically removed most of the merchandise from the windows and put very few, very modern film that looks like art installations.

Tell me about the exhibitions you have coming up.
I’ve been working on my major project for almost 30 years. It’s called Light, and the show will open in November. It’s a multimedia show: sculpture, video installation, photography, and films. It’s probably the biggest project I’ve worked on. Then I’m working on two other film projects. They are moving forward rather fast, so I will have a very busy fall next year. One of them is a feature, and one of them is a documentary. Very important films.

Your photography interests are vast.
I’m very intuitive about certain subjects, and everything I start—sometimes I don’t believe it—gets done. This project, Light, started very long before me. My grandfather was the first aviator in Switzerland. He was the first one to take a record of glaciers from the air in 1912. There was not one black spot on top of the mountain in summer. When you look at the images from 1912 versus now, it is such an incredible shock. I started that project in the 1980s when I was in the Himalayas. In Tibet, I met a group of scientists, and they said, your only interest China having Tibet was basically mortar. Most of the largest glaciers are in the Himalayan Bay area. This became a real profession. You need to feel the whole project as it plays out as an installation. It will be a series of sculptures, land art, videos, and photos. That’s what the Light show will be this fall.

Where is Light going to be shown?
It’s starting in Italy at the Maxxi Museum of Modern Art on November 13 and at the Triennale in Milan on November 27. The show will continue to Seoul, Korea and the United States.

Has there ever been anyone you were intimidated to shoot?
No, I think the very rudest and most unpleasant must have been Donald Trump. It was one of the Italian Vogue shoots. He was not rude to me, but he was very rude to the editor. He practically ripped the guy’s head off. But it was a very, very interesting photograph because it was a row of mirrors, and it’s him and about 100 reflections of him. It is an incredible image.

What did you do with the Dalai Lama?
We did a video installation, a one-hour film. We’ve become quite close. What is amazing about the Dalai Lama is how practical he is. He does not waste any time on anything that he cannot deal with right away. So if you ask him, “What do you think about what’s going to happen during the Olympics in Beijing?” He’ll say, “Well, I cannot waste any time on that, I’m not at the Olympics yet, let’s talk about this when it’s happening.” Every single thing he tackles is a positive—it is never, never a negative. It’s really quite extraordinary. We’ve spent a lot of time with him. He is one of the people that’s just bigger than life.

And Sophia Loren?
I met Sophia for the very first time in 1979, and then left in Rome, and she at that time still lived in the Ponti apartment, which was red, black, and white—an enormous place. We went to Plaça d’Espanya, and there were so many paparazzi there, so we ran into Salvatore Ferragamo’s store. I asked her, “Does this not bother you?” And she said, “How could this bother me? The paparazzi are the ones that have really made me—they always made me look fabulous.” When we worked together in Rome on a public beach, there were thousands of people watching. We had no more room to shoot on the beach. I still remember, Sophia Loren walked backwards into the ocean in a long black Valentino dress, and she started swimming. I went in the ocean with my camera, and I see her head floating in the ocean, and there were thousands of people following us in the ocean. It was something. She had this huge smile. She walked out of the ocean in her soaking wet dress. Just wow. It was unbelievable.

One of your more recent shoots was with Cameron Dallas. How did you end up shooting him?
I’m very interested in what’s happening in social media. I shot Cameron for L’Uomo Vogue. I found him extremely charismatic. We shot at the Hotel Bel Air, where you never find anyone. Suddenly, they came out of everywhere to see him. Somebody wrote Cameron Dallas was at the Bel Air Hotel, and everybody was there within seconds. It was unbelievable. No paparazzi—it was fans, kids. He was really very nice to everyone. He signed all the autographs and he was very grateful. He was really fantastic, very together.

Everyone is a photographer now with Instagram. Thoughts?
It’s a job. We have these huge ways for anyone to get famous, and I think that will probably fade. The ones with real substance are the ones that are going to be able to survive. I think it will have to do with talent. It’s a new platform, and people should use it. I don’t agree with many things that are happening because I don’t care what so-and-so eats and at what time. Some of them are too much, with all of the selfies. I really don’t get the selfies, where people just take pictures of themselves. But you know, more power to them.

You’ve also shot Naomi, Cindy Crawford, and Carla Bruni.
All these girls were incredible because they were grand ladies and they still are. Carla Bruni became First Lady of France. Cindy Crawford has become more beautiful than ever and remains successful. Naomi right now is still bigger than life. Everyone has to wait for Naomi. It’s called “waiting for Naomi.” She’s always fabulously late, but when she is there, she is really there. She is always stunning.

Isn’t it amazing that Anna and Franca’s children are getting married?
It’s fabulous. I’m very close to Francesco [Carrozzini].

Do you have a muse?
My muse was Franca, and my other muse is my wife Ayako Koshida. We collaborate together on a lot of projects. But Franca was definitely the muse of my life. Ayako worked with her for nine years. Everything we do, we always think, “Would Franca like it?”

Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?
In my career, the most extraordinary thing has been the power of photography. What’s amazing is that all the people that I met in the fashion world and in the art world have always collaborated with my projects, and they still do. It’s the same world that has always connected all the dots. Every project that we have done, the same people have come onboard and supported. I never considered myself a fashion photographer. I always thought that I was an independent artist, trying to use photography for a purpose, whether it is making a film or a documentary or taking a picture. It’s all always had a purpose.

Any thoughts on retiring?
I think I’ll be like Le Malade Imaginaire. I will drop onstage in the middle of a museum show. No, I’ll never retire. My father is 91 and he still does his things. I have no intention of ever stopping. It’s not in my DNA.

Source: Fashionweekdaily.com

 

[Benn98]

What to Watch: Men’s Magazines’ Future in Flux

What's the fate of men's fashion magazines?

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke on August 24, 2017

Is there a crisis in men’s magazines? It certainly seems that way.

L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italia’s brother publication, was among the four titles that the Italian publisher decided to shutter earlier this summer. Wenner Media sold Men’s Journal to National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s American Media Inc. in June, where it is getting combined with Men’s Fitness, AMI’s other male title. With Rodale Inc. on the block, who knows what the future has in store for Men’s Health?

The stalwarts of men’s fashion titles, Esquire and GQ, have managed to keep their circulation relatively consistent, but they are feeling the industry-wide decline in newsstand sales. According to the Alliance for Audited Media, Esquire’s total paid and verified circulation for 2016 was 762,906 compared to 737,483 in 2015, but newsstand sales dipped to 39,473 in 2016 from 76,531 in 2015. GQ’s total paid and verified circulation for 2016 was 944,549 compared to 958,926 in 2015, and GQ’s newsstand sales slid to 62,973 in 2016 from 96,610 in 2015.

Many of the issues with men’s magazines are the same as with all magazines — print is taking a hit as advertisers look to digital and publishers look to diversify as fashion and retail advertisers are facing disruption of their own.

In 2015, Condé Nast pulled the plug on Details. Coincidentally or not, that news came just weeks after Condé bought Pitchfork Media, the hipster music company, in a bid to target Millennial dudes with live events. That same fall, Hearst invested $21 million in Complex, a media outlet aimed at fans of hip-hop, sneakers and videos about hip-hop and sneakers.

No discussion of the men’s publishing would be complete without Vice, the ultimate dude-oriented company that continues to win over advertisers and investors in 2017. Just ask Shane Smith, who dangles the possibility of going public anytime he wants to drum up more investment. Most recently, in June, the hipster media juggernaut raised $450 million — giving it a $5.7 billion valuation.

A changing market, as much as the decline in print advertising, may be behind the shift in men’s magazines. In 2017, advertisers want the Vice Guy.

Source: WWD.com

 

[Benn98]

So it sounds like she's saying Vogue Poland will be in the same vein as Vogue Ukraine. That should be interesting. I'm not surprised with mainstream magazines adopting this direction, indies seems to be doing much better on all fronts.

Why the Fashion Editorial World Is Looking to Eastern Europe

From the forthcoming launch of "Vogue" Poland to the rise of Tbilisi Fashion Week, fashion media is transfixed by the region — and that's not going away anytime soon.

Maura Brannigan
Aug 14, 2017

The world is small and getting smaller. At least in fashion, and with the same smattering of editors and designers bopping from one magazine or brand to the next, it often seems as if there's fewer original ideas than there are individuals to execute them. But as the industry once again finds itself enamored by what was on-trend two decades ago, there are moments when that small world doesn't feel so insular.

Earlier this summer, Condé Nast International discussed its plans to launch a Polish edition of Vogue in 2018. Upon the announcement, it became immediately clear that Vogue Poland — which will be the 23rd international Vogue property — won't be a corporate, Americanized idea of what a Polish-language Vogue might look like. Not only was the brand created in a partnership with new Polish media venture Visteria, but it also tasked distinctively Polish talent — including newly. minted Editor-in-Chief Filip Neidenthal, who launched Esquire in Poland in 2014 — with heading it up.

Historically, Eastern Europe hasn't been a hub for Vogue: Prior to Vogue Poland, the only two titles in the region included Vogue Russia, which debuted in 1998, and Vogue Ukraine in 2013. Fashion, however, is changing (isn't it always?) and editorial's eastward expansion reflects a shift towards globalization that we've already seen on the runways.

Poland, for one, has certainly bolstered an environment that can support a fashion publication of Vogue's size and reputation. In June, Karina Dobrotvorskaya, president of Condé Nast new markets and editorial director of brand development, told Business of Fashion that the media group had been eyeing the Polish market for several years; only now, with the recent development of Poland's high-end fashion market, had the timing felt right. As BoF reported then, the nation's luxury economy is booming: Professional service company KPMG values the local market at 2.2 billion Zloty (about $584 million), and predicts that it will increase an additional 28 percent by 2020. To wit, new fashion media had already landed 800-odd miles east, in the post-Soviet states: When Russian editor and street style magnate Miroslava Duma co-founded her fashion and lifestyle platform Buro 24/7 in 2011, she chose to keep the company based in Moscow where it stayed for six years before moving to London.

At present, much of this expansion can be attributed to the meteoric rise of cool-kid designers du jour, Georgia's Demna Gvasalia and Russia's Gosha Rubchinskiy.

Vogue.com Fashion News Writer Liana Satenstein offers that Gvasalia, whose fashion collective Vetements has captivated the industry and driven both runway and mainstream trends since its launch in 2014, is the strongest example. This comes as no surprise: Gvasalia created such immediate buzz that he was hired to replace Alexander Wang at Balenciaga just a year after Vetements showed its first collection.

"When he first came on the scene, most people couldn't point Georgia, a small Caucasus country, out on a map, let alone understand the post-Soviet, early-'90s nuances that he incorporated in his collections," says Satenstein. "His collections stirred curiosity in the history and culture of the region. The country has a fledgling group of talents, and Gvasalia just helped shine the light on them."
Taylor Swift in Vetements in "Vogue"'s May 2016 issue. Photo: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott/"Vogue"

Taylor Swift in Vetements in "Vogue"'s May 2016 issue. Photo: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott/"Vogue"

Indeed, Gvasalia's impact has been swift. Net-a-Porter bought big into the so-called "Vetements Effect" shortly after the brand's debut — then-Vice President of Global Buying Sarah Rutson even said that Gvasalia's first collection made her feel like her "head was going to explode" when it came down the runway — the aesthetic of which has now become a staple and top-seller within the luxury e-tailer's inventory.

Fashion magazines have been quick to follow suit. Vetements was a driving force behind Taylor Swift's short-lived goth moment, which came courtesy of a certain silver sequined gown in which Vogue styled her for her May 2016 cover shoot. Balenciaga has racked up its own fair share of editorial placements, too. The house's streetwise wares blew up on last year's fall issues, landing plum cover spots on several international titles that included Elle Hong Kong, China's Vogue Me, Vogue UK and Glamour.

Gvasalia's urban realism is heavily rooted in his own upbringing in Georgia, but it's also been influenced by what has become of youth culture in the region since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. For countries like Georgia and Russia, this post-Soviet era has fostered an uptick in creativity, much of which is rooted in its heritage. (Though Eastern European countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary were not formal members of the USSR, they still exhibit a cultural pride that's on par with their post-Soviet neighbors.) This is innate to designers like Gvasalia and Rubchinskiy, but for so much the world, even in fashion, Eastern Europe remains unexplored.

"Eastern Europe is simply a sexy, exotic destination for most people," says Satenstein. "After all, it was cut off from the world for years so some things are seemed preserved in a time capsule."

Satenstein references the "noughties," which can be seen most explicitly in '90s and early-aughts fixtures like rhinestones, velour or, combining the two, Juicy Couture. Coincidentally, this nostalgia is something to which editorial has paid great attention. Vogue Italia asked Bella Hadid to cut her hair — modeled after Linda Evangelista's famous '90s bob — for her June 2017 cover, while Marc Jacobs's two most recent, heavily '90s-inspired collections have enjoyed placements on the covers of titles ranging from Elle to V.

Rubchinskiy has made a big business out of such retro collaborations, bolstering his own name recognition while partnering with nostalgia-laced brands like Reebok, Vans and Camper. (He's also teamed up with higher-end labels, namely Burberry, the lookbook for which he revealed in June.)

"Their high-octane perceptions of glamour are a hangover from the early '90s where it was all about showing off and is far less puritanical and way more over the top than it ever was in the United States," she says.

Satenstein also points to Eastern Europe's renowned "underground" nightlife scene as being a point of interest for fashion media, as well as a constant source of inspiration for regional designers.
The "Vogue" Poland team. From L-R: Editor-at-Large Malgosia Bela, Editor-in-Chief Filip Niedenthal and publishing partner Kasia Kulczyk. Photo: Condé Nast International

The "Vogue" Poland team. From L-R: Editor-at-Large Malgosia Bela, Editor-in-Chief Filip Niedenthal and publishing partner Kasia Kulczyk. Photo: Condé Nast International

"It's been done to death," she says. "Everyone has known about it for a while, so it's not technically 'underground' anymore. It's still its own thing, though."

There's also the shopping, much of which is comprised of bazaars — and which Satenstein refers to as being "havens for knockoffs." As publications and websites (this one included) continue to discuss the changing stigma surrounding bootlegging, these markets remain a focal point.

"To this day, you're going to find knockoff Gucci, Moschino and Chanel, whether you're in Tbilisi or Kiev," she says. "There are even plastic bags called 'paketi' that are printed with Chanel or Gucci. You won't really find that in the United States."

In a fashion sense, Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, is thriving. Vetements was first based in Paris — it's since moved to 400 miles southeast, to Zurich — but the city became the subject of careful consideration immediately after Gvasalia hit it big.

But as a Caucasus country, Tbilisi is unlike most of its greater Eastern European neighbors, from its near-Mediterranean climate (humid and subtropical) to its dialect (Kartvelian, rather than Slavic). It's sandwiched between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and the Black Sea, and thus bridges Western and Eastern cultures in a way that isn't quite seen anywhere else. Its creativity, of course, is bustling.

The city hosts two fashion weeks, Tbilisi Fashion Week and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tbilisi, both of which have seen an exponential increase in global exposure in the last three years; editors now flock to Tbilisi with as much regularity as they do to more Westernized fashion weeks like Copenhagen and Stockholm. Here, Georgian style — which strikes an intriguing balance of foreign and familiar — is on full display, both on the runways and off.

Satenstein foresees Tbilisi becoming a potentially competitive city, but that will still take time. As far as the rest of the region, that's only matter of time, too: If only based on the predictive success of Vogue Poland, Eastern Europe has the market, the interest and the editorial talent. It's here to stay.

Source: Fashionista.com

 

[Benn98]

 

[MON]

Wow Jennifer Aniston back in a Vogue feature.

 

[Benn98]

Wow Jennifer Aniston back in a Vogue feature.

My first thoughts exactly!! It's just digital, but still. Maybe she'll work her way back into Anna's favours and get a cover after refuting that disastrous 2008 coverline on Oprah. I'd like to see her back in Vogue.

It seems Selena's clip was done while shooting her cover. Whoever did the makeup on the rest of the women should be sacked. They all look bloated and way too much make-up was used. Also, I honestly didn't recognise Gwen Stefani! Yikes!

 

[eizhowa]

My first thoughts exactly!! It's just digital, but still. Maybe she'll work her way back into Anna's favours and get a cover after refuting that disastrous 2008 coverline on Oprah. I'd like to see her back in Vogue.

It seems Selena's clip was done while shooting her cover. Whoever did the makeup on the rest of the women should be sacked. They all look bloated and way too much make-up was used. Also, I honestly didn't recognise Gwen Stefani! Yikes!

What did I miss?!

 

[Benn98]

What did I miss?!

Vogue ran her December 2008 cover with the line 'What Angelina did was very uncool', and Jennifer subsequently said during her interview with Oprah that the line wasn't accurate. She didn't deny saying that, but it was taken out of context. Pretty sure Anna must've been pissed off over this as we haven't seen her on anything US Vogue related since then. Until now, of course. In all honestly, it was very shady of Vogue to use that line on the cover like that. If you didn't read the interview it would seem like Jennifer was saying Angelina's cheating was uncool, when she actually referred to her behaviour and comments after the media brouhaha. But Vogue ultimately got what they wanted. Apparently the cover, just like the rest of Jennifer's covers for any magazine, performed exceptionally well on newsstands.

Renee is another one we probably won't see on Vogue again after this:

Renée Zellweger Has A Bone To Pick With Vogue About Her 1998 Cover Story

By: Carolyn L. Todd

Interviewers sometimes elaborate on their encounters with celebrity subjects — a flourish here, an out-of-context quote there. It's not often a journalist will invent something out of thin air. But Renée Zellweger claims that was the case for her interview with reporter Bob Ickes. In a new interview with DuJour, the actress reveals that her 1998 Vogue cover story with Ickes was partly fabricated.

“Someone had me talking to penguins in my own special language at the zoo," she said. "But we sat on a bench, we never went to the zoo!” the actress explained, referring to Ickes' profile.
Ickes denies making up these details of the story. “We certainly went to the zoo,” he told PageSix. "The article never says she was speaking in her own special language to the penguins. That would be insane." Almost as insane as somebody imagining that they went to the zoo with a celebrity.

Source: Refinery29.com

 

[honeycombchild]

Jennifer's lack of appearances in recent years is mostly down to her contractual requirement of photographer, team and photo approval. Anna's gone for it previously as obviously Jennifer's profile was high enough that they knew the magazine would sell very well, however as Jennifer's profile dropped in recent years I imagine it was less of a thing to over look.

It's the reason she's never been on a UK Vogue cover to date, as photo approval isn't granted.