UK Vogue July 2020 by Jamie Hawkesworth

[YohjiAddict]

Hawkesworth is so good at taking portraits of regular people and it really works as a tribute, for the character and strenght of the subject comes through in the image.

 

[MON]

What do we expect? Of course Edward's take will be the most beautiful one since it's the last one to come out. He had time to prepare.

I've seen members holding magazines accountable for forgetting the fashion aspect of their magazines, so I'm expecting this to be equally condemned.

And Edward, timing is very important. There's a reason why editors rushed to release their special issues. You decided to release Dame Judi first.

 

[LastNight]

Beautiful covers. A really nicely done tribute to our frontline workers.

Jamie's photography is gorgeous and I'm so happy that the end result is appropriate for the moment and yet also still polished and high quality. Although it's completely understandable (and the least of our troubles), I'm very much over seeing TV shows/interviews/photoshoots shot over Zoom or Skype, so I'm really glad Edward didn't rush this and took the time to create something as beautiful as it is profound.

The constant coverage of this pandemic is exhausting, but as much as I'm looking to magazines and television when I need to escape from it, I'm actually glad that Edward hasn't ignored it. Hopefully now that magazines have settled into a new normal and are over the initial rush to get their 'lockdown issues' out, they'll have a bit more time to plan and execute the content for future issues - waiting it out has worked beautifully for British Vogue here.

 

[Miss Dalloway]

Perfect timing, all 3 covers are beautiful, and relevant, i love this!

 

[Yohji]

They should've rushed this through for June issue.
Grazia did this idea first yet Edward will get all the triumph and glory.

Grazia might've done frontline covers first but I prefer Vogue's execution. More artful.

 

[MissMagAddict]

This makes me miss Franca even more.

*sigh*

 

[aracic]

I disagree, these 3 covers are all recognizing the essential services we have relied on VERY HEAVILY during the pandemic, being that Anisa works in a supermarket which has basically put her at risk during the pandemic from day one and she is equally deserving of her own cover and the unfortunate part is that people working in commercial (or general) grocery stores will never get the wages they’re entitled to, they are true heroes of COVID-19 alongside healthcare workers, LTC workers, and transit workers.

update: sorry aracic! I thought you were referring to Anisa’a cover but you actually meant Rachel’s cover, but regardless, they are all necessary to recognize!

I understand that and I do believe all those women deserve recognition and to be applauded for their hard work and risks they took to service and help people in need every day. I get that and it's a really amazing thing and I would love to read a long, well written article about them accompanied with these beautiful portraits. But is that really Vogue cover material? Not in my eyes, no.

I agree with Scotty, why does it always have to be so literal these days? I understand that if it was a model posing as nurse, Twitter and Instagram would explode with fury and rage which is pretty stupid, honestly. We're a fashion industry, the artsy fartsy folks who like to play with creativity and new ways to see things (so I was told). There's nothing innovative about these, it's pretty women in pretty portraits done by a professional. That's it, could be published in Times magazine for all I care. I'm not saying that fashion industry should ignore what's going on in the world, of course not. But they're supposed to be artists in a way, interpret things and make it intriguing and thought provoking or whatever. This is done simply for the sake of social media and approval. And naturally, since two of the cover subjects are POC, dear Edward saw the opportunity to also address the protests hitting two birds with one stone and getting extra points. Nothing wrong with that, of course. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... F**k fashion, I guess. It's dead anyways

 

[GERGIN]

F**k fashion, I guess. It's dead anyways

This I will not argue with, 100% truth!

 

[Deleted member 1957]

Not gonna lie, this isn't something I expect or want from Vogue. I'll never understand the need to put regular people on the cover of fashion's most important publication. Naturally, I respect the message and the story but it's always going to be a no for me.

However, the portraits of Narguis Horsford and Anisa Omar are absolutely stunning. They actually look like they could be a part of fashion editorial, but the third one was unnecessary.

Agreed, it would be better as an editorial with a story though the first cover is nice at least they added some fashion.

 

[Fiercification]

I was, or am under the impression that Jamie's not based in London and if so, he must've broken lock down protocol to shoot these... but I'm probably wrong!

The first cover with Narguis is great and the Tfl Overground outfit looks damn chic. I'll be honest - the other two covers are bland and forgettable to me. I find fashion "creatives" so lazy when it comes to working with Muslim head coverings. I know you can't really insist on changing much, but even with Ugbad, the results are often so poor in her styling choices.

The Guardian report leads me to believe that the next two issues are also meant to be dedicated to key workers?

 

[aracic]

The Guardian report leads me to believe that the next two issues are also meant to be dedicated to key workers?

You've got to be kidding me

 

[caioherrero]

The Guardian report leads me to believe that the next two issues are also meant to be dedicated to key workers?

Omg, please no. But that’s looks like a very good idea for EdwRd, late for the party but the last to leave

 

[Srdjan]

Not into this at all, to be honest. Only the cover with the tube driver has a tiny bit of fashion photography value, the other two are really drab.

 

[tigerrouge]

So, besides @aracic, no one dares to say that they do not see any suit of clothes on this "Emperor"... Interesting.

Vogue Italia's white cover was the moment when I gave up on most magazines, after seeing how much they'd given up on themselves.

I don't have much to say about things that stopped speaking to me some time ago.

 

[Zorka]

This approach is WRONG in so many ways and I am so frustrating with the whole thing, so I don't even know where to begin...

First of all, choosing only three people among approximately 1.9 million people employed (only!) in health care in the UK is so insolent and rude that I was literally left speechless!

While Farneti (at least!) had a decency and empathy to dedicate that (in)famous blank canvas to the ALL front-liners in the Italy, Enninful - who, while the rest of the world were faced with an unprecedented danger and uncertainty, all he obsessing with was that effing durag - blatantly chose only three people, leaving all of us wandering what the heck is so special about them (besides the fact that two of them are... well, you all know what I mean!), and what exactly it that the rest of 2+ million extremely brave, dedicated and hardworking people are lacking of?!!

 

[Deleted member 141309]

I really hate the direction of magazines now.

I get that stuff is happening in the world, I really do, but leave it to the media that focuses on that, please. I am not here for Vogues and Dazeds, and i-Ds, and Porters of the world to make social commentary be forefront and fashion at the back.

There is no good to this. All of this just makes me literally cry Franca is not with us. It was, and most likely will ever be, the only person who did the social commentary in such a nonchalant, careful way, that it was appropriate, tasteful and FULL OF FASHION.

I am truly sorry, I know it is a very sensitive topic, but if I see another pandemic cover, or race cover, or sustainability cover, or LGBT cover, or any cover that does not focus on fashion first, I will rip off my hair and make sure to leave some venting comment here, because this is the extent to which it gets me aggravated.

The world is going crazy. And I am beginning to be convinced that Internet, social media and digital magazines are the problem, and not the solution here. I do not want to see all social issues to be talked about EVERYWHERE, every single magazine and type of media! I want to be stupid, I want to read about some damn dumb luxury getaway in Monaco and just dream, I want to read stupid reviews of ridiculous celebrity homes and socialite parties, I want to read how Susanne Kaufmann makes organic beauty products in some expensive *** production site in Austria, where I will not be able to afford to go, most likely, ever!

I hope I will not get banned for this. I am truly sick and tired of all this bullsh*t. I cannot even listen to music being just dumb songs about love, fun and whatever, it is always about some body positivity, someone's sexuality, drug abuse, depression or whatever else is there.

I get it. People have problems. World has problems. But I do not need a constant, 24/7 reminder by literally everyone. And fashion is where I expect it the least, the world that is full of shallowness and hypocrisy, to follow these discussions. Fashion is a statement, but above all, it is a want, not a need, and it is superficial, it is not serious, it is fun, it is all about waste, enjoyment, not caring what people think and caring too much at the same time, it has never been about anything else. So stop this hypocrisy and trying to make fashion to be about solving social problems and reminding of them constantly. Workers are for TIME magazine to cover, not Vogue.

 

[Benn98]

I imagine the aim was to focus on entire industries that kept society running during lockdown. These three women were merely chosen as figureheads to represent their respective industries. All the other magazines did the same. Elle did the same last month. The Italian magazines had doctors on their cover.
I don't like the theme of the issue because I think it's a bit delayed for the type of sentiments it's trying to push (imagine a reader lying on the beach reading about this, which wouldn't be far fetched), but I don't see what's so wrong with the casting. The fact that it's diverse? My God, this is not out of the ordinary for anyone who stepped foot inside a hospital, Waitrose, or train in any part of the UK. If you want to nitpick then ask where are the carers, where are the bus drivers, etc etc.

Anyway, that's how I'm translating these covers.

 

[tigerrouge]

Social media means that people don't have private lives, inner thoughts or secret diaries anymore, everything people say or do has to be a performative gesture for the approval of a certain audience.

I know we're talking about a print magazine, but these days, that's just a means to an end, lagging behind the worldwide announcements on Instagram, like a donkey bringing up the rear.

And because those gestures are shallow and require no rational thought to appreciate, if they align with your values, you have a positive emotional response which does not stand up well to argument, because it's your emotional response which is being challenged, rather than the deeper facts of the matter or the grey areas which naturally exist because real life is complicated.

And when a gesture doesn't align with your values, you have a different emotional response - feeling frustrated or scornful - and thanks to the superficiality of the gesture, it's easy to find a myriad of ways in which it doesn't hold up when looked at too closely.

Fashion is no longer about catwalks or seasonal designs, it's about which thoughts you are seen to be wearing for the world to see, and Edward's right there, for better or for worse.

 

[Deleted member 141309]

@tigerrouge

I absolutely dig your point of view. However, we have to acknowledge that fashion trying to fit into the thoughts and opinions to satisfy emotional responses it essentially a certain route to endless self-reference and being in a rut. The most groundbreaking fashion, art, and any statement in general, happens is when controversy, surprise or unexpectedness happen that essentially challenges that thought.

We also have to take into account the exposure value now, so everyone tries to fit in to the appeal and have a safe way for acclaim. That did not work before, and what saddens me the most. We no longer have geniuses of Alber Elbaz, Alexander McQueen or Chalayan present exactly because of it. I may be stretching it, but in today's world they may not be so big as they were, and not because McQueen is dead, but because it is all about slightly-risky-but-still-safe claims for mass appeal like Off White, Balenciaga, attempts of diverisity at Vogue, blatant pretentiousness of Vogue Italia without longevity value, and etc.

Also, may be stretching it again, but all the recent popular designers, I must say, are quite attractive men and it is not by chance, I assume. Riccardo, Jacquemus, Ghesquiere, Abloh, and others - as themselves, they are fitting for the public persona, and they are quite handsome men, that can have attempts at Instaculture. Look at Jacquemus, people are drooling over him, but what? Is he bad? No. But is he that talented? Does he bring something new? No.

Of course, all of this is just my personal opinion, and I know that it is not up for everyone to be agreed with.

 

[MON]

You know what, I would have applauded this more if Edward featured a Chinese frontliner on the cover. That would have been a powerful statement against the blatant xenophobia that the Chinese are experiencing.

This is just a COVID19 special under the lense of #DiverseNewVogue