UK Vogue July 2020 by Jamie Hawkesworth

[SanderGreen]

If, God forbid, I were a subscriber to British Vogue, this is the moment I would cancel my subscription immediately. Exploiting misery under the guise of celebrating courage on the cover of Vogue no less, the antithesis of everything this magazine used to stand for.

Edward is the perfect editor for these times. Mistaking dullness for depth, unable to look past his superficial preconceived notions and using victimhood as the almighty currency for the dumpster fire that is social media.

No amount of Steven Meisel contributions is worth this.

 

[tigerrouge]

@tigerrougeThe most groundbreaking fashion, art, and any statement in general, happens is when controversy, surprise or unexpectedness happen that essentially challenges that thought.

And we're not going to get it - not for a while. Not while there are far more benefits to be mined from being seen to fit in than there are from standing out.

When that vein runs dry, fashion will start using provocation again. And everyone who's at the forefront right now, when things are really bland, will pretend they had nothing to do with the dullness. They'll start pointing to the archives, telling us that fashion has always been at the forefront of innovation and excitement, and by extension, so have they.

 

[Annie Hall]

What is everyone complaining about? Either we get another bland portrait of a celebrity (and have BV be accused of being too escapist, ignorant, inconsiderate etc. — which I don't agree with, but you know what the public are like) or we get something relevant. And as far as the latter goes, this is the best one so far. Not keen on the second but the first and third are wonderful and striking, and manage to perfectly get the balance between artistry and social awareness.

And yes, I understand and agree with the need for real fashion, real glamour and real creativity in Vogue, but I also can't expect that from frontline workers being shot whilst they work. If we started putting nurses in couture and having them shot by Steven Meisel, it would be awkward and frankly disrespectful. If we showed them with red rims around their eyes and dressed in PPE, it would be called unglamorous and lazy. Not sure how these covers are 'exploiting misery' or romanticising the front line, imo they show strength and respect, and the public will eat them up. The government's response to the virus was so fcking awful that even I am glad to see something like this. Maybe my standards are just getting lower.

 

[[Piece Of Me]]

Some of the comments on here really upset me, we are living through a very hard and dark time, especially with #BML now and people are complaining about magazines paying attention to this? Who honestly cares about fashion at this point, honestly, it's not important. We need everyone to be on board and show us in the right direction. Edward is doing a pretty damn good job and give me these kind of covers and other social justice issues over some random model wearing a 3000+ dollars dress. Now that would be inappropriate. It is just a big privilige to say things like that and look away, for a lot of people that's their daily reality.

 

[tigerrouge]

I grew up on a council estate in Northern Ireland during the 70s/80s which was a dark time for decades for everyone in that part of the country, and Vogue didn't give a sh*t. Nor would anyone have expected it to. That wasn't the magazine's job. And nobody was "on board" regarding what happening on their doorstep even when it spilled over to the rest of the UK.

But now it's 2020 and a fashion magazine sees fit to lecture me about what constitutes an appropriate sentiment in the eyes of others.

 

[Ivanity86]

I miss Alexandra Shulman, I miss Lucinda Chambers, I miss Patrick Demarchelier, I miss Mario Testino ... Edward's Vogue UK has lost his identity !!! In three years, there is not a single iconic cover, a memorable photo shoot, nothing at all, the only positive thing about this new Vogue is the collaboration of Grace Coddington !!!!

 

[aracic]

In three years, there is not a single iconic cover, a memorable photo shoot, nothing at all, the only positive thing about this new Vogue is the collaboration of Grace Coddington !!!!

And Steven!

 

[Avonlea]

I miss Alexandra Shulman, I miss Lucinda Chambers, I miss Patrick Demarchelier, I miss Mario Testino ... Edward's Vogue UK has lost his identity !!! In three years, there is not a single iconic cover, a memorable photo shoot, nothing at all, the only positive thing about this new Vogue is the collaboration of Grace Coddington !!!!

I feel the same way. Edward had time to prove that he has a vision however with all those boring issues coming out I think this position is simply too challenging for him. There is not a single interesting thing about his Vogue. I wonder how long he'll be able to continue this mess. Even Meisel's editorials are bland under his direction.

This issue is a no for me. I dont expect fashion publication to write about health workers/pandemic just like I dont expect national geographic to do a couture editorial.

 

[Ivanity86]

And Steven! [/QUOTEof course

 

[matheus_s]

I miss Alexandra Shulman too

 

[MON]

In three years, there is not a single iconic cover

As much as I dislike Edward's direction for UK Vogue, I don't think that this is a fair statement. He's had his fair share of iconic covers. Adwoa Aboah, Saffron Vadher, Zoe Kravitz, Jourdan Dunn, and Jodie Comer were all iconic.

 

[russianelf]

I miss Alexandra Shulman, I miss Lucinda Chambers, I miss Patrick Demarchelier, I miss Mario Testino ... Edward's Vogue UK has lost his identity !!! In three years, there is not a single iconic cover, a memorable photo shoot, nothing at all, the only positive thing about this new Vogue is the collaboration of Grace Coddington !!!!

Literally cannot relate to a single word of this sans Grace Gaddington. The final years of Alexandra's Vogue were messy, as much as I appreciated the frequent Kate Moss covers.

 

[russianelf]

There's really no winning for magazines in the current situation. They would be called out for doing simply fashion stories while the corona crisis is happening. If they did a nurse fashion story they would be called tasteless. And obviously Vogue is a business so they have to continue to churn out the content. And this is exactly the stuff the general public wants to see and read about and that will generate good coverage for them.

I'll take this offering, especially since 2 out of 3 covers look gorgeous.

 

[russianelf]

As much as I dislike Edward's direction for UK Vogue, I don't think that this is a fair statement. He's had his fair share of iconic covers. Adwoa Aboah, Saffron Vadher, Zoe Kravitz, Jourdan Dunn, and Jodie Comer were all iconic.

The Naomi cover! The Kate by Jamie cover! The Karlie cover! The September 2019 cover, despite many people here, myself included, not liking it.

Also that shared W cover is also iconic for all the wrong and messy reasons

 

[Zorka]

There's really no winning for magazines in the current situation.

Actually, there is.

Vogue Arabia, for example, has even reimagined some of its most iconic covers (including Iman’s, below) with digitally-added face masks. The result is INGENIOUS, in my opinion. (High fashion + strong message, is it really - with literally endless recourses at their disposal! - so hard/impossible to deliver?!!)



en.vogue.me

 

[honeycombchild]

I’m afraid I can’t condone wishing Alexandra back. 1990s/Early 2000s Alexandra, perhaps. But not. Bringing her team and her direction back to the magazine would set the equality and progression Edward has brought back years. He may not be producing iconic cover after iconic cover, but I like his judgement and there have been covers I’ve liked a lot here.

There’s a Beauty Podcast called Beauty Full Lives that Alexandra did recently where she essentially says that she felt like she could only do so much to push equality and it wasn’t always her place to do it. It’s quite startling the way she appears to have justified this to herself, it’s worth a listen.

 

[Melancholybaby]

As much as I dislike Edward's direction for UK Vogue, I don't think that this is a fair statement. He's had his fair share of iconic covers. Adwoa Aboah, Saffron Vadher, Zoe Kravitz, Jourdan Dunn, and Jodie Comer were all iconic.

A cover that came out 2 months ago is iconic? Are any of the covers mentioned here (maybe Adwoa's but still a long reach) going to be remembered in 10-20 years? Will they be considered perfect representations of a specific time in fashion, capturing the zeitgeist with just a single image?

But I guess iconic means nothing these days, just another marketing term, meant to imply that there is some sort of heritage, historical depth and cultural significance you are buying into. Always at a premium.

 

[Zorka]

A cover that came out 2 months ago is iconic? Are any of the covers mentioned here (maybe Adwoa's but still a long reach) going to be remembered in 10-20 years? Will they be considered perfect representations of a specific time in fashion, capturing the zeitgeist with just a single image?

SOOOOOO TRUE! Period.

 

[kokobombon]

Actually, there is.

Vogue Arabia, for example, has even reimagined some of its most iconic covers (including Iman’s, below) with digitally-added face masks. The result is INGENIOUS, in my opinion. (High fashion + strong message, is it really - with literally endless recourses at their disposal! - so hard/impossible to deliver?!!)

imo this is the same as having a blank cover or a rose... re-using old images and adding a mask, it´s way more gimmicky.

 

[Srdjan]

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.

When Asians become a trend (I said this on purpose), Edward will be happy to feature them.

I miss Alexandra Shulman, I miss Lucinda Chambers, I miss Patrick Demarchelier, I miss Mario Testino ... Edward's Vogue UK has lost his identity !!! In three years, there is not a single iconic cover, a memorable photo shoot, nothing at all, the only positive thing about this new Vogue is the collaboration of Grace Coddington !!!!

Vogue in Alexandra's final working years was desperate for a change. She did not try at all. And Edward refreshed the magazine. I may not love his choices all the time, especially when he is irritatingly trying to be follow the hype or is too politically correct, but I still see some effort on his end, and passion in what he's doing. There are some covers that will be remembered, like Adwoa's, Kaia's, Madonna's, Oprah's, the last year's September one...