Why is Vogue Australia so bad?

[lilypetal]

I agree Aus vogue is a little on the thin side.....but i kinda prefer it to US vogue, I spend half my time searching for the editorials and articles! AUS vogue would also be thinner because they don't have the advertising that the overseas issues have....US vogue is basicaly 60% adverts. There was actually an article recently about Harpers Australia outselling Vogue Australia!

 

[Cicciolina]

I'm not fussed that is about Kirstie Clements looks. Alexandra Shulman is no Carine Roitfield in the style stakes or doesn't have the same 'iconic' image as Anna Wintour, but she is a fantastic editor who puts out a killer magazine month after month.

 

[sweetpop]

I'm not fussed that is about Kirstie Clements looks. Alexandra Shulman is no Carine Roitfield in the style stakes or doesn't have the same 'iconic' image as Anna Wintour, but she is a fantastic editor who puts out a killer magazine month after month.

hear hear!

I think its more that we just keep hearing the words 'reprint' and 'taken from/copied from...' in conjunction with Australia Vogue thats got most people wondering if Kristie is making an effort, and how come other Vogue editors can make each their own respective magazines per month as wonderful and exciting and as jam packed with new stuff like their predecessors.
Since there is nothing we can do about it, people turn to another part of Kristie and try to find faults somewhere else; its completely justifiable though! Sure, people would expect the editor-in-chief of a high fashion magazine to (possibly) present themselves everyday like Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, it might be asking for a bit much, but its sort of expected if you work in the fashion industry, you'd be a little more in-the-know on how to dress and the latest trends ladida, but then again, the latest trends don't suit everyone and you should wear something that you feel comfortable in, and not don something on just because everyone else is. You might look like an outrageous peacock if you did. Still, I go back to my original point about originality and making the magazine a little thicker. Given, a month to compile everything is hard, but if other editors can do it, so can we.

 

[k-a-t-e]

I hear constant criticism of Vogue AU but I love it! It is one of only a few regular Fashion mags. I buy... I got a free subscription to Marie Claire and often I don't even read it since I find it tries to be all things to all people. I don't want real crime stories!!! I bought the Harper's birthday edition but find it a little Sydney-centric and I like Russh but it is only bi-monthly. I buy Vogue AU because I like the aesthetics, the covers (I only buy UK Vogue so can't tell when the covers are repeated), the content, the shoots and the increasing accessibility of it all. I think the magazine has a fairly young target market compared to international Vogue's - Vogue forums is frequented by the under 30 age group. The readership is semi-stable unlike most other monthly and weekly magazines but yes it is not huge because Australia is a relatively small marketplace and not everyone wants the Vogue brand to begin with. The magazine in Australia with the highest readership is the Australian Women's Weekly and Better Homes & Gardens in the lifestyle category, which both scream to me Mums buying in the supermarket. I can't find and wouldn't expect to find Vogue in my local supermarket. It is more of a niche title which aids to its exclusivity of it all!

There was also an interesting article in the May 08 issue of Marketing mag about Vogue Australia and the Vogue brand. You should be able to find past copies of the mag. online soon at marketingmag.com.au.

Finally I don't think an editor of a fashion magazine neccessarily needs to be impeccably stylish and emancipated. I like Kristie, from what I can perceive she is unpretentious and realistic. Whilst I have not view much of her style, I can tell it is quite classic which suits the stage of her life she is in. I would rather that than her trying to flock some pieces from the tweeny faddish Sass & Bide, clashing Zimmerman prints or the grungy sub-culture looks of Yen, Oyster and sometimes Russh etc.

 

[Cicciolina]

I know what you mean - people are looking for something to blame, and hey, why not criticise how the EIC dresses?

A lot of people perhaps also don't realise that the people who have very high up positions in fashion don't often 'dress' the part. Grace Coddington wears black all the time, Alexandra Kotur is always in a tight bun, white shirt and man style pants, etc etc They're at that level where they feel they don't have anything to prove. Now Kirstie Clements isn't anywhere near Grace or Alexandra's level, but relatively speaking, she's the top dog at Vogue Australia.

And I've heard from sources that she's absolutely lovely and great personality, really sweet, and there are in fact other members of her staff who are less so.

I don't think the demographic of the Vogue forums reflect the readers of Vogue magazine, or who the magazine wants to target. Most members of the forum admit to not even reading the magazine. They probably have been listening to the members more though, like using more models recently, and I do think that Vogue have made some effort of changing and trying to be a better magazine.

The fact is that Vogue Australia doesn't have the market or resources to compete with international Vogues like Vogue Paris, UK or US, so at least in my lifetime probably, it won't get up to that level. That's not to say that I think they're doing the best job - they're improving bit but not quite there yet. I'd say that they're on the path to becoming a better magazine, but not at the destination yet. As I mentioned in a previous post in this thread, Russh do well on a very limited budget (and as to all the rumours of them having financial troubles - well they're still around aren't they, unlike Nylon Australia, Follow Magazine, etc).

They need to be more original and create a signature 'Vogue Australia' style - I don't want to read the magazine and think that the typeface looks like Vogue UK, etc etc - basically a mishmash of other publications. Right now it's quite classic - the styling isn't too avant garde or high fashion like say, Harper's (relatively speaking, Harper's AU isn't exactly doing what Numero or L'officiel do, but in the Australian market it's what I'd see as being slightly more edgy), but Vogue Australia aren't known for anything, or associated with anything, really eg Vogue US are very 'what an American socialite should do/wear/etc', UK have great articles, features, and a mix of very high and highstreet fashion, and French Vogue have great editorials.

Thanks for the tipoff for the marketing article k-a-t-e, I'm going to have a look for it

 

[misstarshine]

Vogue is avaliable in coles, woolworths, Big W and k-mart, so i don't think its really that niche a magazine

 

[k-a-t-e]

Vogue is avaliable in coles, woolworths, Big W and k-mart, so i don't think its really that niche a magazine

That's interesting about the distribution but perhaps that says more about me because I don't often go in those establishments but now that you mention it I do remember it down the side aisle of my local Coles although I've never seen it in a hot spot next to the check-out.

I actually work for a niche magazine publishers so understand what a true niche publication really is but I still do think Vogue (arguably) is, in comparison to the general interest and fashion titles by ACP and Pacific, more of select title that is not for every fashion reader. I actually don't know anyone in my network who regularly reads it asides from myself and then the readers who I have witnessed buying it have all been quite young (the aspiring aspect), where as when I was in the UK I saw wider generations buying the title. As a frequenter of VF (I actually won post of the month this month so get a free subscription... ) I do realise that the markets are different in print and online but agree that the magazine is increasingly becoming targeted towards the forum's mainly gen y market (such as the high street supplement a few issues ago) rather than the older truly affluent baby boomer/gen x market.

 

[k-a-t-e]

They need to be more original and create a signature 'Vogue Australia' style - I don't want to read the magazine and think that the typeface looks like Vogue UK, etc etc - basically a mishmash of other publications. Right now it's quite classic - the styling isn't too avant garde or high fashion like say, Harper's (relatively speaking, Harper's AU isn't exactly doing what Numero or L'officiel do, but in the Australian market it's what I'd see as being slightly more edgy), but Vogue Australia aren't known for anything, or associated with anything, really eg Vogue US are very 'what an American socialite should do/wear/etc', UK have great articles, features, and a mix of very high and highstreet fashion, and French Vogue have great editorials.

I think this is a great idea and I think you have pinpointed what they need to retain the loyal followers and attract new readers. They really need to establish a look and emulate who and what the Vogue reader actually is throughout the magazine... and be consistent with it. More street fashion would help encapsulate this perhaps.

 

[helmut.newton]

I agree with what everyone is saying about Vogue Australia finding its own identity.

I don't necessarily think Clements is to blame for the poor excuse that Vogue is for a fashion magazine - I think its the entire creative directorship behind her.

The Creative Director (whoever it is) SUCKS!

Compare Vogue: Paris who got a major re vamp with the help of a very prestigious Graphic Arts Studio (M / M) to Vogue Australia who have very poor creative direction.

Its not necessarily bad editorship - its a bad creative team.

Their shoots are really incredibly boring and pretentious. Its like "Heres a model, shes wearing Chanel, its Vogue".

Its actually quite insulting to its readers. I mean they're basically saying clothing is clothing and we don't have to intellectualize it.

Whereas you look at other Vogues and they are constantly imbuing their clothes, their editorials etc with intellectual rigor.

 

[voguelover94]

Their shoots are really incredibly boring and pretentious. Its like "Heres a model, shes wearing Chanel, its Vogue".

I couldn't agree more with this. Lack of creativity.