In High School my friends and acquaintances mocked my interest in fashion, positing my interest as vanity and shallowness. But I understood that although fashion is functional it is one of the greatest methods of self expression, and therefore fashion is art. I looked to Vogue (among other great sources) to quench my thirst for more inspiration and knowledge of fashion design and its history. I learned about silhouettes, textures, fabrics, the most influential designers and their significance to the world of design; I got to see an inside look at the fashion industry - the models, the designer's homes and work methods ... I loved it all.
Vogue was great and then something happened in the late 90s that really irked me: they started placing more and more celebrities on the covers. Before the late 90s there was only an occasional celebrity on the cover, then suddenly this changed. No longer were inspirational models or perhaps an opportunity for models of color to make the cover - no, Vogue and all of the other fashion magazines decided to employ celebrity covers and content as a way to increase readership. And I'm sure it helps. In the very least it supplies the internet with plenty of troll fodder.
Which finally leads me to the point of this post:
Why do people care so much WHO is on the cover of Vogue, anyway? Not that many people even read the magazine. American Vogue is the 54th most circulated magazine in the United States with a circulation of under 1.28 million issues per month (this is not how many magazines are sold, but rather are distributed to subscribers and vendors). Some magazine called Family Fun has a circulation over over 2.16 million, but I don't hear anyone talking about it. You can see magazine rankings and circulation statistics at Find The Best.
For April 2014, Vogue has put Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on the cover and the internet exploded. It seems many don't find KIMYE 'good enough' to grace the cover of vogue. But why not KIMYE when Vogue sold its soul to celebrity long ago and presented the likes of Britney Spears, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Hudson, Sienna Miller, Sandra Bullock, Kristen Stewart, Kate Hudson, Carey Mulligan and countless others on the cover?
Madeleine Davies from Jezebel made a case for KIMYE in yesterday's post: "7 People Who Deserved Vogue Covers Less Than Kim and Kanye" . Her point and mine being that there are so many celebrities on the covers of fashion magazines that even Kim Kardashian is more plausible a cover star than many. That says a lot.
When all of these celebrities took over the fashion magazine industry I must admit that I personally felt betrayed. Gone were the magical moments with great models, stylists and photographers. Gone was the connection communicated between designer and muse. Now covers and most editorials (and ads) are mainly vehicles for stars to promote their films or records. You can almost feel their managers counting money from behind the lens. The reality of our society now is unfortunately one of gross celebrity obsession and consumption. Let's face it, celebrity sells and they are going to be on the cover of Vogue for a long time. Its honestly an event for a model to be on the cover of American Vogue.
I don't buy Vogue too often now and I've made a point not to purchase a magazine with a celebrity I strongly dislike on the cover. I don't consider myself celebrity obsessed but I do find the internet outbreak of the April 2014 cover to be hilariously ridiculous. All this banter over a magazine that is read by roughly .004% of Americans.
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| the April 2014 cover |
some recent Vogue covers:
