Illustration by Leyla Baxman.
At 129 years old, Vogue is a household name for fashion and lifestyle. The very word itself creates imagery of high-end wardrobes, globally recognised models, and stylish magazine covers. But, it was not until I met Maria Grazia Chiuri that I realised that working for an organisation like Vogue was not the be-all and end-all of my aspiring fashion career. So where did Vogue go wrong?
On 3rd June, I was lucky enough to be introduced to Chiuri–a Fashion Designer and the Creative Director of Dior–after a friend of mine thought we should meet. In Dior’s 75-year history, Chiuri is the first woman to be appointed Creative Director, a role previously occupied by Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior himself. Naturally, I attempted to play it cool as my peers were doing, however I so desperately longed to burst into shouts of admiration and questions about her career. Towards the end of her time in Oxford, and after I let it slip that I owned the limited edition ‘A History of Dior’ book, Maria turned to me and asked, “What do you want to do in the future?” A hundred possibilities rushed through my head, but the best I could come up with was a tentative “perhaps something in fashion”, which was posed as a question rather than a statement. Naturally, I attributed her question to one of politeness, but then Maria said something that caught me off guard: “Go on?” My friend had already mentioned that I was a fashion editor (junior, at that time), so we discussed how I did bits of modelling work here and there starting at age 15, and how I most recently had covered ‘The Oxford Fashion Gala.’ Before I knew it, the taxi had arrived and it was time for Maria to go. Yet I’ll never forget the last thing she said to me: “You should come visit our Headquarters in Italy, I think you’d like it there.”
Anyone who knows me can attest to my love of fashion and my acute ability to systematically organise my wardrobe in a display that even puts Cher Horowitz to shame. Therefore, if you had told me five years ago that I would write an article criticising Vogue, I would have called myself jealous, insecure, and bitter that I did not follow in Rachel Green’s footsteps and work my way up in the luxury fashion industry. Yet much to my surprise, it is sheer disappointment that has led me here.
Now before I go off on a tangent, this is not intended to be a diary entry from a time when I was fan-girling (although Maria, I love you, I’m on the plane to Italy right now). But during that brief conversation I’d never felt so engaged or passionate, and was almost hit with a sudden sense of enlightenment. And do you know what the one thing we never mentioned in that conversation was? Celebrities. If I was interested in celebrity feuds or why “Fans were SHOCKED to discover the brand of towels…” one very insignificant influencer uses, I’d read a tabloid. Yet not a day has passed that I can recall where I have not seen at least one of the Holy Trinity popping up on my feed in a clickbait (or simply boring) article; the three being: The Kardashians, Kate vs Meghan, and Bella and Gigi Hadid. Just three days ago Vogue posted an advertisement to an article discussing Gigi Hadid’s go-to summer heels. I don’t know what’s more ironic, the fact that there is only one known photo of her wearing these shoes, or that Vogue is still advertising an article that was published in 2016.
Where is the originality? Where is the new content? Where are the new, rising and predominantly unknown designers who need the platform so much more? Where are the articles on sustainable clothing and hard-hitting truths about the fashion industry? In 2018, Conde Nast (the company behind Vogue) published reports showing that they had lost $120 million in one year alone due to a decline in readership. Now, I am guilty of enjoying the occasional ‘73 Questions’ video, but is this what one of the most major fashion and lifestyle brands has been reduced to? Dissecting the lives of reality TV-stars and those born into money, and presenting them to us as though we should find it relatable, inspirational, ‘the new normal’?
Vogue is no longer a trend-setter but a follower. They struggle to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving technological era. In my opinion, they need to take a step back and reconnect with their core values where fashion, culture and lifestyle are at the heart of their content—not celebrities. Box-ticking exercises of increasing diversity and discussions of ‘body-positivity’ should not be done solely because they are perceived to be trendy by big corporations. There is no positive impact created by jumping on the trend of promoting an important topic solely for the sake of more readership. These companies should be the trendsetters that break those barriers, encourage discussion, raise awareness, and are the among the first to widely accept people from all backgrounds–as opposed to waiting to see whether the public consider it a trend first. Like how Beverly Johnson was the first black model to appear on the cover of American Vogue in 1974, Vogue needs to take initiative and stop valuing people based on whether their appearance is ‘in-trend’. But rather, because Vogue has a genuine desire to be globally representative and accessible to as many as possible.
And if I am subject to one more ‘Kylie Jenner: What’s in My Bag?’ video, I will respectfully resign.