Vogue: A Case Study

VOGUE: A Case Study

“By watching the documentary Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Fashion, it is almost like taking off rose tinted sunglasses (which suitably, are probably very stylish).” ...

... My expectation that I had of Vogue, a glamourous, perfect, untouchable world was altered, as I gained insight to a typical working day within the company and the stress that it could create.

Upon first glance, the atmosphere within the Vogue office seems almost tranquil. It doesn’t appear to be noisy or hectic, and the elaborate rooms are tidy and as always, fashionable.

However, as time goes by you become aware of an underlying tenseness and hostility amongst people, who know how essential it is for the jobs to be done on time, whilst meeting Vogue’s standard.

During the documentary, we meet the editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Schulman. She is a very interesting character with a strong personality, and one thing soon becomes apparent, her passion and dedication for the industry. When describing the shows put on during fashion weeks she describes them as an emotional experience, and says “they just take your heart somewhere else”. She is a woman who appears to contradict herself often, for example we hear her say that she hires “clever women” who are not afraid to challenge her, yet when making a decision about a cover for a magazine, she is adamant that a certain cover will not be used, even though every other woman in her office is swooning over it. It then seemed like in fact, she did not like to be challenged at all. We see her face challenges within her work, and at one point, she mentions, with a genuine sadness, her inability to go by her heart rather than her head. She is always focused, and in a touching moment her mother describes her ability to “take a problem, wrap it up in her mind and park it”. She talks about her biggest dilemma being trying to keep things iconic whilst still being relevant. For me personally, ‘relevant’ is a very unusual word within the fashion industry, seeing as things are so fast paced and ever changing.

We also meet Lucinda Chambers, another very interesting character, who is the fashion director for Vogue. Her job is to design concepts and ideas, working closely with Alexandra and other members of staff. As a person, I quickly warm to Lucinda, as just like Alexandra, her drive and work

ethic soon becomes apparent. She emotionally looks back on the days in which she would share lunch vouchers, with long time friend and fashion photographer, Mario Testino. She also reflects back on how Vogue has changed as a working environment, how back in the past people would come to work with sore heads from the night before. Looking at the way the offices are run now, I find that almost impossible to believe.

The pace of work is very fast in the vogue office, with always something to be done and an endless cycle of deadlines. In the first clip shown in the documentary, Alexandra is off working in New York, and flying back and forth between countries is not uncommon for her. Vogue as a company has such high standards that it becomes an expectation, making it a very pressurised environment. The documentary showed how fashion is constantly changing, and it is important that Vogue stay on top of the game, especially in such a competitive industry. A quote taken from the documentary sums it up perfectly, “people seem to run off coffee or adrenaline”.

The vogue office is female dominated, not surprisingly, seeing as it is typically women with a passion for fashion. Men are very rare amongst all the intelligent, driven women, but essential nonetheless, to keep the cogs turning, and to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

The editor at large, Fiona Golfar, has no specific assignment but instead chooses something she finds interesting and comes up with ideas for research and articles. She is always working collaboratively to create something new and exciting for the Vogue magazines. Fiona meets a lot of new people and, like every job role at vogue, faces something new every single day.

Fashion shows are very important as they give an opportunity for many brands to showcase their new releases for seasons, to therefore let fashion workers, such as Alexandra, be aware of the new trends. Alexandra in particular finds the shows very emotional and truly appreciates the art of the clothes as well as the sets and backgrounds.

Fashion shows nowadays are different in the fact that social media is everywhere, and almost everyone and is capturing moments from the

show, to share online.

Photo shoots are meticulously thought out, with a lot of time and effort put into every detail, such as makeup, setting and outfits. Yet the pictures are taken at a fast pace, within a couple of minutes.

The photographers are very professional and know exactly what they are doing, they have a clear vision of what they want the images to look like.

When working at Vogue, you soon learn information about designers and brands and the differences between them. When an item of clothing is picked up of the clothing rail, within less than a second it’s recognised, “Is that Gucci?”.

Designers and Vogue work closely together, because it benefits them both, Vogue want to make use of big names within their magazines, and big names want to be featured in Vogue.

The magazine cover is arguably the most important part of the magazine, because it is the difference between someone picking up the magazine and not picking up the magazine.

Vogue usually sticks to a standard format, with the main image taking up most of the page, with some information with the content of the magazine on the outside, and of course, the title. Seeing as the cover is so important correlating with the success of the magazine, they make use of either iconic faces, or brand new talents. In the documentary we see the “fashion bible” include Kate Moss.

There was debate about what cover to choose, as there was a more standard, professional looking cover, up against a more unique, patriotic looking cover. Amongst office workers, the more unique looking cover was immensely popular, gaining everyone’s vote. Alexandra, however, did not approve of the cover, and in fact was quite against, and would never let it be published no matter how popular it was with other people. She knew that it would not sell as well, and as much as Vogue is disguised with art and glamour, it’s a business, and it’s priorities are sales and figures.

What Alexandra says, goes, and there was no chance of the unique cover being published.

I was very shocked to find out that the final decision of the cover was made by men, and to be honest, a little disappointed. The Vogue office

is an environment filled with independent, smart, creative women who work together in the creative process of putting the magazines together. To think that their work could be completely disregarded within a few words of man seemed unfair to me, and contradictory to everything that Vogue represents.