VOGUE MAGAZINE REVIEW

For my theory magazine review i have chosen to look at Vogue, as it is related to my preferred subject area, fashion. Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine which is now published monthly in 18 countries, originally an American publication. The magazine costs £4.10, an average price for such a publication. Vogue is aimed at female audiences that are interested in fashion. Like most fashion magazines it is full of advertisements. These are very suited to the magazine, advertising mainly high end fashion brands, although i have come across a few high street advertisements among these including Monsoon, H&M and Marks and Spencer to appeal to a wider audience. Advertised are clothes accessories makeup perfume and jewellery. Infact if the adverts were ripped out you would probably be left with only half the magazine. Advertising from the highest end designers always makes up the opening pages of the publication. For instance, opening my newest edition of vogue, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Prada, Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Burberrry, Estee Lauder, Cline and De Beers jewellery are all advertised before even getting to the first contents page. The many adverts are also spread between the articles and even in the middle of features. This is cleaver as the reader can’t avoid seeing these advertisements. Some of  the women who read Vogue may not be able to afford the products being advertised, however it still gives them something to aspire towards or just as inspiration. Regular features in the magazine include Editors Letter, Vogue Notices, Diary, Vogue.com, Stocklists and a Backpage Stylefile. To appeal to a wider audience it features Fashion, Beauty, Books, Arts and Film articles as well as other inspirational features for women.

Vogue November 2011, Coco Reborn.

This month’s main article is about Rhianna who is described as ‘the ultimate style chameleon’ in this feature. However it was a smaller article on books, Coco Reborn, that caught my eye in this issue. In Coco Reborn, Vogue takes an extract from Lisa Chaney's new biography, Chanel: An Intimate Life, which explores Gabrielle Chanel’s post-war comeback in 1954 at the age of 70.

The three page spred allows the reader to understand more about Chanel’s huge influence at the time as well as the struggles that Gabrielle went through, that perhaps are not as well known about.  The article describes how Paris became cut off during the war, while American ready-to-wear designers and manufacturers were set on making New York the new fashion capital of the world, which Gabrielle describes as ‘the ruin of French couture’ Perhaps frustration and dislike to current fashions was one of the reasons for Chanel’s return to Paris couture after nearly 15 years. I found this article particularly interesting as the reader is able to understand the difficulties that went on behind closed doors, learning more about Gabrielle Chanel. It also inspires you to look more into the relaunch of Chanel and want to buy the book to find out more about what happened.

'she lay flat on the floor in the grand salon while her models paraded past her; she was checking the length of their hems'

Vogue October 2011, Lone Wolf.

Lone wolf is the article that i was most interested in when reading Octobers vogue. The three page spread about designer Azzedine Alaïa talks about his first show in eight years. He is also interviewed by Annie Cohen-Solal.

As well as talking about his new gorgeous Autumn collection, you also learn a lot about the designer from the article, which is what interested me. I had heard of Alaïa before and seen a little bit f his work, but after reading this article i was interested in looking much more into the designer and his new collection which i fell in love with straight away. His new haute-couture show showing sharp contrasts between architectural precision and voluptuous sophistication included Mongolian-lamb boleros, slim coats in pea-green crocodile skin and laser cut velvet. It was impeccable. The interview lets us find out more about him, including how he first started out making dresses in Tunis for society women when he was 16, moving to Paris in the early sixties with a dream to stay there to find elite circles, and we learn the names of those that he has met and admired from designers and artists to writers and theatre or film people. The interview also seems more personal as those close to him are quoted, and we learn how Alaïa is the most hands on designer, legendarily generous and how he has created his own laws, rhythms and rituals.

Azzedine Alaïa Fall 2011.