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As the fashion world – and it's acolytes – chatter and cheep about The September Issue, the new docu-film on US Vogue, it would seem that the very content matter exemplifies the reason for the recent decline of the world of glossy magazines. The September Issue focuses on the making of the September 2007 issue of the US fashion monthly – screening in September 2009. And as glossy magazines are 'put to bed' at least three months prior to their issue date – August for the September issues – this would indicate that much of the footage in the film would have been shot in early 2007. A time when the world was a different place.
While the Anna Wintour-directed magazine can in no way be considered responsible for the release date of the film, a parallel can be drawn between the disparity between the timing of the launch of the film and the time lapse between the compilation of material for the glossy publications and their arrival on the news stands – raising similar questions over the relevance of both.
In today's world of "fast fashion" how can these magazines stay ahead of the game when publishing so far in advance, particularly when dealing with the notoriously unpredictable whims of designers – and, in recent years, also those of consumers who now demand an increasingly fast stock turn-around. Prada, Gucci, Comme des Garçons, to name but a few, have now all launched pop-up stores, the here-today-gone-tomorrow concept that is often announced weeks before it arrives and gone by the time any of the glossies can 'hold the front' page, should they even feel the urge.
Other fashion names such as Templerley London and Matches in the UK have launched limited-edition collections with runs of items often restricted to ten or less. With the power of fashion blogs and viral marketing this means that the items sell out before readers of the monthly magazines can so much as sniff the items. The same goes for the temporary shops that appear in influential retailers like Colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London and Opening Ceremony in New York. Often these innovative collaborations are overlooked by monthly magazines as it just doesn't fit with their agenda.
Some PRs will at this point be flaring nostrils and pointing out that it is possible to be organised about letting the glossies know about even temporary and limited-edition collections well in advance. But they probably haven't worked in fashion – or if they have, have been lucky. For the most part, the industry just doesn't work like that. While things are becoming more professional as fashion becomes more corporate, most fashion publicists – particularly outside the US – spend much of their time desperately chasing images, details and, often justifiably, lamenting the coverage they could have got if only they were informed a newsworthy nugget more than a week before the launch date.
The question also remains, at a time of uncertainty such as this, how can Editors get a feel for what is right when working so far in advance? Some would say that it is they who dictate fashion – published and be damned. They are not amongst the huge number of magazine staffers who have been laid off or had their budgets slashed as advertising revenue plummets and the Internet becomes increasingly potent in the world of fashion. It is this sort of arrogance that lead to the downfall of the financial sector and may also have dire consequences for the fashion-led glossy magazine sector.
Labels: Anna Wintour, Colette, Comme des Garcons, Dover Street Market, fashion, fashion film, glossy magazine, Gucci, luxury, Matches, Opening Ceremony, Prada, Temperley London, The September Issue, vogue
posted by Unknown @ 00:37
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