Showing posts with label Alexandra Shulman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexandra Shulman. Show all posts

30.9.13

Mag Mad - Paris Vogue

Over the summer, I was set the task of reviewing some fashion magazines. From the list I was given, some looked more familiar than others. I thought I'd post them on here to get your views as well on any of the magazines I mention over the next three posts to see if you're a dedicated reader and agree or disagree with me, hope you enjoy!

Paris Vogue
Issue - September 13
Price (I paid) - £7.85
Editor - Emmanuelle Alt





Vogues iconic masthead is recognisable on newsstands around the world. The Vogue brand is so global; it’s available in over 27 countries, so you’d expect to see some similarities within each countries edition. Of course the first thing you notice that is similar is the masthead. The Vogue font is always consistent, however can change colour depending on who’s fronting the cover that month and what the colour scheme is. I’m glad the paper type and size is the same for the continuity again also.

British vogue varies between the use of serif and sans serif fonts on their cover and throughout, however on Paris Vogue, the cover is only serif fonts. This may be because they wanted to keep the consistency with the masthead font, which is of course serif also, which I quite like however it is nice to see a variety. This difference may be due to giving it a slightly different identity to other Vogues, to make it easy to establish as Paris Vogue.

Stylistically, it seems that they use a two/three grid system, which again is similar of British Vogue that I’m used to but I feel they’re quite afraid to fill the page still. When generally skimming the magazine, I did not come across one full page of a news feature, even the one stated on the cover that the issue was based around. Also, before reaching any sort of contents, there are about 100-150 pages of adverts; about double compared to British Vogue, which I find hard work. I don’t mind adverts but at least give some sort of content to break it up such as the contents nearer the beginning. This particular issue is based around ‘Grunge’ and seeing as September is the January of fashion I was expecting a lot of clothes, and a lot of editorial showcasing this. However I did not get this. The editorials start 380 pages in which I personally think is ridiculous. When you get to the editorials, they seem disjointed, like a couple of images have accidentally been printed in the wrong place. They have a black and white theme running throughout with the use of two models and then you turn the page and suddenly have a colourful beauty shot which looks totally unrelated to the editorial. There is a Miss Vogue editorial they have slightly earlier on from page 264, with the themes’ The Breakaway Beautiful’ and ‘Attitude’ which looks a lot more put together, but still quite ‘samey’ also.

They dedicate a huge chunk of the magazine to beauty, which I like as you get a lot in other Vogues, but the layout of it is confusing and may seem like a lot but when you strip it back, there really isn’t all that much

The overall feel of the magazine seems quite amateur-ish, with a lot of ads throughout, which may not just be to fund it but to fill space where content is lacking. Some editorial is nice but you have to fish your way through the whole magazine to get to it.

16.5.13

Alexandra Shulman Vogue Talk At Ravensbourne

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to have a talk by none other than Alexandera Shulman, the editor for British Vogue!


She came to talk to us for 2 hours so managed to get a lot of info from her in that time. She's coming up to 21 years at Vogue which is insane! She isn't the longest running editor though, yet.

Her background actually isn't in fashion but journalism which I found quite intriguing and she shamefully admitted she never wanted to go into journalism or fashion at our age but the music industry! And of course live the rock n roll lifestyle, going to gigs and of course have that boyfriend in a band, ha.

Practically everyone in the room raised their hand when she asked us if we preferred reading print Vogue compared to the app which bought a huge smile to her face as the topic of is print dead is quite a hot right now. She gave quite an insight into what they look for in terms of interns or work experience at Vogue which is of course so useful for students so that was dually noted a long with the persons email that deals with it all, result. She was keen to get our take on wat we'd like to see in the magazine as well and a few good ideas were thrown at her so it'll be interesting to see if any of them appear in the magazine.

I didn't know what to expect from her as a person before the talk but I found her very personable and easy to listen to because she of course is super knowledgable! The experience was amazing I'm so glad I got the opportunity to hear her take on a lot of things and what she makes of the state of British fashion now!