Lecture notes from September 19, 2007
Lotta Lewenhaupt has workd for Damernas Värld (DV), one of the best selling Swedish fashion magazines. She has also written some books and articles about fashion.
She claims that there is only one serious fashion magazine to speak about - Vogue. It was and is a class-magazine for middle and upper class reader. To understand the contemporary context of fashion magazines we must look back into history again.
1672 Paris - the time of Ludwig XIV when fashion was one part of culture
1877 news about fashion world, the first fashion magazine was born, actually it already born in 1867 when Harper's Bazaar was first launched. More fashion journalism appeared in the 20th century, and Vogue became absolutely the most important fashion magazine. Nevertheless of the male dominance within fashion production, fashion journalism is a feminine field and being a fashion journalist a feminine position.
In the beginning the slogan of Vogue was Vogue - a weekly magazine of fashion and society. They have had high quality of photographs and paper. It was also the time of Poiret. 1930's there was about ten workers for the magazine, today it's three times more. 1940's in American fashion journalism are interesting, we might throw the line with Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. In the fifties Vogue looked like we know it now, but there was no text on the cover, just the title and the cover photo, no texts screaming buy me! buy me!.
Since 1916 Vogue has also its UK edition. After Vogue started to establish the other national issues as well it was important in each country to pay attention to national traits of character. For example on the cover of the US edition was always chosen a blonde blue-eyed woman to differ from UK or France editions.
In the sixties Diana Vreeland, the former editor of Harper's Bazaar brought the big plastic jewellery into fashion. Then Anna Wintour, the famous editor in chief of the US Vogue brought supermodels into fashion. Nowadays it is so common that brands, ads, icons and celebrities carry on and sustain the fashion system. Lotta Lewenhaupt says that the role of celebrities comes and goes in fashion, today it's a bit down, we don't have these big supermodels anymore, but still, some celebrities and actresses are trendy to represent in magazines.
Mostly she repeats what other lecturers have already said, the things about style-icons, like Marlene Dietrich, the rise of Chanel, Elsa Schiapparelli, the world in war, the femininity going masculine and photos as part of journalism. Also talks about Dior's New Look and picture-analysis. One interesting and important conclusion she makes is that today it is far more difficult to be first, in anything.
1950's were the women's time of elegance. She mostly uses the examples from the US Vogue. She says that ballerina shoes and marine-style is the fashion of teenagers, not ladies. It comes from the Audrey Hepburn who became famous teenage-idol in the fifties. She mentions David Bailey and Jackie Kennedy. Then moves on to the sixties when women became teeny tiny, had small breast and needed new type of bras. The end of sixties was highly influenced by the 1920's.
Biba was one of the revolutionary brands of the seventies. It had particular style and patterns. The rise of branding. 1945 Fiorucci shouted that jeans are most beautiful from the backside. Rei Kawakubo uses retro to be in fashion, taking the elements from past and placing into present. Helmut Newton. Mario Testino.
1980's - the time of Giorgio Armani, Peter Lindbergh, Yohij Yamamoto (black outfit). Attention into the catwalk. Co-operation of advertising and photography, relations between stylist, acquaintances, personal relations etc. Inner circle within fashion industry.
2004 - UK Vogue represented the "Bloomberg Way" - the flashlights of Biba fashion, vintage. Underwear as streetwear. Madonna for Versace...
In fashion journalism you have to be self-confident, stylish and brave. You must go with time, read newspapers, magazines, go to theatre, cinema and read lot's of books. High specialization needed. There are good literature about fashion. There is several ways to write about fashion. Read! See around!
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