It seems that at least once a year you will see Madonna, Drew Barrymore, Victoria Beckham, Jessica Alba, Katie Holmes, Gwyneth Paltrow or Jennifer Aniston on the covers of Elle, W, and Vogue. I understand that they are popular actresses/singers, but what happened to originality? Why do American fashion magazines all look the same and rotate the same celebrities?
We all know celebrity sells, and fashion and celebrities these days inter-twine more than ever. But there was a time when Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar was original, and used art to entice readership. In the Phoenix Art Museum, I came across quite a few covers that inspired me to evaluated how the glossy has evolved over the decades.
Vintage Vogue and Harper's Bazaar Fashion Magazine Covers
Looking at vintage Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, supermodels didn’t exist. It was paintings and drawings that eluded to fashion brands or styles. Sometimes it was a still object and not even a woman in clothing.
One quick observation about this wall of vintage Vogues and Bazaars, was not one of the covers was a photograph. Now-a-days our glossies are all cover photos, but not just a simple artistic photograph, heavily retouched,Photo-shopped, airbrushed photos.
It’s odd that fashion mags heavily rely on celebrity covers, yet as a loyal subscriber to a few fashion magazines, I usually never read the celebrity feature story. My main interest and excitement about a glossy is the editorials, fashion news, and unique designer and art profile stories. Its very rare that I read or flip to the celebrity story in the magazine.
Even if there is a magazine in the store that I don’t subscribe to, I will buy it only if it has an interesting story headline on the cover. The repeated celebrity images don’t appeal to me as much as an intriguing fresh model face or illustration like the vintage mags show.
I think I’m probably one of only a few that feel this way, but I just wish fashion mags would mix it up . Be original, be unique, and give me something that I cant find elsewhere. Instead of everyone shooting the latest Twilight star for their cover, give it a twist and make it a painting of that “star” or make it a group shot with other models or colleagues.
Better yet, why don’t we feature fashion designers on the covers?