The September Issue
In my lifetime, I’ve wanted to do many things, always changing my mind like the indecisive libra I am. Last year, I mused about being a stylist and creative director, playing a hand in creating cover shoots. Though my dreams have inevitably changed again, my respect and love for photoshoots haven't.
Every August the fashion community, print and digital magazines prep and release their autumn cover shoots. The September issue - basically it’s a New Year in the fashion calendar. Wardrobes around the globe are being re-organised, it’s back to school season and the clothing market shifts to prepare for fall/winter fashion. My fyp is filled with aesthetic low-exposure videos of people watching Gilmore Girls and claiming to have the ‘IT GIRL’ Halloween costumes. The September - or Fall issue then is what dictates where fashion trends are heading. What fashion culture is centering and the values these covers wish to exude.
In 1989, Anna Wintour displayed Naomi Campbell on the cover of American Vogue’s September issue. Campbell wears an Anna Klein orange sequin suit, pearls and is posed on a beach photographed by Patrick Demarchelier. This cover shoot was Anna’s first September issue as the editor-in-chief of Vogue, it would set the tone of the magazine for the future and fashion culture within America and globally. Wintour changed the cover shoot by focusing on the garments covermodels would wear as well as the cover star. Changing Vogue and fashion magazines as we know them today. Rather than focusing on the face of cover stars Wintour inadvertently gave photographer’s, fashion stylist’s and designer’s more power as they would all vye to take the photos and dress the cover models. For consumer’s they’d begin seeing variety in each issue of Vogue they picked up.
Within media culture fashion magazines primarily served as arbiters of taste. They dictated what’s of interest and what isn’t. American Vogue strategically helped to herald in the supermodel era as it became fully entrenched with fashion,media and celebrity culture. As the supermodel era peaked and models began to overpower the fashion world. Heavy-hitters within the fashion industry and the market didn’t want fashion to be dictated by models. So exposure shifted to celebrities actor’s, musicians and other cultural figures. Consumer’s became somewhat tired of models and felt isolated by the impossible beauty standards they represented. So entered the celebrities of the early 2000’s though they also held to the same beauty standard, they were regarded as somewhat attainable and the focus could be back on fashion.
Moreover, magazine readers would pick up a copy if a well liked celebrity graced the cover. So, celebrity culture and fashion came together in holy matrimony. With no fashion model gracing the September Issue cover from 2005 -2010. But they have since made their return to cult status as they graced the American Vogue 2023 September cover.
The history of September issues paints a story of the role that magazine cover’s play in popular culture. It tells us who is being centered within society and whether they reflect the values of public interest. As Blake Lively and Hugh Jackman were displayed on the cover of American Vogue we see how the age of classical American cinema and traditional American values being glamorized in wealth fantasies at a time of economic instability. Plus we see the intersection between magazine and movie marketing cross-over once more. Charlie XCX and Troye Sivan on the digital cover of I-D highlight how youth culture is moving towards being self-aware partiers, bringing in a new Indie sleaze era. Arya Starr graced Dazed cover and Tems on Essence both showcasing how the international music industry is becoming infused by African women who have been taking the world by storm in all areas of popular culture. As of now there is no official Vogue on the African continent. Though proposed, there was a lot of backlash. Vogue originated as a western publication, dictated by western elite’s. Having a Vogue magazine publication within an African country like Nigeria, Ghana or South Africa may be profitable but it would still perpetuate the issues where many countries within Africa are not being spotlighted on the international fashion stage.
Where there is popular culture there is politics. Within pivotal political moments fashion, media and culture can’t afford to opt out if they wish to maintain relevance. Magazine covers reflect the ethos of the time or at least their interpretation of what people are thinking and feeling. Whilst American Vogue mirrors the mood of the American consumer, Vogue’s European, East Asian and Latin American publications are reflective of their national markets. These magazines don’t just contribute to fashion and popular media. But reflect the progression of fashion photography and artwork. What we see on magazine covers is reflective of artistic and visual movements translated as a consumable product.
Now more than ever it’s difficult for magazines and traditional culture media outlets to decipher who and what the public wants centered. And with the rapid decline in love for celebrity culture replaced by indifference, irritation and vitriol; magazines compete with one another in the slow decline of print media sales. Still, magazine’s are not dead. Magazine covers will continue to play a crucial role within media culture but perhaps not at the heights of what we've seen displayed in the past. They’ll be hotly debated on social media, innovative in the progression of fashion photography and emblematic of the fashion space.
References
Desantis, Marissa. “Anna Wintour Recalls Fighting for Naomi Campbell’s 1989 September Vogue Cover | London Evening Standard.” Evening Standard, Evening Standard, 23 Apr. 2020, www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/celebrity/anna-wintour-naomi-campbell-1989-september-vogue-cover-a4422536.html. Accessed 10 Sept. 2024.
Graziano, Giada. “Why the September Issue Is the Most Important.” GLAM OBSERVER, 22 Aug. 2017, glamobserver.com/why-the-september-issue-is-the-most-important/.
Kuczynski, Alex. “Trading on Hollywood Magic; Celebrities Push Models off Women’s Magazine Covers.” The New York Times, 30 Jan. 1999, www.nytimes.com/1999/01/30/business/trading-on-hollywood-magic-celebrities-push-models-off-women-s-magazine-covers.html.
Maher, Bron. “Magazine ABCs 2023: Full Breakdown of Titles Shows 12.4% Circulation Fall.” Press Gazette, 21 Feb. 2024, pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/media_metrics/magazine-circulations-2023-abc/.
“The Complete Vogue Archive.” Vogue | the Complete Archive, archive.vogue.com/issues/2023.
Wikipedia Contributors. “List of Vogue (US) Cover Models.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Sept. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Vogue_(US)_cover_models#2020s. Accessed 10 Sept. 2024.