To The News Stands!!

The September issues are out!!


The Holy Grails have hit the shelves. The September issues are the pinnacle of each year for fashion media. Aside from the obvious quarterly reports it is by the success and sheer size and weight of the September issue that these publications evaluate the measure of their success. Vogues largest ever issue and largest ever September issue boasted a total of 840 pages of which 727 were advertising pages back in 2007, these figures have been widely accredited to the zenith of pre-recession thinking before the proverbial shit hit the fan. None-the-less these annual mammoth editions by the big guns of fashion media are definitive of the popularity and success of the publishing powerhouses. In the words of Anna Wintour the September issue “is about the best of the best” its “the Blockbuster of the year”.

So, if the magazines are the blockbusters, then the cover girls must be the stars. So what does the September cast look like this year. Natalia Vodianova graces the cover of Harpers Bazaar. Pop queens Jessie J and Katy Perry pose for Marie Claire and Elle respectively. Lily Collins has cinched the starring role for Glamour while a mauve haired Kelly Osbourne brightens the cover of Cosmopolitan. Alexandra Shulman cast fashions new first lady Daria Werbowy in a fresh feeling cover role for British Vogue. Each of these ladies represents something hugely different but what does that represent both in terms of success and the demographic audience of the magazines that have chosen them. Or does it really matter? Does the cover sell the magazine? Or is it the articles, the editorials or simply the name? In the new age of digital media and social networking is a magazines readership truly determined by its content or rather its interaction with its public i.e, how many tweets they share each hour, how often they update breaking daily news on their relative dot com pages. Are the magazines we choose to read determined by the most successful in your face, egotistical molly coddling campaign? And in saying so, lets address the question thats been on editors lips for quite some time, are our newstands soon to become defunct? Will print succumb to the inescapable power of digital media?

I fail to foresee the demise of print, or perhaps I’m just lingering in a state of denial. After all Hearst Magazines declared one million digital subscribers in May, but I take solace in the fact that this colossal figure only represents 3-4 percent of their total print circulation. The benefits of digital media are obvious, to be able to read the newest edition of Vogue on your iPhone on the commute to work does appeal to those running the rat race of modern day life, but i surrender to the charm of print every time. When was the last time you saw someone kick back on the couch with a cup of tea and biscuits (that statement alone is living in a fantasy world where self proclaimed fashionistas actually eat biscuits or heaven forbid anything that could constitute as a carb) and actually enjoy reading through their monthly subscription on their digital device of choice? Never, I would wager. You see although you can’t argue with the convenience, digital media, in particular magazines and newspapers, doesn’t offer the familiarity or enjoyment factor when it comes to tea time, or coffee break reading. It doesn’t offer the opportunity to unplug and unwind for those few precious moments. I have been known to avail of online digital subscriptions, particularly for research purposes, when the convenience of reading an article now rather than when i can get to a newsagents has proved invaluable for a specific purpose. However, the day i trade in those glossy pages of desire and that distinctive smell of freshly printed ink that transports me to a fantasy dreamworld where i can pretend these extortionately priced, extraordinarily beautiful pieces of art could actually be mine will simply never come! 

Yes, my name is Zita and I am a fashion magazine junkie. Its not just the September issues, when it comes to fashion magazines, I stockpile them. Its an addiction and not one I intend to address anytime, ever. And I’m willing to bet that I’m not alone. So if by chance in some future where hell hath frozen over and pigs flock across our skies these beloved print magazines become obsolete and are banished to the realms of reminiscence like that of hand drawn animation which has gone before, please, I implore you, spare September.

On one last note, out of curiosity and sticking to the religious references and terminology (to an unholy artificer like myself fashion is my religion, fashion magazines my bible and fashion houses my places of worship) which sartorial sangraal is your bible of choice? Do you dread the day they are digitized and you can flick their glossy pages no more?






Above images: 1&6. fashiogonerogue.com 2. magspider.blogspot.com 3&4. justjared.com 5. perezhilton.com   

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