What Is Quality Fashion Reporting?

Although I do consider myself as an aspiring fashion journalist, I was perplexed of what I saw in Vogue’s September issue. Clearly, people don’t buy Vogue for the articles, and I rarely buy fashion magazines in general. It’s more for space and waste reasons really, I don’t like to collect disposable magazines made of cheap quality paper. But I digress.

Back to Vogue, I stumbled upon their “article”, Model Behavior, and was kind of startled to realize that it was 4 pages about today’s top models and their fabulous life. It gives snippets of where they shop, where they get their beauty on, (and – not surprisingly – nothing about where they eat), and I thought to myself: “Is this what fashion magazines are about now? Top models and their daily lives? Is this what we’re “reporting” on? Chanel Iman loves shopping at Victoria’s Secret? Sure. That will make me flock to the store even more because an emaciated top model shops there. No disrespect to Chanel Iman, she seems like a really sweet person from the videos I saw…but come on Vogue.

Flipping through the little content I could find, they did have a profile or two of some interesting fashion people, but nothing long enough to go into detail. Wall Street Journal’s Teri Agins’ article “What price fashion?” was commendable on today’s economic climate and what some designers are doing to change their ways. But it was nothing but a rehash of what’s already been said several times in the newspapers, but I suppose people don’t read the newspapers as much as they used to? Who knows.

Even the cover of September’s Vogue was equally uninventive: yet another celebrity, though gorgeous, Charlize Theron. I would’ve liked it if they could do something along the lines of what Vogue Australia did with their watercolored illustration of Cate Blanchett.

I had considered interning at a fashion magazine, but with the onslaught of the latest celebrity gossip – which seems to be the incentive of nearly every fashion magazine I come across – I don’t think I could particularly fit in. I mean even Teen Vogue’s Amy Astley condones the entertainment culture stating that “You can’t work at Teen Vogue if you haven’t seen ‘Twilight,’ ” she said in to the New York Times.

So you’re not going to hire a girl who hasn’t seen Twilight – a movie that has no fashion connotation whatsoever. Are we supposed to idolize Kristen Stewart’s fashion style in this movie? A wardrobe of jeans, hoodies, and leather jackets? Give me a break.

So, what is quality fashion reporting?

It’s about engaging the reader and informing them, not barraged by 700 pages of ads. I don’t want to know where models are shopping, but rather get an update on the whole stick figured model issue, where that has gotten stuffed in the back closet this year. Or maybe informing people how the fashion industry works, but hey, TV already glammed that up by making reality shows of some companies like Elle Magazine with “Stylista”. It’s Vogue, they should be thriving on creativity!

What’s wrong with the fashion industry is that nobody wants to talk, because every damn company is owned by share holders, and that any word that could tarnish one of their prized possessions means millions of dollars lost. So everyone shuts up, and it’s incredibly frustrating. The minute you question a brand’s products, PR reps shut the door and don’t even have the guts or courtesy to respond to you. Which has happened to me on an article I wanted to write for BoF with Ralph Lauren’s iPhone application. Totally unresponsive to my prying questions. But it’s a billion dollar industry that WE, as consumers, are spending on every year, the least the clothing companies could do is tell us about their practices.

Finding viable, informative and engaging fashion content is very hard to do. There isn’t a single, global publication who will post thoughtful fashion reporting in one spot – we have to source from several places. And in today’s fashion magazine industry, I doubt you will get very far if you’re not in touch with celebrity culture eventhough they’re not even the ones who keep the business running (many of the stars get their stuff rented or for free!), but the millions of regular and the affluent shoppers do.

Weren’t fashion magazines created for the intelligent fashionable woman? And not some mindless spending zombie with a credit card? Aren’t magazines supposed to make you think? To engage you in feature articles that relates to the reader where newspapers don’t normally have the space and time for? Come one people, let’s get back to what real fashion magazines are supposed to be about.

Image credits: Dima Gavrysh/AP