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Fashion journalism is a new specialization in the journalist profession, in which there is a deepening of the fashion text, such as those present in editorials, fashion show coverage and fashion analysis. Its challenge is to demystify the common sense that fashion represents futility, interpreting its cultural reflexes, social and economic mechanism.

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“FASHION GOES IN ONLY ONE DIRECTION: FORWARD. AND I AM A FIRM BELIEVER IN THINKING THAT WAY TOO.'' - Anna Wintour

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According Wendy Elsmore, founder of The London College of Style, have the right attitude, networking,  set realistic goals and apply for work experience

are some aspects to enter into stimulating, creative and fast-paced world of fashion.

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Vogue is the most important, respected and influential women's fashion magazine in the world published since 1892 by Condé Nast Publications in 22 countries. Monthly publishes works by stylists, writers, photographers and designers within a sophisticated perspective of the world of fashion, beauty and pop culture.

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If you love fashion, odds are that Vogue magazine is one of your monthly subscriptions. Since the first issue of Vogue was published in 1892, the magazine flourished into a globally recognized fashion and lifestyle magazine that publishes 23 national editions, has an average print circulation of 11.3 million subscribers and 1.6 million online readers. It is no surprise the magazine is often referred to as "The Fashion Bible." Here is a brief history of "The Fashion Bible" by its most groundbreaking covers.

December 1892: Vogue, then a weekly magazine, releases its first issue ever in America by founding publisher Arthur Turnure.

Photo Courtesy of SellMeYourCollectibles

1909: Vogue thrived after Condé Nast Publications acquired the magazine. The magazine started printing more pages and its main audience became women.

Photo Courtesy of Condé Nast

1916 -1920: Vogue made its overseas debut in England in 1916. Due to it's popularity there, Condé Nast published the first issue of French Vogue in 1920.

Photo Courtesy of On This Day In Fashion

July 1932: The first issue with a colored photograph as the cover. Edward Steichen, a world-famous photographer, took the photo for the cover and the pages of Vogue were no longer illustrated by only drawings.

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1960s: American Vogue fell under the leadership of Diana Vreeland. Issues became more sexy and liberal as celebrities started gracing the covers. Sophia Loren was one of the first celebrities on the cover of Vogue.

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1988: Noted for her bob cut hairstyle, the infamous Anna Wintour became editor-in-chief of American Vogue in 1988. She sought to reshape Vogue by enticing younger readers. The November 1988 issue was the first under Anna Wintour's leadership.

Photo Courtesy of Vogue

Present Day: Anna Wintour remains the editor-in-chief of American Vogue. She continues to experiment with new concepts that would make the magazine appeal to a wider audience. She also discovers new talent in the world of fashion every year through the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award. She surprised the fashion world this September when she included not one, but three models on the issue's cover.

Photo Courtesy of Vogue

Story By Serena Zhang

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogue_(magazine)#Vogue_now https://condenast.ru/en/portfolio/magazines/vogue/history/

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If you love fashion, odds are that Vogue magazine is one of your monthly subscriptions. Since the first issue of Vogue was published in 1892, the magazine flourished into a globally recognized fashion and lifestyle magazine that publishes 23 national editions, has an average print circulation of 11.3 million subscribers and 1.6 million online readers....

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How to get into Fashion Journalism with Alexa Chung | Future of Fashion | British Vogue

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Journalists who write about the world of fashion should pay attention not to get carried away by prejudices. The profession of a communicator is also responsible for influencing society, so be careful with words.

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By AMANDA POPE
Staff reporter

April 3, 2018

Journalists who write about fashion must constantly test themselves for unconscious biases that shape their coverage, the senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum recently told more than 100 Ryerson University fashion and journalism students.

Elizabeth Semmelhack, who is also an adjunct professor at the Ryerson School of Fashion, said the traditional gendered approach to fashion writing tends to implicitly view fashion as a frivolous and feminine preoccupation. In fact, fashion has throughout history been a major economic driver, she said, noting that demand for clothing underpinned the early textile industry.

"Fashion is gendered. We all wear clothing, but we have assumptions about dress that are invisible, and we need to change the dialogue," Semmelhack said during a March 27 panel discussion on the use of fashion journalism as a tool for cultural criticism and a driver of social change.

"Rethinking fashion journalism: It's about more than the clothes" was organized by the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre and Ryerson's Centre for Fashion Diversity and Social Change.

Semmelhack, whose research ranges from the rise of sneaker culture to the history of high heels, said that shoes from non-Western cultures, such as the tiny shoes associated with Chinese foot binding, often prompt questions from members of the public who visit the Bata collection. Western stereotypes about fashion are less likely to be questioned, however. For example, gendered assumptions are so deeply embedded that people seldom wonder why only half of the population - women - wear heels: "There has always been a presumption that women love shoes and are known as the 'shoe-aholic.' My research has proven that men were the first to wear heels and now it is becoming common knowledge because fashion journalists are reporting on it," she said.

"The fact that a man can't put on a pair of heels and wear them to a board meeting without stopping traffic says something to me about assumptions that we have that we're not even comfortable with seeing, let alone addressing."

Ben Barry, associate chair of the Ryerson School of Fashion and director of the Centre for Fashion Diversity and Social Change, said fashion journalists have driven social change by starting a dialogue about diversity, equity and inclusion.

"Fashion journalists have asked, 'Who is not represented on the runway? Who is not represented in magazines? Who cannot fit into these clothes?'" Barry said. "They have written stories about this and created a dialogue about this. As a result, people have tweeted about these stories, commented on these stories and the industry has started to respond."

Barry, whose research explores the intersections between gender, fashion and consumption, said fashion journalists play a powerful role as the link between the industry and consumers, activists and government. Major changes in the industry have often been driven by fashion journalists who have examined what's happening in fashion, have voiced critiques and have exposed issues off the runway.

The panelists noted, however, that there are topics that still need more critical examination.

Natalie Atkinson, an arts and culture freelancer who writes a regular column for the Globe and Mail, said fashion critics have a role to play in driving change in the plus-size part of the industry. The topic is under-reported she said, and both fashion critics and consumers must push for more variety in plus-size clothes.

"It's a commercial problem, it's a problem of commerce," Atkinson said, noting that people think all plus-size men and women are made the same. "They'll buy something that doesn't fit any of them well but doesn't fit too badly instead of demanding that something fits them well."

Charmaine Gooden, a freelance beauty and health journalist, said the lack of diverse voices remains a problem in fashion journalism.

"I'm just looking forward to hearing more voices from different cultures," Gooden said. "Indigenous voices, Muslim voices telling me what really matters to you...having your platform to say it so that I can hear it straight from you."

Atkinson concurred, noting that newspaper newsrooms are still limited when it comes to presenting diverse writers who deal with fashion and fashion issues. She pointed to a piece she wrote for the Globe about the history of the Cowichan sweater, which adapted the centuries-old Coast Salish knitting tradition to become, arguably, Canada's first cross-cultural fashion garment knit by the Indigenous Peoples.

Atkinson said she felt the story should really have been written by an Indigenous person: "I'm less comfortable writing about things that I'm not on the inside of. I'm more interested in writing less and listening more. Even though I'd done a lot of research around it, I felt like there was a perspective that even I couldn't understand if I'm not on the inside. I'm hoping there will be more people stepping aside (to allow for more diverse voices)," she said.

Barry urged aspiring fashion writers in the audience to question their gendered assumptions about fashion and to dig deeper for context.

"Fashion journalists need to challenge their assumptions and ask, 'Why do we assume and why do these practices exist?' and not just accept them as existing," Barry said. "That's when fashion connects to this much larger culture where then we examine the history, we examine the sociology and we examine the structures in power ... Then hopefully we're able to actually move culture through fashion journalism."

As an example of how gendered assumptions shape coverage, Barry pointed to research by Allyson Stokes, who is an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo in the faculty of knowledge integration. In The Glass Runway, Stokes reports that male designers tend to be portrayed as geniuses who come up with incredible creations while the work of female designers is discussed in terms of their efforts to understand and create practical clothes suited to women's bodies. This creates an hierarchy that places more value on creativity than on craft and art.

Fashion writers, Barry said, need to be on constant guard against overt and unconscious biases: "Are there certain tropes or stereotypes or assumptions that are being perpetuated within that story? And how (are we) talking about particular individuals? Whether these are people of colour or whether these are gendered assumptions," he said.

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Fashion writers should beware of unconscious gender biases - Ryerson Journalism Research Centre

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By AMANDA POPE Staff reporter April 3, 2018 Journalists who write about fashion must constantly test themselves for unconscious biases that shape their coverage, the senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum recently told more than 100 Ryerson University fashion and journalism students.

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In this video, British Vogue market editor Emma Elwick-Bates shows how she prepares to do a photo shoot and represent Vogue in the special at Fashion's Night Out 2011.

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What will the future of fashion be like in the face of chaos?
Remembering that fashion journalists are first and foremost journalists, can be a hope in the midst of such a complicated situation.

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By Desislava Todorova
Fashion is in crisis. As a matter of fact, so is the whole world. We're all struggling with the pandemic in our own ways, but isn't fashion the last thing we should be needing right now? Hearing these words from the mouth of a fashion journalist could be perceived as harsh and a little surprising, but they reflect a reality which is taking its toll on an entire industry.

Lockdown caused havoc in fashion publishing which has seen its ideological ups and downs over the past few years. However, the Covid-19 pandemic gave a whole new meaning to the term "chaos". Editorials produced by models at home, heartwarming messages of community support and hope have been shared, repeated and re-shared over and over again. Yes, the community did come together and showed incredible resilience but it seems that British naturalist Charles Darwin's wisdom will prevail at the end of the day: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change."

The big titles will pull through with renegotiated advertorials, job cuts and restructuring on the horizon, especially with the dreaded end of the furlough scheme on the 31st October. Despite the strong communal "we shall prevail" attitude, there's an ominous feeling in the air which breeds anxiety and disillusionment.

While fashion designers are at the forefront of the battle for survival, the struggle is as equally big for creatives from all other corners of the fashion industry spectrum. One such corner is fashion journalism. Being a fashion journalist myself, I found the past 6 months really hard to cope with morally. The lockdown blues inevitably made me completely disenchanted with the idea of glamorising fashion and aesthetical escapism as survival mechanisms. It didn't work for me, and instead, it made me more cynical about the consequences of the industry, of the negative connotations which come with fashion and what my personal contribution has been.

Radical criticism became my best friend and I switched sides for once and "opened my eyes" which ironically took a global pandemic to happen: Was being a fashion journalist not relevant anymore? I mean, how many DIY campaigns could one bear scrolling through? How many charity advertorials could one be inspired by? How many Instagram lives with "creatives at home" do we really need? Was it time to reevaluate the purpose of fashion journalists and is there any need for them since all brands have redirected the remainder of their already exhausted budgets to influencer-generated content? How much of this content do we actually need? Is there space for fashion criticism when there's a lethal virus raging out there?

After spiralling in and out of this existential and professional crisis I decided to go back to the source. I went to my alma mater Central Saint Martins and initiated a dialogue with the next generation of trained professional fashion writers at the MA Fashion Communication: Fashion Journalism course. Here's what they shared with me:

Lisa Zirngast

The pandemic forced Lisa to leave the UK and go back to her home country Austria. During the four months that she spent at home, she felt herself drifting away from fashion. "Issues connected to the pandemic overshadowed everything, and all sorts of fashion news - and there weren't many - seemed trivial and irrelevant to me. For example, Dior launched their collaboration with AirJordans and I couldn't have cared less, to be honest."

Her usual excitement for and interest in fashion as well as the urge to write about it had faded. "As a fashion journalist, I did question if, how and when I would be able to work in this industry in the way I imagined it pre-pandemic. Obviously, that made me worry especially considering all the news of magazines laying off staff and companies downsizing. I have always been well aware that fashion journalism is not the steadiest industry to work in, but the pandemic really pushed it to another level." Nowadays, being back in London and returning to class, everything seems to be getting back into place and amidst all the challenges, she determined to continue working in both fashion and journalism.

Has it made you more sceptical or, on the contrary, more hopeful for the future?

I would lie if I said that I have been optimistic all throughout the past months. However, I do believe that fashion is ultimately driven by change. The pandemic affected the world on so many levels and the only way to move forward is by making changes and finding solutions to never before seen problems. Issues such as inequality of all kinds or sustainability have been present for a while and I think that the pandemic highlighted them even more, which is a good thing. As much as we associate fashion with glamour and fantasy, it is a business that has to be sustained (unfortunately, often in unethical ways). This global health crisis may have brought many underlying issues of the industry up, but things have to surface to be dealt with instead of hidden behind glossy pages and luxury items. Generally, I am hopeful for the future. There have been changes in leadership positions at renowned publications and the younger generations seem to be rising towards the top, enthusiastic and willed to reform.

In what respect have your professional plans changed? What's your next step?

Fortunately, I have never had any concrete plans because I always knew that working in fashion journalism involves a lot of luck and being at the right place at the right time. During our second term, our course leader Roger Tredre broadened our focus and we started writing more lifestyle journalism pieces. There has never been an abundance of jobs and now, it looks even more grim. Gaining some writing experience outside of fashion will definitely prove useful when applying for jobs. Regarding my next steps, I definitely want to stay connected to the magazine I have freelanced for before and maintain a good relationship. Besides graduating from Central Saint Martins later this year, I will keep my eyes open for any job offers popping up and sending out applications. It's not the time to be picky.

What do you think is the role of a fashion journalist in a time of global environmental and health crisis?

I think it is a very difficult time for fashion journalism. Some magazines seem to struggle with marrying fashion and conveying a meaningful, contemporary message. The world is battling a pandemic, people are experiencing health issues, financial problems, loss and much more. During such times, it isn't easy to find the right balance between addressing the state of the world and trying to provide some kind of relief in the form of written or visual content. The role of a fashion journalist during difficult times is to provide readers with fact-checked information and, if possible, some relief and entertainment. One has to be cautious and sensitive in their writing, making sure not to disregard the crisis and just focus on fashion. It's just not only about fashion anymore, people want to see behind the facade. Personally, I see myself somehow as a mediator, bringing fashion closer to people, making it accessible and putting it appropriately into context.

Chiara Di Bernardini

The pandemic made Chiara put things in perspective. She shares that fashion in general started to feel like a world relatively detached from reality. So, even if her appreciation for the industry stayed, seeing many publications carry on with their original schedule, she inevitably felt as if magazines were ignoring the actual state of things, especially at the beginning of the crisis. "The escapism provided by fashion is what made me fall in love with the industry, however, covering the world in glitter won't make problems fade away."

How do you feel about the future?

Sceptical and hopeful. It made me put things into perspective and helped me sort out my priorities. The global crisis made me more sceptical since many people from the industry have proved to be tone deaf and completely detached from reality. However, I also feel hopeful for the future because I believe this crisis will help shake things to the core and hopefully encourage new ways of working.

What's next for you?

My main goal at the moment is to find a job that will give me any form of stability. It will be in fashion for sure, but I'm not confining my career development to fashion journalism anymore. Working for a publication would be a dream but this health crisis also made things much harder and the job market even more competitive, so right now I'd be willing to accept any job, as long as it's in fashion and it's something I enjoy.

How about the future of fashion journalism?

I think that we often forget that fashion journalists in the first place are journalists. So, they should be part of the conversation even if it's not strictly related to fashion. Fashion is such a big industry that anything can be linked to it, so I think that seeing fashion journalists engage in more "serious" topic would give more credit both to the journalists and the industry, finally moving forward to a fashion industry not labelled anymore as "vapid".

Hilda Kosunen

The pandemic taught Hilda to slow down and concentrate on improving herself in ways she probably would have never had time to otherwise. "Fashion journalism has never been completely objective, and we have to accept it never will be. But its importance has not decreased - I feel this is the moment we can change the stereotypes of it being shallow and empty."

What do you think about the future?

I am a positive person at heart, so I believe in every challenge lies the opportunity to grow and learn. The job market in general has been rather in a flux for a decade so the current situation has just forced us not to actually look outside of the box but burn it all together. Rather than being scared of the future I believe the pandemic has forced companies, publications and writers to weight their voice and place in the industry and make it matter. And that is what makes me hopeful - a dialogue.

How about career wise - have your plans changed?

In a short term yes, but in a long-term no. Some of my plans got cancelled but I like to think they are just postponed and now the world should sit patient and stick together to find solutions rather than everyone racing around aimlessly. I am not a patient person, but now we just have to trust the process.

My next step is to graduate - we were lucky that we were still in school in that sense, because looking for a full-time job at the dawn of the outbreak would've been very hard. I believe too much planning ruins the journey - I know where I am heading and where I want to end up now, I just have to build the foundation.

What would be your role as a journalist?

I would love to say we have the voice to make a change and, in some sense, we do - the more I learned about fashion industry the more anxiety it created but the change can only be done from the inside.

However, let us not forget the beauty and joy it can also create, we are storytellers and can bring joy to dark times - or report the stories for the next gens so they can learn from our mistakes.

Ellie June Goodman

In the beginning go the pandemic, Ellie felt very disheartened. She took on her Masters as she believed it would help her to get ahead in the jobs market, but all of a sudden that market disappeared. "It was very bleak at first, but then I started to think about ways that fashion journalism can still be relevant. There will almost always be companies producing clothes, making fashion, therefore there will always be a need for someone to write about it, for whatever audience that may be. Yes, we may need fashion journalists less than before, but that doesn't mean we don't need them at all".

The pandemic has also reinforced the notion that she already had that fashion journalism - all journalism in general, really - should be saying something of note, thinking and speaking critically and holding big companies, governments and powerful industry players to account.

Has that made you sceptical about what the future holds?

It definitely has made me more sceptical when it comes to the more traditional routes into the industry. These will always be hard to get as it is very competitive. However, it has made me think creatively about different ways to share my point of view and break into the industry on my own terms. I'm very hopeful that the industry is turning to young people for their new perspectives, and for that reason, there will always be work for young creatives and journalists.

How about your professional plans?

In January, my plan was to find a position at a publication once I had finished my MA and then work my way up, through the traditional hierarchy of fashion journalism. Now, I am looking at starting my own projects in order to get my writing out there; I am starting up my own platform dedicated to eschewing any ideas of fashion as vapid and superficial, by taking a deeper look into the inspirations behind collections, campaigns and events, as well as looking at contextual historical fashion moments. In addition, I am starting a podcast with two of my classmates to talk about fashion in a way we feel is missing from the industry at present. My next step is to get these up and running as best as possible to be able to show them as a portfolio or to eventually earn money from them. It seems now that the best way to share your opinion is to share it yourself, not go through another platform.

Has your understanding of fashion journalism changed?

To report fashion news in a way that is contextually relevant to the global environmental and health crisis - including reporting on human rights infringements in the production process, the massive environmental impact that fashion has and the ways in which fashion can relate to Covid-19 I think we need to look at more sustainable, good for the planet brands and promote these as much as possible. We need to call out large luxury houses for their shortcomings and hold them to account and we need to make sure people of colour and from working class or disadvantaged backgrounds have a voice in the industry and are well respected and valued.

Zoel Hernández Lopez

Zoel shares that the pandemic has opened his eyes to new issues. He was already interested in social and environmental issues, but he had never had the motivation to be actively involved in any of those. Now, he constantly read about these issues and has also been thinking of related articles to write. "I don't think fashion journalists should only talk about fashionable clothes anymore, since fashion should now incorporate other things society are concerned about - the pandemic itself, BLM movement and climate change".

Has that changed your perception of the future?

I am very sceptical about the future, since I feel there is a lot to change and not much time to do so. But that doesn't mean I am not hopeful at the same time. Especially during this health crisis, I think we have all realised how many issues our society has. We are a bit more awake, and that's a great first step. I can only hope we can sort everything out quickly enough.

What are you planning to do next?

I still want to be a fashion journalist and write for magazines, so this has not really changed. However, I am also very interested in social media. What I care about is sharing new information and ideas with people - that's why I like being a journalist. And now, considering the time we spend on Instagram, Twitter or even on TikTok, I think social media is probably the best platform to do so. My next step would probably be working as a social media editor for a fashion publication.

How do you see your professional role from now on?

A fashion journalist should have two different roles. It is important that environmental and health issues are addressed so that people can move forward. Us, fashion journalists, should be the ones spreading the message by incorporating in fashion. But I also think we should entertain people and provide a form of escapism. During lockdown, it was hard not to think about everything that was going on and I constantly felt the urge to check how the crisis was evolving. Even though it is good to be informed, we need to take a break from time to time to keep our minds healthy. And that's where fashion can help. Reading about a beautiful dress or the new trends can ease the pressure that we have to handle, like when you are reading a novel and you forget about everything that you had to do during that day.

Shriya Zamindar

The pandemic made Shriya rethink her career options. SheI thinks it set the fashion industry back a few years when there weren't niche job labels such as a fashion journalist. "To get into the industry you had to do odd jobs and take on other roles, as long as you got to be part of the fashion scene it was sufficient. Considering the amount of job openings today, it is not enough to be just a fashion journalist, you should be able to offer a diverse skill set in order to secure a good job". On the other hand, the pandemic has left little space for writing about fashion as an appropriate subject without addressing the pandemic.

How do you feel about the future of your career?

I am sceptical about how long it will take for me to fulfil my career ambitions. I do not know whether my line of work is going to be sustainable for me at this point in time. The job opportunities in the current landscape are very scarce so the priority is not finding the right job for me but just finding one.

What would your next steps be?

I am mentally preparing myself for the possibility that getting a job where I can flex my journalistic muscles may not be on the cards. Perhaps I would have to look at commercial options that might not be satisfying but will pay the bills.

How do you see yourself as a journalist in a post-pandemic future?

As a fashion journalist, it has never been more important than now to deliver news that is contributing in some way to the issues at hand. Talking about irrelevant subjects during this time will negatively impact the view society has of the fashion industry.

Léana Esch

Léana is not sure if the pandemic has changed my outlook, but it has definitely made her aware of the broader issues and subjects we need to tackle and incorporate in our work. It has also made her aware of the fragility of the industry and how much it can change overnight, whether it be the subject matters raised, the way of working or the role we play as journalists.
How would you describe your feelings about the future?
I think it is a mix of both anxiety and hope. I am honestly anxious at the idea of not finding a job after the MA because of the situation. In this regard, it has made me very skeptical on the possible future opportunities I will have, but at the same time, I still have hope. I am a very optimistic person and believe in the fact that if we do a great job and our best to develop our skills, opportunities will arise. So, I would say I'm more hopeful than skeptical about the future, even if these difficult times make us question the possibility of a positive outcome.

What are your plans professionally?

My professional plans are still the exact same they were before the pandemic. I will still be looking for a job after the MA and hope to find one as soon as possible. Though, as a journalist, I realised that the biggest shift for me has been to enjoy being published online. I used to think that print was the only valuable means to get published, but the pandemic has changed my perspective. I think it has showed to all of us that digital platforms are a fantastic source of news, that is read by a tremendous amount of people. So, I will not be disappointed in being published only online in the future, because the pandemic has proved the significance of digital media.

What do you think should fashion journalism look like in the future?

Even if it might be a bit controversial, I think the role of a fashion journalist should stay the same. I know broader issues are important to tackle, but better qualified people are here to do that. Of course, a fashion journalist can talk about societal and global issues, but it should always remain through a fashion perspective and the fashion angle should prevail. I am not fond of fashion magazines that tend to become societal and political, because I buy a fashion magazine to read stories on fashion; I would buy another paper if I wanted to read about the current situation. I truly believe that fashion journalism should focus on its specialty and provide readers with what they want to see in a fashion magazine: Fashion content.

Sophia Mozzali

The pandemic made Sophia rethink everything. She feels many things will be different, involving the fashion field as well. "People in this sector knew, even before March, that fashion industry was changing, so the pandemic only sped things up."

How do you feel about the future?

I'm sceptical because in this way I won't be let down if things I've planned won't work. However, for nature I'm optimistic, so I'm sure this sector will keep going on, and only main events (that are key, yet) will be more reserved or on appointments only. While for desk jobs, I think more remote and freelance positions will be offered.

What would be your next step after graduation?

I've kept an open-mind because I was already torn between two careers (journalism and PR) and then I realised that maybe this industry doesn't need another fashion journalist...

As a consequence, I'm still looking to work in communication (as a journalist, PR or social media); however, I'm looking even outside the fashion industry, even if it is the only thing I know about.

How do you see your position in the future of the industry?

My opinion is very unpopular, but I think fashion journalists and magazines should keep continuing their work. They have to be respectful obviously, but definitely, they don't have to listen to the people who posted during lockdown defining journalists and magazines insensitive only because they were publishing "fashion stories".

First of all, if they don't work a significant part of the industry will die, and many people will be left jobless. Second thanks to the publications I used to have a second of normality where I was dreaming what to wear for the various occasions that I would have after everyday life would be given back, and I'm sure many other people thought/think the same.

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The Future of Fashion Journalism: Q&A with CSM MA Fashion Communications Graduates - Fashion Roundtable

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Lockdown caused havoc in fashion publishing which has seen its ideological ups and downs over the past few years. However, the Covid-19 pandemic gave a whole new meaning to the term "chaos". Editorials produced by models at home, heartwarming messages of community support and hope have been shared,

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In 1991, Demi Moore was ridiculed for posing nude whilst seven months pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair. Among several negative responses, this cover has sparked a movement of conversation and imagery on shifting the attitudes towards sexuality and pregnancy.

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A LEGEND OF INVESTIGATIVE FASHION JOURNALISM

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A LEGEND OF INVESTIGATIVE FASHION JOURNALISM

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Elizabeth Paton is an investigative journalist who writes reports with a focus on fashion. She is known for revolutionizing the area in which she works, bringing innovative content about the fashion world.

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Photo: Acielle Tanbetova/Courtesy of the New York Times

In our long-running series, "How I'm Making It," we talk to people making a living in the fashion and beauty industries about how they broke in and found success.
When Elizabeth Paton first entered the media landscape in the late aughts, writing about fashion didn't exactly pave the way to career clout and automatic respect from other journalists.
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"Fashion was quite a gendered subject," she says on the phone from her home in London. "There weren't that many writers then who were really focused on the business side of fashion."
How did you decide to switch over to news?
Still, fashion was the realm - first by accident, then by choice - that Paton found herself writing about for publications like the Financial Times (FT) in the U.K. and the New York Times in the United States.

Now a decade into her career, Paton has built a reputation for her investigative reporting on often-obscured parts of the fashion supply chain, whether in Bangladesh, India or Italy. And in doing so, she's helped prove that fashion reporting can yield stories that are just as ground-breaking and important as what's published in any other section of the newspaper.
What differences did you notice between working in British and American media?
"I believe fashion can be used as a means for digging into the biggest news stories of the day, whether that's race or technology or human rights," the current New York Times International Styles correspondent says.

In the middle of lockdown, we chatted with Paton about her career path, the future of fashion's relationship with sustainability and why she thinks it's so important not to conflate journalism with activism. Read on for the highlights from our conversation.
What kind of adjustments did that job transition require?
Media wasn't what I thought I wanted to do [right after school]. But it was 2008; the world started to implode. I thought, 'Maybe journalism is an interesting place to start things out while I work out what I want to do.' Twelve years later, here we are. That sounds mad, because media was a very unstable place. But I had the opportunity to get an internship at the Sunday Times in London. I interned for ages; there were no jobs. I would knock on the managing editor's door every couple of weeks and she'd be like, 'Go away!'

Except one day the answer was different. They wanted to hire two grads to help them set up the website, and I ended up doing a lot of business writing. After about three months, the editor at the Sunday Times Style Magazine wanted to hire me. At that point I hadn't thought that fashion was the route I wanted to go down and the salary was horrendous, but a mentor said, 'It's a job and it's 2009. Go.'
You've spent a lot of time as a fashion writer at publications that aren't centered on fashion. Is it ever hard to be taken seriously as a journalist in those settings?
So for a year I was an assistant at Style. I was having a really useful time learning the nuts and bolts of magazines, but I wasn't necessarily sure that was what I wanted to do.

I saw that Vanessa [Friedman] was hiring for a reporter at the Financial Times, so I applied. I was brought on to launch this hub for the business of luxury and fashion. At 24, I moved to New York, where I spent three years. I learned how to be a corporate reporter, which was really valuable. I did all the quarterly reports for big companies like Tiffany and JCPenney and J.Crew.
How did you build a beat around investigating supply chain issues?
It wasn't always easy, but it was good. They moved me to do more of the retail beat in New York, which is where I got my first taste of front-page stories. I realized that maybe this wasn't just a thing that I was going do until I worked out what I wanted to do next.

In Britain, they often move young reporters around from beat to beat to make them generalists, whereas in the States, people often specialize quite young. I went back to London partly for personal reasons, and the FT moved me away from fashion. It was quite tough to start covering the U.K. building and house construction beat, and I was also on the breaking news desk, so I had to be at my desk at 6 a.m. every morning.

I worked extremely hard. I think in hindsight, that was actually the making of me, because I learned that I could write about anything - oil markets, the Greek debt crisis, the U.K. elections. But I did always find myself looking at the changes that were going on in the fashion and consumer industry space. I knew that I had expertise there and something to say. So when the New York Times job came up in 2015, I had to apply.
How do you build sources for stories that are reported from other countries and across language barriers?
It was a big cultural adjustment, initially. But there was a real opportunity at that time to build something at the New York Times. I think it was a turning point in the media space - people were starting to realize that fashion shouldn't be sidelined as a major news subject.

The New York Times also tries to be the absolute best, so your reporting has to be watertight. Even now, the night before a big investigation goes [up], I feel sick about whether there's a correction that will pop up. I don't know if there are many other publications where you feel that level of pressure.
How do you toe the line between having enough of a relationship with a source that you can get access, but not becoming so friendly that it interferes with balanced reporting?
Yes. I came into journalism in 2009; the landscape then was quite different. I got far more attention paid to me in the six months I did breaking news than I did in three years covering fashion and consumer businesses at the FT [back then], despite getting stories on the front page.
How do you find a good mentor?
With the New York Times, it's not that people don't take it seriously. I think my challenge probably is that I'm a bit of a chameleon. I've always deliberately written across sections - Styles, but also Business and International. Most reporters sit in one silo, they have a single editor they pitch to, and a single editor that works through the first edit, whereas with me it often changes. It's a lot of me pitching. There's a lot of hustle involved.
How has reporting on fashion changed your own relationship with clothing and consumption?
I think the first person who really suggested that I should think about investigative journalism was Emily Steel, who went on to break the Bill O'Reilly story at the New York Times. She and I sat next to each other at the FT when we were about 23. When I came to the New York Times and realized that there were resources, that was one catalyst - this was somewhere that would really support me looking into those stories and could send me to the places I needed to go.

Journalism should never be activism. They are two different things. But I do feel a sense of responsibility to tell those stories and keep learning. If you are an activist, your agenda is to further a specific cause. Quite rightly, there are a lot of activist groups and NGOs looking to improve the livelihoods of garment workers or people in the fashion supply chain. That is a really important job. But that is not my job.

My job is to identify situations where there is an important story to tell and just try and lay the facts out as clearly as I can. Oftentimes you're coming face-to-face with real devastation, and it's hard not to feel really sympathetic or even angry. But I think that's part of being a reporter - trying to balance humanity with the fact that your job is to frame that story and present it to readers without becoming biased in your reporting.
Do you feel like you've had to dress a certain way to be taken seriously either by other journalists or other fashion professionals?
If you take Bangladesh for example, I cultivated sources there by following people on social media or LinkedIn and asking people when interviewing them who else might be good to speak to. Source-building is an art, and I don't think it's an easy one. But you get used to throwing out a cold email or asking for an introduction.

And once you have a reputation for writing about a specific area or specific country, people come to you if they think you're on the money or they think you might be able to add context. And that's something you always have to be very careful with - when people talk to you, often they have an agenda. You have to work through that and think, "Why does this person want to speak with me?"
How do you think writing a book can or should fit into the career of a journalist?
It's a constant push and pull. I always strike up a chat with whoever I'm sitting next to at fashion week if I've never met them before. But I've never gotten too cozy, for that exact reason: You don't want to have to write about your friends. I know other reporters who have been in those kinds of situations, and it's just not one I want to find myself in. I have people in the industry that I call friends, but as a rule I try and keep things professional.

I think it's important to be able to cultivate those relationships without seeming too mercenary. I think if you find people that you may have a rapport with, you may be able to spend some time talking to them. If you are living in cities, try and go to panels where those people are talking. And if you don't live in cities, as a rule, most people try to be kind and generous with their time and resources [if you reach out]. Not everybody, and often if you don't get a response it's really not personal. But I think you just have to try. Journalism is a notoriously tough industry to crack into.
What tips do you have for aspiring reporters?
There have been instances where I have seen things and pledged never to buy from a certain brand again, or where I have seen such enormous volumes of product that I felt physically sick. But equally, humans have been adorning themselves to express themselves since the dawn of time and I enjoy that.

In recent weeks I've been thinking hard about who I want to survive. Make no mistake: So many businesses are going to go under. Unless people are really considered in their purchases, a lot of those names that you always thought were going to be there are going to go away.

Three months ago there was a real focus on how fashion could improve its environmental and social footprint. In 2019, it sometimes felt like that was the only thing anyone could ever talk about. But a lot of those brands are now fighting for their very survival. It's going to be really interesting now to see how people engage with sustainability. If they've got big problems closer to home, are they going to be thinking about what's going on in far away countries?

I don't think [about] how I present myself in the slightest when I'm out in the field. At the same time, it would be naive if I said I didn't sometimes worry about my image in the industry. Particularly because so many people do use their distinctive physical or style characteristics to strengthen their ability to be recognized, whether it's Anna Wintour's bob or Alber Elbaz's glasses. I don't have any of those characteristics. But I think that kind of reflects who I am.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Stay current on the latest trends, news and people shaping the fashion industry. Sign up for our daily newsletter.
I've always made an effort to look smart and presentable. I only really worry about my image on the final days of Paris Fashion Week when I'm kind of emotionally and physically exhausted. As a rule, I think people aren't interested in me because of how I look - that's not my value to this industry. I'm not telling you what to wear, and I never have. So I don't know if how I dress is of particular interest to people.

It's a big source of revenue for a lot of reporters. But you've got to have a really good idea that's not been done before. And you have to pick a subject that's not going to evolve so far beyond when you've written the last word that by the time you publish it it's out of date. It takes a year, effectively, to get from when you hand in that draft to when you actually see the book on the shelf. And a lot of the things I'm interested in are very fast-paced.

So basically the short answer is that it's a challenge I would really like to tackle, but I'm not going to write a book for the sake of it when there are mediums at my disposal where I can tell the stories that I want to write at the pace I think I need to write them. I will write a book when I feel like I can write the best possible book I can - maybe the tip or catalyst I need hasn't arrived just yet.

Don't beat yourself up if you don't know exactly what you want to be, if you spend a few years trying one route and have to pivot. I've found who I want to be and how I want to work as I gain professional experience.

Be specific if you reach out to somebody for advice. Don't just say 'I want to be a fashion journalist.' Say, 'I'd really like help on thinking about how to pitch,' or 'how do you structure a story?'

Write constantly. Work experience is not as available as it was when I started out; I'm aware that the landscape has changed and those opportunities aren't necessarily there in the same way. But you've got to get practice.

And lastly, you need to be active on social media. It's not about how many followers you have - it can be exhausting to have a presence, but it's a way of promoting your pieces and finding stories. Don't pitch over social media, but get a sense for who's steering the desks at what publications, and see what they're tweeting and what their interests are.

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How Elizabeth Paton Became One of Fashion's Foremost Investigative Reporters

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In our long-running series, " How I'm Making It," we talk to people making a living in the fashion and beauty industries about how they broke in and found success. When Elizabeth Paton first entered the media landscape in the late aughts, writing about fashion didn't exactly pave the way to career clout and automatic respect from other journalists.

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In this news, students from IU Bloomington created an online fashion magazine to show that fashion can also be a vehicle of representation. Fashion breaks down communication barriers and opens doors to connect people of all types.

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IU's student-run fashion magazine reflects diversity of campus

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In addition to being the only fashion magazine on campus, Season Magazine strives to be a publication that truly represents the student population.

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BOOKS ABOUT THE FASHION JOURNALISM WORLD

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BOOKS ABOUT THE FASHION JOURNALISM WORLD

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FASHION WRITING AND CRITICISM: HISTORY, THEORY, PRACTICE, por Peter McNeil e Sanda Miller (2014)

FASHION JOURNALISM, por Julie Bradford (2014)

INSIDE VOGUE: MY DIARY OF VOGUE'S 100th YEAR, por Alexandra Shulman (2016)

THE HISTORY OF FASHION JOURNALISM, por Kate Best (2017)

FASHION JOURNALISM: HISTORY, THEORY AND PRACTICE, por Peter McNeil e Sanda Miller (2018)

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Fashion communicators also needed to adapt to changes in modernity. Between the beginning of print and the emergence of digital, many things happened.

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404 - Page not found - FG Conscious Fashion

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FG Conscious Fashion offers a peaceful sanctuary from the hurried pace of the fashion world. As the industry with the largest pollution footprint, fashion calls for more conscious consumer choices. We aim to spotlight the remarkable efforts of artists, designers and innovators who are forging a more sustainable path in fashion - one that is cleaner and more ethical.

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With the advancement of social media, many professionals in the field of fashion journalism are switching to blogs. The concern is that the printed text will disappear.

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Since traditional fashion publications turned to the internet and the number of papers are decreasing. And as the demand for quality shareable content continues to grow, is it possible that high end content will dictate the future of fashion journalism?

I've been asked " Why would you want to work in a dying industry?" that which they were referring to fashion journalism. I spent a brief moment explaining to this peer of mine explaining how it is not a dying industry, but an evolving one. While the days of most fashion publications written and distributed via paper are numbered, the readers desire to keep up with the latest trends, do's and do not's and how to's haven't and aren't going anywhere.

The fashion industry needs journalist's to keep up with this platform transition the same way an animal needs to make changes to survive the winter. The designers still need a format to inform customers and critics alike of news about the brand's release dates of new lines, what is floundering and what is must have item right now. The undying curiosity of the average modern human makes them want to know what is trending now, why it is, and who is influencing these trends as well as how to take part in them themselves.

The desire to be in uniform with high society although detached, combined with the need to constantly be entertained creates a market for the fashion journalist that isn't going to disappear just because paper is. The instantaneous and convenient nature of social media articles, blogs and vlogs are murdering the once highly anticipated weekly fashion magazine you'd be checking your mailbox for. Troves and troves of articles, pictures, and information are just floating in cyberspace easily accessible at the tips of our fingers. This phenomenon gives someone oblivious to the world of fashion the ability to stumble upon something that inspires them to become interested the fashion industry themselves.

Social media being the future of fashion journalism, and journalism in general, isn't a possibility or in great likelihood, it is absolute. Barring a worldwide ban of public Internet usage, it is destined to be the platform that most industries will use to illustrate their products. The wide reaching function-ability of social media and the internet trump paper publications in almost every way. Would you rather see a picture of a model on a run way during a fashion show, or the entire fashion show live on a social media site with people all over the world, including fashion insiders commenting on it as its happening? There simply is no comparing these two methods of informing. One is the past, and one is the future.

Fashion news is a never ending thing For every coat, fashion line and haircut there will be millions of people wanting to know all about it, and hundreds of thousands if not millions wanting to write blog and vlog about it. Design innovation doesn't sleep as barrages of young designers work their way into the industry. The readers need someone to summarize all the information and make it accessible to them. As long as the fashion industry is relevant to such a large portion of society, the fashion journalist will still be there to deliver the news to the consumers.

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Since traditional fashion publications turned to the internet and the number of papers are decreasing. And as the demand for quality shareable content continues to grow, is it possible that high end content will dictate the future of fashion journalism? I've been asked " Why would you want to work in a dying industry?"

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THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATIVENESS IN FASHION JOURNALISM

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THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATIVENESS IN FASHION JOURNALISM

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In 1965, Katiti Kironde participated in the Best Dressed University Girls contest and the prize for winning the competition was to appear in Glamour magazine. Millions of covers were sold. It was the first time that an African American woman was on the cover of a fashion magazine.

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In this news, a 100 year old lady is honored. Madera Spencer was a fashion journalist for 20 years and tells how her work was.

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Frank, a resident at Morningside of Auburn, played "Happy Birthday" on a harmonica as dozens of voices joined in to sing to a woman seated beneath an arbor of multicolored balloons.

Madera Spencer, former columnist and society editor for The Montgomery Advertiser, turned 100 on Thursday and celebrated with about 20 members of her friends and family on the patio of the assisted living community as dozens of cars drove past with posters and banners wishing her well.

"I am so overjoyed to be 100 years old," Madera said. "I kept saying, 'Please Lord just let me get to 100, and then I won't worry about anything else,' and now I've made it and it's a wonderful feeling."

Over the course of her career with the Advertiser that began in 1955 and spanned 27 years, Madera wrote about food, culture and fashion in her column "People and Places;" and she traveled the world, going from New York to Europe to East Asia and back to Montgomery.

"I took groups to Europe and Asia for 13 years, and wrote all about it," Madera said. "The Advertiser was so good to me. I never got an assignment. I always assigned myself a story, and the Advertiser would support me."

Letters written between Madera and her late husband John T., which were saved by the Alabama Department of Archives and History, give a glimpse into the young writer's awe at being able to attend New York Fashion Week for the first time.

"Was with a crowd from Canada today, and it's right fun to talk newspaper with all these women," Madera wrote. "I never saw such gorgeous clothes in all my life, and such gorgeous prices on these originals.

"The models are all so skinny they look like they can't make it, but so made up they look unreal and beautiful. Everybody up here wears heaps of make-up, and especially pan cake and eye stuff, and look gummy."

Despite covering high fashion and seeing the clothing of some of the best designers in the world, Madera said she enjoyed more casual styles of clothing over gaudy or expensive pieces.

"I did not like when the designers would try to change fashion every year," Madera said. "When [fashion] became a little more normal, more casual, I liked it, instead of thousand-dollar dresses that they would show sometimes in New York. I liked the California fashion more, they were a little different."

Today, Madera keeps busy by watching the Braves play baseball and by reading detective and mystery novels from authors like David Baldacci and Lee Child.

"I think it's amazing. She hasn't lost a beat, as far as mentality or anything like that. I load books on her Kindle, and she reads at least two a week, sometimes three," John Spencer Jr., Madera's son, said. "She's a very smart person and loves people, and she's kind of made me that way. She's an amazing person."

Becky Ballas, executive director at Morningside of Auburn, has known Spencer since she came to the facility two years ago, and said she loves to spend time with her friends, including a dog named Peanut, and talk about sports, books and her career.

"She loves to talk about her career and the places she's been, and it's so interesting to just listen to her," Ballas said. "She's a joy, she truly is. I think we can all model after her life because she's just perfect-just the most pleasant person you'll ever know."

Madera said she never worried about growing old, and said she feels lucky and blessed to enjoy the wisdom and other benefits that come with age.

As she celebrated her birthday with balloons, cake and well-wishers driving by, the former columnist was surrounded by a family both present and past expressing their love for her.

"Honey, I do love you ever so much and if I have been inattentive lately I'm sorry and will sure love you to death when you come home," A letter to Madera during 1956's New York Fashion Week reads. "'I am so damn proud of you and just beam when anyone mentions what you are doing.

"I feel like I'm married to a 'Prima Dona.'

"With all my love, John T."

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Alabama writer turns 100, reflects on lifelong career in journalism and fashion

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Frank, a resident at Morningside of Auburn, played "Happy Birthday" on a harmonica as dozens of voices joined in to sing to a woman seated beneath an arbor of multicolored balloons.

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MOVIES ABOUT THE FASHION JOURNALISTS WORLD 

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MOVIES ABOUT THE FASHION JOURNALISTS WORLD 

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THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)

CONFESSIONS OF A SOPHAHOLIC (2009)

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE (2009)

DIANA VREELAND: THE EYES HAVE TO TRAVEL (2011)

MADEMOISELLE C (2013)

IN VOGUE: THE EDITOR'S EYE (2015)

FRANCA - CHAOS AND CREATION (2016)