American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, along with international editor at large, Hamish Bowles, snagged a very insightful interview on yesterday’s edition of CBS News’ Sunday Morning. The dynamic duo’s main purpose was to promote the new Vogue Archives website, which contain every issue of the prestigious fashion publication for the past 120 years. This includes ads, covers, interviews, editorials and so much more. Anna talked about securing the coveted spot as the American Vogue editor and putting a model in jeans on the cover. In the interview, she says she rarely listens to market research and analysis and goes with her gut and instincts, things that have served her very well in her professional career.
Hamish Bowles talks about the Vogue covers, which have now been turned into a book chronicling 120 years of high fashion. For those of you new to fashion or not as familiar with the workings of Vogue magazine, this is a must watch interview. It’s 8 minutes and some seconds of tidbits about the magazine’s origins. For example, it started off as a weekly publication for socialites in New York City. The first covers featured illustrations of the Gibson Girl, a personification of a feminine ideal as portrayed in the satirical pen-and-ink-illustrated stories created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson.
The magazine was then bought by Conde Nast and started expanding into what it is today. Vogue became a more appealing publication, adding real photographs and color onto its covers. Viewers will also learn of the 100th Anniversary issue, the September issues of Vogue magazine and the rise of the supermodels of the 80s and early 90s.
Want to devour every single issue of American Vogue over the last 120 years? You can click through the Vogue Archives for a subscription fee of $1500. The price tag is hefty but definitely worth it for universities and colleges, public libraries and fashion historians who just need to get their hands on back issues. Vogue plans on offering a modified membership to its magazine subscribers in the near future. For those curious about the full interview, click here.
