The Fashion ‘Zine’ Scene

I have already written in length about this on my personal blog (http://itahfashiondesign.weebly.com/blog) but I wanted to go a little more in depth with you now that I’ve done some thorough research.

So today I popped down to Broadmeads (as you know, a place I frequent often) and sought out the fashion magazine aisle of WHSmith, The Galleries.

Even though I have just graduated from a BA (hons) Fashion Design, I find myself becoming less and less ‘in the know’. Sure, I can analyse street trends and design a collection but I felt myself becoming a slave to the familiar. Vogue was all I had known of fashion since I was little and I begged my mum to let me have one every month as a young girl, so stepping away from it is like letting go of an ex and agreeing to be friends.

So I eased myself into this, by researching online, reading the blurbs from the subscription pages and seeing what tickled my fancy. Now I was face to face with the magazines and STILL I was hesitant. It’s hard changing something that you don’t feel is broken. I still get Vogue every month and have every september issue, stacked up proudly on my bookcase, but there has definitely been some love lost as I have been steadily becoming unsatisfied with the content and what I want from it.

So, clutching my leopard print Biba purse, I purchased a copy of ‘Porter’, ‘Love’, ‘Industrie’ and ‘Elle Collections’. They weighed an absolute tonne but ranging in price from £5 to £8 made me a little happier about carting them home with me. As someone who has scrimped by with a student budget, I was pleasantly surprised that you could get all these for only £26 (less than the price of a good pattern cutting textbook or meter of good quality chiffon) so for those of you wanting your quarterly fix, this isn’t going to break the bank.

Before I start dissecting each one, for those of you who want to find that one magazine that might quell your trend cravings, might I suggest ‘Love’ as it is by far the weightiest of the 4 at 562 pages (excluding the cover) and a whopping 2.3cm thick!

So! Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

Porter

Net-a-Porter

Issue 4 Fall 2014

£5

The description on WHSmiths website doesn’t explain much about the magazines origines but it is published by Net-a-Porter, a luxury website that caters to the fashion forward, selling high end brands in the style of a premium web-zine. So, it seems, they have launched a magazine as a way to have a dialogue with their followers about the latest trends and products on the market which comes out 6 times a year at £5 a copy. Not bad, eh?

The magazine itself is laid out much like Vogue, graphically speaking and at the front there is the editors note surrounded, of course, by copious amounts of beautifully crafted adverts.

The magazine itself covers a lot about Fall trends and how to wear them but also has a lot of brilliantly written articles about powerful women with big ideas.

There is also a HUGE segment at the end covering Poppy Delevingne’s weddings in London and Marrakech with beautiful photo montages of all the individual segments of the weddings and after parties.

All in all I’d say that this isn’t a big step away from what I would have come to expect of Vogue but because it is released less often, it will give its readers something to look forward to and more interesting content than a monthly.

Elle Collections

Hearst Magazines

New Season AW 14

£7

I am writing now under the assumption that you all know ‘Elle’ Magazine and that it has run alongside ‘Vogue’ as a popular monthly mag for most fashion forward women. ‘Elle Collections’ encompasses the coveted collections  on the catwalks of the season and is released bi-annually. The layout is much like many of the zines produced by the Fashion Communication students at uni; very simple and placed almost randomly to produce this very polished and, what I call, ‘High Graphics’ feel.

The content leaves very little to be desired as it lays out all the collections full outfits and picks out segments of the design to be discussed and reviewed. This issue shows images of stylists and bloggers wardrobes laid out on the age in individual garments to see the key pieces that they have picked up for the season and is great to see, for someone like myself who is constantly re-inventing themselves through the seasons. This shows you that you don’t have to have a lot of pieces in your wardrobe to have diverse collection of outfits.

There are some fantastic images of street style that have been snapped up by the Elle team and gives you yet MORE ideas for your Autumn/ Winter wears.

There are lots of articles too, for those of us who like a good read. Some great pieces about the set designers on the catwalks and about the new faces on the fashion scene as well as a backstage map to the shows and a fabulous piece with hand-written comments from the shows. As I discovered as I finally turned to the last page, there was a sheet of stickers entitled, “Fashion Designers as food”, which has playfully re-named famous fashion designers like Issy Miyaki to ‘Issy Shiitake’, with a picture of some striped mushrooms above it. I think my favourite is ‘Meadham Ketchup’! So cute! Now I just have to think of a place to stick them!

All in all I think this is a great buy for those of us who want a condensed version of this seasons shows and collections, especially if you are studying a Fashion Design degree or wanting to specialise in Fashion Journalism or Fashion Photography.

Love

Conde Nast International Ltd.

No. 12 AW 14

£6

Now if you’re just a casual trend follower and not into your hardcore fashion and dream of a career in the industry, then ‘Love’ might not be your cup of tea. However, it does hold some intrigue for those who aren’t shaking with fashion withdrawal most days. So at first glance this mammoth publication can be a bit daunting to those who don’t know it. It mostly caters to those who are interested in photography and layout and not so much the fashion side of things. There are only a handful of articles within this gigantic glossy but hundreds of photgraph series and photoshoots as well as the enormous amount of adverts that you can expect of any Conde Nast publication. This magazine is more a large photo book to inspire our creative side and help with designers like myself whilst we trudge through the drudgery of everyday life. This kind of magazine is best for those who are interested in igniting your imagination once more or for those of us pursuing a career in fashion journalism or fashion photography.

Because this magazine is produced bi-annually and at only £6, this is a great magazine for those of us studying the subject who are worried about their dwindling bank accounts!

Theres not much left to say about this other than it is a fabulous magazine for inspiration and does showcase a lot of the new seasons fashions, it just leaves a lot to be desired if you’re looking for an in-depth dissection of this seasons trends. This is anything but spoon-fed fashion.

Industrie

Saturday Group LTD

Issue 7

£8

This 37x25cm high gloss magazine is great for those of us who entertain on a weekly basis and want something fun on the coffee table for our like-minded guests to flick through whilst we chit chat about Moschino’s McDonalds clutch and prepare a platter of crackers and pork liver pate. In truth, that last sentence does sound a little pretentious but believe me, our entertaining is the epitome of student life.

This magazine is the complete opposite of ‘Love’ in that it has more articles than pictures. There are very few adverts and some of the pages are matte and some glossed. This issue contains an enormous article about the unsung heros of the industry from Personal Assistants to Drivers and Baristas. These are all people for whom our industry professionals could not be without. I find this inspirational and heartwarming to say the least and the professional portraits  of each of these people were beautifully done in black and white.

The large format lends itself to beautifully high colour and black and white images and really makes reading it a very time consuming and enjoyable act.

As a lover of not just fashion but graphic design and journalism, this magazine excites all my sense and I was instantly in love with it when I started to read.

Much like ‘Love’ though, ‘Industrie’ is not a magazine for those who just want to know the latest trends so they can wear them. It is for those of us who study design or journalism etc and for anyone who wants to get a foot in the industry door.

As with most of these magazines, I have found, ‘Industrie’ is very affordable at £8 for both students and graduates like myself and is published bi-annually.

Now that I have gone over these 4 magazines in depth, there are a few titles which I have only been able to find online that, should you so wish, you can buy, read, and love yourselves. I am sure that in larger stockists or more specialist shops, these will be more readily available. Of course, all of the magazines mentioned are available for subscription at your leisure and can be delivered right to your door.

So you won’t have to walk 3 miles with a bag weighing the same as a small child like me.

Magazines to check out (See the WHSmiths website for further information on these magazines):