Are Fashion Magazines Still Relevant in a Digital World?

We all get told to find jobs that have longevity. With many professions succumbing to the power of the Internet, it seems the world no longer holds a place for the professions we used to aspire to when we were younger – the newspaper reporters, journalists, the column writers. The dream of living Carrie Bradshaw’s life has officially been terminated.

In place of papers, magazines and tabloids, we use the Internet as our primary source of news and knowledge. Instant and literally at the tips of our fingers, the thought of having to wait even half a day to find out the latest news seems prehistoric. How long would we have to wait to hear unimportant news about Bieber’s latest tantrums or Kanye’s latest rant? Too long – it would become irrelevant. Nowadays it’s more about the number of hits the page gets rather than if the piece is read.

Think about it, when was the last time you saw anyone (youngish) reading a newspaper whilst not on the tube? The need for the physical copy is now almost redundant with the immediacy of our phones and a website alternative for every company – and who wants to pay for something you can read for free?

So does this mean the era of the fashion magazine is over?

Goals 

Quite simply: no. Fashion magazines don’t convey ‘news of the day’ reports the way that newspapers do – they use their websites for that. Instead, they act almost as an art book – spreads of collated pieces according to colour or category for the reader to fawn over and decide what could potentially be within budget. Nothing is newsworthy as most only come out monthly; it’s more an exhibition of fashionable items that people don’t need, but want.

And without taking it too far, reading something like Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar etc. is a much greater experience than simply flicking down an article on the Internet. The layout of each page takes up so many more dimensions than just scrolling down a website, which makes you want to linger on it more as there’s so much more to take in. Even the feel of the glossy pages (and the perfume samples!) makes it feel a bit more distinctive than clicking on something that anyone can access. There’s also a reason you spent more than just a couple of quid on it.

Half of the pages in these magazines are devoted purely to a backlog of high fashion adverts – something that we see constantly. So why do we splash out to see what we ignore in our day-to-day lives? In this format we get to look at them in full, blown up instead of on a screen so we can look at them properly, and appreciate the fashion, the set-up and the models used. We get to see the full campaigns, with some brands taking up to three pages to show how high fashion they are. They act as the fashion-lover’s fantasy, as escapism into a beautiful aesthetic world that disregards the materialism of its nature.

This idea, the entertainment of the fashion magazine, just can’t be accessed via the Internet. It’s the holding of it in your hands that makes it feel so special.

It’s taboo to idolize Carrie now, and rightly so: her perceptions of relationships are consistently dire. But no one who loves fashion can deny the ultimate dream of her job, and I think we can all kind of see what she means when she said this (although nothing would induce me to sacrifice dinner, not even fashion).

The fashion magazine is to the pauper (me) what the green light is to Gatsby – the life I really, really want to lead. So Anna Wintour, if you’re reading this please, please contact me.

Edited by Lucy Jackman

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