IN TE RP LA Y DIGITAL & PRINTED FASHION
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his text intends to discuss the importance the coexistence of niche printed fashion publications and online fashion websites is in relation to the current zeitgeist. The content in these publications is targeted mainly towards specific groups of young people interested in fashion, music, art and culture. I aim to discuss and analyse three separate established fashion magazines that execute their content in the following forms: through a printed publication, online and across both platforms. Using relevent references and imagery I will describe how each executes content to uphold a specifically targeted audience. Through careful analysis determining communication techniques involving language and design I will determine what factors allow them to produce and deliver innovative content to their established audiences. I find these two areas of fashion media particularly interesting and exciting due to the growing numbers of niche printed publications as well as the fast evolving trend of digital fashion. The two mediums both appear to be moving forwards but in very different ways — online fashion towards film and a wider audience and print towarsds a smaller more specific niche audience. This argument aims to prove that neither medium outweighs the other and that the roles of each medium — although seemingly different in fact interplay with one another.
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apid and Radical transformations are occurring to the fashion media landscape. Innovations, a direct result of a digital uprising, globalisation and a post-recessionary economy, question the future form of the fashion magazine. In his 1962 book: The Structure of Scientific Revolution, Thomas Kuhn, a scientific philosopher coined the term paradigm shift. The term refers to a revolution in a way of thinking from one way to an other driven by agents of change. The Information Revolution is drawing parallels with the Industrial Revolution, yet the paradigm shift that we are experiencing is not speeding up industry but instead the pace in which we live our lives, learn and consume information. The unprecedented arrival of ecommerce forever changed the exchange of products and services and its continuous expansion constantly questions the need for print. This discussion will consider the changing roles of niche printed and digital fashion magazines following the trend of independent publishers and brands to either partially or completely transfer their content from the printed page to the digital sphere unifying content across the two mediums. The Audit Bureau of Circulations provides independent verification of circulation/data figures of major publications including newspapers and magazine. In March 2011, ABC announced that it was ‘reorganising its ABC print and ABCe digital elements into a single organisational strand to better reflect the changing shape of the publishing industry’ (Press Gazette 2011). ABC who make 30 per cent of their revenue auditing digital publications believe that the integration of both mediums would ‘better complement and serve the industry’s increasingly multi-platform needs’ (Press Gazette 2011). Top ranking womans magazines including Vogue, Elle and Cosmopolitan have seen their circulation figures drop in recent years alongside the growth of the online fashion editorial. In 2005 Vogue reported and average monthly circulation of 214,348, Elle — 208,132 and Cosmopolitan — 461,610 ABC (2005) yet by the first half 2011 these figures had dropped to 210,766, 197,136 and 386,852 respectively. Websites such as Nowness, Dazed Digital and SHOWstudio are notably famous for previewing some of the most hyped about fashion films of the genre. Their success has been greatly spurred by a number of well chosen collaboration’s between innovative artists as well as an edit of content that has engaged their estab-
Nick Knight 2008: Karl Lagerfields Secret Ball.
lished audience. The digital medium has provided creatives worldwide a means by which they can showcase their work to users globally — the continuous upload of information enabling an archive of creative content both old and new. Accessible to anyone interested, ideas can be shared and like minded creatives can inspire, connect and collaborate with each other across a range of media. The ever-expanding and interchangeable medium of the internet is an appropriate communicator given the transient nature of fashion; it is also more economical, environmentally friendly and accessible to a greater number of people than printed publications. As a result, the role of the printed fashion magazine has had to change in order for it to continue to provide a service to consumers — a role that I believe is both purposeful and important. No longer the first medium to break news or showcase the new seasons collection, the printed fashion magazine market has expanded to cater for a whole spectrum of niche groups of consumers. Throughout this discussion when I refer to the printed fashion magazine I mean those targeted at niche groups. Niche fashion magazines can be defined as ‘small-scale independent fashion magazines that merge high fashion with art and style cultures, often targeting both men and women. Their print runs are small and points of purchase limited’ Jorlen-Lynge (2010:1). The 4
most innovative niche fashion magazines recognise the necessity of providing content that connects the interrelated topics of fashion, art, music and culture and are therefore able to appeal specifically to cultural intermediaries working within the image industry. This exclusivity allows them the ability to become precious souvenirs of the zeitgeist. The prolonged success of independent niche magazines including Visionaire, Purple Fashion and Tank Magazine, who have remained in demand despite growing numbers of online competitors, have proven that there is value beyond up to date capital–free content. Following the shift of consumers quest for content — from printed to digital media, there has been extensive investigation into the potential of the medium. Relevant to my own discussion are the following areas that have been explored previously — global connectivity, marketing luxury ecommerce, the Advertorial - the merge of advertisement and editorial or ‘magazine reading and shopping’ Lyle (2011:67) and role of the internet in shaping the content we define as fashion editorial, the changing role of print and the objectification of content. The interplay of niche fashion print and digital fashion magazines is an area where an in depth investigation has yet to be undertaken and is the area which I intend to discuss. My discussion will involve the analysis of three
‘The interplay of niche fashion print & digital fashion magazines is an area where an in depth investigation has yet
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successful digital and printed fashion magazines — Nowness, Dazed Group and ACNE Paper. By determining the methods used by each of them to maintain their readership. I will analysis how they connect their visual and editorial content with their audiences whilst also acknowledging and interplaying with the fashion editorial content provided on the platforms of their opposing mediums. The first of three case studies — Nowness — owned by conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey (LVMH), is a digital fashion magazine concerned with luxury fashion, art, lifestyle and storytelling. Nowness is an Advertorial website used by LVMH to advertise brand values through a careful selection of content. My second case study discusses the independent Dazed Group founded in 1992 by photographer Rankin and writer Jefferson Hack. Comprised of both Dazed and Confused Magazine and the website Dazed Digital, both platforms act in unity with eachother to showcase a wealth of multimedia content and engage with a global network of contributors. The magazine reports a global monthly circulation of 90,529 Guardian (2011) This case study will also discuss Dazed and Confused Magazine magazine — their strategic editing and unification of media across the two platforms which has acted to enhance the content and expand their readership in both mediums. My final
case study will analyse the publication ACNE Paper — a fashion magazine published bi-annually by the brand Acne Collective featuring fashion, art, photography, interviews, memoirs and prose. Through a deeper discussion involving the role of fashion magazines as a ‘souvenirs of the zeitgeist’ Hack to Amed (2011), I will analyse the role of the publication both as a collectable and as an Advertorial that communicates to the same level as LVMH’s Nowness. Evidence supporting my argument will be sourced primarily from books and imagery subsequently followed by magazines, journals, internet articles and videos. Books on new media, most cited include — ‘Living In the Information Age : A new media reader’ — a collection of articles by different authors on the subject, Marshall McLuhan’s ‘Counter blast’ and also his ‘Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man’. All three of these discuss the effect of new technology on other forms of media and the subsequent effects of this on the conceptual, practical and industrial aspects of society as a whole. I am particularly interested in the chapters concerning the reinvention of Old media (print). In ‘Living In the Information Age’ this topic will inform my analysis of ACNE Paper and Dazed and Confused Magazine providing reference to support their success in connection with their innovative marketing strategies and careful editing of content. The expanding global network 5
of contributors, content, collaborative projects and satellite cities, can be connected to McLuhan’s concept of the formation of the ‘global village’ McLuhan (1963:6). The concept of the global village was formed by McLuhan following the shift in media from newspaper to the television giving people the opportunity to experience events happening in a different place and time zone as if they were present. In a broader, more ideal sense the concept represents community and global participation — positive factors associated with growing power of satellite cities that has come as a result of their online exposure. Nowness is a relentless promoter of luxury and designer fashion and the majority of the sites content is of Advertorial nature. Advertorial content is aimed at users searching for luxury products as well as editorial content — textbooks and journals on the subject of marketing luxury fashion online to support my analysis of Nowness’s communication techniques from a luxury point of view. J.N. Kapferer and V. Bastien’s, ‘The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands’ and Pamela Danziger’s, ‘Let Them Eat Cake — Marketing Luxury to the Masses as Well as the Classes’ both discuss how the changing concept of luxury has forced changes in the manner luxury goods are marketed, the range of consumers that they are markets to and the luxury strategies a brand can implement to remain or become luxury. I plan to analyse the methods Nowness uses to successfully communicate brand values and the concept of luxury in order to engage consumers with online content by using multiple medias, navigation techniques and content aimed at consumers who desire a luxury lifestyle. Visual communication is centric to the success of a fashion magazine – imagery provides narrative, enhances the editorial and contributes to the overall style of the magazine. Therefore in connection with ACNE Paper and Dazed and Confused Magazine but also Nowness and Dazed Digital, I have cited or referenced the following sources — John Berger’s, ‘Ways of Seeing’, Stuart Ewen’s, ‘The Politics of Style In Contemporary Culture: All Consuming Images’ and Jukka Gronow’s, ‘The Sociology of Taste’. I will be discussing style and appearance as an important part of maintained readership in the printed fashion magazine; Gronow (1997:98) believes that the transience of style has ‘ripened into an intrinsic and influential form on information… powers of appearance have come to overshadow or shape, the way we comprehend matters of substance.’ Berger (1978:90 ) ‘images outlast what they represent’. These ideas
will inform my argument that the image saturated fashion magazine will be forever relevant due to our intrinsic need to attach an intangible value to images an act that invites us to treasure them more than the medium of print itself. As media visually impacts our lives, our associations with objects change — outward appearance and images are treated with nostalgia and meaning as they age . In close connection with the texts on imagery and the intangible values of magazines and newspapers past their publication dates, I have cited books on the subject of collecting and the consecration of objects. This will aid my analysis of my support of the printed fashion magazine as a souvenir of the past in todays society. ACNE Paper and Dazed and Confused Magazine are both marketed as collectible items; ACNE Paper contains a mixture of timeless content and themed issues Jackson (2010) whilst Dazed and Confused Magazine releases the occasional collectors edition Knight & Pugh (2008) with a limited print run and keeps its content in regular monthly issues extremely current. The Business of Fashion (BOF) is a trade news and analysis blog founded by Nowness contributor Imran Amed. The past year and a half has seen it run an extremely relevant series of articles and live-streamed interviews discussing the noticeable changes within editorial content online and offline as many printed fashion magazines transfer to or create content for their online platforms. The changes within connectivity, content, media communication and aesthetics are discussed in relation to the rise in digital media. Specifically referenced in my Dazed Group case study is a 39 minute live video documenting a conversation between Jefferson Hack and Imran Amed. Discussed is Dazed and Confused Magazine’s transgression from the magazine to the digital sphere and Hack’s personal predictions concerning the future of printed fashion magazines. In full support of user participation and relatable content; the questions Amed posed to Hack were submitted by a network of Dazed and Confused Magazine fans not solely from Amed or established individuals in the creative industry. The video was streamed live to a global audience on both BOF and Dazed Digital and was also available for users to share via Facebook and Twitter.
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‘ No longer the first medium to break news or showcase the new seasons collection, the printed fashion magazine market has
expanded to cater for a whole spectrum of niche groups of consumers. ’
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Gareth Pugh for Dazed Digital
Case Study One
Iris Strubegger for Nowness
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hen retailers from LVMH’s fashion retail website eluxury.com began to leave the brand and set up their independent more successful ecommerce sites, the LVMH conglomerate chose reinvention over destruction through the concept and creation of Nowness.com — a website promoting the LVMH name through non-branded Advertorial content. Launched in February 2010 promising to ‘blur the lines between editorial and promotional content’ Nowness (2011) it’s aim was to effectively communicate aesthetically pleasing, innovative, media that remained timeless once no longer current. The site offers users a broad selection of luxury content that spans a range of categories widening the appeal of the information to specific niches within the mass of users looking for luxury online. It employs the latest navigation techniques improving the speed content can be located by users, give users the opportunity to share (and advertise) content and also customise their experience using the Love/Don’t Love buttons.
Lily Donaldson’s Flying Hair by Matthew Donaldson.
As the internet has become faster and computers cheaper to buy, a paradigm shift has occurred within peoples primary choice of media to locate content. Smaller conceptual and industrial shifts have also occurred as a result of the larger one, for example; within the luxury industry the concept of the meaning of the word luxury has taken on new meaning; ‘Old luxury is about the thing (ie Noun) whereas new luxury is about the customers experience (ie a verb)’ Danziger (2005:19). When the content becomes digital consumers value the intangible qualities of the medium through which luxury is experienced over the long term value of the content that they view. ‘If the style market constitutes a presentation of a way of life, it is a way of life that is unattainable for most, nearly all, people. Yet this doesn’t mean that style isn’t relevant to most people...It is the most common realm of our society in which the need for a better or material way of life is acknowledged and expressed on a material level, if not met.’ Ewen (1998:16). 10
Through the expanse of the global network and the opportunity to share and spread content for free, luxury becomes more accessible, can be marketed in more ways. This has meant that luxury is not able to appeal to a much broader range of consumers regardless of their class or income as opposed to just the wealthy: ‘The brand itself is irrelevant and the consumer values their experience in the delivery the medium provides and the luxury experience promised to them.’ (Danziger, 2005:15). Non-branded content is a prerequisite to Nowness.com, Advertorials within the digital realm are a relatively new concept and Nowness acts not to promote solely current fashion and style but instead the LVMH brand from a perspective that is ‘no longer just about the clothing but about a broader lifestyle.’ Lyle (2011:67). Content remains relevant to consumers past its current date through its beautiful aesthetic and continued connection to the evolved concept of a luxury lifestyle.
‘ The crossings or hybridizations of the media release great force and energy... A moment of freedom and release from the ordinary trance and numbness imposed by them on our senses. ’
The name ‘Nowness’ suggests the original function of the fashion magazine; to communicate the style of the present. In an article considering the ‘best foundation for the theory of presence’ telecommunication’s professor Frank Biocca describes the state of presence as; ‘a bridge across disciplines’ Biocca (2001: 546). LVMH recognises that a range of creatives and thinkers are a necessity to provide viewpoints that are valuable to consumers with specific interests in order for the sites to continue to provide a service. Employing contributors in fields other that fashion enables the concept of luxury to be communicated beyond fashion to all areas of living so that it becomes a lifestyle choice. Virtual space lack tangibility and tactility (that is beyond the keyboard and mouse), users are unable to physically feel the weight of the information in object form or the texture of the paper as you would in a fashion magazine. In addition, the content itself is in constant flux;
its is updated daily making the delivery of the information crucial in successfully holding the readers gaze. Advertorial on the Nowness site needs to remain memorable for users to remember both the brand and product. In Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media McLuhan describes the rise in power of communication when medias are mixed; ‘The crossings or hybridizations of the media release great new force and energy as by fission or fusion’ McLuhan (1964:80). He further articulates the experience of the hybridization as a ‘moment of freedom and release from the ordinary trance and numbness imposed by them on our senses’ McLuhan (1964:81). Employing multiple medias to communicate information allows Nowness to engage users by exciting a range of their senses through a mixture of audio, visual and editorial; content. In a 1,000 frame per second slow motion film entitled ‘Lily Donaldsons Flying Hair’, Matthew Donaldson ‘distills a hyper-real tranquillity... Using the super-high definition Phantom 11
Love/Don't Love?: Barnaby Ropers’ Pauline
Gold HD — a camera initially developed for monitoring missile flights’. ‘Luxury brands should strive to exceed the pace of customisation’ Okwonko (2010:265) online in order to satisfy the content hungry consumer. The media Nowness uses to communicate content is of exceptionally high quality and the up to date navigation techniques very much advocate user control; vital aspects that encourage users to search for and engage with the content the site offers. When the expiry date of the content is close users do not want to be wasting their time online searching for information relevant to them that they could find more easily offline in a printed magazine therefore customisation and navigation must become an extension of the content. Customised features on Nowness include the ‘Love/ Don’t Love’ buttons a two sided equivalent of Facebook’s like button. The buttons strategically act to provide users with empowerment of decision making and Nowness with a feedback look to help provide and engage users 12
with more content that they ‘Love’. Providing users the opportunity to control where and when they view content allows then to engage to a higher level enhancing user satisfaction and ultimately ‘creates a deeper relationship with the brand’ Nowness (2011). After you ‘Love’ or ‘Don’t Love’ several posts Nowness will begin to recommend other stories loved by readers who have responded the same way as you providing a feedback loop that gives the site an opportunity to tap into your desires and expectations of the content they are providing. The data cache can also make each niche of micro consumers more easily identifiable therefore the specific content needs of each user can be met. In the form of a digital fashion magazine Nowness manages to successfully promote a positive image of a massive conglomerate. Its avoids the need for a printed form through a strong and consistent focus on the zeitgeist through the provision of a range of fresh content daily. Customisation and useful navigation techniques mean that
content can be easily located and users have the choice when and where they want to engage with it therefore making it still relevant the day after it has been published. Although Nowness claims it’s content is timeless as well as current the content definitely loses intangible value through the layout and information hierarchy of the site. Stories are archived monthly, each one repressed by an image. Positioned at the very bottom of each page under the story of the day or the story you happen to be viewing the More To Love and the Featured Contributors content that is not current is not immediately visible and needs to be scrolled to. If the content is more than a month old the user must either search the archives or find the month that the content was published. More importantly the image representing each story loses a great deal of its value through its resizing alone; positioned alongside around thirty other images the visual impact is much less enticing and viewers are less likely to want engage with the story. Nowness engages primarily and most effectively
with its current content; the ‘Story of the Day’, yet the older archived content that does not have the same level of visual impact to initially engage the user once they have located it. Innovative navigation features such as Most Loved and the ability to share content with others are important features that act to provide users navigating the site with material that other like - minded users have loved and therefore content they themselves are more likely to engage with. The high quality of the media emphasised by the minimal design of the website creates a strong visual impact and content focused approach that helps maintain ease of navigation and occupies users for longer. User control is the key feature that makes the site relevant beyond the printed fashion magazine; users can chose themselves when and what content they want to engage with — from archived to current and therefore control their own\visual narrative.
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C a s e S t u d y Tw o
DAZED G ROUP Rankin, W. (1998) Kate Moss
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azed & Confused is a pioneering style magazine part of Dazed Group set up in 1992 by renowned photographer Rankin and Jefferson Hack. Having outlived rival’s such as The Face and Sleazenation, its influence and format have grown beyond the printed page and into the online sphere in the form of the website Dazed Digital. Since its creation, co founder Jefferson Hack has stressed that the purpose of the site is not to replicate online the content within the printed magazine but instead to act as a platform hosting ‘multiplatform content that can go beyond just print’ Hack to Amed (2011) so that each medium can support the other. Unlike Nowness, Dazed & Confused and Dazed Digital are not owned by a Luxury Brand and do not soley promote luxury. However within the Dazed Group are also the interrelated websites and magazines also owned by Hack; AnOther and AnOther Man as well as their online counterparts both hosted in the site anothermag.com. AnOther acts to endorse both luxury brands and the concept of luxury but does not have the same level of readership or presence on a global scale as Dazed and Confused Magazine and Dazed Digital. Dazed Digital is also a greater promoter of user involvement with content — an aspect I feel is both innovative and vitally important to the success of digital fashion magazines.
ABOUE & RIGHT: A collaboration between photographer Richard Burbridge and artist Maurizio Anzeri published in the June 2011 issue of Dazed and Confused Magazine.
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‘We desperately need distinct voices standing back, offering us detached versions of the best truth they can find in the most factual way’
Despite the growing online magazine trend where information is plentiful and cost free, people are still paying for content offline; circulation and sales of Dazed and Confused Magazine magazine have continued to grow alongside the growth of the free content on Dazed Digital which in 2010 was confirmed by Dazed Group to be number one in its category for online magazines. In an era where information is ‘cheap, plentiful and ubiquitous’ Gleick to Naughton (2011) — attributes that appear to eliminate any need for print, John Katz argues the opposite; that new media could in fact make printed material more ‘vital, necessary and useful than ever’ Katz (1994 ) cited in Bucy (2002:54) and Kevin Kelly of Wired magazine feels that ‘the net doesn’t obliterate Old media, it merely redefines it’ Kelly (1996) cited in Bucy (2002:58)). By forcing a reinvention of content and creative methods to communicate with readers publishers can continue provide readers with engaging
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content as well discovering more niche groups of consumers to connect with and subcultures to create content for. At a time when there is so much information to sort through we desperately need ‘distinct voices standing back, offering us detached versions of the best truth they can find in the most factual way… fact gatherers and opinion makers to help us sort through the political, social and cultural issues we care about but need help comprehending ’ Katz (1994) cited in Bucy (2002:54). Dazed Groups success is merited to a spectrum of global contributors and carefully edited content that aims to be relatable to the reader. The content in the current issue of the magazine forms a bridge with related content on Dazed Digital making both mediums relevant communicators. The paradigm shift that has occurred to the manner in which news stories are communicated has restructured at the role of the journalist has changed — ‘the top-down
ABOVE & RIGHT: Still from Tilda Swinton By Glen Luchford showcased on Dazed Digital and simultaneously used as cover image for the current issue for Dazed and Confused Magazine.
‘The old media model is a in time; a monthly magazine, a seasonal trend — Digital culture is a constant stream. Either you or you are a dinosaur and you will die’ model where media decide what’s important and spoon feed it to a docile, accepting public. That’s becoming obsolete...But all that’s real happening is we’re allowing the audience to participate in the news. That doesn’t make it any less important it just changes our role.’ Rosenbaum (1994) cited in Bucy (2001:58). Dazed Digital occasionally streams live interviews with celebrities where users are invited to send in their questions for the celebrity to answer. Hack is aware of the importance of user interaction with content to keep the users engaged; ‘we’ve always been about an emotional connection through fashion to our reader…something a reader responds to’ Hack to Amed (2011). The main point of focus at the end of each article or film is the option to either like or share it via your Facebook or Twitter account. By recognising the importance of allowing users interact with the content articles have the opportunity to be spread by users and more people become connected with the content and therefore the site itself. Not only free advertising, the feedback left by users further inform the contributors how well users are connecting with their individual content and Dazed Digital will have a better idea of how to edit the overall content accordingly to accommodate the changing needs of users. Feedback also gives users on a global scale the mutual ability to be able to share opinions with each other giving the site a feeling of community. To keep both forms of content successful online and offline, users and readers alike must be able to see the connection between the information being displayed on each platform. In a recent Tilda Swinton cover story, Swinton herself collaborated with Dazed to create the
SV Allows Young Visionaries A Voice: Young fashion photographer from Munich, Elizaveta Porodinas’ talent is publiscised via the Munich platform.
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concept and act in a short film with photographer and filmaker Glen Luchford that was uploaded to coincide with the release of the current issue. Users we then able to watch the film either on Dazed Digital or in the Curzon cinema in London. Fans were also able to ask questions making the concept of the cover story far more interactive than normal. In an interview with Imran Amed discussing the future of fashion media Hack announced that ‘The old media model is a frozen moment in time; a monthly magazine, a seasonal trend — it’s over...Digital culture is a constant stream. Either you adapt to it, or you are a dinosaur and you will die’ Hack to Amed (2011). As long as the printed and digital content inform each other, and users are allowed access to interaction with the content, each form will communicate effectively and hold its own value; print as a souvenir form that is engaging through beautiful photography and in-depth interviews and digital as an extension of the magazine that give users more scope to interact with the content and more of it. The tangibility and feeling of ownership attached to the object of the magazine are valuable attributes that give the medium an intangible value. Both publishers and readers of Dazed and Confused Magazine recognise its potential a collectable item. Fubz (2011) publisher of the independent art and culture magazine Beautiful/Decay believes that ‘Making your magazine limited run will make your fanbase feel that the print version is important — that they need to own it themselves’. The most recent issue of Visionaire — ‘Larger Than Life’, retails at $1,500 for the deluxe edition’, the standard edition is $375. In ‘The Value of Things’, Cummings & Lewandowska (2000:39) argue that the emotional attachment we make to souvenirs as objects ‘allow us to narrow the perceived gap or lack between an experience and its recollection’ — the magazine gives memory a tangible form giving the object an tangible value based on nostalgia. This can be reflected by the old and current copies of Dazed and Confused Magazine for sale on sites such ebay.com — Most titles contain the cover stars name as a key search term further emphasising the transient
natures of style and celebrity that we desire to recollect. The magazine also promotes itself as a collectable through the issuing of Collectors Editions that generally contain extra content and have a very limited print run making them seem rare and therefore more valuable. The souvenir is a direct result of our ‘yearning to locate points of origin, trace lines of inheritance, and authenticate experience’ Cummings & Lewandowska (2000:39) but the intangibility of the web means that we can not yet attach the same values to online content. Online there is no easily distinguishable narrative; there are number of mediums within a medium and a wealth of content — Cummings & Lewandowska (2000:39) believe that we need an object to ‘anchor us as we drift amongst the multiple choices’ . When the surge of information presented to us online becomes overwhelming, the limited quantity of beautifully presented information held in a printed form can become the more engaging, relevant medium. In both mediums, online and off, Jefferson Hack believes that the ‘future of magazines is niche and independent.’ Hack to Amed (2011). Satellite cities — defined by the Oxford Dictionary (2011), are smaller metropolitan areas located near to, but mostly independent of, larger metropolitan areas. Last Autumn Dazed Group launched a series of ‘satellite blogs’ within the website Satellite Voices or ‘SV’. SV provided overlooked cities including Reykjavik, Mumbai, Moscow and San Paulo a Dazed endorsed blog open to residents who lacked the readership to get their work recognised beyond a national level. These cities now possess a greater opportunity to emerge artistically — Independent editors from each city are able to upload the inspiring work created by young locals so that it is available to the world online. Last June, Dazed Digital travelled to Iceland for the Reykjavik Fashion Film Festival where they captured the show on film and interviewed up & coming designers that included Mundi Vondi and VERA. The footage was uploaded to Dazed Digital providing Reykjavik’s talent a louder voice and Dazed Digital users an insight into their culture.
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Case Study Three
ACNE PA PER Bodypaint by Phyllis Cohen for ACNE PAPER 11
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CNE PAPER is a themed bi- annual fashion publication and is the sole visual means by which the multidisciplinary collective Acne Studios (Ambition to Create Novel Expression) is publicised. Rather than being used as a promotion tool for products produced by Acne the publication instead intends to promote the ‘inspiration and conceptual development’ of Acne Collective and support the current collection. ACNE PAPER is produced alongside Acne Art Department and Acne Advertising which to produce content that acts to inform and inspire the Acne brand.
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ABOVE & RIGHT: David Downton’s illustrations for ACNE PAPER 9.
Despite the association of the word ‘Acne’ with the skin condition, the Acne brand have managed themselves so successfully that ‘a survey of university students in Stockholm found that the majority of them associate Acne ‘primarily with jeans not skin problems’. Hess & Pasztoreck (2010). ACNE PAPER encompasses a mixture of fashion, art and portrait photography and to complement; a selection of interviews, memoirs and prose all of which act to narrate the theme of the issue. The visual and editorial content appreciates both past and present celebrities, stories, art and fashion in an effort to make each individual publication continually relevant as a unique collectable. In an recent article published recently in Tank Magazine concerning the subject of Advertorial, Lyle (2011:67) writes ‘We have also come to depend on, inhabit, the digital world in a way we never could have imagined a decade ago. That leaves us so overloaded with information, data without structure, that anything that takes us 24
on a — forgive me — journey, that connects with something deeper, more emotional and more resonant, will stand out. The story that earns the most ears, that connects the data dots in a way people can relate to, wins.’. The brand name Acne appears only in the name ACNE PAPER. Despite this, the publication remains the sole marketing technique in the promotion of the Acne Studio label, affirming brand values through the provision of interesting and informative content. Katerina Dodd of marketing analysis site Contagious describes the value within the trend of brands curating content as a form of advertising; ‘its providing a useful service for people while at the same time establishing a level of taste or a credible eye for the good stuff.. For brands, just as with people it’s obnoxious to only talk about yourself ’ Dodd (2011) cited in Lyle (2011:67). By selecting a style of content that the readers want to engage with over content that will publicise the brand, the magazine retains a constant individuality and
‘creates positive vibes around Acne...A much more valuable currency.’ (Person to Pfeiffer 2011). Through advertising the feel of the brand through the style of the publication the range of content that can be published becomes more versatile. Acne proved their confidence as a brand and devotion to art in ACNE PAPER 9 by commissioning international illustrator David Downton to illustrate a special supplement on classic cocktails, sponsored by Absolut Vodka. In turn Absolut sponsored the issue launch by sponsoring Acne and allowing their own brand positive recognition by association. In Ways of Seeing, Berger (1972:162) states that — ‘No other kind of relic or text from the past can offer such a direct testimony about the world which surround other people at other times. In this respect images are more precise and richer than literature’. Imagery is the central method of communication in ACNE PAPER and throughout the entire brand. The A3 format of the publication allows the striking photography
a strong visual impact — the front cover includes only the title ACNE PAPER and the issue date. Throughout, images are given enough space to inform the text and remain on at least the same or a higher level of engagement. Content is not confined to the current zeitgeist but instead can span centuries provided it connects strongly with the theme to evoke timelessness and nostalgia; qualities that we attach to collectable items. By understanding the importance of engaging readers with imagery before text, ACNE PAPER can remain a rich and relevant reminder of the past. In ACNE PAPER’S 9th issue: Art and Spiritualty, Tilda Swinton partakes in yet another collaboration this time with photographer Paolo Roversi. In a haunting shoot she takes on the character of Marchesa Casati and channels a woman described by Jean Cocteau as ‘heavens beautiful serpent’ Watt (2009:17). Ever minute detail within the story engages with the theme acting to engulf the reader completely in fantasy; the actress Swinton was 25
ABOVE & RIGHT: Tilda Swinton portrays the Marchesa Casati in ACNE PAPER Issue 9.
chosen as her own character draws many parallels with Casati, the costumes worn in the shoot are either vintage or couture emulating the feel of the era Casati lived in. The editorial narrative is provided by fashion historian and writer Judith Watt who contributes her own views but also questions Swinton about Casati’s life as if she really were the grand Marchesa herself. As the interview continues Swinton’s answers are delivered in a manner that forces the reader to question whether she is answering for herself or her character. By choosing Swinton — a modern day cultural icon to channel an icon from a time gone by, the content can engage and inform readers of the past and present simultaneously. In the future when
Swinton is no longer a modern day icon, the publication will remain just as timeless as it was when it was first released — its content referencing a number of zeitgeists. The continued success of ACNE PAPER as a printed publication, lies in its timeless, themed editions that allow versatile but relevant content involving ‘personal stories and experiences and the essence behind the creative process’ Acne Collective (2011) — content that readers can connect with as well as communicating the correct feel of the Acne brand. Its large format and strong visual content make it aesthetically memorable beyond the information represented by the text allowing it collectable status.
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he process of discussing and analysing these three very different but connected case studies has revealed the impact of the increasingly innovative, information hub of the internet on the content, aesthetics and roles of online and offline fashion magazines. This paper has also demonstrated that if publishers and editors take notice to and respond to these changes and the changing needs of their readers then they have a better chance of remaining successful in terms of readership numbers and the provision of content that remains relevant past the current zeigeist. Online, minimal layout, excellent navigation techniques and customisation features give power to digital content. These features trump the subject matter — even the exclusivity of luxury products and content are given the ability to appeal to broad groups of people. Content is most engaging online when it can be easily located, carefully customised so feedback can be provided to publishers and users can be provided with content relevant to them. There do appear to be logistics of providing older content with the same visual impact as the current when the layout is so minimal — the resizing of images in the archived system used by Nowness was unable to draw readers in. Older online content should be archived in a way that makes each piece of information appear equal whilst not sacrificing picture quality. No matter what system is used online to archive older content, it will never have the same value attached to it as the same information in the tangible form of a beautifully printed publication. The participatory experience is another unique feature online fashion magazines can provide readers with that printed publications cannot. The internet is pioneering fashion, art and creativity on a global scale and the inter-connectivity involved with the set up of sites like Satellite Voices is allowing for major innovations to occur
within this medium as more and more people get involved. The unification of content across mediums is an effective way to boost readership online and offline as well as create a more hype to surround a particular piece of content by using more media and opening more channels to share the content. Dazed Digital and Dazed and Confused Magazine most explicitly exemplified this through the unification of content in the Tilda Swinton edition and also highlighted what could happen when the roles of actress, writer, film maker and producer were muddled up. Printed fashion publications have a very different role than their online counterparts — they have smaller audiences that want content and beauty within a welldesigned tangible form. Niche fashion publications such as ACNE PAPER, Purple Fashion and Visionaire are successful because they cater specifically to a minimal number of niche groups and subcultures. Unlike online fashion they need to be more discerning about the quantity of material that they provide by ensuring content is edited extremely carefully so that each piece of information caters to their very specific audience. The specificity makes them more exclusive — a quality that they market through the issuing of collectors editions, limited print runs and themed issues. Themed issues and those published infrequently and allow for the timeless content to merge seamlessly with the current and again allow for the roles of those involved with the piece to switch. Success is merited in publications owned by brands or publishers who listen to the feedback provided by readers and let the content evolve according to the changes occurring online and offline. Online has the scope to communicate globally and allow innovations to occur through inter-connectivity. Offline, niche fashion publications must strive to cater their content for their specific audiences whilst delivering it in a form that will be treasured because it is beautiful.
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