After extensively researching both the semiotics and methodologies behind the work of Welsh stylist, Grace Coddington and fashion publication, Love Magazine, I have created an editorial inspired by both the stylist and magazine, creating my own individual interpretation of their aesthetics, visual communication and ways of visually storytelling. Creating a visual fusion of both contrasting elements, my editorial aims to visually communicate a narrative which explores the idea of how stylists and publications can tell visual stories without the need for verbal communication, as the ambiguity of the styling itself allows the audience to create their own ideas and interpretations based on creative imagery. Taking inspiration and influence from both Grace Coddington and Love Magazine’s ways of working, I have created a final editorial outcome titled, ‘A Story Without Words’, which aims to encapsulate the visions of taking traditional stories and finding a new way of communicating these stories through visual imagery alone, allowing an audience to emerge themselves in this new way of communicating a story through the semiotics of styling.
During the research process of this project, I became interested in Grace Coddington’s personal background and heritage and then began to research how the stylist combines this personal influence within her editorials. As Grace is from a countryside setting in Wales, I made the connection of why she incorporates natural elements such as flowers and nature-orientated aesthetics within her styling. From researching and producing primary imagery that explores the symbolism of different flowers, I discovered the symbolism behind a Rose, which illudes the connotations of passion, romance, love and beauty (Harlow Gardens, 2012). These themes often are portrayed within many of Grace Coddington’s styling editorials for American Vogue, particularly the stylist’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed 2003 feature starring designers such as Tom Ford, titled ‘Alice’. This editorial featured bright, vivid colours and combined this with a floral and nature themed aesthetic. This floral aesthetic sparked a source of inspiration for my final editorial outcome, as I believe this aesthetic is what Grace Coddington’s styling is most known for, creating a sense of romance, passion and beauty within her visual storytelling and communication. Therefore, I wanted to express these themes within my editorial outcome by using roses and flowers as a prop, as this creates a connection between my final outcome and the semiotics of Grace Coddington’s visual styling.
Grace Coddington’s styling ‘hook’ is very unique in the way that she gives each editorial their own individual ‘identity’ (Nast, 2021), by allocating names for each styling editorial, as well as ensuring each editorial is different in its aesthetic and narrative– which further contributes to this idea of Grace communicating a story without the need for verbal explanation. This methodology of creating individual stories with their own narrative provided me with inspiration to create my own interpretation of her work, taking a traditional story inspired by Grace’s work, ‘Alice in Wonderland’, and then creating my own visualisation of re-telling a visual styling story that has a narrative behind it, without the need for explanation. Grace Coddington’s styling always considers the whole image and the intended outcome, not just the clothing alone. Therefore, it was important for me to consider the setting of my shoot, props and potential lighting and effects I would add in post-production to ensure I encapsulated Grace’s methodology fully.
Also taking inspiration from Love Magazine, I made a connection of how both the publication and Grace Coddington have the ability to emerge an audience in their visual storytelling through using the semiotics of colour, location, posing and digital editing of their imagery. Love Magazine is often perceived to be rather bold and expressive (Nast, 2022) within their covers and editorials, often featuring the use of bold colours, use of photographic layering and experimenting with fonts and effects on their editorials. To incorporate a sense of Love Magazine’s aesthetic and methodology within my editorial outcome, I decided to include the semiotics of experimenting with bold colours and edited typography, as well as adding creative visual and playful effects to my imagery to further extend the research connection behind my styling editorial. My exhibition image was digitally styled in the form of a magazine cover to further emulate Love Magazine’s aesthetic. Styling and promotional image capture is a featured element that is consumed within all market levels; therefore, my final editorial is aimed at all visionary markets where promotional imagery is consumed.
The process of styling my editorial was largely based upon the influences of Grace Coddington and Love Magazine. Taking inspiration from Grace Coddington’s ‘Alice’ themed editorial for American Vogue, I decided to follow a floral and naturalistic aesthetic, also taking inspiration from the traditional Lewis Carroll novel, ‘Alice in Wonderland’. There is a particular scene in the novel, where Alice is singing and dancing with an array of flowers including Roses (L. Carroll, 1951), which I believe represents Grace Coddington’s styling aesthetic perfectly. I took the inspiration of re-telling a well-known story and then transforming this methodology into creating my own interpretation of re-telling traditional stories, much like the work of Grace Coddington. I also incorporated the use of vivid colours, such as different shades of blues and pinks, as well as experimenting with colourful typography, showing a connection of Love Magazine within my final editorial outcome. Throughout conducting my styling shoot, I wanted to experiment with different styles of posing and movement, as Love Magazine’s editorials are often fluid and gentle within their movement, which further adds to this idea of creating a soft, romantic and passionate orientated aesthetic (BOF, 2016). The process of my styling choices also shows connotations to the classic Alice in Wonderland story, such as incorporating a blue dress, allowing audiences to make subtle connections to the inspiration behind my narrative, much like Grace Coddington’s methodology. By choosing a bold blue dress and styling this with pink roses in front of a naturalistic and peaceful photoshoot, I believe this captures the aesthetics and semiotics of both Grace Coddington and Love Magazine, as there are distinctive elements of both influences present within my styling.
The conceptual narrative behind my editorial outcome revolves around the ways that both Love Magazine and Grace Coddington have the ability to conceptually and creatively communicate visual stories and narratives, without the need for verbal communication. The ability to interpret a visual narrative in your own way as an audience or viewer creates an emerging sense of involvement within the imagery, allowing an audience to form their own narratives through the ambiguity of styling. These individual narratives could be formed based off personal history or occurrences, which further reinforces this idea of re-telling stories in our own individual ways. I have given my final styling editorial the title ‘A Story Without Words’, which aims to encapsulate the visions and methodologies of both my stylist and my magazine, whilst also extending my narrative message of how creatives can visually communicate stories, messages, products and narratives. Through taking inspiration from Grace Coddington’s floral and storytelling aesthetic and combining this with Love Magazine’s colourful and playful aesthetic, I have created a series of imagery that aims to reflect and expand on my research and own personal interpretations of both creative’s work. ‘A Story Without Words’ is a story within itself, after taking inspiration from classic and vintage stories, and then communicating these stories from a more modern-day and contemporary aesthetic and point of view.
When predicting the future of Love Magazine and publications as a whole, it would be interesting to see magazines start to emerge themselves more within the newly founded digitalisation of the industry – whether this be through creating a more prominent social media presence, contributing to the Metaverse (Nast. C 2022) or even halting print production and operating as a fully digital publication. The rise of digitalisation and technology globally have allowed many industries to change and adapt the way that they operate in order to maintain their brand with the latest trends, as well as adapting to reach the changing consumer needs and wants from these businesses. All fashion market levels are emerging themselves within this digital space, especially through social media, therefore there is a demand for publications to do so too in order to reach the demands of their consumers. Adapting to the digitalisation of the industry poses an exciting opportunity for creatives, such as Love Magazine, to create even more engaging and innovative content, as the future of social media and technology can allow brands to communicate and visualise stories in new ways consumers haven’t seen before – which can allow these publications to create new potential trends and become trailblazers in their field. With the rise of popularity in short form videos such as TikTok, magazines can expand on their existing audience by creating digitally engaging content that is unique to their brand, such as Gifs, virtual styling and interactive content.
In conclusion, after accumulating in depth research and progressing a development of the semiotics and methodologies behind Grace Coddington and Love Magazine’s editorials, I have created ‘A Story Without Words’ – a visually compelling narrative and series of imagery that aims to illustrate how through the ambiguity of styling, creatives can allow an audience to form their own judgements and interpretations of a story based on their own personal experiences. Through identifying the key elements of both Grace Coddington and Love Magazine, I have created an editorial that aims to reflect the work of both creatives, whilst maintaining my own personal interpretations and influence, also. From this project, I have learnt how to visually create a connection between two contrasting creatives, and create a fusion of both that effectively captures the emotions, authenticity and characteristics of both my stylist and my magazine.
Symbolism and Meaning of Roses - Harlow Gardens. (2012). Retrieved from https://harlowgardens.com/symbolism-and-meaning-of-roses/ Nast, C. (2021). Inside the Making of Vogue’s “Alice in Wonderland” Shoot With Annie Leibovitz and Grace Coddington, on Episode 6 of In Vogue: The 2000s. Retrieved from https://www.vogue.com/ article/in-vogue-the-2000s-podcast-episode-6 Condé Nast - Love. (2022). Retrieved from h t t p s : / / w w w. c o n d e n a s t . c o m / b r a n d s / l o v e Lewis eo].
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Grace Coddington is part of the BoF 500. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/grace-coddington Nast, C. (2022). What Is the Metaverse, Exactly?. Retrieved from https://www. wired.com/story/what-is-the-metaverse/