Let’s play a quick game of word association: vogue. You could be thinking about Madonna or the 1980s and 90s dance craze that the brilliant singer FKA Twigs has brought back into the spotlight. Before those, you most likely thought of the magazine. Vogue’s glossy pages have sparked fashion trends and caused controversy, especially in 2014.
Editor-in-chief, the supreme Anna Wintour touched on Vogue’s impact last month during an interview at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.“ I see the role of Vogue to reflect what’s going on in culture,” said the magazine head. She added, “It’s very important that people do talk about us.”
Wintour and the guard at the masthead have given the people something to talk about many times this year. Case in point: the glorious May Kim Kardashian and Kanye West cover. When Kimye graced Vogue’s cover this year, the image took over – dare I say broke – the Internet. Memes followed for days. (My personal favorites: the Photoshopped glory of Rogen-Franco and Muppets as the couple.)
Some thought the cover was brilliant – the Kardashian-Wests are relevant, hotly debated public figures. Others, like 90s teen queen and, apparently, fashion authority figure, Sarah Michelle Gellar, rallied against the magazine’s decision.
Hard to believe a cover could cause more buzz than the April one, but Lena Dunham’s first-time cover in February was a close second. Think pieces devoured the writer’s slightly altered images and demanded money for the originals.
Critics of the issue chose to ignore Vogue’s aesthetic. First off, the photographer for that shoot, Annie Leibovitz, is known for her composite images. Secondly, the magazine’s pictures accompanying the profile usually have abstract undertones. In other words, most of us have realized the great modern-day epiphany: no one looks like they do in magazines, including the models themselves.
Despite all the backlash, these controversial public figures featured in Vogue shouldn’t go underappreciated. Dunham is at the top of her game right now with a best-selling book and a hit show. She uses her platform to highlight women’s rights – she even appeared in a Planned Parenthood campaign this year – and constantly talks about how women should be their complex, beautiful selves. The magazine’s decision to promote Dunham and others who the public has strong opinions about reflects progress for the magazine that has caught flack for perpetuating tired, monotonous concepts of beauty.
But Vogue isn’t just stepping its controversial cover model game up. This year, more than four people of color graced the magazine cover. Diversity was notably displayed in the September issue, which featured models of all races on the cover. The great thing about this particular issue was that it didn’t seem calculated. Too often we see media depictions where minority representation looks like it’s present because of a quota: let’s make sure we have one of x race and one of y race. There is genuinely more diversity than ever in fashion. Vogue is beginning to take note and reflect that to the public.
Vogue isn’t the only magazine we read for a look into the fashion world, but, as Wintour mentioned, it holds responsibility for reflecting culture. Although fashion still has room for progress, snaps to the magazine for passing on cover stars that we’ve all seen before. In 2014, Vogue selected cover models who are trailblazers and sometimes push buttons. The magazine looked to its audience, young women, for the people they appreciate and obsess over. We are all a little brash like Kanye and Kim, empowered like Lupita and unfiltered like Lena. Vogue gets it.