The Devil Wears Prada is said to be loosely inspired by Vogue’s editor-in-Chief, but Anna Wintour has seemingly lost the taste and uniqueness that Miranda Priestly brings to her fashion magazine. American Vogue used to be and is still arguably the end-all be-all for any celebrity, photographer, model, journalist, and fashion designer. If you were involved in the cover of American Vogue, you made it.
However, slowly but surely American Vogue is losing its credibility. It is not JUST because of accusations of Wintour being elitist and racially insensitive, it is also because the covers have become boring and stale. Almost every cover for the past five years features a conventional actress or singer, not a model. Compared to the branches of Vogue in other countries, American Vogue just cannot compare its styling, concepts, and uniqueness to its counterparts. I understand that American Vogue’s audience is completely different, but this particular magazine is supposed to be THE epicenter of current and future fashion trends.
Do me a favor and search the Vogue Archive and look into the May through August Covers in 2019. You will find Kim Kardashian, Zendaya, Margot Robbie, and Ariana Grande gracing the covers. All of these women are beautiful and talented, but each of these covers seems empty, almost as if the styling and concepts were rushed. All of them are doing a similar pose, wearing pieces that are not individual or distinctive. The only thing that the covers are saying is “this person is pretty, pay attention to them”.
Now, search for any cover from Vogue Italia, Vogue Korea, Vogue Portugal, and Vogue Japan. You will notice that they mostly feature working models, who are always wearing chic but innovative outfits. These covers tell a story and intrigue their viewers to ponder the meaning behind them. Does every Vogue cover have to be groundbreaking? No, but there at least should be some nuance and intentionality behind everything. American Vogue should not just slap a dress on a pretty actress because it looks good.
There is no doubt that Anna Wintour is the most influential and powerful person in the fashion industry, but I have to ask myself why? Wintour has never shown any effort to showcase fashion from cultures that do not exist in the West. As a result, American Vogue is filled with cheesy, uninspired editorials and covers.
Anna Wintour did issue an apology to black creators who have accused her of mistreating staff and tokenizing black people in her magazine saying “Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to black editors, writers, photographers, designers, and other creators.” Wintour has been the editor-in-Chief for nearly four decades, so if she really cared about systemic racism in the fashion industry and in her magazine company… she would have already made changes to the system she has a huge influence in.