American Vogue just can’t seem to get it right.
Despite the magazine’s rich history as the eldest in the Vogue family, their covers often fall short in comparison to their international counterparts.
Time after time, magazines like Vogue China, Taiwan, Arabia, and France consistently outshine American Vogue in terms of artistic vision. The latter typically features uninspired celebrity shots (they have a habit of celebrating celebrities on their covers rather than fashion) with mundane posing, lackluster outfits, and a deadpan gaze into the camera.
This problem of non-artistic and repetitive Vogue covers has been ongoing for quite some time. A 2008 New York Times article mentions a letter sent to Anna Wintour, Vogue’s editor-in-chief, about the magazine being in a “rut.”
The letter states, “Gwyneth Paltrow, Caroline Trentini, Gisele Bündchen, Nicole Kidman, Sienna Miller, blah, blah, blah. I could make a calendar of your cover girls, and it would probably repeat year after year. Let’s face it: Vogue is getting a bit stale.”
A more recent 2022 article from Her Campus at Texas, delves into the same repetitive pattern American Vogue covers still have: “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.”
Another thing to note is the U.S. covers can be easily recreated due to a lack of imagination, creativity and artistry that international issues of Vogue are extremely good at conveying.
The aforementioned is all quite evident from 2023’s summer cover featuring Margot Robbie. The issue fails to meet expectations in several ways. First of all, it’s a boring cover that lacks a coherent theme or concept. Robbie was obviously chosen to promote her film, Barbie, which was predicted to be (and ended up being) one of the biggest movies of the year — but there was no indication of this on the cover.
There was a golden opportunity to incorporate elements from the film or go after a doll or toy theme. Instead, Robbie is posed very stiffly with weirdly bent arms. The rigid pose could have worked well on this cover if there was more context regarding Robbie playing a doll in her movie.
For example, she could have been placed in the box Barbie dolls are packaged in and styled in a more appropriate doll-like outfit, hair and makeup. But those who have no idea about Robbie’s role in the movie would never be able to guess what the actress is promoting on the cover of Vogue.
Additionally, the composition of the photo feels off — perhaps if her head, right elbow and legs weren’t cut off, the photo could have been somewhat interesting. A full body shot would also give a better look at the pink Versace dress Robbie wore.
Now, let’s compare that Vogue America cover to Vogue Arabia’s September 2023 issue. The international edition “pays homage to fashion and fairy tale,” Jeannine Yazbeck wrote. Three of the many covers in this issue follow an Alice in Wonderland theme and were actually shot at Disneyland Paris in the “Alice’s Curious Labyrinth” attraction.
Clearly, the Vogue Arabia cover challenges creativity and visuality limits, as seen with their choice of location, outfits, makeup, and hairstyling. The composition of the cover perfectly follows the rule of thirds, and on top of everything, the photos can’t be easily recreated — not everyone can take over a ginormous theme park for a photoshoot — unlike American Vogue’s cover because of how plain it is.
For a September issue, Vogue Arabia’s cover is definitely eye-catching, and the fashion on the cover stands out but still compliments the background in the photo.
Robbie’s cover could have been much more imaginative and reflective of the actress’s role in her film and the cultural moment she represented, by taking a similar path as Vogue Arabia did for their September 2023 issue.
The following TikTok also compares Vogue Arabia’s September 2023 issue to Vogue America’s Margot Robbie cover, bringing up more important points.
Another beautiful example of an international counterpart outshining American Vogue is Vogue Taiwan’s January 2022 issue focused on the environment and fashion.
The shoot is simply stunning. When I look at it, I think, “Wow, that’s art.” And when I see this unimaginative cover, I don’t.
Overall, American Vogue’s covers often come across as a missed creative opportunity, resembling something more akin to a cover for Cosmopolitan magazine, rather than the high-fashion and artistic standard Vogue is meant to uphold.
Is there any hope that American Vogue will go back to its original and creative roots?