Today I have a very exciting blog post for you all! I am bringing a guest writer onto the blog to co-write this post with me. Her name is Grace and she runs a fashion blog of her own that I will link at the end of the post. She lives in England which is so crazy because we quickly realized that even though many of our interests are very similar, the fashion industry can differ in each part of the world! Today we are going to talk about the similarities and differences between Vogue USA and Vogue UK!

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AMERICAN VOGUE (Megan)

Vogue USA is one of the most praised magazines of all time, especially with Anna Wintour leading the magazine as Editor-In-Chief since the late 80’s. The first issue of American Vogue was published in 1892 and the magazine has since been based in New York City. Vogue has clearly made a name for itself in America and around the world, however, American Vogue has been harshly criticized for the lack of diversity of race and body types under Wintour’s leadership. Even though Wintour has been known to be one of the most influential women in fashion, she has been said to be “nothing short of a tyrant”. Even with this being said, many reviews of people that have worked there have praised the creative work environment and great connections that the publication presents.

We’ve covered the basic information, leadership of Vogue USA, and opinions from readers/employees. Now let’s discuss the actual content of the magazine. Vogue USA has a monthly publication, releasing a new and spectacularly written magazine each month. I’ve dug around for a few opinions on what’s in the magazine, good and bad. One reader expressed that there is an overflow of advertisements and commercials, another explaining that the editorials are bland and over at Vogue UK, the styling is much better. However, the US magazine does receive praise for its helpful pictorials and fashion tips. What does that say about Vogue USA? Is it more focused on the magazine’s profit or quality? Does it want its readers to gain a new perspective after reading?

The conclusion I’ve come to is that there is always room to improve! Even though Vogue has made a huge name for itself all over the world, it seems American Vogue has some changes that need to be made. Not so much with the content in the magazine, but the management, diversity in models, and leadership. Anna Wintour is a true icon and she has done so many great things for the magazine, but some may believe she has room to improve.

BRITISH VOGUE (Grace)

Due to the success of US Vogue, the British edition was introduced 24 years later. I’m a huge fan of the London-based magazine and the statistics show that a plethora of others are too. Infact, in 2019, it reached 1.7 million readers in the UK. The great success is down to the luxury of each glossy page, featuring unique and beautifully written content as well as the striking covers featuring gorgeous it-girls, actors, models and more.

Editor-in-chief Edward Enninful nourished the magazine with overdue diversity in 2017 as he encouraged the inclusion of multiculturalism in the industry. His passion led to the creation of the incredible “I Am an Immigrant” video which featured 81 famous faces from the world of fashion, showing solidarity and publicly standing up against Trump. Additionally, Enninful influenced the “Forces For Change” movement, with amazing people such as Adut Akech, Ramla Ali and Jameela Jamil. Due to this powerful, sagacious and innovative team at British Vogue, the magazine becomes more inclusive and informative each year, educating readers on the importance of understanding political and social issues in life due its crucial overlap with fashion and huge influence on the world around us.

With 900k subscribers on YouTube and over 4 million followers on Instagram, the magazine is constantly adapting to the rise of technology. Many people find it easier to access their daily dose of fashion content through video and photo form which suggests digital reading may be on the rise. Despite this, research shows the majority of people still enjoy reading physical magazines, giving us print journalism lovers faith!

SIMILARITIES

We’ve mentioned diversity and it appears British Vogue has been more successful when it comes to representing and including a variety of different people with unique stories to share, however, improvement is still much-needed. Unfortunately, the media is responsible for sustaining racism AND colorism. Between 2000 and 2005, only 3 cover models were black. The abundance of horrific statistics and failure to display dark skinned models is truly disappointing from a publication as famous as Vogue.  As well as racial diversity, it is requisite for Vogue to include those with disabilities. I have noticed a positive change in Teen Vogue, the magazine has done a marvellous job of addressing such important issues with their younger audience. With a platform reaching millions of readers and interactions, we hope both British and American Vogue will continue to tackle important issues as everyone deserves to be represented through fashion journalism. 

It’s been shown that there are many differences with how Vogue is run in each country. However, they are all one magazine! One Vogue. Everyone picks up that magazine hoping to reach the same goal. To read all about the incredible world of fashion, I mean that’s why I read it! I love learning new things about the industry and seeing how diverse and complex it can be. Both countries seem to publish similar layouts, including the intriguing cover (normally occupied by a someone deserving and accomplished), their editorials, articles on various topics, and much more. Even if there are a million differences between Vogue USA and Vogue UK; every writer, editor, model, and leader of the magazine wants their readers to see and understand a new perspective, a new trend, a new style, a new life.

Grace and I loved writing this piece together (even from 4,000 miles away from each other) and we hope you all loved it as well. We hope to make more articles and maybe turn it into a series where we can talk about the differences between our lives, the fashion and/or journalism industry, and much more. If you made it this far, thank you so so much for reading!

GRACE’S BLOG: https://ctrlaltesc.home.blog <— make sure to check it out while you’re here!

xoxo, megs