NEW LOOK VOGUE: French Vogue is getting a makeover with the September issue, which hits newsstands Aug. 23.
The magazine features a cleaner, airier design, with remodeled typography and the use of a craft-paper-like brown background — both of which hark back to its look in the Sixties and Seventies.
Some sections have been renamed to put forward the Vogue brand. The editor’s letter now reverts to its former title, “Le point de vue de Vogue” (“Vogue’s Viewpoint” in English). New features include a fashion opinion column penned by blogger Garance Doré.
Vogue Paris editor in chief Emmanuelle Alt and Condé Nast France president Xavier Romatet told WWD that the aim was to reaffirm the magazine’s point of view with a chic, timeless identity. “Vogue Paris must have a Parisian point of view,” said Romatet.
“All the other Vogues carry a country name. Vogue Paris is the only one to carry the name of a city,” noted Alt. “Everyone fantasizes about Paris. It’s the concept of the ‘Parisienne.’ The ‘Parisienne’ is a girl who makes people dream worldwide, rightly or wrongly, a girl who represents a particular style, a taste, an allure.”
Romatet said they saw potential in capitalizing on the Vogue brand. For instance, “Zoom,” a section featuring Vogue editors’ favorite accessories, has been renamed “C’est Vogue” (“It’s Vogue”), while “Livres” (“Books”) becomes “Les Livres de Vogue” (“Vogue’s Books”).
The new layout is the brainchild of 34-year-old Germain Chauveau, who earlier this year succeeded Johan Svensson as artistic director of the magazine. Only minor changes had been made since the previous layout, executed by Fabien Baron for the magazine’s December 2003-January 2004 double issue. Prior to that, the magazine was art directed by design duo M/M (Paris).
The visual tweaks come 18 months after Alt succeeded Carine Roitfeld as editor in chief. “It is very important to make your mark on the layout, to have a magazine tailor-made for the content you want to have,” she said.
Alt said she wants to feature even more profiles, a move already noticeable in the August issue, but also more fashion stories centered on people who represent the Vogue aesthetic.
Doré’s new column is one example. Starting with the September issue, she will contribute a two-page feature called “Humeur” (“Mood”) with her view on a fashion-related topic, peppered with the blogger’s own illustrations.
The theme of the September issue, which runs to about 420 pages, is the color black. Three different covers feature Kate Moss, Daria Werbowy and Lara Stone wearing the same Dolce & Gabbana black dress and photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, who shot 64 fashion pages for the issue. There are also features on designers Iris van Herpen and Gareth Pugh.
The issue has 224 advertising pages, compared with 220 in September 2011.
In 2011, the paid circulation of Vogue Paris in France was 121,103, up from 121,055 in 2010, according to France’s Circulation Audit Bureau. “We are anticipating 2 to 3 percent growth in 2012,” Romatet said, pointing out that Vogue Paris is faring well compared to other publications. A redesign of Vogue France’s Web site, vogue.fr, has already borne fruit. The number of unique visitors to the site is up 35 percent since it was relaunched in February 2012, and advertising revenues on the site have doubled, Romatet said.
wwd.com
Kate's pose is not my fave... Daria's cheekbones look strange, but I like her cover. I'm loving the fact that Emmanuelle is finally going to publish HER magazine the way in which she wants to. Now that she's more comfortable with what she is doing I'm sure we'll see the VP we have all been waiting for. Love the minimalist look she is trying to evoke with this set of covers, even if it's the same "favorites" crew... I don't care, give me good content and I'll have my mouth shut. I prefer something simple than an atrocious calling for attention cover
