21st Century Journalism

Fashion journalism has come extremely far from ladies magazines in the 19th century, which acted as a part-entertainment, part-instruction manual with the fashion sections focusing on fabric, colour, detail and construction. These publications were later described as by (Cecil Willet Cunnington , 1990) as ‘thinly disguised advertisements of particular dressmakers, while others were obviously supplied broadcast to English papers from a French source’ . Until Vogue, the timeless fashion bible was first published in 1909 and Harper’s Bazaars re-launch in 1913. Between 1930 and 1940 both pioneering magazines aided the development of fashion photography discovering Martin Munkacsi who carried out the first ever on-location fashion shoot, Guy Bourdin, Irving Penn, Lillian Bassman, Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Newspapers have also been used as a media communication for fashion, starting post-war during the 1940’s and 1950’s, with a fashion editor commenting on various trends and reporting from couture shows. Due to the new low-cost technology and economic boom saw the magazine industry expand rapidly. Some weekly magazines and some monthly, including Woman’s own and Good Housekeeping, there were also a rise in men’s magazines like GQ, Esquire and FHM. Trendy lifestyle magazines such as The Face and i.D magazine were launched, the latter according to (Mark Tungate,) ‘Had an irrelevant slash-and-paste style that owned far more to punk style than to catwalk shows.’ Looking through old Vogue magazines shows the difference in fashion journalism then and today, the earliest on I found was an American Vogue dated 1st March 1954, (See appendix 1) this early magazine included an enormous amount of advertisements, the printing was obviously very standard and included an American school and camp directory at the back. English Vogue 15 April 1975 (See appendix 2) was more brightly coloured and had similar photo shoots like you would see in fashion magazines today with a price list down the side of the page, Vogue then was fortnightly whereas now it is monthly. Fashion magazines vary from how often they are published high end magazines such as Vogue, Tatler and ELLE are monthly publications which include a lot more adverts and editorials. Look and Grazia are fairly new fashion magazines which offer similar information to the others but are cheaper, easier to read and are published weekly.

Due to the change in technology over the past 20 years has now been the result of a rise of online fashion magazines, bloggers, and retail websites. While radio and television may find themselves stymied when it comes to finding a way to re-create the best fashion coverage, the internet is proving to be the medium that can best showcase all aspects of fashion journalism. (Jackson. T, Shaw. D, 2006) One of the most popular online fashion sites in ASOS (As Seen on Screen) this site enables customers to go onto their website, browse through various brands of clothes and their own range of clothes, accessories and shoes. ASOS targets the individual which is extremely important when offering an online service many customers can be weary and apprehensive when making a transaction. ‘ASOS has an opt-in database of 1.9 million customers. It holds information on purchasing behaviour, favourite brands; spend patterns and payment method, as well as basic personal information and lifestyle data.’ (Johnson. S, 2008) ASOS offers customers various other services such as ‘Get the look’ like an online trend book showcasing various trends with outfits which the garments can be found on the site making it easier for the consumer to see what is on trend, how it is worn and them purchase the items accordingly. ASOS: today is a blog conducted by the brand which offers information on up-and-coming collections, celebrity style and fashion news. ASOS has even using social network sites to promote their brand such as Bebo, Myspace and Facebook where you can access their magazine. The magazine is just like any other fashion magazine, it usually supports a celebrity on the cover and has a spread inside about them including an interview or story and how to get their style. It showcases the best products available at asos.com through well shot fashion stories. It features by high profile writers, including fashion and beauty advice, street style, adverts for brands which are available from the website and horoscopes. ASOS have even gone as far to making the online magazine feel as realistic as possible by enabling you to turn the page yourself and using sound effects to make you feel like you are flicking through an actual magazine, according to (Mintel, 2008) ‘Women’s magazines certainly need to have an effective parallel online presence, as more now belatedly have, but they need also to promote what it is that makes them special and must-have in print.’ So it is extremely important to create a exceptional online magazine so the reader has the same enjoyment reading it as they would an actual magazine.
ASOS is one of many sites which offer a similar service to a fashion magazine; Stylenoir.co.uk has latest daily news, must buys, fashion trends, competitions and exclusive interviews. Style Noir does not have its own range but have a link allowing you to shop from the high fashion designer website Net-a-Porter.com. Style Noir is a more high-end fashion site compared to ASOS it includes more information on designer brands and catwalk trends. The American neetmagazine.com is similar to the online ASOS magazine as it allows you to turn the pages it includes adverts, fashion shoots, editorials and trend advice. Style Noir and Neet magazine are niche websites offering a niche service but online fashion retailers are also recognising the positive effect online fashion journalism can have upon sales and general interest. Topshop for instance have introduced a style blog, daily fix featuring the latest favourites from the store which is all available from their website. Most popular fashion magazines have now introduced a website such as Vogue, Grazia, Glamour and Look. Look uses all the elements from the magazine but incorporates different elements than their magazine including videos, blogs, daily fashionable finds, polls and a fashion search to see and purchase items that have featured in the magazine.

The explosion of interest in fashion being available online could be having a huge effect on the demand for fashion which is already vastly increasing. Many consumers are now using the internet not just to buy products but to indulge their interests and passions. The growth in these websites show that the amount of attention given to fashion is rising also. ‘Nobody needs to buy all these things, but with the influx of fashion on websites-Style.com, for example, where you can see every look that walked down the runway, fashion on TV, fashion columns in newspapers, and all the fashion magazines-you get it feel that you must buy into all the trends each season, or else you’ll be out of it’ (Kirshner. M). As fast fashion is rising the demand and urgency for fashion is too, this is shown particularly in young women, who want information on trends as quickly as possible, this is a form of projecting their self identity. Women’s attitudes vary, of course, and these variations dictate the differences between titles and sectors. According to (Mintel, 2008)’In particular, ABC1 women are most concerned to look well dressed, be attractive to men and to keep up with fashion, but AB women are less likely than others to constantly be trying to lose weight. Fashion is very much more important to younger women, but women young and old are equally likely to feel that it’s important to keep looking young. Hence, the serious fashion titles are all targeted at an upmarket and/or younger reader.’ Convenience is also a major factor when receiving information and having this online makes it easier and more efficient for the reader than having to go out and spend money on a magazine. ‘Convenience and portability are a given, but magazines also represent a brief or leisurely treat and ‘me-time’, while the glossies also offer something further with their superior design and physical qualities.’ (Mintel, 2008) So even though convenience is beneficial to consumers it may not be able to account for the actual feeling of reading a magazine. A big issue in our culture today is the pressure to look a certain way, the rise of magazine sales and online fashion websites may implicate this issue further, with fashion trends available everywhere this may make the demand on especially young women to follow those trends even higher. ‘Fashion styles thrive on the urgency that they create. Indeed fashion’s modernity lies in its celebration of the immediate, ‘this style here and now’. (D.L Purdy, 2004). The availability and quantity of fashion resources available today could result in a negative impact whether it is addictive buying habits or peer pressure on teenage girls.

To gather some primary research I conducted a questionnaire (See Appendix 3) which I handed out to mainly females aged 18-25 because they are the main demographic which will be affected by fashion online. I asked questions relevant to the issue discussed inquiring if they read fashion magazines which the majority did, which magazines they read the most popular being Look, Vogue and Grazia. I was interested to see if they read fashion supplements from newspapers as that is a relatively new development amongst fashion journalism four out of ten did. I then asked which online fashion sites they had visited offering them a range of possibilities, the most popular by far was asos.com followed by wgsn-edu.com. I don’t believe that many women would regularly look at wgsn as it is mainly used by people in the industry or fashion students, because a lot my questionnaires were handed to students studying fashion related subjects will have had a great affect on my results. When asking how many regularly visited fashion retail websites the majority answered yes and then if they took notice of any features on the websites such as ‘daily fixes’ etc the majority answered yes proving that there is a growing interest in fashion trend information. The question which I was most interested in seeing the results for was whether or not they thought magazines would ever be replaced by online versions. Only three out of ten said they thought they would however I think this a huge statement to make that 30% believe that magazines will be completely abolished and replaced. When asked whether or not they would prefer to spend money on a magazine than get an online version for free the results were equal and I received the same result for whether or not they had an urgency to have information on fashion and trends. Through looking through these results, the opinions varied which I interpret that at this stage in society we have an overlap of where we stand regarding fashion journalism many do go online to get their ‘fix’ but many are not ready to eliminate hard copy magazines.

1. Johnson, S. (2008) Asos targets the individual, [online], Available:http://www.brandrepublic.com/MarketingDirect/Features/CaseStudies/865320/ASOS-targets-individual/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH ASOS targets the individual [12th Jan 2008]

2. Jackson, T. and Shaw, D. (2006) The Fashion Handbook. USA: Routledge.

3. Kirschener, M. (N.D.) Cited in Fashion Victim (2003) pp. 95

4. Mintel (2008) fashion-online: Mintel Marketing report, August 2008. London: Mintel International.

5. Mintel (2008) fashion magazines:Mintel Marketing Report, December 2008. London: Mintel International.

6. Purdy, L, D. (2004) The Rise of Fashion: U of Minnesota Press.

7. Tungate, M. (2008) Fashion Brands: Branding Style from Armani to Zara :2nd Ed. Kogan Page Publishers.

1. ASOS magazine [online] Available from: http://magazine.asos.com/women/facebook.html [16th January]

2. Hall, J. (2001) Online Journalism: A critical Prime. London: Pluto Press.

3. Hines, T and Bruce, M. (2008) Fashion Marketing: Contemporary Issues. 2nd Ed

4. Look magazine [online] Available from :http://www.look.co.uk/ [16th January]

5. Neet magazine. [online] Available from: http://www.neetmagazine.com/ [16th January]

6. Style Noir [online] Available from: http://www.stylenoir.co.uk/ [17th January]

7. Topshop [online] Available from:
8. http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategoriesDisplay?storeId=12556&catalogId=19551 [17th January]

9. The Cool Hunter [online] Available from: http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/ [12th January]

10. Vogue. April 1975:1,13,14,15

11. Vogue. March 1954: 1, 14, 25.