VOGUE documentary -'The September Issue'

[rg]

i now can't recall precisely if a framed black-and-white photo of three? adolescents at the barre in what is likely the Vagnova Choreographic Academy is caught in a scene set in Anna Wintour's home or her office.

Regardless, it stood out among the other framed photos caught in the lens of camera making this Vogue documentary.

i think it was Wintour's home, but then again maybe it was her office; either way, the ballet photo was eye-catching.

[dirac]

Thanks, rg. I'm looking forward to seeing this.

[miliosr]

I saw it today -- well worth seeing.

The title, of course, refers to the most important issue of the year at Vogue -- the September issue. What starts out as a very routine look at the inner workings of a luxury magazine morphs into a very interesting (and often funny) examination of art vs. commerce via the contest of wills that develops between editor-in-chief Anna Wintour (commerce) and fashion director Grace Coddington (art). The two women have completely different viewpoints and personalities and, yet, however grudgingly, each knows she needs the other to keep things in balance.

While the documentary is ostensibly about Wintour, Grace Coddington steals the movie as "art-for-arts-sake" fashion director who is constantly fighting to keep her layouts from falling prey to Wintour's more middle-of-the-road tastes. I didn't think Wintour came off as poorly as a lot of people in the press have claimed, though. She is only the "villain" of the piece in the sense that, without someone so no-nonsense in charge, the entire operation would float off into the ozone layer.

Even if you don't have any interest in fashion, you still might find this worth because everyone can relate to having a "difficult" boss!

[koshka]

I noticed the photo too, and wondered what the story behind it is. I think the photo was in her second home--it was in the part where they were interviewing her daughter.

I liked the film a lot, though I was left wanting to know more about the commercial/advertising side, since well over half of the pages in the magazine are ads.

[dirac]

Thanks for reporting back, miliosr and koshka.

I liked the film a lot, though I was left wanting to know more about the commercial/advertising side, since well over half of the pages in the magazine are ads.

Fashion magazines tend to have an uncommonly high number of ads because in essence the articles are just excuses for the ads, and indeed many of the features include blatant plugs for the advertisers. That's fashion. However, a lot of the most striking photography is done for the ads, as well, so without them there wouldn't be that much to read. VOGUE does come up with some genuinely interesting articles occasionally, but the ads are the raison d'etre of the magazine.