Vogue Magazine

   This magazine began as a weekly fashion publication in New York in 1892 and was bought by Condé Nast (1873-1942, American), a poor Louisiana boy. He transformed it, along with his editor, Edna Woolman Chase, into a monthly magazine in 1909. In 1959, S.I. Newhouse acquired a controlling share and eventually became its sole owner. Vogue is considered to be the "fashion bible" and owes its success to several creative editors-in-chief, most notably Chase (1914-1952), whose tenure lasted thirty-eight years. Although she favored European designers, Edna began giving American designers coverage in the late 1940s. Diana Vreeland (1963-1971), undoubtedly the magazine's most colorful editor, came to Vogue by way of Harper's Bazaar. It was during Vreeland's term that the fashion world was rocked in the 1960s by the "youthquake" movement. Vreeland promoted trends that emerged from street styles, including the mod look, hippie fashion, futuristic/space-age, and psychedelic fashion. She helped launch many designers' careers and has been immortalized in numerous books about her life and in a Broadway play, "Full Gallop." When Vreeland was fired in 1971, Grace Mirabella (1971-1988) took the helm. Her style was much less flamboyant than her predecessor's, being more lifestyle driven and catering to the working woman, as evidenced in the feature column "More Dash Than Cash."

   Vogue's current editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour (1988- ), is an amalgam of both Vreeland and Mirabella. Her vision for mixing lifestyle brands with high-brow couture has positioned Vogue as a leader in the fast-paced world of fashion in the twenty-first century.

   Vogue has launched the careers of some of the most famous fashion illustrators, fashion photographers, creative directors, models, and designers. They include fashion illustrators Antonio, Christian Berard, Rene Gruau, George Hoyningen-Huene, and Eric Stemp; creative directors M. F. Agha and Alexander Liberman; fashion photographers Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Cecil Beaton, Guy Bourdin, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Patrick Demarchelier, Arthur Elgort, Horst, Annie Leibowitz, Steven Meisel, Baron Adolph de Meyer, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Edward Steichen, Mario Testino, Deborah Turbeville, and Bruce Weber; models Naomi Campbell, Patti Hansen, Lauren Hutton, Iman, Kate Moss, Paulina Porikova, Claudia Schiffer, Stephanie Seymour, and Christy Turlington; and designers from Paul Poiret and Yves Saint Laurent to Proenza Schouler. Beginning in the 1930s, Vogue began to replace fashion illustrators with fashion photographers (the first photo cover was published in 1932). However, illustration saw a rebirth in 2000 with the work of Jason Brooks, Natalie Ferstendik, Natasha Law, Liselotte, David Remfry, Julie Verhoeven, and Daisy De Villeneuve. Today there are sixteen editions of Vogue throughout the world (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States). Each has its own distinct personality owing to the fact that each has its own editor-in-chief. In 2003, Condé Nast launched Teen Vogue and, in 2005,Men's Vogue.

   See also Fashion photography