vogue's renaissance?
Superfine's impact on the industry giant's creativity
ICYMI– I love fashion. And to say it that simply, feels somehow like undervaluing it.
There’s a surety to the way I consume, experience, and enjoy fashion. I’m not sure I could properly explain it, even if I was given ample time to prepare a statement. It’s something like kismet: of knowing you’re in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time. Being reminded over and over again that this is what I’m meant to be doing, because it’s the one all-encompassing thing that I completely understand. I just get it.
As if my brain was specially wired just for the mere act of devouring fashion. Seeing and understanding the imagery, and valuing it so far above any other art form. Allowing it to shape the way I see every other art form, too.
I am never more reminded of this than when encountering a piece of fashion media that brings me to tears. Allow me to introduce the newest addition to this list: Vogue’s recent “The Making of Vogue’s Met Gala Issue” video. Shot to present a little behind-the-scenes of the covers and editorial shoots of the fashion giant’s May issue– corresponding with the fast approaching Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibition and Met Gala– it took my recent lack of inspiration, crumpled it up like a piece of notebook paper, and tossed it out the window.
Why, you may ask. How?
I’ll tell you how.
It feels like the very best of what fashion is meant to be. What true fashion is– compiling an important concept, the inspiration, the idea of imagery, and turning a corner with it, making something entirely new from it. It feels like Vogue has turned a corner too, creatively.
Never have I seen so many people talking about how excited they are for a cover (or four!) and discussing how inspired the work is, visually and in context of the Met exhibit. It feels invigorating after a long run of what has felt like lackluster cover after lackluster cover, and could be exactly the kind of momentum needed to really mark a new world for the publication. One that is vibrant, and full of life; an overflowing cup of inspired storytelling from a chorus of diverse voices and points of view!
Black creatives acting as the spark for this new wave of creativity for Vogue isn’t to be overlooked, either– to not continue the diversity we see here in the May issue would be not only a severe misjudgment, but also a disastrous disservice to fashion and fashion audiences everywhere.
There’s a chance here to really give the true depth of fashion that Vogue’s readers and viewers not only desperately want, but need.
From the choice to format the video documentary-style, to the microphone time given to curator of the Superfine exhibition, Professor Monica Miller, as a way to provide foundational context to the theme straight from the expert herself. All of it– fashion fuel.
A chance to learn something, or see something through a new lens I may not have considered before. To me, that is fashion at its best. And to see it happening in regard to print fashion journalism– with incredibly positive reception, mind you– is the metaphorical cherry, sitting atop an already delectable dessert.
My senior thesis in college centered around the so-called ‘death’ of print fashion journalism, and how I felt the digitization of physical fashion mags (my first, and favorite hyperfixation of all time) would never live up to the experience of flipping glossy pages. Besides the fact that I am vindicated everyday with headlines like this and have to resist the urge to email the professor who told me she didn’t believe my thesis was a worthy topic, this kind of video content from Vogue gives me an immense amount of hope.
It upholds the promise of digital fashion journalism– bringing readers and viewers backstage to broaden their experience of fashion in a way that physical pages cannot, while simultaneously generating excitement and value for the print covers and copies to come. When digital content works hand in hand with the magazines we know and love, there’s true success to be found.
Even if it’s just in the form of me telling every person I know, fashion-minded or not, to sit down and watch this video, telling them over and over, “THIS IS WHAT FASHION IS. THIS IS FASHION. ARE YOU SEEING THIS?”
It should come as no surprise then, that I’m also incredibly excited to see what Met Gala attendees will be wearing on the soon arriving first Monday in May— even as people online debate the morality of the annual event.
(To be clear, my stance on this should be obvious: while yes, there is an incredible amount of insanity that is happening in the United States and the world, cancelling the Met Gala would not stop any of that insanity. Also: the event at its core is a fundraising opportunity to directly benefit the arts through funding the Costume Institute, something that should, now more than ever, be championed. Menswear writer Derek Guy (@dieworkwear on Twitter) hits the nail on the head so well here! it would be a waste to try and say it any better.)
Morality aside, or maybe morality considered— this year’s gala presents the ideal time to tap into the joy of dressing up, of finding an exhilarating way to express oneself through what you wear. Dapper Dan talks about the power of clothes and “instantly being able to become somebody else” in the “Making of” video, and I can’t help but think that’s what I want most out of each look on the carpet. To really see people going for it— whatever “it” is for them— and being unafraid to become someone else, especially just for a night at the Met.
Because the dress code is “Tailored for You”, with a direct focus in menswear and tailoring, there is a distinct risk of seeing even more plain black tuxes than usual. And believe me, the usual amount is still far too many. However!!! If there is one thing I am, it’s an optimist.
And being the optimist I am, here’s a quick briefing on my hopefuls. I anticipate (as I think everyone else is, too) that Black-owned brands and houses led by Black creative directors will be batting a thousand: Grace Wales Bonner, Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton, Christopher John Rogers, LaQuan Smith, Rachel Scott for Diotima, Olivier Rousteing for Balmain, and Ib Kamara for Off-White. I’d also love to see archival Off-White from Virgil Abloh, if that’s on the table. Considering the focus on tailoring, I’m impatiently waiting to see what Thom Browne, Bode, Marine Serre, and Willy Chavarria have in store for us.
To list WHO I’m most excited to see at the Met would take far too long, so I’ll keep it to my front-runner favorites. Doechii, of course. Colman Domingo. Dapper Dan. Ayo Edebiri. Zendaya and Law Roach. (Law Roach I love you. I want to kiss your brain.) I hope Adut Akech will make an appearance and Gigi Hadid wears Thom Browne like she did last year. Rihanna, please make your return too.
Speaking of Rihanna, how could I forget? Co-chair A$AP Rocky heard about dandyism being a part of the Met Gala theme (by definition, a person who studies above all else to dress elegantly and fashionably— thank you Professor Monica Miller) and confirmed: “Oh, the theme this year is A$AP Rocky, I get it.”
I have a feeling he’s not far from the truth.