Fashioning February: The Glossy Reality

I don't know about you but I was rather upset when The City ended as it meant that my weekly fix of the lives of glam media girls was over. Who was not riveted by the arguments between Olivia and Erin at US Elle magazine? Despite all the drama that went on in the show, Elle's appearance in the spin off to The Hills rewarded them with hours of free publicity. Having a presence on TV, preferably a fashion related reality show is an essential marketing tool and something that magazine publishers are now considering as part of their marketing mix. Remember the Elle and Project Runway partnership which eventually became Marie Claire and Project Runway after Nina Garcia ousting from Elle and eventual appointment to Marie Claire. Ironically both publications got in on the action by launching their own reality shows; in 2009 we saw Stylista where a group of fashionistas competed for a job at Elle and the next year the staff of Marie Claire along with three wannabees starred in Running in Heels. However before that we had the now defunct Jane trying out potential writers in The Fashionista Diaries before they folded and Cosmo Girl stepped in to save the day. In actual fact the reality show and magazine hybrid only kicked off with The Hills when a certain Lauren Conrad landed an internship at Teen Vogue to go along with her new life in LA. So no surprise then to hear that Teen Vogue are in the midst of making their own reality show about life at the magazine. With Erin Kaplan now on board at the publication after bidding US Elle goodbye and working alongside the media friendly, Amy Astley it certainly would make superb viewing. To top it off the show will be directed by non other than R.J. Cutler who made the ever so successful film, The September Issue which is about the life of Anna. Wintour who really needs no introduction.

It really is amazing the way magazines have thrown open their doors to the cameras but what are the reasons for this? A reality show is all about extending the brand and broadening the magazine audience - basically exposure and product placement. A show about a magazine will feature close ups of the brand logo, computer screens displaying their website and more importantly we get to see the journalists at work discussing ideas and implementing them. This definitely gets the audience interested, I remember when US Marie Claire did a fashion shoot on three savvy business women which involved them traveling through New York in a caravan, it got me really intrigued that when the publication hit the stands I bought the issue and I never had anytime for US Marie Claire. Add that to an insight into the writer's personal lives and you have a very dynamic situation. The fact is television is an extremely powerful medium. Look at Elle - they have had cameras in their offices since 2004 with Project Runway. Stylista and the The City. Also the huge success of The Devil Wear Prada meant that every editor of a glossy magazine were inundated with offers of a reality show. With magazine sales declining rapidly due to the digital revolution it looks like magazines might be relying on TV to save them. Who would have thought it eh?

An Ondo Lady in New York

It was weird going back to NYC after an 11 year hiatus. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the place. Love in that I admire that the Big Apple is full of diverse people from around the world, you can more or less be what you want here, New Yorkers are out there doing there thing and everything seems to happen here. Hate in that it is cramped, entering the subway is like going into a dark pit (Michael Bloomberg sort it out please) and you need to be a zillionaire to be able to afford a property in Manhattan.

Ground Zero
I planned to visit Ground Zero on September 11 for obvious reason but as we were staying in a hotel in Newark and the Path train took me right to the World Trade Centre I decided to do a pre-emptive and check it out earlier. Ground Zero is the right word for it because what was once the World Trade Centre is now empty space undergoing construction. There are two museums, one that commemorates those who died on that fatal day and one that goes into depth about the new plans for the site. I decided to pay my respective to the victims of 9/11 and go the Tribute WTC Visitor Centre. The venue holds videos, images and artifacts that document the events of 9/11. Visiting the centre was a truly sad occasion and really hit home what a pure and utter tragedy it was. I cried and I don�t do crying.


Williamsburg
I have heard so much about this place in magazines such as Nylon and Elle so I needed to check it out. Apparently it is the place where the young and trendy hipsters who cannot afford Manhattan now live. So I trekked down to Brooklyn to have a nosey. You could have knocked me down with a feather, it is exactly how they described it. This area is all hipsters galore and full of retro cafes that serve organic cuisine, bagel shops, trendy boutiques and indie record shops. As I browsed by I spotted various PYTs sitting in cafes tapping away on their Macbooks. Yup you got the drift.

DUMBO
Otherwise known as Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overseas; this area in Brooklyn has been touted as an urban space with exciting galleries, cafes, restaurants and boutiques. Yippee I thought to myself and headed down there on the A train in anticipation. Sadly I was left disappointed, aside from one trying to be arty bookshop and a few restaurants, DUMBO has nothing to say for itself and it is just full of warehouses. Frankly it has a long way to go before it is Hoxton. I felt like a dumbo for wasting my time.


Fashion�s Night Out
I saw the posters for this New York�s Fashion Night Out during the day while I was browsing though the shops but I had no idea how huge it was. Later that night as we wandered out for dinner, the place was manic. It looked like the whole of New York had come out to shop and party. Ok rewind and let me give you some background, Fashion�s Night Out is a global celebration of fashion with the aim of boosting the shopping experience and getting people to part with their pounds or dollars in this instance. It took place on 10th September and is put together by Vogue, the CFDA and NYC. The shops stayed open till 11pm and most of them had DJs performing and were offering complimentary wine and champagne. A whole range of celebrities and fashionistas were on board such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Wintour, P Diddy, Diane von Furstenberg and Donna Karan. That night had a real buzz about it and that was the moment when I thought, yes I really am in New York.

So that was my trip to NYC, short and sweet. If I had more time I would have checked out Harlem, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Lower East Side in Manhattan and Red Hook and Park Slope in Brooklyn. It was rainy and windy when we left NYC and as we were in the Shuttle bus heading towards La Guardia, I turned and looked at my travel buddy and said "I think we are leaving New York at the right time."

I leave you with a clip from a new film called New York, I Love You. I saw the trailer when I went to see The September Issue. It is a collection of 11 short films at 10 minutes long and stars a huge stellar cast. It made it's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in October in the US. I have searched for a UK release date but cannot find one.

The September Issue: Review

I finally got to see this last Thursday when I was in New York and it was just as captivating as I hoped it would be. The rave reviews from the critics are well deserved. The idea behind the documentary is to show life behind the closed doors of Vogue and to get into the head of Anna Wintour. The September Issue takes place during the Spring of 2007 where the editorial team of the world's glossiest glossy put together the most important issue of the year. You see, September in magland is like January to us, it is when all the new looks are unveiled and also the month when publishers drop their fatest issue. The September issue of 2007 was the biggest issue ever and has not been beaten since. This film delves onto Ms Wintour and shows the power that she wields over the fashion industry. Such as the pieces that top designers include in their collection, we see her advising a Yves Saint Laurent designer to put some more colour in his new season offering. When Gap are looking a creative consultant Anna puts forward up and coming designer called Thakoon who Michelle Obama is a big fan of.

The documentary also focuses in on Anna's relationship with her staff as well as her daughter, Bee Schaffer who she clearly adores. However key to this story is style director, Grace Coddington who is a massive player to The September Issue. Coddington and Wintour both started at Vogiue on the same day and occasionally have a clash of opinions on what goes in the magazine. Hence we see Grace pissed when 50,000 dollars worth of a fashion shoot that she directed is shelved. Wintour is very much the ice to Coddington's fire but I must point out that despite their differences the two women have the utmost respect for each other. We do hear a few barb wire comments from Anna such as "She looks pregnant" and "This tie is so big it looks pretentious and like it is for blind people." But more often than not she is just precise and to the point. Basically what Anna says goes. She does not mother her staff or act pally with them and she has the ability to make her minions quake in their Jimmy Choos but you know what? I get the impression that is the only way she knows how to be. The September Issue is a hit as far as I am concerned and extremely entertaining. I am so glad that the little indie film that I previewed back in January has received lots of media attention and is on every fashionistas to do list.

Stylist: The Interpreters of Fashion

If the documentary, The September Issue is anything to go by, Anna Wintour is not an easy lady to please. So it is interesting to read her complimentary words in the forward for Stylist: The Interpreters of Fashion. I came across this book in a post by The Capitol Fashionista and having written a blog post on stylists a few months back I was piqued with interest so I decided to check it out. The book does not just cover stylists who dress the rich and famous; it goes much deeper than that. It looks at characters who have created some of the most powerful images in magazines, fashion shows, TV and advertising. Stylist is full of image makers, editors, taste formers and visual provocators.

16 top stylists are featured in this whopper of a coffee book and were selected by editors of style.com because of their original ideas and iconic status. The lucky 16 are Polly Mellen, Camilla Nickerson, Carine Roitfeld, Grace Coddington, Karl Templar, Alex White, Melanie Ward, Joe Zee, Brana Wolf, Andrea Lieberman, Paul Cavaco, Venetia Scott, Tonne Goodman, Lori Goldstein, Edward Enninful and Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele. Stylist is written by Sarah Mower, contributing editor of Vogue (recently appointed ambassador for new talent by the British Fashion Council) and really goes into the nitty gritty work of the stylist but it is presented in a way that is beautiful and ever so glamorous. Between 16 and 20 pages are devoted to each personality with photo spreads of their work displayed as well as images of the stylist and a mini bio. This book is a must have for anyone who is passionate about fashion.

Stylist: The Interpreters of Fashion is available to buy at amazon.

Carine Roitfeld Revealed on CNN

Just in case you are suffering from withdrawal symptoms after watching Running in Heels on Sunday and you really cannot wait till The September Issue hits the screen late this year then you will be delirious to know that a new fashion reality show is coming your way. CNN are airing a fly on the wall documentary about the charismatic Carine Roitfeld, the editor-in-chief of French Vogue. The show is part of CNN's Revealed which is a TV and Web program that delves into the world of iconic figures. Revealed offers a glimpse of the private people behind their public profiles in the run up to important moments in their lives. Personalities that have been featured are Venus Williams, Diane von Furstenberg and Roland Emmerich. Coming up later this month is Carine who will be seen attending shows in New York and Paris during fashion week. She has been described as a genius bordering on lunatic but everyone just simply idolizes Carine. The dynamic editor wears many hats; Tom Ford's muse, Mario Testino's favourite stylist as well as mother to Julia Restoin Roitfeld (who is the face of Mango) and Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld (who is a budding photographer. Carine's name is often mentioned in awe by fashionistas around the world who all love her for her edgy fashion spreads and slightly punky covers.

CNN: Revealed on Carine Roitfeld airs during the following dates (GMT):

Wednesday 18th March @ 0930 and 1830
Saturday 21st March @ 0830 and 1900
Sunday 22nd March 22 @ 0530 and 1830
Monday 23rd March @ 0400

In case you miss it, do not worry because the show will be posted on here on CNN:Revealed.