Whatever EE is doing he's still pulling in the advertising, UK Vogue is still a substantial size whereas this months US version which arrived in the post is so tiny it's more a pamphlet than a magazine.
It must be incredibly challenging to produce a fashion magazine at the moment, impossible to have the sumptuous, story telling photo shoots a la Grace Coddington. A lot of magazines have been relying on models with photographer partners to fill the fashion pages. There is so little happening in terms of fashion, cinema and culture for them to write about. Even before Covid magazines were struggling as we all get our fashion news online now rather than waiting for it to appear in a magazine months later. I remember the excitement of opening the September vogue to see what we'd all want to wear for winter, but now we've all watched the shows live online last February at the same time as the fashion editors so it's old news already.
For me, magazines are all about the pictures, I rarely read the articles, so I'll keep on buying UK Vogue. I actually think visually it's doing well now. You can tell EE was a fashion editor himself, whereas AS was a features editor and not as interested in the pictures. I'm pretty sure that if EE had Kate Middleton on the cover she wouldn't be wearing a Breton and Dubarrys. Vouge had become tired and staid under AS, the way the transition happened and the ousting of former staff was very badly done, but from my point of view it's a much more interesting magazine to look at now.
I find all the 'wokeness' a bit tiresome but just skim over it. I'm resigned to the fact that as a middle aged white woman I'm just not the target market any more, and that's fine, I had my time, they need to appeal to a different demographic now to sell issues and survive.
I think activism is incredibly important and I'm really impressed that so many young people are so engaged with social and political issues now. It's a stark contrast to the 'greed is good' philosophy of the 90s when I was that age, which magazines at the time certainly latched onto.
I think the change in tone is a survival strategy for Vogue, to capitalise on the activism. That must have played a part when Conde Nast gave EE the job. They must realise that readers who like the old version will feel alienated now, it's just such a different offering, but presumably the powers that be at Vogue House are happy with that.
The magazine I ha e loved most over that last few years was Harper's Bazaar, really beautiful photography and fashion and I actually did read some of the articles. The editor Justine Picardie, resigned recently to write a book, but I hope it won't change, it certainly fills a gap for people who like beautiful things and don't want a lecture from their fashion magazine.