Vogue Italia, and why wouldn’t we?

The publication deemed to be “the top fashion magazine in the world” turned fifty this month and is still as shocking, entertaining and amazing as ever. Throughout its fifty years, Vogue Italia has not only created key fashion moments but reflected the goings on in the world surrounding it. The fiftieth anniversary edition is nearly nine hundred pages long and showcases this perfectly. It’s packed full with fifty years of hard work, imagination and fun.

Issues from the 1960s show women in mini-skirts and represent a time of increasing female independence across the world. A September 2006 spread by Steven Meisel represents a reaction to a world of war and terror entitled “State of Emergency”. The July 2008 issue features only black models, and subsequently became the highest selling issue of Italian Vogue in history.

All of the faces filling its pages have been those that have represented entire generations and huge moments in our history that have shaped the world we live in today. Some may see the fashion industry as one built on vanity and the superficial but Vogue Italia is testament to the fact it is not. Their fifty years of capturing moments of beauty and consistently showcasing the world outside of fashion has created something much more permanent than a single magazine could ever. It’s still as significant today as it was in 1964 and long may it continue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Molly Shanahan