The design of a fashion magazine, that cult object

In the era of content saturation on screens and the rapid advent of artificial intelligence, independent fashion publications printed over thirty years ago are the singular object of study that Italian Saul Marcadent focuses on.

Editing as Curation. Itineraries of Design in Fashion Magazines is the new title in the Fashion Studies collection by the publisher Ampersand, focusing on an uncommon topic such as these niche editorial experiences, the latter more as a refuge than a market segment. The same applies to the concept of insider, which can be embodied by the person who creates the magazine, as well as by the editor, art director, photographer or stylist, among other roles.

Marcadent – ​​a researcher at the Università Iuav in Venice and a curator – does not focus on just any magazine, but on those that emerged especially in the 1990s; for example, Purple, Self Service and Visionaire . He analyses them as an alternative to the regular ones, and in turn, to the specialised press, as well as to the two-dimensionality that digital media proposes. He is interested in the scope that they can have by reaching anyone and becoming instruments of change.

Structured in five chapters, the book, originally published in Italian in 2020 and later in English, delves into the theoretical framework of a topic that has been scarcely explored until now, and investigates the temporal question and the collaborative aspect of these projects. In addition to carefully observing the graphic design and art direction that characterizes them, and examples of innovative magazine formats at the dawn of the new millennium. Something that reconfirms the relevance they possess and how they are constantly updating.

–If you consider that young people today follow fashion through social networks and magazines have become a cult object for a few, what readers is the book aimed at?

–It is born from research carried out in the academic field and is aimed primarily at academics and students. At the same time, it seeks to reach a broader audience interested in contemporary fashion publishing, photography and graphic design. The digital space is the space of information, but it is necessary to affirm the cultural value of quality printed publishing, and the proliferation of niche publishing projects internationally is, in my opinion, a positive thing. It is for this reason that I dedicate a considerable part of my time to teaching in this field.

–The publications you are talking about seem to be more closely linked to the way of making an art object than to a journalistic product. What else can you say about this?

–Only a few of the magazines analysed are intended as collectors' issues, such as Visionaire, founded in New York in 1991. Most of them are distinguished from widely circulated periodicals by specific characteristics. They are not supported by an editor or publishing group, are usually characterised by low periodicity, as well as by a small circulation and distribution that favours alternative channels. In addition, they transcend the boundaries of traditional publications by their unusual design, niche content and dedication to particular communities.

–In the fashion system, the return to craftsmanship and garments that last over time is becoming more and more evident. In this sense, do you see any connection with the return to the magazines you refer to?

–A printed magazine is a material device, an artefact, capable of presence. Materiality is fundamental to understanding the publications analysed in the book. The most interesting editorial teams are those that constantly question what a niche magazine can be today. Those capable of challenging and putting to the test this medium, which at first glance seems obsolete. I think that the phenomenon is not isolated and what you are talking about can surely be related.

–In the book you refer to those who worked in niche magazines in the 1990s as insiders. Do you see any similar figures in the present?

–The generation of magazines from the 1990s, to which Purple and Self Service belonged, wanted to express a point of view that could attack any field. The founders sought to tell a way of seeing the world. Contemporary magazines, on the other hand, prefer micro areas of research because of their great diversification and offer. They are less informative and identify a topic and explore it in depth. I look closely at the work of some founders of contemporary independent publications, such as Buffalo Zine, launched in 2011. The duo formed by creative director Adrián González-Cohen and graphic designer David Uzquiza is very conscious of the work they do, with authenticity and care. Some issues are iconic and, of course, are out of print: I think of “Copyright,” on the subject of copying, or “Viral,” focused on digital practices and aesthetics. The format, layout, and typography are constantly reinvented. Another aspect that makes this magazine interesting is its ability to be transgenerational and always connected to its own time.

–In the last chapter you refer to the return of niche magazines. Can we say that this is a response or rather a resistance to the rapid advance of screens?

–We can certainly understand them as a form of response to the dematerialization of images that characterizes our time. They are projects that contrast the speed of the present with a slower temporality. At the same time, niches should not be seen only as a form of resistance: they are experimental laboratories where change occurs. To fully understand this phenomenon, we must try to find ways to measure these experiences, recognize them and map them. At the same time, we need to see if this collective and lively mode of reflection is shaping a new approach to cultural creation.