So The September Issue is out on DVD; I didn’t get a chance to catch it previously at the cinema so instead decided to buy it. Various reviews tagged it as ‘the real Devil Wears Prada’ which of course it is; portraying Editor in chief, Anna Wintour not as a fictitious ice woman like Meryl Streep’s character, Miranda, but as a real life stern, stubborn, ‘hardballs’ business woman.“I don’t find her to be hidden, I just don’t find her to be accessible to people she doesn’t need to be accessible to… she’s busy and she’s not warm and friendly; she’s just doing her business.”
Tom Florio, Vogue Publisher.
Above, just one of the many fascinating and interesting quotes I got from the documentary… Not only did I find watching it entertaining but also educational; an insight to how a magazine works and the roles of each editor helped me gain a better understanding of this industry and made me even more determined to be part of it.
At the forefront of it all is Anna, who quite possibly has the biggest influence on fashion in the whole of the industry. The September Issue highlights this, when she tells world renowned designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Yves Saint Laurent’s head designer, Stefano Pilati, what she really thinks of their collections and what they should (and shouldn’t) put in their shows. It’s her brutal honesty and emotionless approach which has allowed her to not only succeed but survive this harsh industry.
“You have to learn the way to beat your path through to make yourself felt and make yourself necessary and find a way that works for you for Vogue. Because a lot of people have come and a lot of people have gone, they just couldn’t take the heart break; you have to be fairly tough to withstand that.”
Grace Coddington, Vogue’s Creative Director.
Grace Coddington, Vogue’s Creative Director.
Some fabulous advice from Grace Coddington there… I think it is Grace who I find the most inspirational and aspire to be like. Her passion for her work and fashion itself is so strong and so genuine, even after over 40 years in the industry… and everything she produces, every image and every ‘look’ is so original and inventive (you would have thought after 40 years she would be starting to run out of ideas!)
“Grace is without question the greatest living stylist, there’s no one better than grace; no one who can make any photographer take more interesting, more romantic, more just stunningly realised pictures than grace… She comes from the idea that fashion is this world of play and make believe; it’s as if some one has gone to the dressing up box and found the most wonderful personal things and put them together.” Sally Singer, Vogue’s Fashion Director
(The 'Vogue team': Candy Pratts Price, Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, Virginia Smith, Sally Singer)I could actually talk about this forever but I think this post is already quite long enough now… but if it fits in with my topics/themes, I would definitely love to include some of the inspiration I have gained from The September Issue within my dissertation or other projects this year…
An inspirational sign off…
“In my early years as a fashion editor, I worked with Norman Parkinson, who was a really big photographer and he taught me to always keep your eyes open, never go to sleep in the car or anything like that, just keep watching, because whatever you see out of the window or wherever, it can inspire you…”
Grace Coddington
