'American Vogue' used a rose photographed by Irving Penn in 1970 for its June/July 2020 cover. Vogue / Instagram
'American Vogue' used a rose photographed by Irving Penn in 1970 for its June/July 2020 cover. Vogue / Instagram
'American Vogue' used a rose photographed by Irving Penn in 1970 for its June/July 2020 cover. Vogue / Instagram
'American Vogue' used a rose photographed by Irving Penn in 1970 for its June/July 2020 cover. Vogue / Instagram

Has the pandemic made the glossy fashion magazine cover irrelevant?


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Vogue Italia started the trend when it ran its April 2020 issue with a plain white cover. No photo, no headlines, just the title on a pure white page, as a tribute to the victims of Covid-19.

Then American Vogue used an image of a single red rose on its June / July 2020 cover, under the headline "Our common thread". The image was shot by Irving Penn in 1970.

Does this mean that the traditional fashion magazine cover – all glossy and glamorous – is shifting towards something less predictable, less hard sell and far more "authentic"?

But first, what is a traditional fashion magazine cover? It is a professionally taken image of a model or celebrity, wearing clothes put together by a stylist, and with hair and make-up by dedicated professionals.

The location can be in a studio, with lighting that took two assistants three hours to set up, or out on location, somewhere wistful and fabulous, that required either a long car journey or plane ride to get to.

The resulting images are the work of a team of people, endlessly hovering, constantly checking and adjusting bits of clothing here, a stray hair there, to get the best possible result. Once taken, the image is then retouched to remove any perceived flaws – from spots and dark circles under the eyes to creases in clothing.

It is, in effect, an entirely artificial image, polished and buffed to an unrealistic sheen. As supermodel (and mother to fellow model Kaia Gerber) Cindy Crawford once famously said: “Even I don’t look like me when I wake up."

Covers featuring celebrities often have faces blurred with Photoshop or lifted and tightened with cosmetic tinkering, offering another artificial vision of beauty that seemingly no mere mortal could obtain.

But then, as the full enormity of Covid-19 began to unfold, these shoots stopped almost overnight, as flights were cancelled and people chose to socially distance themselves. Far-off locations were suddenly unreachable, as were models and photographers, scattered across the world.

The fashion magazine is a symbiotic extension of the fashion industry (neither can truly exist without the other), and with stores closed and borders shut, there followed a scrabble from brands and titles to rethink, reposition and to find a suitable "tone". Suddenly, extolling the wonders of the latest Oscar de la Renta gown or new Gucci handbag felt a little, well, off the mark.

This weekend, the former editor of French Vogue, Carine Roitfeld, hosted her annual CR Fashion amfAR fundraising runway show, entitled CR Runway with amFAR against Covid-19: Fashion Unites. Normally playing out as a lavish catwalk event, watched by guests who had donated large sums to the charity for the privilege, this year it was a very different affair.

With models now all stuck at home and clothes unable to be delivered, the show became a gaggle of famous faces (think Halima Aden, Winnie Harlow, Natasha Poly and Karlie Kloss) doing their own make-up and donning their own clothes, before strutting up and down their living rooms, hallways and kitchens.

Being models, the make-up and clothes were all still inevitably fabulous, but it showed a very human side to these normally perfect women that was endearing to watch.

Similarly, as part of the recent One World: Together at Home online music event, artists including The Rolling Stones, Elton John and Lady Gaga performed from their own homes, emphasising the human connection, as we glimpsed flashes of famous houses and were privy to mistakes, something conspicuously absent at large-scale events and glossy fashion shoots.

Now, as the new reality of a post-coronavirus world is starting to tentatively unfold, and we are mindful of proximity and the use of hand sanitiser, are we searching for something more meaningful, more relatable, more authentic?

Are we tired of seeing Botoxed celebrities, underlying our own flaws and imperfections with their plastic symmetry? Instead, do we now crave seeing people who are as lost, nervous and unsure as ourselves?

No one has a magic ball to predict what the future holds, but what is starting to become apparent is that the world we all had, pre Covid-19, is now gone, perhaps forever. And while we wait nervously, perhaps we are craving glimpses of real people, without artifice and trappings, unafraid to show their vulnerability.

How the glossy fashion cover will fit into this new world remains to be seen, but there is a strong chance that while it may be images of models, they will be wearing normal clothes, in a normal environment, and wearing little or no make-up. As we look for answers to what comes next, perhaps we will find some solace in not aspiring to be something we are not, but instead becoming comfortable with who we already are.

How it works

1) The liquid nanoclay is a mixture of water and clay that aims to convert desert land to fertile ground

2) Instead of water draining straight through the sand, it apparently helps the soil retain water

3) One application is said to last five years

4) The cost of treatment per hectare (2.4 acres) of desert varies from $7,000 to $10,000 per hectare 

Prop idols

Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.

Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)

An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.

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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)

Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.

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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)

Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.