Vogue Philippines excites a glamour-obsessed nation, but is print journalism still in fashion?
- News of the beauty bible’s latest edition has fans swamping Twitter with mocked up covers featuring Filipino celebrities like Catriona Gray and Nadine Lustre
- But in a declining industry, success won’t be easy. Well-wishers say given race-related controversies in Vogue’s past, its new venture must embrace diversity
In launching what will be the luxury magazine’s 29th international edition, the company hopes to tap the Philippines’ “growing luxury fashion market and vibrant creative scene”, according to managing director for global brand licensing Mark Grindel.
And if the reaction to the mocked up covers trending on Twitter are anything to go by, the company is on to a winner.
As someone who grew up reading various international editions of Vogue, and later working as photographer documenting Philippine beauty pageants, Tammy David is among the many eagerly awaiting its launch.
She says the buzz around the magazine is because her nation is obsessed with glamour, fame and beauty.
“You see people making comments on Instagram that this girl is pretty because she is fair-skinned, or that this celebrity kid [could be a] ‘future beauty queen’,” she said.
“The obsession is there and I’m sure people will be excited with Vogue because it’s the gold standard of glamour and fashion.”
“I got really excited as a Filipino queer kid who grew up in the 1980s to 1990s. I remember saving money so I could buy the different issues.”
She attributed the excitement over the launch to a “hunger for recognition internationally”.
“If we’re not winning in other areas, we excel in pageants, boxing, and singing. The arrival of Vogue Philippines gives us the chance to be more present in the international fashion scene,” Alegre said.
She said the “obsession with pageants and beauty” came from Filipinos’ search for identity.
According to Alegre, many Filipinos’ definition of beauty was “mestiza and mestizo” – [fair-skinned] – a reflection of the country’s centuries of colonial rule under the Spanish, Americans and Japanese.
Indeed, given previous controversies, the new magazine is likely to be watched closely for its cultural sensitivities, not least among them the skin tones of the models it uses.
In 2020, Vogue editor-in-chief and artistic director for Condé Nast Anna Wintour admitted making “mistakes” on race-related issues, saying that staff members had faced “hurtful and intolerant” behaviour.
Employees have spoken about the challenges they faced as people of colour and criticised Vogue for neglecting diversity in its models, staff and contributors.
That controversy won’t be the only hurdle the magazine faces. Like printed media worldwide, newspapers and book publishers in the Philippines face an era of declining revenues. In 2020, at least 13 community newspapers suspended their print operations to cut losses, ABS-CBN News reported. The same year, the book publishing industry lost US$3.6 billion.
Both issues – the new magazine’s cultural sensitivity and its profitability – will be keenly watched as an indication of the climate ahead for the industry.
“As a creative worker, I can’t help but frame the launch as a labour issue. With the issues publishing workers face in pay equity and stable employment, not only locally but internationally, what can we expect from Vogue Philippines in that regard,” said freelance writer and director Apa Agbayani.
Agbayani said he believed in the role of cultural journalism to document the times, tell stories and produce meaningful critiques. Whether the economics were in place to enable that vision was another matter, however.
“There is that potential to do that and there are many writers, photographers, editors, and artists who go into publishing with this dream. But I think that you cannot foster a meaningful environment for creative work without a living wage for creative workers,” he said.
“So more than thinking about the prestige, I’m left with questions about how it is going to run. How will it be for creative workers working there?”
David, the photographer who grew up reading Vogue, said the magazine could be an opportunity for Filipino creatives. However, she cautioned that whether it was ultimately successful depended on how it adapted to younger audiences.
“When I used to hang out with fashion photographers, they would get so excited when talking about Vogue India and Vogue China, even wanting to move to those countries,” she said.
“But when I heard that Vogue Philippines was going to launch, I was thinking about how this would be handled. In terms of creative direction, what are their strategies? Because the way markets consume media today is so different from five to 10 years ago. Frankly, titles like Vogue, I’m not sure if they are still relevant to the younger set.”
09:45
Filipino Cinderella story: a journey from domestic helper to beauty queen
David, who also works as a senior content strategist, said the internet was “like water for web-born youth”.
“TikTok had a Vogue filter and people would use it, but when we asked them if they had heard of Vogue, they said they hadn’t.
“I wonder how Vogue will fit in the media diet of the Filipinos. What is the magazine feature equivalent for this generation?”
Alegre, the lecturer, warned that Filipino audiences were thrifty. “A lot of factors can affect the readership. Sometimes magazines don’t get sold upon their release. They are bought as back issues because they are cheaper,” she added.
Given such barriers to success, any fashion magazine today needed to cater to diversity.
Said Alegre: “It must expand what beauty means and be not colourist, not xenophobic, not homophobic. Beauty is not just for cisgender people and for the elite.”
