Vogue 100
It seems to be a fairly common occurrence: specific images, clothes and people from the hand-me-down, finished with pages of a mother's Vogue being photographically remembered years later. No doubt many of the visitors to the National Portrait Gallery's current show will be coming with lifetimes of these memories in mind.
Reflecting on the publication's 100 years the show is much more than just a history of fashions. The magazine's century-long success has made it a valuable record of a wider cultural and aesthetic changes.
Who knew that Vogue pulped and recylced their entire paper economy as part of the war effort in 1942 – that's not just invoices, notes and type - the effort also included original prints of images."The Steichens, Sheelers and de Meyers, Horsts and Beatons, all gone." Thankfully copies still exist in various private archives, but the challenge of assembling some of this material must have been enormous.
Visit the exhibition to be reminded of long lost copies, see the images as photographs in the flesh and examine how fashions have both evolved and repeated over the years. A behind the scenes documentary of the magazine is coming soon.
Vogue 100: A Century of Style
Kirsi Pyrhönen in Mongolia by Tim Walker, 2011 ©Tim Walker
David Hockney, Peter Schlesinger and Maudie James
by Cecil Beaton, 1968 ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd
Anne Gunning in Jaipur by Norman Parkinson, 1956 ©Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Linda Evangelista by Patrick Demarchelier, 1991 ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd
Reflecting on the publication's 100 years the show is much more than just a history of fashions. The magazine's century-long success has made it a valuable record of a wider cultural and aesthetic changes.
Who knew that Vogue pulped and recylced their entire paper economy as part of the war effort in 1942 – that's not just invoices, notes and type - the effort also included original prints of images."The Steichens, Sheelers and de Meyers, Horsts and Beatons, all gone." Thankfully copies still exist in various private archives, but the challenge of assembling some of this material must have been enormous.
Visit the exhibition to be reminded of long lost copies, see the images as photographs in the flesh and examine how fashions have both evolved and repeated over the years. A behind the scenes documentary of the magazine is coming soon.
Vogue 100: A Century of Style
Kirsi Pyrhönen in Mongolia by Tim Walker, 2011 ©Tim Walker
David Hockney, Peter Schlesinger and Maudie James
by Cecil Beaton, 1968 ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd
Anne Gunning in Jaipur by Norman Parkinson, 1956 ©Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Linda Evangelista by Patrick Demarchelier, 1991 ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd