It's a question I am frequently asked during fashion shows, when I'm interviewed by young bloggers or the various TV channels. And now more than ever, since I'm in Istanbul attending the biennial meeting with the world's Editors-in-Chief (America excepted) to discuss our present and future, on paper and online, the question seems appropriate.
"Talent, creativity, quality, innovation, royalty": these are the key-words of Vogue's world. And I have to say, adding "passion", they are also my beliefs at work. Interacting with so distant and different countries is very stimulating. We all try to do our best to highlight the image of Vogue and, each one of us is a leader in their own country and in their field.
Do we talk with each other? Of course we do, yet in total autonomy regarding the decisions and lines we want to follow for our magazines. Are we competitive? Yes, of course we are. And the fact that Italy is number one is great, also in consideration of how small is our country if compared to others. We exchange fashion shootings but never among European editions. It may happen that emerging markets such as India, China or Korea publish features realized for other European or US magazines. But the good thing is that each magazine reflects the habits and traditions of their country, and also the Editor's personality.
And when we are all together it's nice to see how different we are. In everything. With mutual respect and admiration. And with due autonomy. It's fair that each Editor follows her own editorial line in full respect of the magazine's name. Today Vogue is published in 14 countries, each with the characteristics chosen and selected by, and adjusted to, the country of origin.
Often the photographers are the same, just like the models and the stylists. But this does not limit individual creativity. And also regarding the internet each magazine runs its own website, which reflects their different identities. That's also because different countries follow different practices. In China Facebook is blacked out by the government therefore Twitter is the only social network: everybody has hundreds of thousands of tweets and followers. In Italy, like almost everywhere, Facebook is stronger that all the twitters, while in France the Twitter phenomenon is exponential. So, while the Editors of Vogue China, Korea and Taiwan tweet, I write my daily post.
Interacting is always creative, and the interchange is necessary to understand how these countries we still know little of are evolving. In times of globalization, the various Vogue editions at least maintain their individuality. Each in their own way!
