Why do you want to be published in a magazine you don’t read?

We deserve more honesty in Fashion

We’ve all been apart of this conversation as we venture off to be the very best that no one ever was in the Fashion Industry. That conversation that has not only been used as a stick of judgement, but also a gatekeeper to those shallow enough to believe in its validity; the conversation about “high fashion” and “I want to be published in (insert generic magazine name here)”. These conversations often times are more shallow in their presentation than we realize. I won’t say it’s because the person having the conversation is shallow (benefit of the doubt), but because these conversations are how we’ve been introduced to the industry. We then regurgitate whatever we were fed whenever we’re speaking on the industry to others. If we take a look at just the answers people casually give when asked about publishing goals, the proof is in the publishing wish.

• Vogue (Including European Variations)
• GQ (Including European Variations)
• Playboy
• Maxim
• Harper’s Bazaar (when they want to get fancy)

Now I’m not saying these magazines are bad to want to be published in, or that they are poor goals to set for yourself, but what I am saying is that these goals often times don’t actually reflect the desires of the people presenting them in conversations. People tend to go with the most recognizable and repeated brands when engaging in an industry for the first time in an attempt to “speak the language”.

You don’t have to care about Fashion as an industry, a genre, or a study, to know Vogue, GQ, Playboy, Maxim or Harper’s Bazaar. These publications have transcended into pop-culture years ago. Knowing those brands say as much about your love for fashion as knowing the Lakers says about your love for Basketball.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who actually knows about a sport versus a person who watches it whenever an event is happening? They can’t wait to use stats, player names, a coach’s series win record, or talk salary cap space with you and imagine their dream free-agency scenario. When that casual watcher discusses the game, it’s about what they heard someone else say, what they see a lot of people reacting to, and they shake that together for an “I too know of this sport!” starter-pack cocktail.

My point is, it’s time we move past the surface and begin asking the questions that can guide us to deeper desires and more honest pursuits in our fashion careers.

• What do I actually like about fashion and how can I explain that specifically?
• Do I even want to be published in a magazine? Why or Why not?
• What are my inspirations and how did that lead me to a career in fashion?
• How involved am I in the Fashion industry or it’s parallels?

Taking this approach will liberate people within the Fashion Industry and allow them the ability to create and pursue goals with personal intention and commitment. It takes personal intention and commitment to change an environment, to evolve an industry, to have fulfillment in career pursuits. Having these shallow conversations with even more shallow answers only build roadblocks that reinforce the same habits and patterns that plague our industry.

What I’d challenge all of us who claim the Fashion Industry as our career environment to do is grow deeper roots and have better conversations. The Fashion Industry is not one size fits all, or one aesthetic set over another. However we indirectly limit the very diversity in creation that we’re building for when we don’t do the deep work and it causes the Fashion Industry to appear that way.

There are more magazines, brands, agencies, photographers, models, designers, and cities, that are able to reflect your personal taste than ever before. We have a responsibility, I believe, to be aware of that, and address that in the conversations we have.