The Vogue Factor: From Front Desk to Editor (2013) is
Kirstie Clements’ memoir of her working life at Vogue Australia.
In 1985, at 23 years, Clements answered a “tiny”
advertisement for a receptionist at Vogue Australia. The Vogue. The fashion magazine.
Even as a receptionist, Clements “decided then and
there I was never going to leave.” Six months later she was an assistant in
Vogue promotions where she worked at everything “from conceptualising the
shoot, casting the models, and choosing the clothes, photographer and the
location.” In this position she “began to understand the level of perfection
expected at Vogue. It was extraordinary.” By 1988 she was assisting the beauty editor
and writing fashion stories. “It was my dream job.” This was at a time when
there were no computers. Layouts were done on paper and copy was pasted on
using bromides – “type that had been painstakingly cut out with a scalpel and
stuck down” with glue.
By the early 1990s Clements was the beauty editor,
socialising with Kylie Minogue, Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour, and with Michael
Hutchence in Paris in 1992. It was that year in Paris when she met the man who
was to become her husband. The Paris Years, from 1994-1997, took her away from
Australia although she continued to work for the magazine until she returned to
become editor in 1998 – the top position in Vogue Australia.
Clements tells of her hirings and firings, her
strategies for success, the mystique of a sellable cover and her editorial
achievements. One interesting chapter is about the December 2004 edition with
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark – and the cover with Mary in the purple satin
dress. It was a “spectacular success and a complete sell-out, even with its
increased print run of around 80000.” She writes of the covers that worked and
those that didn’t - and the rise and fall of magazine sales.
There’s plenty of name-dropping, but it is not a
catty revengeful read. Rather, Clements praises many in name, and
diplomatically avoids names when the situation is less than favourable. But she
does tell of the good, the bad, and the ugly side of a working life in Vogue.
Clements begins and ends her memoir with her
unceremonious dismissal in May 2012 after working at Vogue Australia for 25
years and as editor for 13 years. Her dismissal was not because of poor sales –
on the contrary, “circulation was steady … readership was at an all-time high …
we had been voted Magazine of the Year and the previous November at the annual
Australian Magazine Awards, we were commended by the industry for our
consistent excellence, innovation and quality.” But the Vogue she knew was
over.
This is an interesting read, not just for the stories
of well-known celebrities, models, photographers, fashion designers and names
in the Vogue circle – in Australia and overseas – and not just for the inside
business dealings – but also for the historical timeline – over 25 years – of of
an institution and of fashion.
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