On Everything #148: Anatomy of a Magazine Cover

Announcement: Just one week until my book Torn:Fashion and Postmodernism is out (Amazon preorders will get it on Sep 1 because of its scheduling rules)! If you prefer an electronic version, it will also be available on the same day. More info and worldwide preorder here. I am happy to see it as a #1 debut in the Fashion and Business category. This means a lot to me. If you have not preordered your copy, you can still do so, whether on a major platform or from your favorite book store, just ask them for a copy.

Main fare:

In the recent history of media debasement the fashion glossy magazines occupy a prominent spot, marked by a series of capitulations to mass taste and the demands of commerce. First came the Kim Kardashian April 2014 Vogue cover after Anna Wintour swore she would never put someone so vulgar on the pedestal that is the cover of the most important fashion magazine in the world. Then came the November 2023 puff piece on Lauren Sanches Bezos, who makes Kim look like a model of sophistication (and then the cover on Vogue Weddings). The current crop of September issue covers is the riches of embarrassment. The Elle US one probably takes the cake, and should join the dubious pantheon of glossy sadness. It is worth deconstructing the cover to see what it tells us about the contemporary media zeitgeist.

The cover depicts the singer Rihanna. While it is totally fine to put one of the most famous female singers on the cover of a major women’s fashion magazine, it is worth noting that Rihanna has not put out an album in a decade. In the past, people became famous for doing something; today they are famous for being famous. At this point her fame is autonomous, a self-generating signifier without a referent, which puts Rihanna’s celebrity in line with today’s cultural dynamics and provides further proof that we live in Baudrillardian hyperreality, where only signs and symbols matter, and where substance is removed.

The cover layout itself is an emblem of the current state of fashion, which also consists of empty signifiers. In the photo Rihanna wears a Dior tiara that is literally just the brand’s logo. The logo is superimposed onto the name of the magazine, partially obscuring it, signaling – clearly and unapologetically – that the brand is more important than the magazine itself. (I devote a chapter to this dynamic in my book.)