As is often the way when it comes to fashion, what’s old is new again: Vogue Italia ‘s January 2020 issue is replacing its usual glossy photographs and editorial fashion spreads with illustrations. The reason? To reduce the environmental impact of photoshoots.
“This is the first time Vogue has done this since the introduction of photography in its pages in the early 20th century,” Condé Nast, Vogue ‘s publishing company, said in a press release on Jan. 3. “The purpose of this rather bold move is, simply, to be more sustainable.”
What’s so wasteful about the magazine’s usual production? “One hundred and fifty people involved. About twenty flights and a dozen or so train journeys. Forty cars on standby. Sixty international deliveries. Lights switched on for at least ten hours non-stop, partly powered by gasoline-fueled generators. Food waste from the catering services. Plastic to wrap the garments. Electricity to recharge phones, cameras…” Emanuele Farneti, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Italia said in a statement explaining the resources that went into the fashion editorials in the magazine’s September 2019 issue.
Fashion magazines’ September issues are renowned for being especially heavy due to coverage of the new season’s collections and campaign ads. Nonetheless, they offer insight into the scale of the resources spent on production.
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*NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE A preview of the January 2020 Vogue Italia Special Issue on newsstands January 7th @Yoshitaka_Amano featuring @LindseyWixson in @Gucci Cover 5 of 7 *** "All of the covers, as well as the features of our January issue, have been drawn by artists, ranging from well-known art icons and emerging talents to comic book legends, who have created without travelling, shipping entire wardrobes of clothes or polluting in any way. The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them. This is a first, Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed. Thanks to this idea, and to these artists' process, the money saved in the production of this issue will go towards financing a project that really deserves it: the restoration of @FondazioneQueriniStampalia in Venice, severely damaged by the recent floods.” @efarneti See more via link in bio. Full credits: #LindseyWixson @thesocietynyc Editor in chief @efarneti Creative director @ferdinandoverderi Fashion @franragazzi @robertaninapinna Casting directors @pg_dmcasting @samuel_ellis @ DM Fashion Studio #VogueValues
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For the January issue, Vogue Italia instead asked seven artists — David Salle, Vanessa Beecroft, Cassi Namoda, Milo Manara, Delphine Desane, Paolo Ventura, and Yoshitaka Amano — to each draw a cover. The resulting images span the mediums of painting, drawing, graphic design, comic book design and collage.
“The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them ,” Farneti wrote in an Instagram post unveiling the covers. “This is a first… Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed.”
Founded in 1892, Vogue ‘s earliest covers were all illustrated; the magazine later became one of the first periodicals to run a cover with a color photograph in 1932, per the New York Times , amid a larger gravitation towards photography. Vogue Italia ‘s January cover is the first time the brand has had an illustrated cover since “the introduction of photography in its pages in the early 20th century,” according to Condé Nast.
Farneti also wrote that the money saved by not producing photoshoots will be donated to the restoration of the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice, Italy. The museum has been damaged by recent flooding, which scientists argue has been worsened by climate change.
Condé Nast said the issue is just one example of efforts being undertaken by the brand to be more sustainable — for example, Vogue Italia will reportedly change its packaging to 100% compostable plastic wrap in the next year. In December 2019, all 25 editors-in-chief of Vogue brands signed a new set of principles , which included a commitment to sustainability .
See all seven illustrated covers below:
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*NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE A preview of the January 2020 Vogue Italia Special Issue on newsstands January 7th @David_Salle featuring @LiliSumner in @Gucci styled by @TonneGood Cover 1 of 7 *** "All of the covers, as well as the features of our January issue, have been drawn by artists, ranging from well-known art icons and emerging talents to comic book legends, who have created without travelling, shipping entire wardrobes of clothes or polluting in any way. The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them. This is a first, Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed. Thanks to this idea, and to these artists' process, the money saved in the production of this issue will go towards financing a project that really deserves it: the restoration of @FondazioneQueriniStampalia in Venice, severely damaged by the recent floods". @efarneti See more via link in bio. Full credits: #LiliSumner @nextmodels Editor in chief @efarneti Creative director @ferdinandoverderi Casting directors @pg_dmcasting @samuel_ellis @ DM Fashion Studio #VogueValues
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*NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE A preview of the January 2020 Vogue Italia Special Issue on newsstands January 7th Female figure wearing @Gucci by Vanessa Beecroft @VBuntitled Cover 2 of 7 *** "All of the covers, as well as the features of our January issue, have been drawn by artists, ranging from well-known art icons and emerging talents to comic book legends, who have created without travelling, shipping entire wardrobes of clothes or polluting in any way. The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them. This is a first, Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed. Thanks to this idea, and to these artists' process, the money saved in the production of this issue will go towards financing a project that really deserves it: the restoration of @FondazioneQueriniStampalia in Venice, severely damaged by the recent floods.” @efarneti See more via link in bio. Full credits: Editor in chief @efarneti Creative director @ferdinandoverderi Fashion @franragazzi @robertaninapinna Casting directors @pg_dmcasting @samuel_ellis @ DM Fashion Studio #VogueValues
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*NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE A preview of the January 2020 Vogue Italia Special Issue on newsstands January 7th @DelphineDesane @DelphineDesaneStudio featuring @AssaBaradjiofficial in @Gucci Cover 3 of 7 *** "All of the covers, as well as the features of our January issue, have been drawn by artists, ranging from well-known art icons and emerging talents to comic book legends, who have created without travelling, shipping entire wardrobes of clothes or polluting in any way. The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them. This is a first, Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed. Thanks to this idea, and to these artists' process, the money saved in the production of this issue will go towards financing a project that really deserves it: the restoration of @FondazioneQueriniStampalia in Venice, severely damaged by the recent floods.” @efarneti See more via link in bio. Full credits: #AssaBaradji @heroesmodels Editor in chief @efarneti Creative director @ferdinandoverderi Fashion @franragazzi @robertaninapinna Casting directors @pg_dmcasting @samuel_ellis @ DM Fashion Studio #VogueValues
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*NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE A preview of the January 2020 Vogue Italia Special Issue on newsstands January 7th @Cas_Amandaa @Cas_Namoda featuring @Ambar_Cristalz in @Gucci Cover 4 of 7 *** "All of the covers, as well as the features of our January issue, have been drawn by artists, ranging from well-known art icons and emerging talents to comic book legends, who have created without travelling, shipping entire wardrobes of clothes or polluting in any way. The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them. This is a first, Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed. Thanks to this idea, and to these artists' process, the money saved in the production of this issue will go towards financing a project that really deserves it: the restoration of @FondazioneQueriniStampalia in Venice, severely damaged by the recent floods.” @efarneti See more via link in bio. Full credits: #AmbarCristalZarzuela @nextmodels Editor in chief @efarneti Creative director @ferdinandoverderi Fashion @franragazzi @robertaninapinna Casting directors @pg_dmcasting @samuel_ellis @ DM Fashion Studio #VogueValues
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*NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE A preview of the January 2020 Vogue Italia Special Issue on newsstands January 7th @Yoshitaka_Amano featuring @LindseyWixson in @Gucci Cover 5 of 7 *** "All of the covers, as well as the features of our January issue, have been drawn by artists, ranging from well-known art icons and emerging talents to comic book legends, who have created without travelling, shipping entire wardrobes of clothes or polluting in any way. The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them. This is a first, Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed. Thanks to this idea, and to these artists' process, the money saved in the production of this issue will go towards financing a project that really deserves it: the restoration of @FondazioneQueriniStampalia in Venice, severely damaged by the recent floods.” @efarneti See more via link in bio. Full credits: #LindseyWixson @thesocietynyc Editor in chief @efarneti Creative director @ferdinandoverderi Fashion @franragazzi @robertaninapinna Casting directors @pg_dmcasting @samuel_ellis @ DM Fashion Studio #VogueValues
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*NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE A preview of the January 2020 Vogue Italia Special Issue on newsstands January 7th @MiloManara_official featuring @OliviaVinten in @Gucci Cover 6 of 7 *** “I owe everything to women,” says Milo Manara, the father of erotic comics. The artist who collaborated with Hugo Pratt, Federico Fellini, and Alejandro Jodorowsky, this year, is celebrating fifty years of career. “For my cover I referenced the greatest of models, Michelangelo’s David, but in female form. I wanted to recreate the same pose, the quiet pride of the victor, which is the attitude that represents femininity in our times despite male resistance. David took on Goliath’s brute force with a slingshot. He won by using intelligence. Today, women have a great Goliath to defeat: male chauvinism, the patriarchy, and violence.” #MiloManara See more via link in bio. Full credits: #OliviaVinten @dnamodels Editor in chief @efarneti Creative director @ferdinandoverderi Fashion @franragazzi @robertaninapinna Casting directors @pg_dmcasting @samuel_ellis @ DM Fashion Studio #VogueValues
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*NO PHOTOSHOOT PRODUCTION WAS REQUIRED IN THE MAKING OF THIS ISSUE A preview of the January 2020 Vogue Italia Special Issue on newsstands January 7th @Paolo.Ventura featuring @FeliceNova in @Gucci Cover 7 of 7 *** "All of the covers, as well as the features of our January issue, have been drawn by artists, ranging from well-known art icons and emerging talents to comic book legends, who have created without travelling, shipping entire wardrobes of clothes or polluting in any way. The challenge was to prove it is possible to show clothes without photographing them. This is a first, Vogue Italia has never had an illustrated cover: and as far as I know no issue of Vogue Italia in which photography is not the primary visual medium has ever been printed. Thanks to this idea, and to these artists' process, the money saved in the production of this issue will go towards financing a project that really deserves it: the restoration of @FondazioneQueriniStampalia in Venice, severely damaged by the recent floods.” @efarneti See more via link in bio. Full credits: #FeliceNovaNoordhoff @michamodels Editor in chief @efarneti Creative director @ferdinandoverderi Fashion @franragazzi @robertaninapinna Casting directors @pg_dmcasting @samuel_ellis @ DM Fashion Studio #VogueValues
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