Day 5: Visiting VOGUE

( VOGUE Italia - Plus Size Issue)       (Mens Vogue Italia L'UOMO)

In one word, I can explain where I went today, VOGUE.  The name says it all, like saying you just visited God at the gates of heaven.    Before going into detail of the experiences just saying the name it is already known that the experience was unreal.    When I first saw on the itinerary that one of our visits was Vogue Italia, I thought I forgot to put in my contacts, but it was real, and it happened.  Vogue is such an important part of the industry standing at the top, higher than any other fashion magazine.  The magazine is so popular, that people outside the fashion industry know the name and know its significance in fashion.   To work for Vogue it ultimately finding the pot of gold at the end of the retail rainbow.  When we first came to the black steal gated doors with cameras everywhere, seeing deliveries of bags and suitcases of garments delivered on vespa’s while waiting, the atmosphere was like something out of a movie.  When the group finally walked upstairs up the flights of stairs to the Vogue offices, we all looked in awe.   Sarah Maino who is the Fashion Editor of Vogue  was our tour guide of the offices, showing us what office was where and what they do, such as the copyright room (proof reads), graphic design, talent section and other rooms that have either 1 or about 4-5 people working together keeping attention to detail to that area of the magazine. 

            The Editor in Chief of Vogue Italia is Franca Sozzani, who was unfortunately not there. She is basically the Anna Wintor of Milan.    I found it interesting that VOGUE Italia and VOGUE in the U.S have no common grounds, and do not contact each other.  A trend in Italy (Europe), may be old or not yet popular in the United States.

     After the tour of the offices on the floor in detail,  Sarah Maino told us a little about herself, as well as some pointers and notes for success in the industry.  Sarah started working for Vogue at age 19, and has been there for 15 years.  She says that when she first started she knew nothing about fashion, and did not know the importance and significance of VOGUE until a few months in.  She works long hours,  having a typical day be 11 hours (which is common in this industry).  There are 4 people including herself that work with Franca, for the final details in the magazine.   She, like many people in industry I have talked to, says that "the key to success is keeping the passion".     VOGUE Italia does have interns, who are selected from all over the world, and at most 5, which goes to show how elite  an internship with VOGUE is.  She also mentioned that it is rare for someone to be hired.  The reason for this is that once someone is hired for the position, they typically stay there for years, unless they remove themselves or are removed, but typically a job opening is never available.   :(

      After our experience through the hallways of VOGUE, we were interviewed by Fulvio, stay tuned to see the interview that will be updated on this post.

       Later in the day at 3:00 we attended a fashion shoot at the school IED,  which is a fashion design school, similar to NABA (the school myself and the JWU study abroad classes are held at).  The photo shoot was very exciting to see the tasks that are required to put together the fashion shoot, and their attention to detail I thought was very specific.  The theme for the shoot was pinup.  I was very impressed that the school has their own photo shoot room setup.  They are very lucky to have that.

  This evening we all attended a Tommy Hilfiger cocktail party for the launch of his new Summer 2011 line, which was held in the store corso Buenos Aires.  The party was a great way to end the day.  It was a very exciting environment with upbeat music and entertaining hosts (employees).  I definately enjoyed this party, because it was a tasted of home in another country.