Cuts on the Bias

This is a test

WWD reports today that Conde Nast, the company that has laid off a bazillion people this week, has launched a new iphone app for GQ.

Conde Nast says the app will not only make money, but is also vetted by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the first of its kind to get the agency’s approval. That means sales of the app will count toward the magazine’s rate base. The memo goes on to read,

"The GQ application, which replicates the entire December issue, will be available on iTunes for $2.99, and will include touchscreen control, video, music and zoom features that make the screen easily readable. Users can buy music featured within the magazine through iTunes, and the application will include links to Web pages and phone numbers for brands listed in the fashion credits and interstitial advertisements that aren’t in the magazine."

Now that magazines are starting to catch up with technology, are readers going to adapt? I have always felt that print will never be dead-have you ever travelled on a plane or train? You can't read your ipod or Kindle when you're stuck on the runway for 2 hours due to minor technical problems. And you certainly can't read in a subway (yet), I also just like to look a big pictures right in front of my face, especially if they're fashion images.

Can both print and digital provide unique value that don't compete? Does print become more mass appeal and digital more niche?

Chill.

I wanted to enjoy my Sunday morning but the NY Times made that impossible. Normally, I can cruise its columns and articles with ease, agreeing with most it has to say and ignoring what irritates. Not so today when two of my favorite columnists decided to whine in unison. Maureen Dowd has her skirts in a knot over Obama's tendency to compromise and Frank Rich seems ready to lead a pitchfork brigade in pursuit of the  monstrous Goldman Sachs who he thinks has the Obama administration by the short hairs. Thomas Friedman, traditionally a safe harbor of rational insights, states the obvious about Obama's choices in Afghanistan so no respite there.

Leave it to Bono to salvage my Sunday. His piece, Rebranding America is poorly titled and weakly written but his point of view is refreshingly global, upbeat and on point. With candor apparently only rock stars can afford, he points out why Obama deserves the Nobel prize despite his short time in office noting that "In the same week that Mr. Obama won the Nobel, the United States was ranked as the most admired country in the world, leapfrogging from seventh to the top of the Nation Brands Index survey — the biggest jump any country has ever made." 

Mo, Frank, consider the difficulty of that transformation. Is there any other person alive today who could have pulled that off within 6 months of taking office? The correct answer is No. So can you please cut the man some slack? At least give him a full year in office before you declare him weak and ineffectual.

Another Kanye Moment

President Obama on receiving Nobel Peace Prize:  "surprised and deeply humbled."

Most pundits, columnists and people who have not received said prize but decided it was appropriate to imitate Kanye West: "Obama you nice, but [insert favorite name] shoulda got this prize."

Are you kidding me? Give this man any prize out there. He's working way harder than the rest of us.

Let me tell you a secret

A lot of people complain (rightfully so) about the emaciated women on covers of magazines, runways, catalogs and AD campaigns-but aside from the obvious "beauty in youth" notion, there's actually an explanation.

Let's say you're a designer and you want a certain sort of silk, it's $32/yard wholesale and you need to buy 100yds. You first make a sample of a dress out of this fabric and the sample ends up taking 3 yds of fabric. Doing the math you can produce around 30 dresses, assuming they are all going to be the same size. When designers are on a budget they need to make smaller amounts and smaller sizes-unfortunate but true.

Designers, especially young or new ones don't have enough capital to make size runs of 0-24, also the stores that really hike up the prices (giving them more money to create next years collections) don't carry anything higher than 12. It's a little bit of a "what came first" scenario but the bottom line is that it is cost affective to make the first sample (the one you see down the runway) small.

Now business wise, designers like to choose models to "represent" their brand, thus that model becomes the "face" of the brand. That's why those little models get the AD campaigns, they are the face of Chanel or Dior etc.

I'm not giving an excuse to designers-it's actually more cost effective to make clothes for the masses-but, fashion, quite often is about fantasy and escapism, not practicality and mass production.

If the J.Crews and Gaps of the world would just vary their models (like the Dove AD campaign shown above), show what the clothes look like on a size 10 or maybe on a size 4 45 year old, they could stay relevant and make money in a time when I don't even want to buy new socks.

Real Models

The next segment of the work force to hit the unemployment line may be models. Not only are fashion magazines closing at a rapid clip, but some--like Germany's Brigitte -- are outlawing the use of models and instead relying on real women with "normal" bodies.

I approve. I love looking at thin, beautiful women as much as most 20 year old men, but I don't like using them to decide if I should buy a jacket, pants or pair of boots because it requires far too much imagination on my part. First I have to imagine what the outfit will look like on a body half as tall. Next I have to add about 40 lbs to the figure and almost as many years. Finally, I have to picture how it would look on someone who knows how to stand up straight and isn't making "sex with me now" eyes.

Unfortunately, I fear this will go too far and I'll soon see my octogenariun neighbor modeling recycled rain ponchos or one of the 300 lb-ers at my gym prancing around in her Hanes. Maybe we could agree to use only European real women.

And the running back wore pink

After I logged onto my fantasy football league Sunday morning, I turned on FOX (which is the only time I watch that network, oh, except for Glee) and imagine my shock when all the men are wearing hot pink!

The NFL must have read the memo about women watching/participating in fantasy football this year, because they had a HUGE breast cancer awareness campaign yesterday. The men were wearing pink gloves, pink shoes, wrist bands and pink stickers on the helmets. This was very smart for many reasons...

1.SWOON whoever came up with this marketing campaign- I can't believe you got all these guys to wear hot pink-it's all I could see on the field, cute hot pink feet and fingers. I was giggling all day.

2.It didn't seem girly at all (mostly because someone made the wise decision to use hot pink vs. baby pink) it seemed more like a jazzy fashion statement, like NFL meets Studio 54.

3.Fantastic PR for the NFL, here I am, a 30 year old fashion editor praising the NFL on my fashion blog.

The next project should be "NFL supports the arts!", they can all wear opera gloves and patent leather tap shoes. SIGN ME UP.

Bump and Grimace

I am fortunate to have incredible grandmothers. One taught me to sew: a task that trains you to closely follow directions while looking for ways to innovate. The other taught me to find beauty where none seems to exist--a skill that can get you through a rough patch in a marriage, a career or a life. However, neither of them taught me to strip for which, after watching this video, I am truly thankful.

Call me ageist, culturally elite, rude, whatever term describes my disapproval, but I prefer my grandmas to be soft, cuddly and not wearing spandex. I love these dancers' youthful exoticism and don't question the glamor and appeal evident in their photos. It's just time to stop. Now.