Inspiration or Imitation: W vs. Vogue

"My Grandma Vogue & Grandma W, what similar features you have!"

In the midst of our current recession, the fashion industry is scaling down significantly. Magazines are reducing their budgets and cutting back on editorial expenses (i.e. photo shoots). Well, apparently cutting back means printing an editorial spread that looks eerily similar to a competing magazine's spread from years past (...including the same photographer). For their September issue, Vogue had fashion photog duo Mert & Marcus shoot Natalia Vodianova for a Little Red Riding Hood themed spread called "Into the Woods". Well, call me the Big Bad Wolf because I'M CRYING FOUL!!! Word on the street (and by the street I mean a select few fashion forums, hehe) is that Vogue blatantly copied a similar editorial done by W magazine back in 2007 which ALSO happened to be shot by Mert & Marcus. I'll let you judge for yourself how similar the two spreads are, with shots from the W spread on the left and ones from the Vogue spread on the right:

"That's One Secret I'll Never Tell..."

...you know you love her! Here's Gossip Girl Blake Lively, in all her gorgeousness, for the cover of Vogue's February issue.

Katie Grand to leave POP for LOVE

POP magazine founder Katie Grand (fashion stylist to names like Marc Jacobs, Giles Deacon, and Muiccia Prada) has just finished her last issue as editor-in-chief of the oh-so-cool fashion publication she started back in 2000. The success of POP should be attributed, though, not only to the wonderful editorial content of the magazine but to her connections and friendships with some of the biggest names in the fashion industry. The, for example, the one time Grand met with photographer Ryan McGinley in New York City to shoot Agyness Deyn, one of her personal friends. According to the story, McGinley had never met Deyn but had been wanting to shoot her for quite some time and since Deyn had never done a nude shoot Grand suggested that they do some nudes and so Deyn agreed and they did. WOW. For the cover POP's the first issue, she photographed Stella McCartney and Luella Bartley hanging out in their panties (yeah, the two designers just happen to be among Grand's closest friends). She's also been able to land Drew Barrymore, Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue, and even Madonna on the over just by calling them up! If that isn't the formula for a successful magazine then I don't know what is. But, the time has now come for Grand to move on and start working on LOVE, the twice-yearly fashion and style magazine she will be launching under the direction and supervision of Condé Nast. Launching at the end of February, LOVE will be "slightly larger than most monthlies," says Condé Nast who promises it will be, "edgy and experimental." Exciting news, indeed, although I do find it interesting that Condé Nast is adding another title to its masthead while barely managing to keep others like Men's Vogue and Portfolio afloat. Only time will tell, but I believe that putting Katie Grand on a larger magazine with a larger budget can only be a good thing.