Vogue, influential American fashion and lifestyle magazine. It was founded in 1892 as a weekly high-society journal, created by Arthur Baldwin Turnure for New York City’s social elite and covering news of the local social scene, traditions of high society, and social etiquette; it also reviewed books, plays, and music. Condé Montrose Nast, the founder of Condé Nast Publications, bought Vogue in 1909 and transformed it into a women’s fashion magazine focused on beauty, composure, and etiquette. Vogue soon became known for its distinctive photographs and high editorial quality. Nast hired the best illustrators and photographers of the day, and
For 129 years, Vogue magazine has been the world’s most prestigious style bible. Nina-Sophia Miralles looks back at the moguls, models and eccentric editors that made it a success – even during the Blitz
The first edition of Vogue hit newsstands across America on 17 December 1892, priced at ten cents, with a black-and-white illustration of a debutante on the cover. It was the brainchild of Arthur Baldwin Turnure, a lawyer turned publisher and a member of New York high society.
Arthur dubbed Vogue the magazine ‘written by the smart set, for the smart set’. By making it a high-quality society magazine, he appealed to both middle-class readers, who would buy it to see what the rich were up to, and to upper-class readers, who bought it to feed their egos.