Vogue (stylized in all caps), also known as American Vogue, is a monthly women's fashion magazine that covers style news, including haute couture, beauty, fashion, culture, living, and runway. It is part of the global collection of Condé Nast's VOGUE media. Since 2025, Chloe Malle has overseen the magazine's editorial content. Anna Wintour served as editor-in-chief of the publication from 1988 to 2025 and now leads global operations for the publication as Global Chief Content Officer and Global Editorial Director overseeing Vogue and other Condé Nast titles.[2][3]
Headquartered at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, Vogue began in 1892 as a weekly and has since transitioned into a monthly magazine. Since its founding, Vogue has featured numerous actors, musicians, models, athletes, and other prominent celebrities within its pages.
British Vogue, launched in 1916, as the first international edition, whilst the Italian version Vogue Italia has been called the top fashion magazine in the world.[4] As of March 2025, there are 28 international editions. Eleven of these editions are published by Condé Nast (British Vogue, Vogue Arabia, Vogue Hong Kong, Vogue Deutsch, Vogue España, Vogue France, Vogue India, Vogue Italia, Vogue Japan, Vogue México y Latinoamérica, and Vogue Taiwan). The remaining 16 editions are published under licence.
Background
Vogue is an American fashion magazine. The magazine is published eight times per year for March (Spring), April, May, June/July/August (Summer), September, October, November, and December/January/February (Winter).[5]
Originally Vogue was published weekly then bimonthly from 1910 (24 issues per year, 1910–1944; 22 issues per year, 1945; 23 issues per year, 1946–1947; 20 issues per year, 1948–1972). The magazine became a monthly in 1973 publishing 12 issues per year, in 2020 the June and July issues were merged and in 2023 and the January and February issues were merged. From 2026, Vogue publishes 8 issues per year.
Founded in 1892 by Arthur Baldwin Turnure. Turnure served as the publisher, Harry Whitney McVickar as art director, and Josephine Redding as the editor. Following Turnure's death on April 13, 1906, Marie Harrison became the majority shareholder of The Vogue Company and in 1909 The Vogue Company was acquired by Condé Nast.
Editors
Circulation
History
1892–1909: Early years
Arthur Baldwin Turnure (1856–1906), an American businessman, founded Vogue as a weekly newspaper based in New York City, sponsored by Kristoffer Wright, with its first issue on December 17, 1892.[13][14] The first issue was published with a cover price of 10 cents .[15]
Turnure's intention was to create a publication that celebrated the "ceremonial side of life"; one that "attracts the sage as well as debutante, men of affairs, as well as the belle".[15] From its inception the magazine intended to target the New York upper class by "recounting their habits, their leisure activities, their social gatherings, the places they frequented, and the clothing they wore... and everyone who wanted to look like them and enter their exclusive circle".[16]
Features
Noteworthy Vogue covers
In 2020, the hashtag #VogueChallenge became a popular social media meme in response to the perceived lack of diversity on Vogue's front covers. Users of various ages and ethnicities uploaded photos of re-creating famous Vogue covers as part of a campaign to promote variety in fashion.[65][66]
- December 17, 1892: The magazine's first cover features a debutante at her début.[19]
- May 13, 1893: The first cover with a photograph, Countess Divonne (née, Florence Audenried) by an unknown photographer
- July 1, 1932: The first cover with a color photograph, featuring Edward Steichen's image of a swimmer holding a beach ball.
Style and influence
The word vogue means "fashion" in French. Vogue was described by book critic Caroline Weber in a December 2006 edition of The New York Times as "the world's most influential fashion magazine":[72] The publication claims to reach 11 million readers in the US and 12.5 million internationally.[73][74] Furthermore, Anna Wintour was described as one of the most powerful figures in fashion.[75]
Technological
Google partnered with Vogue to feature Google Glass in the September 2013 issue, which featured a 12-page spread.
Criticism
As Wintour came to personify the magazine's image, both she and Vogue drew critics. Wintour's one-time assistant at the magazine, Lauren Weisberger, wrote a roman à clef entitled The Devil Wears Prada. Published in 2003, the novel became a bestseller and was adapted as a film in 2006.[94] The central character resembled Weisberger, and her boss was a powerful editor-in-chief of a fictionalized version of Vogue. The novel portrays a magazine ruled by "the Antichrist and her coterie of fashionistas, who exist on cigarettes, Diet Dr Pepper, and mixed green salads", according to a review in The New York Times. The editor is described by Weisberger as being "an empty, shallow, bitter woman who has tons and tons of gorgeous clothes and not much else".[95] However, despite the slight defamation of Wintour and Vogue magazine in general, the image of both editor and high-class magazine were not diminished. The success of both the novel and the film brought new attention from a wide global audience to the power and glamour of the magazine, and the industry it continues to lead.[96]
In 2007, Vogue drew criticism from the anti-smoking group "Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids", for carrying tobacco advertisements in the magazine. The group claims that volunteers sent the magazine more than 8,000 protest emails or faxes regarding the ads.
Media
Documentaries
In 2009, the feature-length documentary The September Issue was released; it was an inside view of the production of the record-breaking September 2007 issue of U.S. Vogue, directed by R. J. Cutler. The film was shot over eight months as Wintour prepared the issue, and included testy exchanges between Wintour and her creative director Grace Coddington. The issue became the largest ever published at the time; over 5 pounds in weight and 840 pages in length, a world record for a monthly magazine.[110] That record has been broken by Vogue's September 2012 issue, which came in at 916 pages.[111]
Also in 2012, HBO released a documentary entitled In Vogue: The Editor's Eye, in conjunction with the 120th anniversary of the magazine. Drawing on Vogue's extensive archives, the film featured behind-the-scenes interviews with longtime Vogue editors, including Wintour, Coddington, Tonne Goodman, Babs Simpson, Hamish Bowles, and Phyllis Posnick.[112]
Other editions
Condé Nast also publishes Teen Vogue,[137][138] a version of the magazine for teenage girls in the United States.
Until 1961, Vogue was also the publisher of Vogue Patterns, a home sewing pattern company. It was sold to Butterick Publishing, which also licensed the Vogue name.
Vogue Living is published for Adria (since April 2025), Australia (since 1967), Hong Kong (since 2020), the Netherlands (since April 2016),[139] Poland (since May 2022), Scandinavia (since October 2025). Casa Vogue is published in Brazil (since 1975) and previously in Italy (1968 to 2021).
International editions
As of 2026, 28 international editions of Vogue are in operation around the world (29, including the U.S. edition), 4 have ceased publication, and 1 is set to launch.
British Vogue
British Vogue was launched in 1916 by Condé Nast and aimed to link together fashion and high society.[140]
Vogue France
Vogue France is the French edition of Vogue and formerly called Vogue Paris from its inception in 1920 until 2021.
Vogue Spanish Edition
Vogue Spanish Edition was published from 1918 to 1923.[141] The magazine was based in Havana, Cuba and distributed across Spain and Latin America, under the editorship of
Editors of international editions
The following highlights circulation dates as well as individuals who have served as editor-in-chief of international editions of Vogue:
Head of Editorial Content
After a consolidation at Condé Nast, the publisher will put its largest titles (including Vogue) under global and regional leadership. The role of editor-in-chief is being replaced in some international editions for the new role of Head of Editorial Content.
See also
- The Big Four
- List of Vogue cover models
- Vogue World 2024
External links
- Archived issues at HathiTrust
References
- Circulation for Consumer Magazines Alliance for Audited Media, 1 September 2025, retrieved 15 November 2025^
- Jay Stahl. Anna Wintour chooses successor Chloe Malle to lead Vogue magazine USA Today, 2 September 2025, retrieved 15 December 2025^
- Chloe Malle Announced as Vogue U.S New Head of Editorial Content