History of Vogue magazine

¶ … Prim & Proper to Provocative

In 1892, Arthur Turnure and Harry McVickar founded Vogue. The magazine was oriented around women's society and fashion and reflected the sensibilities of the time. With women shown in ankle-length dresses, carrying parasols and walking through parks or fields of flowers, Vogue appealed to the higher end of society and maintained the standards expected by consumers. Today, the magazine Turnure and McVickar founded more than a hundred years ago still deals with fashion but would more than likely give its two Victorian-era founders quite a shock. Turnure and McVickar's magazine has become a titillating and provocative periodical that arouses as much as it informs and yet, the magazine has stayed true to its original focus of women's fashion although it has quite a different approach today.

In 1909, Conde Nast, who had just four years earlier gained control of Home Pattern Company, purchased Vogue and built a foundation under the magazine that many credit with its longevity. Nast's vision for his magazines not only increased circulation but helped to develop the concept of niche selling for the magazine industry. With an idea of what the magazine could be, Nast included stories not just about fashion but about politics, the arts and entertainment. With the appeal of the magazine broadened, Nast further enhanced the publication with pictorials of models wearing appealing fashions.

Today, Vogue is part of Conde Nast Publications, Inc., a family of publications including Wired, Allure, Gourmet and the New Yorker magazine among others. The sister magazines of Vogue are all representative of top notch publications in the areas they belong. Each magazine works within its particular niche and does an excellent job of appealing to its target market.

But Vogue has not stopped with simply being the best in its particular category; the magazine has also kept pace with the times. Vogue has an online presence at Style.com which "is the online home to Conde Nast titles Vogue and W, and it now offers a high-end, e-commerce store." ("Connect," 2000) With Vogue's presence in the web-based marketplace, the magazine can offer more goods and services than it could through its print publication. Some of the offerings available on the web version include the latest trends, notoriously catty gossip and a complete catalog of the most recent runway shows. (The site also has a partnership with Neiman Marcus to sell some of its runway picks this holiday season, with a broader array of merchandise available in the new year.) (Stohr, 2001, p. 70)

Vogue has offices located in the most chic and important cities in the United States including New York, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and Los Angeles. From these cities, the company runs an incredibly powerful organization that is headed by Sarah Chubb. But Chubb is the head of only one cog in the powerful Nast conglomerate.

Conde Nast Publications is an integrated network of magazines that work together to drive income for the company. Sarah Chubb runs Vogue with the help of Goli Sheikholeslami, Senior Vice President and General Manager. They receive guidance and instructions from management of the publication group. According to Suzanne Grimes, Vice President, Conde Nast Media Group,

The overall objective is to drive ad revenue for the company, but to do so in a way that differentiates us from the other big publishers in town ... [the publications should impact advertisers with a] meaningful, measurable contribution to their business objectives. (Grimes, 2004, p. 74)

Driving revenues for the company has proven very successful as circulation numbers increase not just in Vogue but in other Conde Nast Publication magazines. With an average of more than 1.5 million copies sold per issue, Vogue is one of the preeminent magazines not just in the beauty and fashion niche but in the magazine industry as a whole.

A search of the internet and related databases reveals some interesting things about Vogue magazine or at least about what information the company wants to keep private. One of the most obvious points is the lack of information about the company and its key executives. However, circulation information is obtainable revealing that the company generates annual revenue of more than $75 million in just magazine sales alone not counting the revenue generated from selling advertisement space in the pages of the publication.