Last month, the British Vogue team announced plans to publish an issue aimed at younger readers. The one-off (for now) magazine will be called Miss Vogue and given as a freebie with June’s British Vogue.
Front row at Mulberry over the weekend, editor Alexandra Shulman told us they’re just getting started on the issue. So should we expect something like Teen Vogue? Not quite. “Teen Vogue has very American sensibilities — we’ll be a little more eclectic and not so teen, maybe a little older than that. The idea is that it’s the same kind of mix as the mother magazine, but targeted at a younger reader, with products more within their budget.”
There will be more space given to beauty, the most accessible (read: cheapest) way for women to play around with their look. “Young women love beauty, because they can experiment. It doesn’t cost much to buy a great eyeshadow.”
In the fashion section, the mix will focus on lower-priced brands, middle market, and vintage — but still adding enough designer pieces to make it recognizably Vogue. “We’ll include a few of the luxury brands, but in a more aspirational way,” says Shulman. “Most young women in this country are not buying Chanel ready-to-wear — but they might well aspire to have a Chanel bag at some point in their lives.” (Worth noting: Some of us in grown-up Vogue’s target readership are still aspiring to that, too.)
Of course, nothing’s set in stone. “It’s early days and we’re just commissioning it now, so until I see it, it’s quite hard to say what it will be like,” says Shulman. “I know what I’m intending. We’ll see how it comes together.”
