On Wednesday March 24, SCADstyle hosted a panel with two Vogue colleagues, Chloe Schama and Nicholas Burdekin. The two shared their experience with the publication both before and after COVID-19 hit last March. Although how tumultuous the past year has been, the stay-at-home orders acted as a catalyst for creative innovation in the fashion industry.
Last March, shortly after New York City went into lockdown, Vogue scrapped their entire June issue. As a print magazine, they tend to work between three and six months in advance, meaning that the April and May issues had mainly been finalized. Creatives at Vogue knew they had to do something different for the June issue, especially due to the inability to assemble in the large groups it requires to create one editorial. The idea for the June/July issue originated as a collection of selfies from creatives in lockdown, but it quickly felt out of touch with the state of the world. The final concept was to allow friends and professionals of the fashion community to share what their lives looked like in lockdown.
Postcards from Home showed us a glimpse into our time’s uncertainty while also sharing the creativity that blossomed in quarantine. While the summer of 2020 will be remembered as a very dark and lonely time, Vogue gave us a sliver of hope to hold onto for the future. These anecdotes of life at home featured in the June/July issue showed the sense of autonomy that creatives took on in an effort to stay hopeful in the face of fear. The collection ranged to all sects of creativity with photographs of artist Erwin Wurm in his “photographic sculptures,” to actor Sienna Miller in a sentimental moment of dress-up with her daughter, to the ever-endearing smile of Simon Porte Jacquemus.
The series that was initially published in the 2020 June/July issue of Vogue has now been released as a complete book, Postcards from Home: Creativity in a Time of Crisis, published by Rizzoli. The book contains images and essays from the original print magazine, the Vogue website, and never-before-seen material.
Both Schama and Burdekin emphasized the importance of persevering in creativity for working in the fashion world, especially in the wake of COVID 19. Adaptation in photoshoots, shows, and reviews was not an option for the Vogue staff. The two described that when Vogue hires new employees, they look for people with an abundance of ideas in innovation. What does the fashion world of the future look like? How does fashion need to evolve in the ever-present climate emergency? What changes need to be made to promote and practice equitable diversity in fashion? These are just the tip of the iceberg in questions we can ask ourselves as young creatives who share the goal of moving fashion-forward.
Words by Nicholson Baird.
Graphic by Emily Tobias.