Rag trade blog Fashionista reports that Vogue‘s stealth website, currently under development for a December launch, will feature a digital version of every single number published since Arthur Baldwin Turnure started the magazine in the late 19th century.
If you are a fan of fashion, this is huge news. If you’re not, it’s huge news. History is more than big decisions made by bigwigs in big buildings. It’s how we think, eat, buy, sing, move and dress. Vogue is, for better or worse, a prominent lens onto a substantial segment of our cultural mores. Not to mention, it helps to bring history alive when you can picture the details. Now there will be an archive of the sartorial side of those details.
“Vogue has been conspicuously embracing technology and new media lately,” wrote Fashionista’s Cheryl Wischhover. She pointed to editor, and brittle Pez dispenser, Anna Wintour’s Webby’s acceptance speech (“Sometimes, geeks can be chic”); as well as to the soft launch of the publication’s Voguepedia and its “Influencers” blog network.
“According to a reliable source, we’ve learned that this mysterious web property will be a digital archive. That means every single issue since the fashion bible launched in the 1890’s will be available online.”
We sent Vogue questions about the site, the archive and whether access will be free or paid, but they remained unanswered at the time of posting. If we receive a response, we will update.
