Lately I’ve seen the same question come up over and over again “Why doesn’t anyone read Vogue anymore?”
As someone getting their bachelors in marketing, I think the answer is actually quite simple.
Why did people start reading Vogue in the first place?
When Arthur Baldwin Turnure founded Vogue in 1892, it wasn’t a fashion magazine in the way we think of it today. It covered New York society, etiquette, sports, and books. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that fashion became its primary focus.
Then Anna Wintour came.
When Wintour became editor in chief in 1988, Vogue transformed into far more than a magazine. It became the authority on fashion. It started making trends.
Women bought Vogue because it offered access to a world they couldn’t experience otherwise.
Imagine a young woman dreaming of a career in fashion. Or a mother spending most of her days at home taking care of her children. The magazine offered an escape into a more glamorous reality. It wasn’t just about clothes. It was about the possibility.
Fashion itself was becoming increasingly important as a form of self expression and social status. People talked about what they wore, what brands they bought, and what was considered stylish. Knowing fashion became a form of cultural capital.
The timing also mattered. During the 1980s, American women were reshaping the workplace and culture. Power dressing symbolized ambition, while pop culture celebrated boldness, confidence, and individuality. Vogue captured that energy perfectly.
But perhaps the biggest reason people bought the magazine was much simpler.
People love beautiful things.
Fashion photography wasn’t merely advertising. It was art. Every issue felt like a carefully constructed visual story, with innovative styling, unforgettable photography, and creative direction that inspired readers. Buying Vogue meant buying into beauty, imagination, and craftsmanship.
What does Vogue sell today?
Is it still selling the same dream?
I’m not convinced.
When I see a Vogue cover nowadays, my first reaction isn’t curiosity or inspiration. It’s usually, “What exactly am I looking at?” “What are they trying to sell to us this time?”
One thing that particularly disappointed me was seeing AI-generated models appear in the magazine. To me, it signals a shift away from celebrating the creative process itself. Fashion has always been about the collaboration between photographers, stylists, makeup artists, designers, models, editors, and creative directors. When technology begins replacing parts of that process, it changes what the final product represents.
Of course, AI isn’t the only issue.
Many recent covers simply don’t feel like they have a story to tell. The art direction that once made Vogue instantly recognizable often feels secondary to creating content that performs well online.
Years ago, Vogue had the power to create trends. What appeared on its pages sold, not because readers were being aggressively marketed to, but because people genuinely trusted its taste. The magazine felt authentic.
Today, that relationship feels different.
Around a decade ago, Gen Z became increasingly invested in celebrity culture. Social media encouraged us to follow celebrities’ everyday lives and build parasocial relationships with them. Naturally, brands leaned into this. Celebrity covers generated clicks, shares, and engagement.
For a while, it worked.
Now, many people seem exhausted by that formula. Endless celebrity features can begin to feel repetitive, especially when audiences are increasingly looking for authenticity and people they can actually relate to.
This puts magazines like Vogue in a difficult position.
If they suddenly shifted away from celebrities and influencers to spotlight emerging creatives or ordinary people with extraordinary style, they’d have to abandon a strategy they’ve spent years building. That’s a significant business risk. In today’s media landscape, attention is currency, and followers, engagement, and algorithms matter.
It’s not only about Vogue, either.
Influencers and celebrities rely on magazine covers, interviews, campaigns, and social media collaborations to remain culturally relevant. Publications rely on those same people to generate traffic. They’re part of the same ecosystem.
The problem is that in trying to appeal to everyone, Vogue may no longer feel essential to anyone.
A magazine that once defined taste now often feels like it’s chasing it.
From a marketing perspective, this shift is fascinating.
Consumers no longer buy aspiration in the same way they did thirty years ago. Luxury is still desirable, but what people increasingly value is authenticity, storytelling, craftsmanship, and a sense of community. Brands that fail to recognize this risk becoming culturally irrelevant, even if they continue to generate millions of views and followers.
What Vogue needs to change is, in my opinion, pretty simple.
They need to show that they are not just after consumerism and sales. Instead, they need to tap into the creative process behind it all and remind people why fashion is an art form in the first place.
They need to reimagine what style, fashion, and editorial mean for Gen Z.
This generation has grown up surrounded by content, so simply putting another celebrity on the cover is no longer enough. People want to understand the ideas behind the work, the creative decisions, and the stories that bring a collection to life, they want to buy into the dream world of fashion art direction.
Instead of focusing so heavily on celebrities, influencers, and their lifestyles, the magazine should rediscover its own brand mission and purpose. It should experiment with new ways of telling stories. For example, creating editorials that feel like films within the pages of the magazine or connecting print with immersive digital experiences. The goal shouldn’t be to compete with social media, but to offer something that social media can’t.
Most importantly, Vogue needs to stand behind its beliefs. It needs to have a clear creative vision and not be afraid to stick to it. That’s what made the magazine iconic in the first place, and I believe that’s what could make it culturally relevant again.
The real question is whether Vogue is capable of doing this again.
True. With the analog coming back and people against doom scrolling, if Vogue rebrands to let us know what happens behind the scenes and introducing us to people who influencers miss, it will be great comeback.
I agree so much with the fact that Vogue is straying from its beliefs. In some ways, I am very glad Edward Enningful started his own publication. I also would point out that there's some sort of belief that a Vogue magazine is pricey, I discovered it was less than a fiver like 2 years ago. It's a shame they are so focused on ads because if you look back at their previous mags, there was so much there.