On Wednesday, August 27, Vogue Magazine announced that its app would now require a subscription. ‘‘Starting this week, we’ll be launching a digital subscription on the Vogue App. This change will allow us to continue delivering high-quality content and an even better app experience for you,’’ the statement read. ‘‘Runway content will now be available exclusively to subscribers. This helps support the work of our team and ensures we can keep bringing you the content you rely on.’’
Online, people aren’t happy about the app’s transition to a paywall. ‘‘I already unsubscribed from receiving paper copies and now they’re going to charge viewing the digital runway? Shame on you @voguemagazine you are far from the iconic fashion bible. Just another cash grab.’’ @daImatinka wrote on X — AKA Twitter. But can they be blamed?
Now, only subscribers who pay $12 per year can access runway shows, reviews, street style photography, and Vogue’s image archive. As a result, debates have emerged ranging from accessibility to inclusion.
It was refreshing when Vogue opened up access to iconic runway shows from past decades, giving younger generations a chance to relive moments they never could have witnessed firsthand. But now, that has been thrown out the window. Of course, there are other apps that offer access, from Tagwalk to First View. But what kind of tone is Vogue setting as a magazine that claims to be all about inclusivity?
As a journalism student, I have learned the hard way that most media companies are little interested in the pursuit of truth. They care about money. And in this economy, who doesn’t? Sure, one could argue that the post-media landscape is tough on nearly every publication, including Vogue, the legendary publication that has taken the air from fashion lovers — myself included — for as long as they can remember.
But Vogue’s subscription profits are just one slice of its revenue pie. The magazine also earns from advertising, sponsored content, and the ever-lucrative Met Gala — an event that, according to BoF, brought in $16.4 million in 2021. Against that backdrop, it’s easy to see why the general public — especially students and twenty-somethings — feel disillusioned. After all, the global economy is in disarray, and many young people are struggling just to cover their bills.
This whole debate instantly calls to mind Succession — when a defensive, doe-eyed Kendall Roy asks his harsh father, Logan, ‘‘What are you going to do with your five bil? Put it on the pile with all your other fucking bil?’’ To which Logan shrugs, ‘‘Mm-hmm. Probably, yeah.’’ That exchange neatly captures the essence of Vogue’s seemingly harmless paywall. It wasn’t implemented out of necessity, but purely for more profit.
@powerbottoming believes this is not too much. “$12 isn’t bad for an archive resource like VR, esp[ecially] considering they’ve been expanding their catalogue,” the netizen wrote on X. But then, it all comes down to perspective. Some might say that $12 isn’t that much. However, that’s only true for Americans or Europeans, whose currencies have a greater value than others. In my home country, Brazil, $12 equals R$649.66. And that’s a lot. That’s a huge grocery bill depending on what you buy with things that could last up to a month. And I am only considering my country — imagine other countries in Latin America, Africa, or Asia that may be experiencing a similar math situation. Should they give up their monthly budget to channel Carrie Bradshaw and act as if Vogue fed them more?
Easy, Ana. Just don’t subscribe! Here we go again with the accessibility debate. I recently wrote an article for Fashionista about the rise of digital fashion archivists and how figures like @schiaparelli.archive, @archivealive, and @blackfashionarchive are making fashion more accessible.
If a few weeks ago I wrote that the archives had been laid bare for all to see, I was mistaken. Now, they have since slipped back behind closed doors — accessible only with monetary currency, even if not too much for some. It reeks of elitism, the very thing fashion has long claimed to resist, yet always seems destined to circle back to, like a permanent plateau. It’s the fashionistas from marginalized countries who will feel the most. And that is not random, it is a predictable outcome of an industry long dominated by elitism, exclusivity, and Euro-American centrism.
You can tell yourself whatever you need to in order to fall asleep. But the truth is that all the clamor for fashion to return to ‘‘how it was’’ has not landed on its artistry — just take a look at recent Vogue covers. It has actually centered on its long exclusivity.