The Tried-and-True Between Tradition and Innovation: Fashion Magazines in Germany
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Train station bookshops and kiosks are filled with fashion, lifestyle and women’s magazines. New titles come and go, as the number of those competing for a slice of the luxury, glamour and fashion market is considerable. The leading German fashion magazines published by Hubert Burda, Gruner und Jahr, Condé Nast, Jahreszeiten Verlag and Magazinpresse reach a total monthly circulation of about 3.5 million copies sold. But in terms of content, most of the magazines are practically indistinguishable from one another. To be sure, small format magazines that fit into handbags, so-called pocket editions such as Glamour, Jolie, Joy and Young, that appeal to a readership between 18 and 28, are available. And then there are the fashion magzines aimed at particular target groups, such as Brigitte Woman, for women aged 40 and over. But all follow more or less the same pattern: first comes the double-spread advertising, then short takes on culture and lifestyle themes, fashion style guides, fashion highlights (so-called “must-haves” or outlooks for the coming season), portraits of stars and starlets, individual columns followed by beauty and wellness, and the obligatory horoscope. The fashion reportage itself finally turns up in the last third of the magazine. Fashion editorials
Their titles sound promising, for the most part: „Ms. Dandy: British Men’s – Wear Classics Conquer Women’s Fashion,” “Division One - The Fashion Avant-Garde’s Current Front Runners: Extravagant Looks Inspired by Sportswear,” “Are Flounces Romantic and Fanciful? Not This Season. These Outfits Offer Sculptural Elegance and Couture Cool.” Brief descriptions for the most part merely announce that the dress, fur handbag or shoes depicted are by a particular designer label and cost X euros. In-depth editorial recognition of the creativity of the world’s top fashion designers is often to be found in a separate supplement or a detachable insert in the magazine: „Fashion Show:The International Collections from A to Z“ (Elle), according to style trends or colours, as in “The Best 100 Looks” (Vogue), “226 Looks” (Glamour), |
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or “Coming Trends: Fashion and Accessories for the Next Season” (Madame). The ever-changing captions and catchy descriptions seek to give focus and definition to the sheer abundance of approximately 11,000 individual and highly creative models presented each season on the catwalks of Paris, Milan, London and New York. The magazine editorial boards sort them according to colour and pattern, or pull them together in looks, to provide their readers with an overview and orientation for the coming fashion season. The number of accessory specials, in which everything from luxury high heels for 1,000 euros to cool flip-flops, from it-bags to the stars’ favourite eye-catchers are presented, has increased enormously. Intense competition
Individual magazines’ sales figures are declining, due to competition from their own online editions as well as from the continuing increase in the overall number of magazines. Germany’s leading high-gloss fashion journals – Elle (approx. 215,000 issues sold monthly), Vogue (approx. 150,000) and Madame (approx. 95,000), and its men’s counterpart GQ (Gentlemen’s Quarterly, approx. 130,000) seek to strike a balance between cultural information and popular topics. But competition is intense, as all of them are aiming at the same target group: women between the ages of 30 and 50 with monthly household incomes of 2,500 euros and above. And competition is also coming from celebrity magazines – sometimes issued by the same publishers – such as Park Avenue and InStyle, that appeal to their readers’ desire to participate – if only vicariously - in the lifestyle of the elite.
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Traditional magazines
Traditional magazines such as burda Modemagazin (formerly burda Moden) or Brigitte continue to assert themselves successfully in this market. Time was when burda Moden reflected the fashion sense of middle-class women like no other that came after it. Its founder, Aenne Burda (1909 – 2005), personified the West German “economic miracle” in the media industry. When she founded the magazine burda Moden in Offenburg in 1949, she was its editor-in-chief, publisher and columnist in one. The dress patterns included with the magazine turned whole armies of housewives into dressmakers, and its tips and tricks offered the post-war generation orientation and self-confidence in matters of style in their home environments. The first issue of Burda international was published in 1953, and brought haute couture from Paris and Rome into German households. And the concept worked internationally, as well. burda Moden was the first western magazine to appear with a Russian edition, and today, burda Modemagazin is available in 89 countries and 16 languages. Brigitte, another traditional magazine, has been published since 1954, although it is in principle even older, having first appeared in 1886 under the title Dies Blatt gehört der Hausfrau (i.e. housewives’ magazine). In its incarnation as Brigitte it has sought to attract a younger readership and is far more focused on real life than on glamour, with refreshingly critical, objective and informative articles. Trade journals
And in conclusion, two German trade journals should be mentioned: TM Fashion Trendmagazin and Textilwirtschaft. They are peppered with information on sales figures, retail inventory sales, brand name profiles, transactions and licences, store openings, and on „how fashion becomes fashionable.“ Although aimed at the trade public, they have much to say about the world of fashion in general, and for this reason alone they are a mine of information for all with an interest in fashion and a desire to look behind the glamourous facades. Little-known, but indispensable for women’s- and men’s-wear manufacturers is Rundschau, which breaks down haute couture and designer fashion into wearable styles. It reports on pattern making, bespoke tailoring, ready-to-wear, workmanship, trends in material, styling and fashion, design, company profiles, trade fairs, training and continuing education as well as legal issues. jpeople, a newcomer on the scene which most likely would prefer not to be classed as a trade journal, specialises in biographies of up-and-coming young designers and reportage on brand-name collections.
Dr. Ingrid Loschek (1950–2010)
was Professor of Fashion History and Theory at the University of Design, Technology and Economics in Pforzheim, and has authored numerous textbooks on fashion.  www.loschek.de Translation: Ani Jinpa Lhamo Copyright: Goethe-Institut e. V., Online-Redaktion January 2006, updated March 2009 Any questions about this article? Please write to us!  online-redaktion@goethe.de |
