Vogue Africa is a 'No Go'

more pics.

Cameroonian photographer Mario Epanya went all out in his campaign to make Vogue Africa a reality. In order to get publisher Conde Nast to see the potential in the magazine–that would pay homage to African women–he created fictional covers, featuring gorgeous images, but it looks like it wasn’t enough.
Conde Nast has turned down Epanya’s bid for the magazine.
link.

Did anyone catch this story? What does this say about black beauty? Do you think Vogue Africa could have been viable? Is the media saying black women on the cover of these high-fashion magazines won't sell? Could a magazine featuring gorgeous fashionable black men be viable?

I personally was sadden by this story. Although I agree that Vogue in Africa would have been a tough market due to a small middle-class customer base. I'd still like to have seen the magazine make this bold step. The same way Fifa was bold in taking the World Cup to Africa. This could have had major implications for fashion designers, models, and other high-end magazines looking at Africa.

QB

what's your opinion?

 

I have and I agree with you. Black beauty isn't represented like it could or should be. I think they could've at least tried it out and see what the market was like for it. I think by not doing it, they're sending out a racist message. You only see the Black version once in a blue moon and I think that's from Vogue Italia. Africa is a continent, there's so much to showcase there.

 

Damn...that sucks.

 

Do they have a Vogue Asia?

 

it wouldnt be black beauty anyway...

more like Vogue Africa, the magazine which celebrates Black beauty (that has been slightly influenced by Western European ideals of femininity, which is accepted by the majority of White males globally).


That would be one epic subtitle

 

Arise is the African vogue and it has a following.

 

and here some more covers:

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/49083526.html

 

those covers couldn't have been his entire proposal...

 

You're right, they're not.

Besides the other link I posted, here's some others:

http://fashionbombdaily.com/2010/07/19/fashion-bomb-exclusive-did-conde-nast-reject-vogue-africa/

 

Agreed!

 

Honestly we're talking about market. Do African women really have a lot of disposable income for the clothes/styles that would be featured in the mag, come on nah.

Would the mag have to be reprinted in the many African languages? More money.

Many African countries are Muslim. Would they be represented too? Would they carry the magazine in their countries?

Only the African elites can afford the kind of stuff that the mag would feature.

In a continent wracked with famine and war, I guess it needs Vogue more than ever :roll:

White magazines are hurting right now, known names like Readers Digest are going down after 100 years. Newsweek is on the bubble.

Black folks and their self-esteem I swear. If peeps aren't signing up for a loser idea, they're racist. Ya'll need to get real.

 

I agree with you......it all boils down to can they make money off it. Is there a market? Even here with compared five years ago .......lots of magazines don't exist any more. People are more into the internet than print.

 

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to karmacoma. again. Plus, there is at least one established African fashion magazine, why not support that one.

 

:smt023

 

vogue africa should exist.. expand the market.. at the same time, independent african beauty magazines should be uplifted..

 

I sit somewhere in between these two viewpoints but I may lean towards IB side. I don't know how often Vogues releases their magazines. I don't know if it is sold every month, quarterly, or bi-annually. If they did the magazine bi-annually, very limited numbers, and in the major markets on the continent(Nigeria, South Africa,etc) and in parts of the USA it might work. I think English is probably the 2nd or 3rd most spoken language in any country on the continent so it could be done in English.

But I have more of a problem with it being titled "Vogue:Africa", because it fits into the Western stereotype of Africa being a country and not a continent.

 

Im sorry - had to go here - its not a Western Stereotype of Africa being thought of as a country and not a continent...
Its more a sad missconception you run into here in the US, not Europe and yes, Im aware how arrogant that sounds.

 

I'm meant to write American instead of Western. Most Americans are completely oblivious to the state of the world. Maybe this is due to America being somewhat isolated from the rest of the world. This video is a good example of how cultured we are.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fJuNgBkloFE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fJuNgBkloFE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

 

:smt043

That's pretty hilarious.

I know it's a convenient generalisation that American people know nothing about the world, but hell, you could ask similar questions in any country and be able to cleverly edit a video to get the same results!

 

That video is frightening.