Fashion ads you want to watch

Did you know that Louis XIV also created the predecessor of the fashion magazine? Fashion magazines and their advertisements have undergone a huge shift in the last decades or centuries. They have been influenced by changes in printing technology, the replacement of fashion drawings with fashion photographs, and the formation of society. With the advent of the Internet, advertisements have spread everywhere and are now seen as something annoying rather than sought after. But it is precisely magazine advertisements that have become sought-after, and we can safely call them art. We talked about (and not only) advertisements in fashion magazines with Michal Kinik, founder of the Fashion Archive, where you can also find framed original advertisements from the years 1890-2008. Fashion ads in magazines used to be much more artistic than they are today. We assume that there is an interesting story behind many of them... Advertisements in magazines were the only visual experience that people had in the 1920s and 1930s. Advertisements therefore created “magic”, a spell that sold. This is largely forgotten today and the informative nature of advertising, which contains “quanta” of text, is rather emphasized. When I look at an advertisement for the French icon L’Oréal today, I see a waving “photoshopped” wig on some famous woman. It used to be something different. A minimum of text, a large visual of women that does not say everything at once and lets the imagination work. This is sorely lacking in the modern world today, and especially in Slovakia. It was to the royal court of Versailles that Louis XIV was offered various fashion products in the form of "catalogues" that were distributed at regular intervals. And so it is this monarch who is credited with setting up a kind of predecessor - the concept of a fashion magazine - periodical as we know it today and overall for the dominant position of French fashion that it has today. Who in modern history has influenced fashion magazines, advertising in the fashion industry, and how? In my opinion, perhaps the most important person who set the concept of the modern fashion/lifestyle magazine was the poet and writer Oscar Wilde, who in 1886 became the "editor in chief" of the fashion magazine Woman's World, which even bore Wilde's name in the subtitle. Oscar Wilde used his writing talent and as an editor introduced regular serious articles on parenting, culture and politics, while the periodical also included regular discussions on current fashion or art. He also came up with the idea that the magazine should also include two regular fictions, one intended for reading to children, the other for the ladies themselves - the readers. This complex content form is still used by lifestyle print media today. Let's go back to the present. Which people and personalities have shaped and continue to shape the world of fashion magazines? I have already mentioned the editors and the end customer, but it is essential to definitely mention the people in production, behind and in front of the lens. If I have to mention just one photographer, it is definitely the photographer Irving Penn (1917 – 2009), who dramatically influenced the fashion world. Many people have seen his photos and do not even know that they are his. From the iconic Clinique ads, through Issey Miyake ads, or a portrait of Pablo Picasso, to the iconic Vogue covers. It was a phenomenon that will probably not be seen again. Among the models, I will mention Naomi Campbell, thanks to whom we have more and more diversity in fashion even today. She is a model who has no equal, and especially she has been at the top for four decades. Such people who stay at the top for a long time always fascinate me. What inspired you to found it? I love fashion, I breathe it, I am interested in the processes in it. While studying fashion management in Milan, I was already thinking about what to bring to Slovakia. I want a quality fashion product to reach the widest possible audience, I wish that every fashion fan or passionate collector could have their dream framed original on their wall – not a reprint, not a poster from a Swedish chain. My philosophy is to offer people an original framed advertisement of their dream brand, or their favorite historical visual for the price of a print or poster. Do you only focus on framed advertisements and interior accessories, or is there something else behind the Fashion Archive? As part of the entire Fashion Archive concept, I also decided to create the website modnyarchiv.sk , where I prepare various my own photo stories or interviews from the fashion world in Slovakia - backstage from photo shoots, interviews with designers, but also business articles with influencers, makeup artists, where I try to present the fashion business in the most detailed form possible, I try to bring content with added value that has not been here before. So it's not just about advertisements, but also about new information and acquaintances. Do you also look for specific ads or do you rather browse and enjoy the treasures you find by chance? I never buy specific ads, and it's not often possible. The best way, and my favorite, is to leaf through old magazines. I'm always happy when I get a new one. If I find an ad that's really rare and there's interest in it, then I try to get the same magazine again. Are some ads rarer than others? Why? What created their value? The value increases with time and what the visuals contain. Some advertisements are very rare, especially art deco in France. There are rare advertisements for brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton or vintage cosmetics brands that no longer exist. However, advertisements from the 90s are often more desirable than those from the 30s. It depends on the circumstances. Once upon a time, magazines were one of the few options for presenting fashion designers and brands. Today, print advertising as such is more like the icing on the cake in the communication strategies of fashion brands and designers. How are today's fashion magazines different from the first ones? Probably in everything! (laughs) I read somewhere that today we spend about 2.5 seconds on average on one page in a fashion magazine. It is understandable when some September issues, for example Vogue, have over 500 pages. Today's consumer is oversaturated, surrounded by advertising from every side and, above all, rarely believes it. What has also changed is that a company's advertising "spending" can be written off from taxes, which has caused it to be one huge cycle and the money is constantly spinning - which means that the advertisements too. Many companies advertise in multiple media and advertisements have to be produced constantly. Nothing mass-produced can be the best. The predecessor of fashion photography is illustration (or drawing), what do you think is its value? Is it still used today? Here I will mention the Italian version of the fashion magazine Vogue, which replaced photographs with illustrations in its first issue of 2020, in order to contribute to environmental protection and support sustainability. It was also the first time that Vogue has been published without photographs on the cover since the invention of photography. These January covers really made me pause and look at the magazines longer, I even "googled" other covers for a long time. Since I was starting with the Fashion Archive at the time, it reminded me a lot of the covers that were created in the past. I think that any changes and creative ideas that are made on the front pages of magazines are just a special feature and an added value that is hard to find today... There are few of us in Slovakia, even fewer illustrators, this is a very sensitive matter that requires a certain level of expertise, and I'm afraid it could turn out very comical if someone were to create illustrations for the cover here :). Specialized fashion magazines did not exist in Slovakia for a long time. Even in the interwar period, some social monthlies only had fashion columns. Did you get access to such pieces? If we talk about the territory of Bratislava, then the population lived here speaking Slovak, German and Hungarian. Fashion magazines such as “Die Dame” were published, I have a couple of them myself from 1912. Or in the Czech Republic – in Prague, as early as 1890, the magazine “Parížske Módy” was published, which can also be found in the Fashion Archive. The monthly “Slovenská žena” published from 1900 to 1923, or the monthly “Živena” from 1910 to 1949, is distinctly Slovak. An interesting Slovak fashion monthly was “Mariena”, which was followed by a new monthly “Móda a textil”, which later changed its name to “Naša móda”, and even later to “Móda”. Also important were the women's magazines “Línia” and, since 1969, “Eva”, which has been operating in a modified form to this day. Men's fashion has less space in the media than women's (there are also fewer men's magazines as such than women's). What was it like in the past with advertising for men's fashion? History, especially the long-ago one, belonged mainly to men. Advertisements for men's products were frequent. In addition to iconic car advertisements, hats, berets and various caps were also widely advertised in the 1930s. We must not forget the French advertisements of suit manufacturers, but also advertisements for cigarettes and alcohol, which primarily targeted men. Later, in the 1940s and 1950s, this began to change and the turning point was Cosmopolitan magazine, headed by Helen Gurley Brown as editor in 1965. She created a new content theme where women were not just wives and were not just at home, but showed them as ambitious women, businesswomen, travelers, women who like to have fun and are not just in the shadow of men. I assume that for now, the Fashion Archive operates locally – in Slovakia. Or is it possible to order something abroad? I operate very locally :). Since I try to get my product to as many people as possible, I also have to push the price down. I sell some framed ads for 30 euros, which means that personal collection is ideal in this case, or I deliver the ads within Bratislava and the surrounding area for free. Sending framed ads by post or courier has never worked out well, as the frame is from 40 cm to 70 cm long and it has never arrived in perfect condition, like when I bring it myself or someone picks it up. My ambition is to reach as many people in Bratislava and Slovakia as possible. I also prefer personal contact with the customer, which is priceless. What were the oldest magazines you held in your hands and used to advertise in? The oldest one I have on offer is, I think, the Czech magazine "Parisian Fashions" from 1894. I offer advertisements from it, they are great, but people are not so inclined to them today. I am fascinated by the history and the touch of something that you don't find in magazines today. What are your next plans for the Fashion Archive? I would like to bring people even more articles and various photo stories from backstage photo shoots. I really enjoy it, I already have several backstage photo shoots on the website, and people are interested in them, and I have very good feedback on it. As for the products I sell, framed advertisements are my core business, while people can also find designer glass and occasionally interesting literature. I would like to collaborate with influencers in 2021 and am also considering print advertising, so that the Fashion Archive can get where it draws from...