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I don't often review magazines anymore especially when people rabidly devour them in forums in a way that I don't have the facilities to do so. However, this is a special one-off occasion whereby I was the eager beaver, excited to see how Carine Roitfeld's new role as global fashion director for Harper’s Bazaar would work. Clearly it was a specifically bespoke role for Roitfeld, where she can collaborate with editors from all 26 international editions of the magazine, working with Stephen Gan, creative director of Harper's Bazaar U.S. on features. We have here the debut of Roitfeld's work for Harper's Bazaar - a 16 page editorial simply titled "Carine on the Collections", picking out her personal key collections. Photographed by Kacper Kasprzyk, whose work for Dazed & Confused I've long admired, it features collections by all the biggies on Stephanie Seymour, Joan Smalls and Lara Stone, among others. I've picked out ruffled Givenchy on Joan Smalls and the unlikely combination of gaffer canvas taped Comme des Garcons and Lara Stone.
It's a story that says a lot about Hearst (publisher of Harper's Bazaar) and its strategy in leveraging Roitfeld's power as an editor who in effect is mistress of her own brand. Collections stories in March and September issues of magazines are nothing new but titling it with the name of a fashion director is definitely something that only a rarified few could handle. In an another unprecedented move, Roitfeld's feature will run concurrently in all 26 international editions, stamping in Roitfeld's authority over the magazines, even if she doesn't dominate one singular issue. It's a risky strategy but it will be interesting to see how Roitfeld's own stories are incorporated with each country's editorial viewpoint.
Harper's Bazaar UK March 2013 is on sale now and digital edition is also available.
