The Beginnings Of Our Fashion Bibles.

am-bi-tion

1. An eager or strong desire for success, achievement or distinction.
2. something so desired; goal, aim.

'Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in' and another one, 'Ambition is enthusiasm with a purpose' Ambition, in my view is never a bad thing, it is the reason for everyone in the Fashion World, and any world as such, to carry on and reach there goals whatever they may be. I seem to get most of my inspiration from various reading material, of that there is so much I will never be able to cover it all. Fashion magazines go a long way to support many aspects of the Fashion World, and who are these people that discovered them and developed them to what they are today, and are now in the well deserved position to influence others with their choices and decisions that are then read and enjoyed by their huge, or sometimes, niche audiences. And how would they of ended up sitting today as successful creators of well known magazines? through being ambitious and having the desire to complete their goal. Aim. Completed.

I am well aware that there are hundreds of well respected magazines associated with fashion, of which I have carefully chosen a few of my favourites to research and explore their beginnings, resulting in me being able to lazily enter at the last stage of production, purchasing each creation and thoroughly enjoying the journey each issue takes me on. Lets start with i-D Mr Jones.



i-D is a British magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. It was founded by designer and former Vogue art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the form of a hand stapled fanzine (see all of the zines out there have a chance! Pamflet keep going) with text produced on a typewriter, consisting of 40 pages that held a mirror up to British subculture and street style of the time, it was clamped together with three staples and cost 50p. It was a fashion magazine like no other, distributed around London from the boot of a Cadillac. It wasn't about glossy ad's or posh clothes i-D was, and still is, all about attitude. Over the years the magazine did evolve into a mature glossy but it has kept street style and youth central to every issue, it is recognised for its innovative photography and typography. Many talented photographers have passed through the magazine as it was ample opportunity for fresh talent to progress and grow, Nick Knight, Chris Dowling and Terry Richardson to name but a few. i-D is easily recognisable on a whole shelf of fashion material, tipped on its side the 'i-D' typographic logo represents a 'winking smiley' and in turn most covers of i-D have featured a winking cover model. The magazine is also responsible for the the style of documentary picture-making pose 'Straight Up' this was used frequently in the magazine to photograph youth found on English streets, who were simply asked to stand against any nearby blank wall, the resulting pictures the subject facing the camera and seen from 'top to toe.' This is recognisable even from an in-experienced photographer like myself, i-D has a strong identity branding that is clearly associated with the magazine without even seeing the title.



i-D has gone from 50 copies sold in a newsagent to now 67,000 copies a month in the UK, not that its creator Jones is interested in banal sales figures, it has lead to its competitors holding their hands up, Blitz, The Face, Sleazenation. In the first years, it was realistically, a 'f*ck it lets get it out there' raw, Innocent form of communication that was not at all precious. Its house style evolved into a chaotic mix of wonky typewriter text, photo collage, stencilling scrawls, ticker tape headlines and wild graphics. Its what Jones called 'instant design' or 'controlled chaos' He wanted to get back the physical side of design where it was made with a sense of urgency and the idea that it was made just before you picked it up and read it.



Its rewarding to find out that i-D now has full-time staff and offices in Shoreditch as opposed to a procession of moon lighters who would put the magazine together in Jones West Hampsted home and take turns distributing it from the back of a car boot. Jones now recalls that what he is 'amazed at is the stuff that no-one was interested in 1980. Street fashion is what everyone's interested now' With whole Japanese magazines dedicated to 'street trends' and the 'as seen' pages in Vogue go to prove that Jones may have left 27 years ago, but his influence has more than returned.



The successful creator has now turned 60, with 300 issues under his belt he is anything but jaded, dressed in his low-key uniform of jeans, converse and his work wear jacket. Someone put it to him that he is the epitome of cool. 'I don't really understand the principle of cool. Cool is probably the reverse of what I do, what I've always tried to do is to produce something that has an energy, that has a life of its own. Whereas if you make something cool it has a dead quality. Which just wouldn't be i-D would it now?'