couldn't be more agree
most fashion journalism is just nonscense

websites should be a new forum where journalists REALLY speak their minds, like you're doing now

I hope showstudio will continiue with critical writings on fashion, and give the writers a chance to speak their minds, experiment, and not just focus on the visual part

By Tor Erik at 14:04 Wed 02 Apr 2008
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There are a few things about Hywel Davies' essay that really confuse me. Can someone please shed light on this? I see that the essay is making claim that journalistic integrity is compromised by corporate intervention and the meddling of fashion PRs, but there are some glaring inaccuracies in the text that are badly in need of EDITING. (tell me, is there even an editor at showstudio????)

"Regrettably, the days of journalists being banned from shows for panning designers and their collections are, more or less, relegated to fashion history. Cathy Horyn of the New York Times recently highlighted instances of designers being so protective of their brand that they will, in extreme circumstances, give opinionated journalists the cold shoulder."

What does this paragraph mean? Should be banned from shows again? Why when the main thrust of the essay is against corporate censorship? And what is the writer proposing by quoting Cathy Horyn? If designers are giving journalists the cold shoulder then presumably this means they are fearful they will voice an opinion on them. Totally bewildering, it's as if the writer has entered some kind of semantic Bermuda Triangle and no longer has any grasp of what he means.

This bit also left me non-plussed:

"The focus of this PR's delight was instead the irreverent perfume credit on the cover, which she gleefully read as positive appraisal of her client. The implication of this misinterpretation was clear: non-stick, opinion-free, glossy images are appropriate for an industry that is content to ignore judgements and instead focus on praise and mutual gratification. Unfortunately, advertisers who got the jibe stayed anyway and the magazine eventually folded."

What is meant here? Was their objective to get on the wrong side of the PR? And why was SleazeNation trying to lose advertising accounts instead of trying to attract them? If 'advertisers stayed anyway' why then did the magazine fold?

This is a shoddily written piece of text and I'm really surprised that it's been allowed to pass onto the website in the botched state that it's in. Apparently this guy has written books - could've fooled me, he can't manage a paragraph.

By unnamed producer at 15:51 Wed 02 Apr 2008
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It is about time that a new breed of journalists were bought to the forefront of fashion journalism. In my young (and hopefully burgeoning) fashion career it perplexes me how exactly so many magazines exist without informed and/or enlightened opinions. It is entirely discouraging to trawl through pages of bland articles and reviews. So many journalists today write without any objectivity and seem to lack the knowledge of both fashion theory and history to put together an informed and in turn enlightened piece of fashion journalism. It was promising to see the new magazine Fashion Journal launched at LFW in February with articles that were both researched and articulated well, yet rumors that it won't even last long enough to publish another issue are completely in line in what I think Hywel Davies is trying to say. If as many people as I think are disenchanted with the state of fashion journalism today we can only hope, and aim, for a new generation of fashion journalists and publications that will be willing to put an intelligent opinion forward.

By rachael_j_vick at 17:51 Wed 02 Apr 2008
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his is exactly how i feel but about fashion photography, i am totally disenchanted with the state of fashion photography. If you think that the fashion journalists are not willing to put intelligent thought forward you should just look at the bland,soulless , stupid, crass, empty imagery that masqurades as fashion and beauty photography. God help us if this is the best we can do. Fashion photographers have got to do more than just think about their day rate and wether they can just grab another campaign!

By --1cal1-- at 18:12 Wed 02 Apr 2008
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