Vogue editor Tonne Goodman has seen the fashion world change: “I miss the time before social media”

Fashion magazine Vogue is known around the world as an authority on fashion. But does a fashion magazine matter anymore in the age of social media?

It is, but a lot also needs to be done to maintain it, says the long-time editor of American Vogue Tonne Goodman.

Goodman’s title at Vogue was for a long time fashion editornowadays sustainability editor. In practice, the job description is the same: he designs cover and fashion shoots and writes a style column, while highlighting the sustainable development of fashion.

HS interviewed Goodman in connection with the documentary series about Vogue. In Vogue: The 90’s The first episodes of the series will be released on the Disney+ service on Friday.

The series focuses on the 1990s, which is remembered as a significant decade in fashion. There were top models, designers who shook the Haute couture world, spectacular fashion shows – and Vogue deciding who deserved a place on the pages of the magazine.

from the 1990s Goodman says he misses “everything and nothing”.

American Vogue underwent a drastic change in the 1990s. New editor-in-chief Anna Wintour aired the stale fashion magazine into a new flourish and recruited new members to his work team, including Goodman, who previously worked as a model and stylist.

“The energy, excitement and challenges of that time were really inspiring. We had to reinvent ourselves, and that prepared us for what we’re doing now,” Goodman recalls.

“The industry is now faster than ever, and social media has taken over. Undeniably, I miss the time before social media.”

In Goodman’s opinion, social media has weakened people’s independent thinking. It is difficult to form your own thoughts and ideas under a constant flood of images and influences.

To the past there is no going back, except perhaps in terms of trends. In recent years, the influences of the 1990s have been seen in both fashion and beauty trends. The body ideal of that decade has also resurfaced.

The return of the extremely thin, so-called “heroine chic” body ideal has been horrified in the media.

Goodman doesn’t think the phenomenon is as drastic now as it was 30 years ago.

“I feel that there are several beauty ideals on the surface at the same time. In the 1990s, there was no other ideal than top models. If the ideal of that time makes a comeback now, it returns as part of a wider spectrum of beauty concepts,” he reflects.

“But Vogue also still has a role – and a responsibility – in creating beauty ideals, as does any publication that provides visual material.”

Beauty ideals Goodman also sees good things in the era of social media: on social media, body positivity and people with different looks have gained visibility and thus broadened perceptions of beauty.

Fashion magazines have traditionally offered ideas for dressing and peeks into the world of glamour, but nowadays you can get them endlessly from the corners of social media and the internet.

Goodman believes that Vogue will be able to maintain its position as a fashion media in the future. You just have to know how to reform, as was done in the 1990s.

“The farther people drive from everything tangible, the more valuable stopping by a magazine and a picture becomes. It will happen as long as we can provide great and relevant content.”

In Vogue: The 90’s on Disney+ service 13.9. from