The COVID-19 Content Shakeup
How fashion media is carving out its post-pandemic future
The parameters of content creation are constantly shifting. Now more than ever, fashion media needs to reassess its future and function.
In the whirlwind of the past few months, editorial content has been forced to adapt with the times, balancing thoughtful analysis with light relief. Photoshoots were moved to FaceTime and the focus changed from celebrity to community. At the same time, media was becoming increasingly homogenised as similar stories were pushed out across several platforms and publications. This was largely unavoidable given that the pandemic affected us all in some way or other. The question now is whether this unprecedented situation could prompt long-term industry change.
At the start of lockdown, advertisers began to pull out and shoots were postponed or cancelled. “Advertisers don’t want to advertise against news stories about pandemics,” says Anna Codrea-Rado founder of the Freelancer Pay Gap project. “In general, advertisers don’t want to advertise when there’s been a catastrophe. They pull out that ad money and because of that publications are slashing their budgets and they’re laying people off or they’re closing down completely and stopping their print runs.”
Staffers at magazines fell victim to mass layoffs and freelancers lost work they had lined up. At the same time, with everyone at home, more people than ever have been engaging with digital content. Even layoffs and budget cuts hardly seemed to slow the speed at which content was being churned out. The fashion industry slowed down, but fashion magazines continued to publish huge amounts of content on their websites and social media channels.
“The tsunami of content overwhelms us all, but poor-quality content will not detain any reader for long. So much has happened recently – the COVID-19 crisis, the Black Lives Matter protests, the urgency of the climate change crisis. Media has had no choice but to engage.”
The amount of content online can be anxiety-inducing, particularly during a pandemic. “The tsunami of content overwhelms us all,” says Course Leader of MA Fashion Communication at Central Saint Martins, Roger Tredre, “but poor-quality content will not detain any reader for long. So much has happened recently – the COVID-19 crisis, the Black Lives Matter protests, the urgency of the climate change crisis. Media has had no choice but to engage.” As the economy starts to rebuild itself fashion media faces the challenge of engaging with heavier topics while simultaneously fulfilling its financial obligations to advertisers. It’s a tricky balance but one that publications will have to get right.
Social media-first content
Social media has been a gamechanger for fashion content, speeding up its pace and generating greater engagement between magazines and their audience. IGTV was launched by Instagram in 2018 but it really took off during the pandemic because it allows brands and publications to share longer videos on the app. Throughout lockdown magazines have adopted a more direct audience facing approach to content, with journalists conducting interviews with designers, musicians and other creatives via Instagram live.
“Throughout this pandemic social media has been integral in keeping us connected and key in allowing media outlets to speak to their readers. I can’t see this changing any time soon,” says Dazed junior fashion writer Jessica Langton. Traditional reported journalism is not exactly the perfect fit for Instagram. The app’s algorithm favours faces over words so original photographs are preferred which are not always easy to access, especially with reactive news pieces. Often editors source article images from Instagram and embed them into the website producing an endless cycle from Instagram to website, website to Instagram.”
“I think social-only content is definitely on the rise,” says Mona Tehrani, who is in charge of social media at The Face magazine. “It is a more informal and “real” way to connect so all types of content that feel more personal are better off on social. Social media has to date generally more been treated as an add-on and an extra way of promotion for the “real content” on the website and in the magazine, but over these last few months social media became the main if not the only opportunity of growth for a lot of fashion media outlets.”
We are already starting to see social media content promoted on websites rather than the other way around. i-D magazine’s NOTHING TO Hi-DE IG live series which started a couple of weeks before lockdown takes place on the app and is promoted on the website, turning the use of Instagram to promote content on its head. “I think fashion media will pivot to having more social media-first content — social media-exclusive covers, catwalk live-streams on IGTV, interviews done for the IG grid, some kind of meaningful TikTok presence — as well as more innovative bespoke site design,” says Hunger magazine staff writer Megan Wallace. “But I do think there will be a return to text because digital culture has been so visual, people are now craving that deeper analysis.” Celebrity influence is declining in some ways, but its promotional powers are still unmatched. Recently its force has been felt in the publishing industry after several photos of Kendall Jenner and the Hadid sisters reading books by up-and-coming writers have gone viral. Wallace suggests that we will begin to see the same thing happen with fashion magazines. “The Hadids are treating books like accessories,” she says. “I’m sure a similar approach will happen with more high-profile interviews and think pieces in magazines.”
“The Hadids are treating books like accessories...”
Community-led content
The direct interaction with your audience that social media enables cultivates a more community-led approach to content. Fashion magazines have traditionally traded off exclusivity, but this shifted during the pandemic. Celebrities were making videos poolside from their mansions complaining about how lockdown felt like prison. Influencers were escaping to their second homes despite health experts warning against it. Public opinion of celebrities and influencers nosedived. Instead, a new respect for the undervalued essential workers was born and fashion magazines started to reflect that.
For their June issue, British Vogue published three covers shot by Jamie Hawkesworth featuring ‘The New Frontline’ – a supermarket assistant, a community midwife, and a London underground train driver. Inside, there were still the usual shopping pieces and shoots – socially distanced or over FaceTime – with top models. However, the centrepiece was clearly focused on the lives of ‘ordinary’ people. The Face magazine also spotlighted key workers, creating a series of digital covers in April and May featuring young supermarket staff and delivery workers. Digital content became increasingly opinion-led with first-person features written by people facing various challenges in the face of the pandemic.
These experiments would have once felt radical but now they feel right. Celebrities’ lives will always hold a certain fascination but they are not the only narratives readers want to hear anymore. “I think with the coronavirus, different brands, magazines and institutions have felt more like they have to entertain their audience, rather than trading off ideas of exclusivity,” says Megan Wallace. “I think we’ll see a change in who is being covered and who is seen as “worthy” of being a cover star. Fashion media will focus on reflecting real people more and more, as well as the people that we all actually care about; internet comedians, TikTokers, community organisers.”
The Vogue challenge, which originated on TikTok in mid-May, is another example of the changing fashion cover star. The challenge saw black photographers, models, stylists, and makeup artists showcasing their take on the cover of the Conde Nast magazine. The challenge gained momentum with the Black Lives Matter movement which highlighted how few black creatives had been given a platform by top fashion magazines, both in front of and behind the camera. British Vogue’s editor-in-chief Edward Enninful then curated his top 10 Vogue challenge covers to share on Vogue’s website.
Vogue Challenge by Valeria Nahyr @valerianahyr and Kelvin Vincent @officialkelvincent
For many, there is still a question mark hovering over the idea that major change can be catalysed from within the industry and within these legacy publications. The alternative is a rebirth of zine culture and independent publications that tackle these issues head-on. “I am optimistic and believe that we will see a new generation of digital startups once we have overcome the challenges – both medical and economic – of COVID-19,” says Roger Tredre. Perhaps we will see a new wave of indie publications springing up. However, even before the pandemic, starting a new publication was rarely a sustainable source of income. Whether it’s realistic for people to be able to do this on a significant scale is yet to be seen.
Some magazines have been trying to become more transparent and accessible. i-D recently launched a summer school, a series of free online courses aiming to demystify the industry. The first class will be a pitching guide and young creatives are encouraged to send in their ideas. With the future looking more freelance focused as the economy recovers, this is the kind of information that magazines need to be making readily available. “Mentorship schemes would also be really helpful,” says Megan Wallace. “Site mastheads and contact pages should be kept up to date and commissioning editors should publish pitching guides and rates on the “about” section of magazine sites.” Most careers in media nowadays don’t follow a linear path from degree to (unpaid) internship to a steady job, so the industry needs to recognise that and make these necessary changes.
The future is freelance
Business of Fashion predicts that post-pandemic the fashion industry will rely on freelancers more than ever. “There will be many more opportunities for freelancers in the future, particularly digitally-led and tech-led opportunities,” Pip Jamieson, founder and chief executive of professional network The Dots told BoF. Before the pandemic, fashion media was already heavily reliant on freelance stylists, photographers, and writers but with mass staff layoffs at several prestigious media companies the percentage of work carried out by freelancers looks set to increase.
In May, Conde Nast laid off 100 US staffers and two days later Vice Media Group announced 155 layoffs internationally. It’s uncertain if and when these companies will be in a position to start hiring permanent staff again. While freelancers were some of the first workers to have projects cancelled or postponed back in March, due to the flexible and remote nature of freelancing, they are now some of the first to start working again. Yet freelancers in media and creative industries remain some of the least protected workers. They face late payments, low rates, and increasingly sporadic commissioning. The pandemic thrust these issues into the light when most publications cut their freelance budgets entirely throughout April and May.
Anna Codrea-Rado founded the Freelancer Pay Gap project in June which aims to create greater transparency about what publications pay their freelancers. Projects like this and initiatives by media worker advocacy group Study Hall help to give freelancers a bit more protection. “Pay gaps are being looked at for people in staff roles because employers are required by law to report on gender pay gaps,” Condrea-Rado explains, “but none of that is happening for freelancers.”
This is just one obstacle that freelancers face as more and more people adapt to this way of working. The Freelancer Pay Gap statistics will be officially released once the spreadsheet reaches 1,000 entries, but from a glance, it’s clear that rates vary hugely between publications. The worry now is that “an oversaturated market could lead to more competition as well as a lowering of freelancer rates across the board. Companies struggling with the economic repercussions of COVID-19 are likely to hire cheaper talent,” BoF reports.
Condrea-Rado advocates for freelancers asking for more money, but many publications have set rates that won’t budge. It’s also difficult for freelancers to speak out about being treated unfairly by a publication. Late payments, stolen ideas, or being expected to work for free are all common grievances. However, publicly calling out this behaviour could likely mean never working with that editor or publication again. Magazines are only just publicly reckoning with how they treat the creatives they work with, particularly Black creatives and other creatives of colour who face these issues disproportionately higher than their white counterparts. The Freelancer Pay Gap project was actually inspired by @influencerpaygap, the Instagram account highlighting the disparity between what black and non-black influencers are being paid.
Another advantage of freelance labour for magazines is that it allows publications to include a variety of voices from different backgrounds, a diversity that all too often is not reflected in the offices themselves. The community-based content that we have been seeing an increase in this year requires the voices of people from these communities. Until magazines are in the financial position to start hiring full-time staff again, freelancers are undoubtedly the way forward. For this to be a sustainable way of working for everyone, though, it’s essential for freelancer labour rights to improve.
Activism and philanthropy
The British fashion industry directly contributed £35 billion to the UK GDP in 2019 and employs 890,000 people, according to data from Oxford Economics released by the British Fashion Council (BFC), but most of that money never trickles down to the majority of people working in the industry. This includes magazines, where most freelancers and staffers alike earn a wage that is barely liveable. The Black Lives Matter movement has forced fashion media not just to look at who and what it is representing in campaigns and editorials, but also who is working behind-the-scenes and how they are being treated. This includes fair pay.
The civil rights movement has forced brands to put their money where their mouth is and the fashion industry has stepped up with a number of high-profile charity sales and auctions. Young designers and creatives recently banded together with the Creatives 4 Systemic Change raffle to raise money for charities supporting Black Trans people. In fashion media, i-D will be donating 100% of the profits from their summer 2020 issue to Black Lives Matter.
“Journalists, just like all of us, have become activists. But what does being an activist look like within the confines of fashion content creation?”
“Journalists, just like all of us, have become activists,” says Roger Tredre. But what does being an activist look like within the confines of fashion content creation? Teen Vogue has pioneered fashion media activism under the helm of Elaine Welteroth, who became editor-in-chief of the magazine in 2016. “When Teen Vogue started out, it was an aspirational fashion magazine for fashion lovers,” Welteroth told ABC News in 2018. “You know it was the little sister to Vogue. And over the years we've realized that our mission was really to become more focused on making this an inclusive community, that speaks to every kind of young person.” On Twitter, there’s a widely circulated joke that 10 years ago Teen Vogue was telling its readers which lipstick to wear to make your crush like you and now they’re telling them how to dismantle capitalism.
Other publications have been slow to catch up but now they have no choice but to engage with civil rights issues and admit to their role in upholding white supremacy. Being against diversity and inclusivity no longer works in their favour. Perhaps the best example of this was in 2018 when the chief marketing officer at Victoria’s Secret told Vogue that the brand would not cast transgender models because they were not part of the “fantasy.” Since then, the brand has cancelled its annual show and the British arm has gone into administration. Meanwhile, Rihanna’s Fenty lingerie brand has had such success in part because of how inclusive it is. The same thing is happening in fashion media. System magazine recently faced criticism when, out of 35 covers released for their latest issue only two of the covers stars were Black.
We can hope to see more models of colour, trans, plus size and disabled models in the future of fashion media, though it might still take time for this to be normalised. Individuals in power stepping down or stepping back is more of a symbolic statement than a meaningful action. The COVID-19 crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement have both shaken up fashion media in their own ways. While long term, substantial change is by no means a given it’s unlikely the industry will ever go back to how it was before.
Header photo: Nobuyoshi Araki for Jalouse Magazine April 2016
16.07.2020
