Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue Undervalues Fashion Industry

BBC2′s Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue concluded its two-part series last Thursday, a documentary that peeks inside the world of British Vogue. Director Richard Macer gained unprecedented access to the professional life of Vogue director Alexandra Shulman and her colleagues, the first time in the publication history that such behind the scenes access had been granted. And what a waste it was.

To mark the centenary year of the fashion bible, Macer filmed the office and staff for nine months, from being invited on a photo shoot with Kate Moss, going to the National Portrait Gallery to see the installation that celebrates their 100 years and interviewing some of the other key people involved in the daily running of the magazine. Instead of a show that celebrated the immense achievement of 100 years of the magazine or Shulman’s 25 year reign, Macer attempts to investigate a rumour of her impending retirement - a rumour he started himself. Though, he mainly wastes his time trying to pit Shulman against her US counterpart Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue in a tug-of-war to feature Rihanna on their cover first. It fails, as it’s revealed that it became water under the bridge (or so it seemed, for the camera). He wanted to ask Wintour in his exclusive interview about the situation, but resented when an British Vogue employee begged him not to.

The tone carries on this way. There was a snide, crass view, with an agenda to present Shulman as a power-crazed real-life Miranda Priestly. Instead, she comes off as a talented journalist who’s managed to keep the magazine alive to see its 100th birthday, something very few publications have achieved.

Macer sneers at the female-dominated fashion business, quipping that very few men work at Vogue. He seems uninterested in a staffer who admits to spending £750 on a coat and scoffs at another who own 80 pairs of jeans. He didn’t have a ticket to London Fashion Week, though was meant to follow Shulman around and couldn’t remember if he asked Conde Nast’s boss permission to film him before going in to his office.

He gains access to Kate Moss’ photo shoot but when he’s given the rare opportunity to speak to her, he wastes the moment by asking her how many covers she’s been on - a question easily answered by Google. She walks off embarrassed, saying she hates being interviewed. Same with Georgia May Jagger, who refuses to answer one of his questions. But we do get glimpses of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kim Kardashian, Karl Largerfeld, Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley and Hugh Jackman.

While the documentary did provide an insight into the life of Vogue and the people behind it, the minute achievements became easily undone by Macer’s vulgar attempt to portray this world in a stereotypical nature. At times, it appears as though he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and often ends up annoying the people he’s interviewing, including Shulman.

He even ponders and asks himself if the series would have been better if a woman was making it, and feels like he’s treading on eggshells. He learns the hard way that trust is important in this industry, to the point where Shulman ran rings around him, making Macer sit through fake meetings about the cover of the 100th anniversary edition. Oblivious to his knowledge, she had already done a coveted world-exclusive photo shoot with the Duchess of Cambridge. There is no value given to the fashion industry, or the people work in it.