Third World Chic

Vogue India recently received a lot of attention in the media, however probably not the kind the year old magazine was looking for. The magazine received a lot of flack for displaying designer bags and clothes—a Hermes handbag and a Burberry umbrella, among other items—on the poorest of India. One photo included a poor Indian woman carrying a baby wearing a hundred dollar Fendi bib; while the average person in India earns only 500 dollars each year, according to a Stanford study.

Photographers and editors alike made sure that these pictures weren’t shot in an air-conditioned studio, they were in a rural, dire background, (an unsuspecting eye might not even spot that the models were wearing the designer goods). It seems that the sad looking background and modest looking “models” were just a prop to make sure the designer items stood out and looked good.


Equally controversial is the fact that the photo “models” weren’t even named, while the designer swag was specifically identified.


“Lighten up,” editor in chief of Vogue India Priya Tanna said in a telephone interview to the New York Times. “Vogue is about realizing the “power of fashion” she said, and the shoot was saying that “fashion is no longer a rich man’s privilege. Anyone can carry it off and make it look beautiful,” she said. But is using some of India’s poorest as props to designer goods in good taste? And the last time I checked the kind of fashion that Vogue deals in is still a privilege of the rich.

“Earlier this summer clothes designed by India's poorest and most downtrodden women - 'night-soil carriers' from the country's untouchable caste - were modeled on a New York catwalk”, said Pamela Timms a writer for The Independent. So it seems this ‘Third World Chic’ might become a trend.

Pavan K Varma, former diplomat and author of 'The Great Indian Middle Class, noted that right now “money is fashionable” in India. And Vogue India is, no doubt, an extension of that mentality. But is hyper-consumerism and high end baby bibs, that they’ll never be able to afford, what India needs?

Vogue Launches in India but is Competition on the Way?

The fashion bible makes its debut today in India. The first issue features Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra and Preity Zinta on the cover along with three models, Vogue aims to conquer the fashion world in India like it has conquered the fashion world in America.

But Condé Nast has big plans for the magazine and Vogue is testing the waters in India. If the magazine does well, Conde Nast also plans on introducing others magazines like Glamour, Traveller, Vanity Fair and Wired.

The magazine industry in India grows six per cent a year and, Conde Nast India, Alex Kuruvila believes that the influx of luxury brands will help the magazine grow and become successful. The magazine seeks to celebrate the Indian women and the richness of traditional Indian Fashion.

"We've been studying the Indian market for over a year," says Alex Kuruvilla, chief executive of Condé Nast India, "Our timing couldn't be better."

According to KSA Technopak’s 2006 study in India the country has more than 1 million households with an income of $100,000. Magazines such as Men’s Health, Maxim, and Golf Digest introduced their magazines to India last year, and magazines such as Rolling Stone and Harper’s Bazaar are looking to get their hands on some of those readers.

"We will raise the bar because we are the ultimate style-bible," Priya Tanna, Vogue India editor, told Reuters.

Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Hello!, Time Out, OK! are just some of the magazines that are already on newsstands in India. And it seems that slowly but surely the competition for readership will become stiff just like it has been in the U.S. But Kuruvilla is confident that the magazine will strike gold in the land of fashion starved millionaires.

"The Indian market has arrived and so have we," Kuruvilla said. "We have a huge turnout of advertisements already."

Vogue Gone India

Vogue, the chic fashion magazine acquired by Conde Nast in 1910, announced the launch of their first Vogue India issue today. According to Daily Times, the magazine is priced at 100 rupees ($2.5) and features a blend of Western, international and Indian fashion, décors, global cultures, travel and health. The magazine was set to hit newsstands in over 5,000 outlets and throughout 40 towns in India, states Vogue.com Daily News.

“Unlike most other western publishers, Conde Nast will own and operate its magazines in India rather than publishing through a joint venture or a license. This approach reflects Conde Nast’s deep commitment to the Indian market,” Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman of publishing house Conde Nast International said in a recent article on Blogger News titled “Vogue to launch Indian edition next year.”

With one of the fastest-growing business markets in the world, India’s beauty increases in richness and culture. Vogue Managing Editor Priya Tanna, in a recent Forbes article titled “Vogue India Launches,” said the traditional Indian woman has been revolutionized and has gained the revenue and independence to care more about style and self-awareness.

If the initial launch is successful, Conde Nast hopes to release five other India custom titles including Gentlemen’s Quarterly, Glamour and Traveller, in the next three to four years.

“Vogue’s the flagship brand; now we’re poised to take on a second or third title quite soon. In a rapidly growing market, with a huge untapped audience, we see great potential,” said managing editor of Vogue, Alex Kuruvilla, in the Forbes article.

Coined as a global fashion trendsetter, the once failing publication has blossomed into an international phenomenon with editions in 23 markets: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States among others. In essence, Vogue India can be seen as a time-lined package that will capture the subsequent cultivations of India and perhaps the world.