We’re ringing in fashion’s New Year — the ninth month of the year, not the first — with a history of the most famous issue of them all.
Football players have the Super Bowl, athletes the Olympics, and Hollywood the Oscars. Fashion, however, has a month of fall fashion shows, and with them, the September issue — the industry’s holy chronicle.
Sometimes called the “fashion issue,” “icon issue’ or “style issue,” the long-awaited and highly coveted September issue has historically been the one that sets the mood for the following seasons, cleans the previous year’s slate, and redefines what’s hot and not: maybe it’s the much-reviled return of the skinny-jean or the color gray as the most-talked-about neutral. Whatever it is, a trend’s relevance can be measured by the number of cameos it gets in print.
Welcome to the September Issue.
The issue’s fame is in part practical: The ninth month of the year is summer’s denouement; when the flings have run their course, beach shoes have lost their tread, and wearing white becomes increasingly impractical — a small act of rebellion, or worse, a fashion faux pas. As sunsets arrive earlier and temperatures plummet, breathable linens are traded for floor-length trenches, and closets are rearranged to accommodate the bulk of cool-weather layers.
With this comes the market’s response: Fall/Winter collections are revealed, winter staples unboxed, and back-to-back Fashion Weeks explode across the globe; in New York, London, Paris, and Milan. During these thirty days, fashion’s crème de la crème perch on the edge of their seats, eyes peeled, phones ready, eagerly awaiting a first glimpse of what’s next.
September issues are famously the largest issue a fashion magazine will produce each year, they garner the most advertisements, showcase the biggest cover stars, and are often accompanied by real-life parties, extravagant dinners, and lots of press. Vogue, whose September issue is easily the…
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