Getting cover subjects for magazines has never been trickier.
Vogue just got outplayed on its September cover by Vogue Uk with Nicole Kidman on their cover, and Elle here in the US with Rihanna. Each one is a statement photo with a lot of buzz and heat.
In the US? Vogue was reduced to the young stars of a subpar TV show called “The Shards.”
Now we get to Vanity Fair, which has struggled with cover subjects since Graydon Carter and his team moved on.
Under the latest editor, Mark Guiducci, the covers have been…pedestrian. The stories have been like press releases, and the photos extremely dull. They moved their Hollywood issue to last December, and couldn’t get any women. It was all male actors. Teyana Taylor, Margaret Qualley, and Kylie Jenner were duds. Tennis player Carlos Alcaraz was on the June cover, if you can believe it. The magazine sank to the bottom in July with Lisa, KPOP star of the group Blackpink.
You ask, Who the f are these people? (And don’t get me wrong, I love Teyana Taylor.)
(Many moons ago, when I had a job securing celebrities for covers, I had a nightmare. I dreamt that the cover of my magazine was just a picture of trees. It was a forest. I awoke in a sweat. I know how hard this is!)
Sources insist to me that finding a September cover subject has been a nightmare. A source whom I trust claims that Vanity Fair had pop star Miley Cyrus booked for her first new album from Atlantic Records.
But then “Miley changed her mind,” they said, leaving Vanity Fair in the lurch. What to do?
I’ve been told that Vanity Fair may have to go with fashion designer Marc Jacobs on the cover. Maybe the cover photo would be of Jacobs sandwiched in between two beautiful models. But that’s not how you start the fall season, certainly not for a celebrity magazine.
In the old days, Tina Brown or Graydon Carter would have had Tom Cruise on the September cover, for his new movie, “Digger.” They would settle for a puff piece just to get the picture and the promise of some minor gossip. But so far, Cruise has not sat down for anyone.
Who else? How about Brad Pitt? Well, Esquire has him — making headlines about his sobriety. Cate Blanchett is on the front of Harper’s Bazaar UK, looking stunning.
So Marc Jacobs? Vanity Fair’s PR would only tell me the cover is coming on August 24th. We will wait and see if they can do better.
