Every model's work covers several areas of fashion: from the catwalk, to fashion magazines, to commercial adds. Print work is a part of a profissional model's work.
The same happens in SL - fortunately, I must say. The closer SL fashion and modeling activities are to RL, the best, in my opinion. To be a model is not the kind of SL's typical 'roleplay'.
I guess all of us are being more and more demanding regarding Fashion Magazines in SL: their layout, their graphic design, their image quality.
Lately, I read several SL Fashion Magazines. Some are starting, others are already established.
I will publish here their Issuu url so that everybody may read.
The best fashion magazines in RL are very eclectic when it comes to styling and showcasing several RL designers. However, one thing is common to all of them: an extreme care in the layout and graphic design, especially in their more editorial pieces.
Filled with ads, RL Fashion Magazines are a very successful business. Every professional model buys Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, especially the italian edition, Elle, Vanity Fair.
Every professional model dreams of being in the cover of any of these magazines.
In SL, the same thing should happen. Fashion Magazines should be a huge business in the fashion industry. Fortunately, some magazines in SL manage to do that. Let's not forget that SL - which some people call 'just a game', is not 'just a game'. It has an economy of its own. So, every fashion magazine should be extremely profitable to the company that publishes them. Profitable for every model that does his/her print work. To achieve this, quality must be high at all levels. SL Magazines must also live from commercial ads. The more the quality, the more creators will want to have their ads printed.
Every magazine has a staff; besides what the readers see, there is a group of people behind it. Those people take care of several aspects of every magazine. It has to be profitable to pay all the staff, all the models and photographers that work for the magazine. Same thing should happen in SL.
Only those who see SL® as a 'game' ignore all these aspects. There has to be money involved in publishing a SL Magazine. It's imperative for the quality of fashion and modeling industry in SL that models featured in fashion magazines are well payed; photographers are well payed, the staff is well paid. Just like RL. After paying all the staff, models and photographers, the company that runs the magazine must have economical profit. That's how any business is run - SL or RL.
Again, I'm going after quality.
One of the most recent fashion magazines I read in SL is Haute. Haute's first magazine is entirely dedicated to white. The same company that publishes Haute - Asymetrique - also publishes L'Homme .
Both magazines have a good image layout. I found it strange though, that in L'Homme's 2nd edition, on the cover, there is a reference to the love relationship between two SL Models. That really isn't the point of a fashion magazine, especially in the cover. Let's keep it real. There's much to explore in L'Homme magazine; one of the weakest points in SL fashion is the lack of good designers for men - there is an ongoing effort to improve this aspect. So L'Homme may well become a reference to all men in SL. Being the image layout quite good, I'm guessing this magazine will grow and will be successful.
Haute Magazine seems to be starting; they are doing - as far as I could see - the same thing that Modavia Fashion Directory does: divide models into 'supermodels' and just 'models'. This is a mistake, in my opinion, but it's up to them.
BeStyle Magazine has been around in SL for quite some time.
There are parts of the magazine that have a good layout, but other's don't. It looks inconsistent, as a fashion magazine - imagewise. BeStyle doesn't have any reference to its models or supermodels, which is very good; that means every model in SL can be featured there. Good for the magazine and good for professional models that need to have print work done. To improve, I'd suggest a better cover. There is a full spread about a model's academy in SL, which I assume has to be bought (otherwise is not good for business) . Behind that model's academy is one model in SL that is still today an icon to some. This spread part of the magazine is very low quality, in terms of image. It can be improved as well.
I also read InWorld Lifestyle Magazine.
It's more a lifestyle magazine than a fashion one. With several articles, some with a better layout than others, the image editting could be improved. It doesn't strike me as a completely fashion magazine.
There is also Modavia Fashion Directory which is fashion oriented and very editorial. However, it hasn't been published for quite some time. About MFD, I wrote my opinion some time ago.
Published periodically, in this case, every month is AVENUE Magazine.
This is, in my opinion, the best fashion magazine in SL. It doesn't mention models or supermodels, the graphic design is very good and it seems to have improved. Easy thing to observe since the magazine is published monthly. Every fashion spread has its credits; the style card of what the model is wearing and featuring; the layout and photography are editorial. Every interview is done in a professional way, easy to read, with impeccable layout. It also covers several aspects of SL, business, art, new sims, art creators. All the articles are a pleasure to read.
I don't have any other fashion magazines to show you at this point. If there are more that I'm not aware of, please inform me and I'll be glad to take a look ;)
