Why I love... Vogue

Senior writer Lauren Bravo tells us how the world's fashion bible is about more than just clothes...

With mainstream women’s magazines increasingly under fire for celeb-obsessed, thought-light content, there is one title that I’m happy to say I still love wholeheartedly. In fact, I get that little shiver of anticipation every time a glossy new issue thumps on to my doormat (yes, I subscribe). It’s the doyenne of the fashion world, the perfectly coiffed grandmother of the newsstand – *Madonna pose* – it’s Vogue.

Part of my respect for Vogue comes from the fact that I shouldn’t love it at all. It’s an ad-heavy volume, full of clothes I can’t afford on women I can’t relate to, written primarily for people living lives I most likely will never have. But, I love it.

I love it because somehow – probably through championing timeless style alongside each season’s trends – Vogue manages to capture the giddy excitement and the creativity of fashion without making its readers feel like slaves to the industry. I finish each copy feeling inspired, but not necessarily to run out and throw my month’s salary at the high street.

It certainly helps that, unlike so many women’s magazines, Vogue recognises its readers have interests beyond shoes and celebrity waistlines. It commissions the best writers to cover a wide range of political and cultural affairs, and its tone remains intelligent and unpatronising throughout. Yes, the usual models, actresses and society gals pepper its pages, but so do authors, artists, athletes and businesswomen.

Despite being such an old, established brand (British Vogue launched in 1916), it has embraced the digital world wonderfully. Vogue.co.uk is starkly designed, well-executed and stands alone as a great online portal for show reports and street style, while its Twitter account, @BritishVogue, has made itself indispensible for hot-off-the-press fashion news.

So I salute Alexandra Shulman and her team for taking an often-ridiculous world and making it relevant and exciting to a mere mortal such as me. As the fashion industry (slowly) changes to embrace a wider range of women, I hope Vogue will be at the forefront to report it.