40 word on the street In July 2022, Vogue USA ran a feature on Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Ostensibly a report on the current conflict in Ukraine, it was criticised by some in the West for glamorising warfare. Fiona Hayes, however, was impressed. “I’m not a huge fan of the big Vogues – British Vogue, American Vogue – but when I saw this, I thought, “Finally, you’re actually doing something. You’re putting your money where your mouth is. You’re actually really trying to support people.” Fiona is a big believer in the power of voice and influence to drive positive change in the publishing world. “I’m very interested in the democratisation of journalism, and staying true to your values with the content you publish,” she says. And with an impressive 30-year career – which includes 24 years as an art director, positions at Hearst, Condé Nast and the BBC, and the launches of seven editions of Vogue magazine – she’s well positioned to see the benefits. “Historically, the media was very top down. The audience had to be very passive and wait for the news to be handed to them. What the big cheeses in the print media gave you was what you got; these were the people who decided what you wore, what you bought, what was trendy, who was in and who was out. They had immense power,” she says. “In the last 30 years that power has ebbed away, because nowadays, you don’t have to have a magazine with sales of 100,000 to have a voice. Everyone with a phone has a voice.” She feels it is becoming more and more important for young people – not just in the magazine industry, but in general – to know what they want to say, and wants us to talk about how young people can find their voice. “I’m sure there are plenty of people who would disagree, who believe it’s about creating a product that gets clients and advertisers interested,” she says. “And of course journalism students may learn lots of skills, such as how to respond to what clients want, how to come up with business plans, but in the end, if you don’t know what you want to do with those skills, it’s a waste. You have a voice. What are you going to use it for?” In some cases, this can mean giving a voice to the voiceless or forgotten. Fiona is currently working with Asanda Sizani, the former editor-in-chief of South African Glamour on a new series of publications about iconic women in South African history. “My friend is using her voice to celebrate and bring attention to these important women whose lives have been hidden, who were very inspirational in many ways,” she says. Their most recent issue was about Noni Jabavu, a BBC broadcaster born in the 1920s. “She was the first Black person, the first non-Brit, I think, to edit The New Strand, a big British cultural institution in the magazine world. It’s really exciting to be involved in a project about these amazing, iconic women.” It is aimed at a South African audience – but would she like it to attract interest internationally? “I hope it will, because they are fascinating women for anybody to know about. I hope this project will go on for years and years.” By contrast, she is critical of the magazine-world establishment exemplified by figures such as Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful, editors of US Vogue and UK Vogue, respectively. “The biggest fashion books in the world – US, UK, France, Italy – are dominated by two people; they basically cleared out all the top ranks of experienced staff,” she says. Fiona feels this impacts both on the creativity of the publications and the standards of fashion journalism. “It’s just frustrating. I feel that there is so much more creativity with the newer, younger licences – Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Thailand– because they passionately care about the magazines, and it’s their money that has been invested.” In the case of the Ukraine feature, Fiona believes it wasn’t just Vogue using its power; it was a chance for Vogue Ukraine – who collaborated with their American counterpart on the shoot – to grab the attention of a war-weary world. Fiona mentions a Vanessa Friedman piece in the New York Times that quoted Olena Zelenska. “For people who read Vogue, the Ukraine war probably isn’t at the top of their agenda,” she says. “Olena said it gave her a chance to talk to an audience who are not interested in what’s going on, at a time when people in the Western world have war fatigue.” Fiona believes we – and especially critics – also have to consider who this feature is speaking for. “The team at Vogue Ukraine are friends of mine: Sergei, (the edition’s art director) spent those first weeks sheltering in the underground in Kyiv, and his mother was under bombardment in Kharkiv for several months,” she says. “If he says, ‘This is what we believe, and we wanted to put our names to this,’ then I think, ‘Ok, it’s your war. I will back you up. I’m on your side’.” This doesn’t mean she’s closed to other viewpoints, however. “I had a long to and fro with the former editor of Architectural Digest in Russia, who told me I didn’t understand – that it isn’t a war, that the Zelenskys are bad people. I kept thinking I could block her, but I felt we needed to have the conversation.” She points out that nobody on the shoot was doing it “for the laughs” or for personal gain – even the fashion designers whose clothes were worn were not credited. She says fashion editor Julie Pelipas – who is outspoken about stopping the war – received a lot of criticism for the shoot. “She got a lot of shit, and the thought of that could easily put you off doing anything, but she believed passionately in trying to help,” she says. “This is what it all comes down to. If you have a voice, you have to use it for something.” As a lecturer at the Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design and Nottingham Trent University, Fiona encourages this in her students. So how does she – and others in more senior positions – help the next generation decide how they want to use their voice? “This is what I want to discuss with others in the industry. But as an example, one of my students worked on a zine for her final project, and now she’s launching the zine professionally. She’s putting her voice out into the world.” ‘You don’t have to have a magazine with sales of 100,000 to have a voice. Everyone with a phone has a voice’
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