Vanity Fair

In the same way that the success of that Saturday Evening Post contributed to the success of Norman Rockwell’s work, so too does Vanity Fair impact the cultural status of its cover photo, featuring k.d. lang. This photo cannot be separated from its status as a cover image, as something Vanity Fair put its name on and published for global consumption. Cultural weight is given to this image because it was on the cover of Vanity Fair. One of the reasons this cover is able to be so impactful is because Vanity Fair used its cultural power to elevate a piece of queer art and representation.

The first cover of Vanity Fair

January 1914

The name Vanity Fair as the title of a magazine has existed in three different publications. It was initially “a short-lived, Manhattan-based humorous weekly, published from 1859 to 1863” then an English “society magazine” from 1868 to 1914, and finally an American “weekly publication, reconceived as a theater magazine” in 1890 (Friend). Condé Nast, owner of Vogue, acquired the rights to this name in 1913 and relaunched Vanity Fair in 1914 (“Brands”; Friend). The magazine was briefly suspended from 1936-1983, as it was considered “a periodical too glib and urbane for the increasingly stormy times,” (Friend). Vanity Fair was then revived in 1983 and has remained one of the most popular magazines circulating today.

The early years of Vanity Fair contained a bit of boundary-breaking as well, as the magazine made, for its time, bold editorial choices. Frank Crowninshield, an early Vanity Fair editor, “...in 1917… ran a poem by Gertrude Stein, and… routinely reproduced works by Matisse, Maillol, and Picasso long before any mainstream American magazine dared—and over Nast's heated objections” (Collins). For this time, these choices were controversial. Vanity Fair, since its inception, has been driven by artistic desire and the creation of a community. Vanity Fair was governed by a “jaunty ethos of mixing, matching, and homogenizing personalities from different classes, races, and sexes (as long as they were brilliant, beautiful, rich, or talented)” (Collins). While Vanity Fair was not accessible to everyone, there was still an interest in bringing certain people together, in crossing specific boundaries.

Another bold choice from this magazine became one of the most popular forms of photography. In the 1920’s and 30’s Vanity Fair was “a pioneer in what came to be known as celebrity portraiture. In fact, the magazine was virtually alone in treating portraits of stars as serious photography and even as art” (Carter 9). This decision to focus on celebrity portraiture helped secure a place for Vanity Fair in the creation of pop culture. I mean, how many times are you out in the world or on your phone and you come across some new celebrity photoshoot, maybe in the form of an advertisement, campaign, or cover photo? Celebrities, in collaboration with a creative team, develop and star in art pieces that push boundaries and subvert expectations, just like our cover photo of k.d. lang. The 1993 cover, all kinds of queer, is able to have a place in popular culture because Vanity Fair developed the space for it.

Doris Day, 1953

Photographed by John Florea

(Vanity Fair's Hollywod 26)

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Joan Crawford, 1929

Photographed by Nickolas Murray

(Vanity Fair's Hollywood, 16-17)

Greta Garbo, 1929

Photographed by Edward Steichen

(Vanity Fair's Hollywood 43)

Our photo of k.d. lang is shaped by its status as a Vanity Fair cover. In 1993, a photo that centers a butch woman would have needed the cultural power of a name like Vanity Fair to secure a place in mainstream media. Who knows if I would have come across this photo, as a young lesbian who had no idea how to search for queer publications. I was able to find it, the world was able to find it, because Vanity Fair made celebrity portraiture a well-known and respected art form and put their name behind it. I am able to study this photo now because of the cultural power of Vanity Fair.

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