Vogue Italia Reduced Its Carbon Footprint by Hiring Artists to Illustrate Its January Issue Instead of Staging Photo Shoots

In an effort to reduce its
carbon footprint, Vogue Italia won’t publish any glossy
photo shoots in its January issue. Instead, it
is commissioning
artists to illustrate its pages. 

The environmental toll that the
production of Vogue photo shoots takes is substantial,
says Emanuele Farneti, the magazine’s editor in chief, in a note to
readers.

“One hundred and fifty people
involved. About twenty flights and a dozen or so train journeys.
Forty cars on standby. Sixty international deliveries. Lights
switched on for at least ten hours nonstop, partly powered by
gasoline-fueled generators. Food waste from the catering services.
Plastic to wrap the garments. Electricity to recharge phones,
cameras,” Farneti writes.

The move marks the first time
that any of Vogue‘s international magazines have published
an issue without a photographic cover. Among the artists tapped to create one of the
issue’s eight custom covers are Vanessa Beecroft, David Salle,
Cassi Namoda, and Milo Manara. Though mixed in their aesthetic
styles, each cover depicts a model wearing Gucci clothing and bears
the phrase, “No photoshoot production was required in the making of
this issue.”

“Change is difficult, but how
can we ask others to change if we are not prepared to call
ourselves into question?” Farneti writes. “Accordingly, this month
we wanted to launch a message: that creativity—which has been a
cornerstone of Vogue for nearly 130 years—can, and must, prompt us
to explore different paths.”

The money saved on the January
issue will be donated to the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, a
cultural center in Venice damaged by last
November’s flood.

The post Vogue Italia Reduced Its Carbon Footprint by Hiring
Artists to Illustrate Its January Issue Instead of Staging Photo
Shoots appeared first on artnet News.