One of the most inspiring people to me is the icon, Diana Vreeland. With a career that saw Vreeland edit both Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, two of the longest running magazines in the fashion industry, and a personality that raised some of the most groundbreaking ideas and work in her field, she is someone that is highly influential in my own personal approach to work.

Diana Vreeland had an impact on so many avenues of the fashion/ editorial world, but it was her unprecedented perspective and ability to choose the most controversial and expansive option that stands out to me. In 1940’s New York, Diana Vreeland met for the first time aspiring actress Lauren Bacall, at the time known simply as Betty. Vreeland, with a strong ability to ignore trends of the day, looked past Lauren Bacall’s petite frame, an oddity to the standard model of the day that had only voluptuous and curvy body types, she started booking Bacall for small shoots. It wasn’t long before Vreeland placed her on the cover of Vogue altering the course of magazine structure, Cinema and Bacalls personal career, with the model/actress securing a silver screen film debut alongside Humphrey Bogart.

Vreeland provided the foundation for having celebrities on covers- which was previously unheard of- this not only completely shifted the magazine world, but also transformed Vogue from a high society publication into a trend forecasting, fresh and relevant magazine. The fact that Diana Vreeland was foresighted enough to cause that much controversy and upheaval on the current standard of things in the 1940’s is really cool to me. She essentially facilitated an entire avenue of celebrity culture that today we take as standard.

I think she was very ahead of her time and that she had this amazing understanding of her audience, once saying,

“I think part of my success as an editor came from never worrying about a fact,
a cause, an atmosphere. It was me – projecting to the public. That was my job. I think I always had a perfectly clear view of what was possible for the public. Give ’em what they never knew they wanted.”
-Diana Vreeland.

She later went on to be editor of Harpers Bazaar, with equal influence and legacy. Vreeland worked with an art director called Fabian Barren whose layouts and graphics for magazines are celebrated and still used to this day, if you look through ‘The Face’ and ‘ID’ magazine you’ll see things that were coined by Fabian Barren himself.
I feel that not only was Diana Vreeland highly influential herself, but she had a very good eye for talent and designers. Head hunting people and creativity, which allowed these artists to rise and transform into stars of their day.

Vreeland was not considered attractive to the standard of females of her day, but just like her ideals and attitudes when it came to her role as editor, she manifested an entire character and form that was polar opposite to the accepted trend of the day, that was equally as valuable and desired.

She was generally just a very sick human being. If you haven’t seen it, I would definitely recommend the documentary ‘The Eye Has To Travel, which was put together in the last five years, I watched it when I was in New York. It shows the Legacy of Diana and her work and also includes some incredible imagery, definitely worth a watch.