Diving into AnOther Magazine’s archives!

Aparna Aji, Interdisciplinary visual artist

I find it hard to single out a favourite. Especially between ‘Them’ by Danny Treacy in the SS2003 issue and Isabelle Wenzel’s latest ‘Surprise Surprise’ with Agata Belcen in the SS2021 issue. ‘Them’ might not even fall under the category of a traditional fashion editorial, but I think that’s part of its appeal – almost as if it is debating with the idea of being one, in a menacing way. It is pretty easy to miss it if you’re quickly flicking through the issue, but it very much sticks out from the rest of the pages; a clever way of discussing anonymity through a magazine. Two spreads with images of clothing found in neglected public spaces, creating interest around the apparent ambiguity of Treacy’s fictional characters, who also seem to be vehicles of a detailed narrative that’s waiting to be written. All dressed up, ready to extract an intimate storyline from the viewers. Definitely had me spin one out for the meat fabricator. I guess this aspect of surreal performance and anonymity is also what drew me to Wenzel’s latest work, although she has been a constant reference that leaks into a lot of my research.

Grace Sowerby, fashion journalist

My favourite AnOther editorial is “The Collections” by Phil Poynter in the premiere issue of the magazine. Upon first glance, I thought all of the images across the 25-page editorial were Baroque paintings. The pictures embody so much melodrama, grandeur, and Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro-esque lighting technique. Upon closer inspection, you see that the images depict a number of scenes from city night-life. The photographer takes these intimate scenes of performativity and transforms them into theatrical works of art. One of my favourite editorials of all time. I’ve always loved Art History, particularly antique paintings, and this editorial is the perfect example of merging fashion and painting together. That’s one of the things I find most inspiring about fashion – how it intersects with art.

AnOther Magazine was one of the publications I would constantly revert to back when I was a teenager. It just reminds me so much of SoHo magazine shops, where I would often venture to after school just to have a scan through some of its pages. Magazines like AnOther, Dazed, and i-D have really nurtured my love for writing about fashion, art, and culture.

Bella Webb, Editorial associate at Vogue Business

Flicking through the archive was fun, but the piece that stayed with me the most was a really recent one. It was from the Spring/Summer 2021 issue when AnOther invited creatives and designers to reflect on a year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Maybe it’s because lockdown and everything that goes with it have been so all-consuming this year. Maybe it’s because fashion has changed so much (and at the same time, surprisingly little). The first few weeks of lockdown in 2020 brought this tidal wave of introspection and called so much of the industry into question. A year on, fashion hasn’t changed as much as people promised it would, but bringing back that opportunity to reflect made for a great feature. I think it speaks to the cognitive dissonance of working in fashion, where the systems at play often don’t match people’s values. It was cool to read about how designers like Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha, and Samuel Ross have grappled with that and how they’re trying to shift those systems for the better.

Honor Cooper Hedges, Fashion Journalism student

To me, atmospheric, dynamic, and transformative editorials are synonymous with AnOther Magazine. This subversive and dreamy set of images by Nick Knight and Katy England has always stuck with me; the blend of perversion and violence with decadence and couture, which the model, Tessa Kuragi, completely embodies will always be one of my favourites.

Toby Ramskill, Fashion Communication student

I selected this piece from the seventh issue of AnOther Magazine, published in the winter of 2004, entitled ‘Fireball: The Last Pyromaniac’s Stand’. The editorial, accompanied by the explosive work of Simon Roberts, tells the beautifully nostalgic account of a 1999 meeting of pyromaniacs in the Native American lands of Nevada.  Desert Blast, founded by US Physicist turned UFO Conspiricist Bob Lazar, ran for thirteen years. The piece tells of the disparaging tale of pyromania becoming increasingly illicit in the post 9/11 world. And that of Ken Smith from Alabama, who has a Zippo lighter that shoots an eighty-foot flame.

Stephanie Francis-Shanahan, artist

I’ve chosen the editorial by Mark Borthwick and Jane How from Spring/Summer 2009 about Stella Tennant and her family. The images in this series are about ten years apart from each other and focus on familial relationships. It is interesting to me as I’ve made a lot of work looking at the complexity of these bonds. As she is no longer alive, it could take on a melancholic tone. However, the playfulness and warmth of the images mark it as a lovely document of remembrance and a life lived.

Michael Smith, Fashion Journalist

To me, it is AnOther’s issue AW18, graced by Tilda Swinton. That is purely because I’m a stan (she would eat a toast and I’d be in awe).  It’s just that, in movies, she’s so involved in anything she does and, in said editorial, that dedication didn’t shy away. For a start, she’s crowned with an oversized, padded Prada hat, the one that’s got the ear flaps — which, as it happens, was sported by Swinton the same season the Italian house brought their nylon accessories back in full force. Stylist Olivier Rizzo’s other looks are just as grand and yet playful: there are voluminous mixed-fabric pieces, one that resembles a blooming flower and another that’s as messy as an unmade bed, there’s a CDG ruffled dress and platforms, a clear red PVC coat by Marine Serre, a skirt that would now appear as nostalgic, repping Daft Punk’s merch among other bands. The assignment was to serve fashion and, as usual, the actress has embodied what she was asked to do.