Stephen Gan

In her new role as global fashion director at Harper's Bazaar, Carine Roitfeld says she won't be working for the American edition's editor in chief, Glenda Bailey.

"I'm always independent," Roitfeld said in an interview after a talk about her life and work at New York's French Institute this week. "No boss."

She added that while Bailey is "a very important part of Bazaar," she'll work primarily with Hearst Magazines International president and CEO Duncan Edwards. (Last month when the magazine announced it had hired Roitfeld, it said she would collaborate with the American edition's creative director, Stephen Gan.) Roitfeld will create four stories a year that will appear across Bazaar's international editions. On stage, Roitfeld said, "Suddenly, I've passed from like 50,000 readers [at Vogue Paris] to 11 million readers."

"When you're talking to a wider scale of readers, you think a bit differently," she told WWD. "You will recognize me in the pictures. My way, my castings, the way I put clothes together, it's very me."

During the talk, Roitfeld said her new position is a first in the world of fashion magazines.

"I think it's very interesting because of the globalization in fashion," she said. "Everyone in Shanghai and Berlin can buy the same dress. And now, because of this possibility with Bazaar, the woman in Shanghai and the woman in Berlin and New York, they can read and see exactly the same story. . . . Imagine how exciting it is to be able to talk to all these women, to give them the same knowledge, in a way."

Photo: Courtesy of French Institute Alliance Francaise.

>> A decade into her career as editor of Harper's Bazaar, Glenda Bailey is ready to give the magazine a major creative refresh.

Bazaar — which was already headed for an increase in trim size, an upgrade in paper and cover stock, and a reduction in frequency from 11 to 10 issues per year — will also receive the design input of Robin Derrick of Spring Studios. Bailey hired Derrick, who was creative director of Vogue UK for 10 years until last June, to work with Bazaar's creative director Stephen Gan on what are expected to be big changes — that will be revealed in the magazine's March 2012 issue.

“After 10 years, it’s time to refresh — Stephen and I are looking forward to evolving Bazaar’s design for the next decade, and we are excited to be collaborating with Robin,” Bailey said.

Of all the major fashion magazines — Vogue, Elle, and W — Bazaar was the only one to suffer a drop in ad pages in the first six months of 2011. The trend continued in the third quarter of this year, with the magazine's ad pages falling 4.1 percent year over year.

>> Carine Roitfeld has been hinting a lot at her next big project, but now she confirms (translated from French): "It will be a magazine." She continues: "I would love to do four times a year. Initially, I wanted it on the Internet, but it's a lot of investment, a lot of time, I do not know if it suits me. I know that now you have to work with the Internet, and the photos are of very good quality on the iPad, but things quickly go out of style on the Internet. We'll start with print. A September issue next Fall, in English."

Roitfeld told Dazed Digital of the magazine last week: "It will be something less frequent than a monthly to make it more iconic, more collectible. I want to make something really beautiful, chic, different. . . . I have to find a new way, so I am dreaming about it and working it out."

She also recently hinted at who she might be working with: "I have a lot to say about fashion, not just about fashion but beauty, art. I'm looking for a new way to talk to readers. We make the dream team — Marie-Amelie Sauve, [Mario] Testino, Stephen Gan."

As for whether she has a name for the magazine: "Yes. I cannot tell you, I'm trying to see if it's not already filed, but I think it suits me, it's pretty rock and roll. I could call it Carine Roitfeld in the manner of Oprah Winfrey, and put myself on the cover every month like she does, but I'm not sure if this is what people want. At the moment, they see me a lot, I'll even do a signing [of her new book, Irreverent] at Colette and it amuses me, but after I want to disappear."

And how she envisions the magazine: "I do not want to compete with Vogue. Besides, I'm not sure they see me coming from a very good eye. It will not be easy for me to run independently. It's a little earthen pot against the iron pot. But I still have friends willing to support me. I would like to succeed in mixing a lot of people very different, as for a dinner."

>> Carine Roitfeld left Vogue Paris at the end of January, but she hasn't stayed away from glossies for long: She's working on what is reportedly a cover story and fashion spread for V magazine's September 2011 issue. Roitfeld styled V's very first cover featuring Jude Law back in 1999, and Stephen Gan confirmed last Thursday that she recently asked if she could come back to work for the magazine: “My stage is always open to her and she can perform anytime she wants to on it. She wants it to be a surprise, but it’s for the September issue. We leave for Europe tomorrow, and we will work with Mario Testino. That’s all I can say.” Roitfeld is rumored to have collaborated with the magazine on several issues, including a project with Karl Lagerfeld. [WWD, NY Post]

>> Perhaps influenced by the buzz around Mark Fast's Spring 2010 plus-size runway models and Glamour's plus-size editorial, V magazine is ringing in the new year and the new decade with a size issue for January 2010: "Big, little, pint-size, plus-size — every body is beautiful. And this issue is out to prove it," as V editor-in-chief Stephen Gan put it.

Models.com has an exclusive series of previews of the magazine — out on newsstands Jan. 14 — the first of which, "One Size Fits All," debuted today, with Jaquelyn Jablonski (left below) and plus-size model Crystal Renn (right below) in the exact same ensembles, with similar poses.  Bruce Weber and Karl Lagerfeld are also said to have contributed to the issue, with shoots ranging from fully clothed to nudes.

>> Bruno wasn't the only one pulling antics during Paris Fashion Week — Karl Lagerfeld and Harper's Bazaar creative director Stephen Gan had a few tricks up their sleeves as well.

During the Fall 2008 season, the designer and editor remarked at how many unfamiliar names were on the Paris Fashion Week schedule.  "There was Fifi this and Foufou that," Gan explained — so for Spring 2009, they added a fictitious label to the Paris Fashion Week List — Poupou Lapin.  They gave the label a design brief, a gimmick in the form of a fur bikini, and started putting the word out that Poupou was "the one to watch." They even invented a more affordable line for the label: Poupou Lapin-au-Chocolat.

Apparently, "a certain number of people" fell for the story — and when Stephen mentioned the Poupou show to "a certain editor famed for being at the leading edge of every trend," she stamped her foot and replied, "Damn! I just threw that invitation out!”  Silly.
*image: source